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William Howard Frindall, (3 March 1939 – 29 January 2009) was an English
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
scorer In cricket, a scorer is someone appointed to record all runs scored, all wickets taken and, where appropriate, the number of overs bowled. In professional games, in compliance with Law 3 of the ''Laws of Cricket'', two scorers are appointed, ...
and
statistician A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may wor ...
, who was familiar to cricket followers as a member of the
Test Match Special ''Test Match Special'' (also known as ''TMS'') is a British sports radio programme, originally, as its name implies, dealing exclusively with Test cricket matches, but currently covering any professional cricket. It broadcasts on BBC Radio 4 LW ( ...
commentary team on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
radio. He was nicknamed the Bearded Wonder (shortened to Bearders) by
Brian Johnston Brian Alexander Johnston (24 June 1912 – 5 January 1994), nicknamed Johnners, was a British cricket commentator, author, and television presenter. He was most prominently associated with the BBC during a career which lasted from 1946 until h ...
for his ability to research the most obscure cricketing facts in moments, while continuing to keep perfect scorecards and because he had a beard.
Angus Fraser Angus Robert Charles Fraser (born 8 August 1965) is an English cricket administrator. He served as the managing director of Middlesex Cricket between 2009 and 2021, before assuming a new role heading the club's academy He is also a former E ...
described Frindall as "the doyen of cricket scorers" in his obituary in ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
''.Obituary
''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', 3 February 2009


Early life

Frindall was born in
Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...
, Surrey and named after Victorian journalist
William Howard Russell Sir William Howard Russell, (28 March 182011 February 1907) was an Irish reporter with ''The Times'', and is considered to have been one of the first modern war correspondents. He spent 22 months covering the Crimean War, including the Sieg ...
. His father was a laboratory assistant and later a research chemist. He was educated at
Tadworth Tadworth is a large suburban village in Surrey, England in the south-east of the Epsom Downs, part of the North Downs. It forms part of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. At the 2011 census, Tadworth (and Walton-on-the-Hill) had a population o ...
county primary school and
Reigate Grammar School Reigate Grammar School is a 2–18 mixed independent day school in Reigate, Surrey, England. It was established in 1675 by Henry Smith. History The school was founded as a free school for poor boys in 1675 by Alderman Henry Smith with Jon Will ...
and studied architecture at the
Kingston School of Art The Kingston School of Art (KSA) is an art school in Kingston upon Thames, part of Kingston University London. It was first established in 1899 as the Kingston School of Science and Art. In 1930 it was established as a separate school and has be ...
. A schoolmaster introduced Frindall to cricket scoring one rainy sports afternoon when he was a boy. After joining the
RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
as a National Serviceman in 1958 (he called it "training in advanced shirking"), and rising to the rank of corporal, he was commissioned as an accountant officer in the secretarial branch in November 1963. Two of his six years' service were spent at
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
headquarters at
Fontainebleau Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissement ...
, outside Paris, and on leaving the RAF in 1965 he developed his
handlebar moustache A handlebar moustache is a moustache with particularly lengthy and upwardly curved extremities. These moustache styles are named for their resemblance to the handlebars of a bicycle. It is also known as a spaghetti moustache, because of its ste ...
into a full beard.


Cricket player

Frindall was an enthusiastic cricketer from his early years and played cricket for the RAF. He later played one match for the
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
Second XI in 1972, against
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...
's Second XI, bowling six wicketless overs for 22 runs, and scoring one run in the second innings before he was
caught and bowled Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket. A batsman is out caught if the batsman hits the ball, from a legitimate delivery, with the bat, and the ball is caught by the bowler or a fielder before it hits the ground. If the ball h ...
. He continued as an effective
fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...
in
club cricket Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal, form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are obs ...
for many years, particularly in charity matches, although his batting was somewhat agricultural.Obituary
''The Times'', 31 January 2009 He ran a touring team, the Malta Maniacs, and also played for the Elvinos and the
Lord's Taverners The Lord's Taverners is the UK's leading youth cricket and disability sports charity. Its charitable objective is to empower and positively impact the lives of young people facing the challenges of inequality.'. It was founded in 1950 by a group ...
.


