Bill Brown and the Blundstones. A recollection by John Bender.

I was opening the door to the cab when I heard Bill running down the path from his front door yelling out dont forget to let me know the cost. And when I say running, it was probably a shuffle as Bill was in his 90s. The Bill I am referring to was Bill Brown, the Cricketer, and the cost he was referring to was the cost of a pair of Blundstone boots.

It all started in 1998 when due to my position as GM of local radio station TTT FM in Hobart I was invited to a Cricket match at Bellerive Oval (now known as Blundstone Oval!). It was the 50 year anniversary of Bradmans 1948 Invincibles, and the surviving members were all invited to a Test match in Hobart. At lunch I ended up sitting next to Bill Brown. I remember Arthur Morris, Ray Lindwall and Sam Loxton were also there. Although I was a Cricket fanatic since about 10 years of age I didnt know much about Bill and proceeded to ask him a loads of questions about Bradman who I had been, like most Cricket lovers, fascinated with. Bill didnt seem to mind and I had the

feeling that maybe he was just as in awe of Bradman as I was. The next day I went to the Hotel he was staying at, and dropped off a book I had mentioned to him as my favourite Cricket book, The Victor Richardson Story.

In time I received a lovely letter back from him saying the book was very interesting and that there was some stories in the book that he was not aware of in relation to a tour of South Africa, even though he was a member of the touring team.

Fast forward 3 or 4 years and I decided to look Bill up. It was pretty easy, there he was, the only W.A Brown in the Brisbane phone book. Not sure if Bradman would have had his number on such public display in the Adelaide phone book! We had a great conversation and I said I would be in Brisbane soon and would he mind if I dropped by for a quick visit. I think he was pretty used to this as Im sure I was not the first person to take a pilgrimage to his house.

I think it was 3 but maybe it was 4 times I visited Bill and his lovely wife Barbara over a period of a few years in the mid 2000s. All the visits seem to blend together when I try to recollect the details. Bill and Barbara were extremely genial and accommodating hosts. My first visit I ended up staying for about 5 hours and was invited to stay for the evening meal. Barbara seemed to be very experienced at this type of occurrence and told me to make sure I asked all the questions I could of Bill. She knew that this was a pretty big thing for me and that I should make the most of my time with Bill.

Of course I asked him heaps of questions about Bradman. As I suspected, he was in awe of the great man. He told me a great story of his first experience of batting with Bradman. They had been batting for about half an hour and everything was going well and Bill was feeling pretty good about his progress thus far. Bradman called him to mid pitch between an over and Bill was expecting Bradman to shower Bill with praise at his progress in the unbroken partnership. Do you think you could start calling if you want to take a run! was Bradmans advice. Bill had a way at putting himself in his place when he told these

stories. In fact Bill never seemed to make any type of big deal about his Cricket career. Modest to a fault.

He also told me the story of an innings when he was approaching a century when Bradman walked to the crease. Lets make sure you get this ton Bill was Bradmans first words when he reached Bill in the middle. He proceeded to give Bill as much strike as possible and as Bill reached his century Bradman had scored 15. By the time Bill had reached 128, Bradman had scored 129! Bill loved telling these stories. I also asked him if he remembered Jack Hobbs and C.B Fry as I had been fascinated with both these legends. Bill could remember playing against Hobbs in his later years but Fry was a bit before his time. I asked him who was better, OReilly or Warne, (OReilly).

On one of my visits I told him I had just read the recently released book on Keith Miller. I told him I would send him my copy to read. He wouldnt have it and said if I could find him a copy he would reimburse me. Turns out they were good friends

of Ray Lindwalls widow who would obviously be very interested in the book as Ray and Keith formed probably Australias finest opening bowling partnership of all time. The next minute Barbara is on the phone to Peggy Lindwall and Im talking to her! I managed to locate a copy of the book in Brisbane and sent it to them.

On my last visit Bill asked me about the boots I was wearing. I replied they were Blundstones, made in Tassie by a company that had been around for a 100 years. He certainly was impressed with them and for the rest of my stay he mischievously steered the conversation back to the

Blundstones. It didnt matter what we were talking about, he kept coming back to the Blundsones. It was like a Monty Python Sketch, and he was being the funny guy! He had a zany sense of humour that I didnt expect from someone of his generation. I finally said, Bill, if you want a pair I will send you some, what size are you. Of course he was rapt with this but insisted I let him know how much they were.

My last memory of Bill was yelling out as I open the taxi door, dont forget to let me know how much they are. I duly sent the Blundstones off and a few weeks later received a Christmas card and a cheque inside with a thank you note.

Bill died on March 16th, 2008 aged 95, three years older than Bradman. I waited a week or two and rang Barbara to offer my condolences. I asked her about the Blundstones and she said he loved those boots, and wore them all the time! I didnt have the guts to ask her if he was buried in them! It wouldnt have surprised me.

Bill was a gentleman, extremely modest, with a gentle nature. He had a wicked sense of humour and a real sense of fun. He struck me sometimes as a big kid! He seemed in awe of many of the Cricketers he played with especially Bradman who he admired greatly. I had the feeling he couldnt believe his luck that he had played with all these legends. Bill had a first class average of 51.44 and a Test average of 46.82, all in the days of uncovered pitches. He had a best score of an unbeaten 202 at

Lords. Pretty handy numbers but Bill would have dismissed his whole career as a giant piece of luck. That was Bill!