In Which Country Was The Googly Invented?

While the inventor of Googly is known, it is a mystery how the term came into existence

The game of cricket has many interesting aspects, one of which is the Googly. While cricket enthusiasts are well aware of what a Googly is, there is quite a bit of confusion about which country invented the Googly. Also, people are not sure how the term ‘Googly’ came into existence. To answer such questions, let’s explore the data we have.

In which country was the Googly invented?

The straight answer to in which country was the Googly invented is England. To be exact, it was invented at the Oxford University in England. Interestingly, Googly was not originally invented during a game of cricket. Googly was actually invented while experimenting with a tennis ball during a tabletop game called ‘Twisti-Twosti’.

This was around 1897–1900, when Bernard Bosanquet, an English cricketer, was trying out some new tricks with a tennis ball. When he noticed some weird results, he got the idea that this technique could be used in the game of cricket. It is said that Bernard Bosanquet spent around two years perfecting the wrist flick, as needed to deliver a Googly.

Records show that Bernard Bosanquet used his Googly for the first time in July 1900, in a match between Middlesex vs Leicestershire at Lord’s. At that time, the audience did not even take the Googly seriously. Many thought that it was a joke. Some even called it cheating because a normal leg-break spun the opposite way. However, acceptance grew, as this technique started being used more widely.

With his Googly, Bernard Bosanquet was able to give a boost to his cricketing career as a bowler. He took 132 wickets at under 22 runs each in the 1904 season. He was also a good batsman, scoring 1,405 runs in the 1904 season. One of his best performances came in 1905, when he took 11 wickets in a week and scored 100 in each innings. This was when playing against Sussex at Lord’s — a double feat that remains a record.

Who coined the term ‘Googly’?

While Bernard Bosanquet is credited with inventing the Googly, there is no certainty who coined the term or how it originated. There are many theories, as described below.

Googly a random term coined by Bernard Bosanquet – Many people believe that Bernard Bosanquet himself may have accidently coined the term Googly. It is reported that Bernard was asked to give a name to his new technique. In his reply, Bernard said that he does not have a proper name, but his technique feels like a ‘googly’ sort of ball. Some words are just randomly produced, which could be the case with Googly. It is possible that Bernard may have thought the term Googly as an appropriate description of the wobbly and deceptive nature of Googly.

Local slang – Other reports show that the term Googly could have existed as a local slang at that time. For example, some records show that the term Googly was used in Australia to describe something tricky or deceptive. This was a slang term and not a proper dictionary item at that time. It is possible that Bernard could have picked this term, intentionally or accidently.

Greatest Googly bowlers in cricket

Apart from the inventor of Googly, Bernard Bosanquet (England), there have been various other famous cricketers who used this technique to decimate the batting order. These include cricketers like Abdul Qadir (Pakistan), Anil Kumble (India) and Shane Warne (Australia). Even when new formats of cricket are becoming popular, Googly remains to be widely used. Everyone knows the trick, but it is still difficult to predict.