Profile

Clarrie Grimmett was a slow leg break bowler with unbelievable accuracy and skill. He was one of the oldest players to gain his debut aged 34 at Sydney in 1924/5, and wasted no time showing Australia how much they had missed not having him in the side. Clarrie or otherwise affectionately known as 'The Gnome' or 'Scarlet' after the Pimpernel, was a small man and prematurely bald.

Grimmett was born in Dunedin, New Zealand and moved to Australia at the start of the first World War, moving firstly to Sydney, then Melbourne and finally Adelaide where he died in 1980. Similar to Don Bradman, he practised for hour in his back garden, training his dog to return the balls the bowled on his practice pitch in south Melbourne.

On his debut at Sydney in 1924/5, he took 11 wickets; 5 for 45 and 6 for 37. He then toured England in 1926 partnering his team mate Arthur Mailey (a leg spin bowler). Between them, they took 27 of the 39 wickets to fall in the Test matches and over 100 wickets in all tour matches. For the next couple of series, Grimmett was the main source of Austarlia's bowling success, taking 23 wickets in 1928/9 at home and 29 wickets on the 1930 tour. In 1934 he was again successful, this time with a new partner Bill O'Reilly taking 28 wickets.

The West Indies toured Australia for the first time in 1930/1 and The Scarlet took 33 wickets in the series. He continued this run against South Africa the following year once again taking 33 wickets, and in Australia's tour of South Africa in 1935/6 he took 44 wickets at an average of only 14.59. This tour proved to be his last for Australia and was not selected again.