Bill Frindall was the Doyen of Cricket Scorers
The TMS Would Never be the Same Without the Bearded Wonder
Feb 3, 2009
Bill Frindall scored in 377 test matches for BBC in a period over 30 years and came to be known as an authority on cricket scoring. He also authored and edited cricket record books.
TMS, Bearded Wonder and Frindall System
Frindall studied architecture at the Kingston school of Art and served in RAF for 6 years. He also played the game not only in his youth but even afterwards he was seen delivering fast stuff especially in charity games. His love affair with cricket scoring had started when he was still at school. He started scoring for BBC's Test Match Special in 1966 after the death of Arthur Wrigley the year before. Like his predecessor, Frindall also continued scoring for TMS till his death. He was nicknamed the "Bearded Wonder" by his former colleague Brian Johnston.
He changed the linear scoring system introduced by Australian scorer Bill Ferguson into a version which is known as the Frindall system.
Frindall was fanatical about his work and was a man of strong convictions. He always staunchly defended his beliefs about cricket statistics. The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians wanted to revise the status of many 19th century and pre-war matches, which would have altered the records and statistics. Frindall was one of those who vehemently objected to this "rewriting of history". Hence some ACS statistics differ from those of Wisden, which is considered as the standard.
Similarly when the International Cricket Council awarded Test and ODI (One day International) status to the matches played for the Tsunami benefit as well as the ICC Super Series between Australia and a Rest of the World team, Frindall, along with many other statisticians and historians didn't agree. As a result, 'Playfair' (edited by Frindall) plus other publications to which he supplied statistics do not accord the official Test or ODI status to these matches.
Bearders - My Life in Cricket & Other Publications
His autobiography Bearders - My Life in Cricket appeared in 2006. He wrote many books on cricket records and statistics. These included Guiness Book of Cricket Facts & Facts, four editions of Wisden Book of Cricket Records and Wisden Book of Test Cricket. In addition, he edited Playfair Cricket Annual since 1986 and the Cricket Records section of the Wisden Cricketers Almanack.
MBE, Doctor of Technology and Beard of the Year
Bill Frindall received MBE for his services to cricket in 2004. The Staffordshire University conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Technology for his contribution to statistics. His beard was declared Beard of the Year by the Beard Liberation Front.
Gold Standard of Cricket Statisticians
Bill Frindall's death shocked the cricket world and he received many tributes.
International Cricket Council President David Morgan said, “Bill was the gold standard of cricket statisticians, someone universally recognised within the game as a master of his art, and a prolific author.”
The BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew remarked, "He brought scoring alive. He had this incredible scoring system that made every ball an event. If you referred back to something that had happened earlier in the day, he would know exactly which delivery you would be talking about."
