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Tonbridge's third cricketing legend - Frank Woolley

We have had our bails whipped off by cricket fan John Maylam after reporting earlier on Tonbridge's "two cricketing greats" - Colin Cowdrey and Colin Blythe.

Mr Maylam correctly points out that in fact Tonbridge was home to a third cricketing hero - Frank Woolley.

A young Frank Woolley, taken in 1908
A young Frank Woolley, taken in 1908

Mr Maylam, from Tonbridge, said: "My granny was a cousin of Frank, so naturally we are very proud of him."

Frank Woolley was an English first-class cricketer playing for Kent and England.

He was born in 1887 in Tonbridge and lived above the cycle shop owned by his father Charles at 82 High Street.

The building has since been demolished and replaced by a Starbucks, which sports a blue plaque dedicated to Woolley.

There is also a plaque at 38 Yew Tree Road, Southborough, where he lived between 1925 and 1931.

Frank Woolley pictured in 1971, with a friend, Martha Morse
Frank Woolley pictured in 1971, with a friend, Martha Morse

A genuine all-rounder, Woolley was left-handed, tall and nick-named "the Kentish hop pole."

He made 1,018 catches in first class games, which is still a world record for a non wicket-keeper and he was Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1911.

He hit 58,969 runs, including 156 centuries, and took more than 2,500 wickets. He played 767 test matches for England.

As a boy, Woolley would spend as much time as he could at the Angel ground, home to occasional Kent matches, and also the site of Kent's nursery school for training new players.

Eventually, Woolley was noticed and by 1904, aged 17, he was playing for Kent's Second XI.

Frank Woolley together with Bill Ashdown playing at The Mote, Maidstone, in 1937
Frank Woolley together with Bill Ashdown playing at The Mote, Maidstone, in 1937

His long career saw him score four consecutive 100s and he was still playing first class matches for Kent in 1938, when he was 51.

His career was only interrupted by service in the Royal Navy aboard HMS King George V during the First World War.

Off the field, Woolley married Sybil Fordham in 1914, the daughter of an Ashford vet. They had a son and two daughters.

He also set up his own cricket training school in Stocks Green Road, Hildenborough, and somewhat tangentially - a badminton club.

On his retirement in 1938, Woolley coached cricket at Kings College in Canterbury and he and his wife moved to Cliftonville.

Frank Woolley was described as "tall and gangling". He was nick-named the Kentish hop pole
Frank Woolley was described as "tall and gangling". He was nick-named the Kentish hop pole

During the Second World War, he served in the Home Guard, but his house was destroyed by a German bomb and worse, his son Richard was killed in action on convoy duty.

Sybil died in 1962, and Woolley then moved to Canada, where in 1971 he married Martha Wilson Morse, an American widow.

He died at their home in Chester, Nova Scotia, on October 18, 1978, aged 91.

Frank Woolley Road in Tonbridge is named after him, as is Woolley Road in Maidstone.

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