Bill Howell
Penrith Cricket Club | May 25, 2025
Penrith headquarters is named after Bill Howell (Howell Oval).
Born at Penrith on the 29th of December 1869 and died at Castlereagh 14th July 1940. Bill, as a youth was a wicket keeper for Warwick in Sydney Club Cricket. Note that talent, because Howell's career development is a classic illustration how first impressions can be misleading. It was his left-hand batting in the 1894/95 Country week Carnival in Sydney that gained him selection in the NSW team to play AE Stoddart's visiting English team that season....yet, in that game at the SCG he revealed his greatest talent, right arm medium fast off cut bowling. After the regular bowlers had failed to separate Stoddart and JT Brown, Howell informed his captain that he thought he could get a wicket. He was given the ball, was immediately successful and finished the innings with 5/44, all cleaned bowled. He became a hard-working brisk medium pace bowler who could cut the ball both ways, vary his pace skillfully and bowl for long periods. But those who'd seen him get five wickets against Grace's team at Penrith a few summers earlier might have said, "told you so."
He went to England with the 1899, 1902 and 1905 teams and on the three tours he took 256 wickets. On the 1905 tour he clean bowled WG Grace for one run, an innings that incidentally was Grace's last for England. His batting pretensions were confined to sporadic exhibitions of ferocious hitting. Batting for NSW against Stoddart's team in 1897/98 he scored 48 in 44 minutes an the first innings, while in the second he took only 63 minutes to race to 93, dominating a last wicket partnership of 109 with Andrew Neill. In his first match in England, he took all ten Surrey wickets in an innings for 28. In Tests against England, he took 35 wickets (average 35.57) and scored 143 runs at 7.94. In matches against Western Province at Cape town, South Africa in 1902 he took 17 wickets for 54 runs, equaling the record number of wickets taken by a bowler in a First-Class match. In Sheffield Shield Cricket he played in 36 matches, scoring 1,029 runs (averaging 22.86) and taking 159 wickets at 23.55.
Some recorded observations: "While he had no grace of style, and was not a reliable run getter, he wielded a heavy bat with a degree of power rarely equally." And "as a fieldman's his hands were very big and grasping and safe in holding catches, so that they were facetiously described as carpet bags." And this: "he was a splendid hearted fellow, full of endearing qualities, consequently he made no enemies in the game". William (Bill) Howell played 48 matches for NSW scoring 1349 runs at 22.11, took 195 wickets at 24.07: for Australia he played 18 matches scoring 158 runs at 7.25 and took 47 wickets at 28.71. In First Class he played 141 matches scoring 2228 runs at 14.85 and took 520 wickets at 21.45.
Howell had five sons, three played First Grade Cricket and the eldest, William Hunter Howell, or young Bill, played 14 matches for NSW (1933-36) scoring 100 runs and taking 32 wickets at 38, his best being 5/31. Victor played local cricket for both Nepean and Hawkesbury District Associations. In Sydney Grade, Norman played for St George and Cumberland (now Parramatta), Arthur and young Bill played for Cumberland.
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