Colin McCool

Colin McCool, born 1915, was an Australian cricketer who later made his name in England. A leg-spin bowler good enough to play all five tests for Australia under Donald Bradman in 1946/47, he was also a useful lower order batsman, and scored an unbeaten century in the match at Melbourne. He later played tests against India, but by the time McCool toured England under Bradman in 1948 he had fallen out of favour with the selectors and did not figure in the test side.

Related Topics:
1915 - Cricketer - England - Australia - Donald Bradman - Melbourne

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Like many cricketers of the era, McCool took up professional contracts with Lancashire League teams, but was tempted back into first-class cricket in 1956 with Somerset, as the West Country side recruited widely to take themselves off the bottom of the County Championship, where they had languished for four years.

Related Topics:
Lancashire League - First-class cricket - Somerset - West Country - County Championship

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At Somerset, McCool was an instant success as a batsman, scoring 1,915 runs in his first season, and took occasional useful wickets with now very gentle leg-spin. In 1957, he was joined at Taunton by another Australian, Bill Alley, and in the wet summer of 1958 Somerset finished third in the Championship, their highest position since 1892.

Related Topics:
Taunton - Bill Alley - 1958

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

McCool stayed with Somerset until 1960, when he retired. He died, aged 83, in 1998.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

His son, Russel, made occasional appearances for Somerset in the 1980s.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~