TMS scorer

He became a freelance statistician in 1966, and took over the scoring for ''
Test Match Special ''Test Match Special'' (also known as ''TMS'') is a British sports radio programme, originally, as its name implies, dealing exclusively with Test cricket matches, but currently covering any professional cricket. It broadcasts on BBC Radio 4 LW ( ...
'' on 2 June 1966, at the First Test against
West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
at
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
. He went on to become the longest-serving member of the ''TMS'' team, covering more than 350 Test matches, which he considered the only "proper" form of the game. He replaced the previous scorer,
Arthur Wrigley Arthur Neville Wrigley (25 January 1912 – 30 October 1965) was an England, English cricket scorer and Cricket statistics, statistician. He was the first scorer for BBC radio cricket commentary. Arthur Wrigley was born in Heaton Moor, Cheshire, a ...
, who had been the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
scorer from 1934 up to his death in October 1965. Frindall speculatively wrote to the BBC, pointing out that they would need a new scorer, and secured the job. After a trial period, Frindall continued to score for the BBC until his death, watching all 246 Test matches in England from June 1966 to 2008. He covered 377 Tests for the BBC in all, forming a close working relationship with
John Arlott Leslie Thomas John Arlott, OBE (25 February 1914 – 14 December 1991) was an English journalist, author and cricket commentator for the BBC's ''Test Match Special''. He was also a poet and wine connoisseur. With his poetic phraseology, he bec ...
and
Brian Johnston Brian Alexander Johnston (24 June 1912 – 5 January 1994), nicknamed Johnners, was a British cricket commentator, author, and television presenter. He was most prominently associated with the BBC during a career which lasted from 1946 until h ...
, providing continuity with later commentators such as
Jonathan Agnew Jonathan Philip Agnew, (born 4 April 1960) is an English cricket broadcaster and a former professional cricketer. He was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, and educated at Uppingham School. He is nicknamed "Aggers", and, less commonly, "Spiro" †...
. Frindall's perfectionism clashed occasionally with
Henry Blofeld Henry Calthorpe Blofeld, Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 23 September 1939) nicknamed Blowers by Brian Johnston, is an English retired sports journalist, Sports presenter, broadcaster and amateur ornithologist best known as a cricket com ...
's more effusive – but error-prone – delivery. Frindall was also known for producing scoring charts for many of his tours with England. He modified the linear scoring system invented by
John Atkinson Pendlington John Atkinson Pendlington (September 1861 – 15 January 1914) was the inventor of a linear scoring system for cricket before 1893. Unlike conventional scoring systems, the linear system shows balls faced by each batsman from each bowler. Until rec ...
and developed by Australian scorer Bill Ferguson into a version that is known as the Frindall system. Frindall met Ferguson in 1953, when he was 14 years old. The concentration needed to maintain such consistently high-quality work was immense, and Frindall believed it was his time in the RAF that prepared him for the task. Writing honed by his training to be an architect meant that each page was beautifully laid out and easy to read. Every scorecard, like the wagon-wheels he produced to show where a batsman scored his runs after playing a significant innings, was a work of art. Frindall's work was so meticulously accurate that the commentators would habitually trust his figures if they differed from the official scoreboard. It was a common boast of Frindall that he was born on the first day of the last "
Timeless Test A timeless Test is a match of Test cricket played under no limitation of time, which means the match is played until one side wins or the match is tied, with theoretically no possibility of a draw. The format means that it is not possible to play ...
", between
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, which became the longest Test ever played (the game was abandoned after 9 days' play spread over 12 days). He last appeared for ''Test Match Special'' at England's Test against India at
Mohali Mohali, officially known as Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, is a planned city in the Mohali district in Punjab (India), Punjab, India, which is an administrative and a commercial hub lying south-west of Chandigarh. It is the headquarters of the Moh ...
in 2008. Given his love of such statistics, it is fitting that his funeral took place on 13 February 2009, the day of the shortest Test; the
second Test The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...
between England and the
West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
was abandoned after just 10 balls.


Opinions

Frindall was known for staunchly defending his beliefs about
cricket statistics Cricket is a sport that generates a variety of statistics. Statistics are recorded for each player during a match, and aggregated over a career. At the professional level, statistics for Test cricket, one-day internationals, and first-class crick ...
. When the
Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...
attempted to revise the status of many 19th century and pre-war matches, which would have produced statistics that are different from the conventional, Frindall was among those who objected to their "rewriting of history". As a result, until 2022, some ACS statistics were different from those in ''
Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
'', which is regarded as the standard. For example, the ACS awarded
Jack Hobbs Sir John Berry Hobbs (16 December 1882– 21 December 1963), always known as Jack Hobbs, was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930. Known as "The Mast ...
199 first-class hundreds (as recorded on
Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...
), while ''Wisden'', the generally accepted standard, gave Hobbs his "traditional" total of 197 centuries. Wisden aligned with the ACS in 2022. More recently, when the
International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...
decided to award
Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
and
One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
status to the matches played for the
tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...
benefit and the
ICC Super Series The ICC Super Series 2005 was a cricket series held in Australia during October 2005, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was played between Australia, the world's top-ranked side at the time, and a World XI team of players ...
between
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and a
Rest of the World Within sports and games played at the international competitive level, the Rest of the World refers to a team of players from many countries of origin that compete against a single individual or a team from a single group, such as a club or countr ...
team, Frindall, in common with many statisticians and historians, disputed the ruling. As a result, '' Playfair'' and other publications to which he supplied statistics did not classify those matches as official Tests or ODIs.


