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William Harold "Bill" Ponsford MBE (19 October 1900 – 6 April 1991) was an Australian cricketer. Usually playing as an opening batsman, he formed a successful and long-lived partnership opening the batting for Victoria and Australia with Bill Woodfull, his friend and state and national captain. Ponsford is the only player to twice break the world record for the highest individual score in first-class cricket; Ponsford and Brian Lara are the only cricketers to twice score 400 runs in an innings. Ponsford holds the Australian record for a partnership in Test cricket, set in 1934 in combination with Donald Bradman—the man who broke many of Ponsford's other individual records. Despite being heavily built, Ponsford was quick on his feet and renowned as one of the finest ever players of spin bowling. His bat, much heavier than the norm and nicknamed "Big Bertha", allowed him to drive powerfully and he possessed a strong cut shot. However, critics questioned his ability against fast bowling, and the hostile short-pitched English bowling in the Bodyline series of 1932–33 was a contributing factor in his early retirement from cricket a year and a half later.〔As a convention, cricket seasons are denoted as a single year to represent northern hemisphere summer, or dashed for southern hemisphere. See Cricket season for more information.〕 Ponsford also represented his state and country in baseball, and credited the sport with improving his cricketing skills. Ponsford was a shy and taciturn man. After retiring from cricket, he went to some lengths to avoid interaction with the public. He spent over three decades working for the Melbourne Cricket Club, where he had some responsibility for the operations of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), the scene of many of his great performances with the bat. In 1981 the Western Stand at the MCG was renamed the WH Ponsford Stand in his honour. This stand was demolished in 2003 as part of the redevelopment of the ground for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, but its replacement was also named the WH Ponsford Stand. At the completion of the stadium redevelopment in 2005, a statue of Ponsford was installed outside the pavilion gates. In recognition of his contributions as a player, Ponsford was one of the ten initial inductees into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. ==Early life== The son of William and Elizabeth (née Best) Ponsford, Bill Ponsford was born in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy North on 19 October 1900.〔Leckey (2006), pp. 29–30.〕 His father was a postman whose family had emigrated from Devon to Bendigo, Victoria, to work in the mines during the 1850s gold rush.〔Leckey (2006), pp. 15–20.〕 His mother was also born in the goldfields, at Guildford, before moving to Melbourne with her father, a Crown Lands bailiff.〔 Ponsford grew up on Newry St in Fitzroy North, and attended the nearby Alfred Crescent School, which stood beside the Edinburgh Gardens.〔Leckey (2006), p. 36.〕 Ponsford learnt the rudiments of cricket from his uncle Cuthbert Best—a former club player for Fitzroy.〔Leckey (2006), p. 39.〕 He had the best batting and bowling averages for his school team in 1913, 1914 and 1915 and eventually rose to the captaincy.〔Leckey (2006), p. 40.〕 His local grade club, Fitzroy, awarded Ponsford a medallion—presented by the local mayor—for being his school's outstanding cricketer in the 1913–14 and 1914–15 seasons.〔 The medallion was awarded along with an honorary membership of the club, and Ponsford trained enthusiastically, running from school to the nearby Brunswick Street Oval in the Edinburgh Gardens to practise in the nets.〔 Les Cody, the general secretary of Fitzroy Cricket Club and a first-class cricketer with New South Wales and Victoria, was Ponsford's first cricketing role model. In December 1914, Ponsford completed his schooling and earned a qualifying certificate, which allowed him to continue his education at a high school should he wish.〔Leckey (2006), p. 42.〕 He instead chose to attend a private training college, Hassett's, to study for the Bank Clerk's exam. Ponsford passed the exam and commenced employment with the State Savings Bank at the Elizabeth Street head office in early 1916.〔Lackey (2006), p. 43.〕 In May 1916, the Ponsford family moved to Orrong Rd in Elsternwick, a wealthier part of Melbourne.〔 Ponsford played with Fitzroy in a minor league for the remainder of the 1915–16 season, but under the geographical "zoning" rules in place for club cricket, he was required to transfer to St Kilda Cricket Club in the following season.〔Leckey (2006), pp. 43–44.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bill Ponsford」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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