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William Harold Ponsford (born 19 October, 1900 – April 6 1991) was an Australian cricketer, a batsman who twice broke the world record for the highest first-class score. He is regarded as one of the finest players of spin bowling. Born in North Fitzroy, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Ponsford made his first-class debut for Victoria in February 1922, and soon became noted for his capacity to play high-scoring innings. After two low scores in his first match against the MCC touring side, his third innings (against Tasmania at Launceston) was 162. He did not play first class cricket again for a year, but his next innings was a record 429, for Victoria against Tasmania at Melbourne, helping Victoria to a record total of 1,059. It was the highest individual innings in first class cricket. In December 1926 he scored 352 against New South Wales at Melbourne, 334 of them in one day, and helped Victoria to 1,107, still first-class cricket's highest team total, breaking their own record. In December 1927 he improved his own individual record, scoring 437 against Queensland. Later that month he scored 336 against South Australia. Brian Lara is the only other man to have reached 400 twice in first-class cricket, and Ponsford remains one of only three men to have scored four triple-centuries, along with Donald Bradman (six) and Wally Hammond (also four). He holds the Australian record partnership for the first wicket (456 with Edgar Mayne), and for Victoria (and, intermittently, for Australia) he formed a notable opening partnership with Bill Woodfull. His first-class career average of 65.18 is the fourth highest of any player with 10,000 runs. Ponsford made his Test match debut in December 1924, scoring 110 against a bowling attack including Maurice Tate and Tich Freeman, and he followed it up with 128 in the next match. Injury and illness perhaps prevented him scaling similar heights to his achievements in domestic cricket; although he succeeded against the touring West Indies in 1930-31, he averaged only 19.40 in the bodyline series against England. While he was a fine player against spin bowling, he was less comfortable against pace. However, in 1934 Ponsford and Bradman, the two heaviest scorers in Australian cricket, finally fulfilled their joint promise by combining in two major partnerships. At Leeds they added 388 for the fourth wicket (Ponsford scoring 181), then a record for any wicket, and in the next Test at The Oval they bettered it by sharing 451 for the second wicket (Ponsford scored 266). This partnership remained the world record for any wicket in Test cricket until 1991, and remains the Australian record. Curiously Ponsford was out hit wicket in both these innings. Ponsford's batting suffered nothing in comparison with Bradman's among contemporary commentators, including Neville Cardus. Ponsford retired after the Australians' tour, and thus had signed off with a hundred in each of his last two tests, just as he had signed on with a hundred in each of his first two. After his success in his last series he was named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1935. He died at Kyneton, Victoria. At 90 years and 169 days he was the oldest living Test cricketer at the time of his death.
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