Publications

His autobiography, ''Bearders – My Life in Cricket'', was published by Orion in June 2006. Other works include the ''
Playfair Cricket Annual ''Playfair Cricket Annual'' is a compact annual about cricket that is published in the United Kingdom each April, just before the English cricket season is due to begin. It has been published every year since 1948. Its main purposes are to review ...
'', which he edited for 23 years, from 1986 until his death; the ''Wisden Book of Test Cricket''; the ''Wisden Book of Cricket Records''; the ''Guinness Book of Cricket – Facts and Feats''; and the 'Cricket records' section of the ''
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
'', which he maintained for 22 years. He was also briefly a correspondent for the ''
Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. It is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK and was launched in 1982 by Lord Rothermere. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first pub ...
''.


Honours and awards

In 1998, Frindall was made an honorary
Doctor of Technology The Doctor of Technology (abbreviated variously in different countries) is a degree normally conferred upon candidates after having completed a course of study in technology and a dissertation or a project of lengthy duration in a technologically r ...
by
Staffordshire University , mottoeng = Dare to know , type = Public , endowment = £70 million (2015) , administrative_staff = 1,375 , chancellor = Francis Fitzherbert, 15th Baron Stafford , vice_chancellor = Professor Martin Jones , ...
, for his contribution to statistics. He was appointed an
MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...
for services to cricket and broadcasting in the 2004
Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...
. He received several awards from the
Beard Liberation Front The Beard Liberation Front (BLF) is a British interest group which campaigns in support of beards and opposes pogonophobic discrimination against those who wear them. It was founded in 1995 by socialist historian Keith Flett who continues to organ ...
, including " Beard of the Year". Frindall was the first president of
British Blind Sport British Blind Sport (BBS) is a British charity that makes sport and recreational activities accessible to people who are visually impaired. The charity enables blind and partially sighted people to experience the same sporting opportunities as s ...
, a charity co-ordinating sport for the blind and
partially sighted Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment†...
.


Personal life

Frindall was married three times. He married Maureen Wesson in 1960, and they had two sons and a daughter together. After their divorce in 1970, he was married to Jacqueline Seager in May 1970. After a second divorce in 1980, he married Deborah Brown in 1992; they had a daughter. Away from ''TMS'' he lived in Wiltshire, latterly at
Urchfont Urchfont is a rural village and civil parish in the southwest of the Vale of Pewsey and north of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, about southeast of the market town of Devizes. The hamlet of Cuckoo's Corner is in the northwest of the vil ...
near
Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century ...
, and was an accomplished
after-dinner speaker Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech delive ...
, telling tales of the commentary box, which often displayed his excellent powers of mimicry; he could do Arlott and Trueman brilliantly.


Death

Frindall died at the
Great Western Hospital The Great Western Hospital is a large hospital in Swindon, Wiltshire, England, near junction 15 of the M4 motorway. It opened in 2002 and is run by the Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. History The original hospital in Swindon was ...
in
Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...
on 29 January 2009, following a short illness after contracting
Legionnaires' disease Legionnaires' disease is a form of atypical pneumonia caused by any species of ''Legionella'' bacteria, quite often '' Legionella pneumophila''. Signs and symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, high fever, muscle pains, and headaches. Naus ...
during a charity cricketing tour of
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
with the
Lord's Taverners The Lord's Taverners is the UK's leading youth cricket and disability sports charity. Its charitable objective is to empower and positively impact the lives of young people facing the challenges of inequality.'. It was founded in 1950 by a group ...
. He was survived by his third wife, Debbie, who used to deliver his lunch to the commentary box each day, and his four children. His funeral was held at St Michael and All Angels Church,
Urchfont Urchfont is a rural village and civil parish in the southwest of the Vale of Pewsey and north of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, about southeast of the market town of Devizes. The hamlet of Cuckoo's Corner is in the northwest of the vil ...
on 13 February 2009.


References


External links


Bill Frindall's website
(archived 2013)
Frindall's "Ask Bearders" column at the BBC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frindall, Bill 1939 births 2009 deaths Cricket scorers Cricket historians and writers English cricket commentators British radio personalities People educated at Reigate Grammar School Members of the Order of the British Empire Sportspeople from Epsom Infectious disease deaths in England Cricket statisticians Military personnel from Surrey Royal Air Force officers 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel