Everard ‘Bill’ Baker: Only man to stump Don Bradman twice in First-Class cricket
The only match in which Don Bradman had been dismissed stumped in both innings, and the man to cause his downfall in both innings was the wicketkeeper Everard ‘Bill’ Baker, a wonderful feather in his cap, and a worthy story for the grandchildren.
Learned philologists are of the opinion that the term Everard, when applied as a masculine Christian name, is derived from the Germanic elements ebur, meaning ‘wild boar’ and hard, meaning ‘brave, hardy’. The Normans introduced it to England, where it joined the Old English cognate Eoforheard. It has only been rarely used since Middle Ages. Modern use of the name may be inspired by the surname Everard, itself derived from the medieval name. Well, there was a family in Victoria that thought it fit to use this name for a son in 1913.
Everard Audley Baker was born July 29, 1913 at Cohuna, a typically Australian locality of Victoria. At the age of 15, his family moved to Melbourne to enable the boy to complete his secondary education. It was while he was at Melbourne that he acquired the nickname ‘Bill’ that was to persist with him all his life.
Bill Baker’s cricketing abilities were very soon in evidence, and by the time he was 18, he had made it to the Collingwood First XI in the local Grade Leagues as a left-handed batsman and reliable wicketkeeper. The archives show him playing 216 games for Collingwood from 1934-35 to 1955-56 in the Victoria Cricket Association Premiership tournaments, otherwise known as the Victoria First-Grade tournaments.
Baker made his First-Class debut with Victoria against Tasmania at Melbourne in 1935-36, as a young man not yet 23 years of age. Victoria batted first and put up a sizable 531 for 9. The only individual century in the total was from Horace Grangel (108). Baker contributed 59 not out from No. 9.
Tasmania, not yet admitted to the Sheffield Shield, scored 188 and 209. Baker made 2 stumpings in the first innings. As a matter of interest, Merv Harvey, brother of Neil, was 12th man for Victoria in this game.
Baker’s First-Class cricket career, like that of numerous other young cricketers of the time, was interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the Royal Australian Air Force with great distinction.
In a span of 1935-36 to 1948-49, Bill Baker played 24 First-Class matches, scoring 347 runs at 14.45 with a solitary fifty. He had 73 victims behind the stumps, 53 caught and 20 stumped.
Baker had to wait for the first post-World War II season to make his Sheffield Shield debut, but the wait proved to be well worth it. It was a match between South Australia, under Don Bradman, and Victoria, under Lindsay Hassett, played at Adelaide in 1946-47.
South Africa were dismissed for 270, Ron James contributing 73 and Chinaman bowler George Tribe capturing 7 for 85. Bradman batted at No. 5 in this innings, and was dismissed stumped Baker bowled Ian Johnson for 43.
Victoria replied with a vigorous 548 with centuries from Keith Miller (188) and skipper Hassett (114). Bruce Dooland took 4 for 229 from his marathon effort of 54.3 eight-ball overs.
Facing a large first-innings deficit, South Australia lost their first two wickets on 10 and 62. Ron Hamence (116) and Bradman (119) then had a stand of 195 before Hamence. Bradman fell at 248, dismissed for the second time in the match, stumped Baker. This time the bowler was Tribe. Tribe was again the main destroyer of the innings, this time with 6 for 68. Victoria chased down the target in only 7.7 overs, winning by 9 wickets.
In his long and distinguished career, Sir Don Bradman had played 234 First-Class matches (inclusive of 52 Tests). This was the only match in which Bradman had been dismissed stumped in both innings, and the man to cause his downfall in both innings was the wicketkeeper making his Sheffield Shield debut, Everard ‘Bill’ Baker, a wonderful feather in his cap, and a worthy story for the grandchildren.
The irony of it all was the fact that Baker was himself stumped in the only innings he batted, by his opposite number, William Englefield, off the bowling of Dooland, for 1.
Sir Don was dismissed stumped a total of 11 times in his 338 innings during his First-Class career. Let us have a brief review of these dismissals chronologically:
Runs
Wicketkeeper
Bowler
Team
Against
Season
73
Alfred Hack
Clarrie Grimmett
NSW
South Australia
1927-28
7
John Ellis
Don Blackie
NSW
Victoria
1927-28
132
George Duckworth
Hedley Verity
Australians
HDG Leveson Gower’s XI
1934
123
Don Tallon
Ezra Wyeth
South Australia
Queensland
1936-37
102
Oswald Lovelock
Anthony Zimbulis
Australian XI
Western Australia
1937-38
59
Arthur Wood
Frank Smailes
Australians
Yorkshire
1938
17
Haydn Davies
Johnnie Clay
Australians
Glamorgan
1938
43
Everard Baker
Ian Johnson
South Australia
Victoria
1946-47
119
George Tribe
12
Probir Sen
Vinoo Mankad
South Australia
Indians
1947-48
43
Eric Edrich
Malcolm Hilton
Australians
Lancashire
1948
Baker played his last First-Class match for Victoria versus South Australia at Melbourne in 1948-49, scoring 3 and 0 and taking 2 catches and a stumping.
Having completed his First-Class career, Baker came to Mooroolbark CC, a member of the Ringwood and District Cricket Association (RDCA), in Eastern Melbourne, in 1957, at the age of 44. He continued to play for their First XI of the club till well past 50, topping the Grade A batting averages in five consecutive seasons, from 1957-58 (when he scored 570 runs), through to 1962-63. He was easily the best wicketkeeper of the RDCA during this period.
After this phase of his playing career was over he kept up his links with cricket by coaching and mentoring the junior players, including his sons, Geoff and David.
Bill Baker passed away on March 30, 1987, aged about 74, and with him went the unique honour of stumping the great Don Bradman twice in the same First-Class match.
(Pradip Dhole is a retired medical practitioner with a life-long interest in cricket history and statistics)
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