Frank Woolley's Peak — 3,000 Runs and 100 Wickets in 1925

Woolley had been Kent's senior batsman since 1910. His languid left-handed style was the most-praised in English cricket; Neville Cardus called him 'the most beautiful batsman of his generation'. By 1925, at 38, he had been a Test cricketer for 16 years.

Frank Woolley had played for Kent since 1906 and for England since 1909. By 1925 he was the leading professional all-rounder in English cricket — left-handed batsman, slow left-arm bowler. He scored 3,069 runs at 54.79 in 1925 with 10 hundreds, including 215 against Somerset at Gravesend, and took 110 wickets at 18.75. The double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets was a regular Woolley achievement; the 3,000-run figure was the rare addition.

His 1925 Test contribution to the 1924-25 Ashes had been modest (160 runs in five Tests); the home Test summer of 1925 was lighter, with no overseas tour. The county season therefore produced his highest aggregate to that point. The 215 at Gravesend in late June was made in 240 minutes and contained 27 fours and 5 sixes; the Wisden of 1926 called it 'as graceful an innings as has been seen in southern county cricket since the war'.

Woolley played until 1938 and finished with career figures of 58,969 first-class runs (third behind Hobbs and Hendren) and 2,068 wickets (10th in cricket history). He held over 1,000 first-class catches, the only player to do so other than wicket-keepers. He was named one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Century in 2000.

“Frank Woolley batted as a poet writes. There was no harshness in his strokeplay, no bitterness towards the bowler, only a quiet beauty.”

Woolley toured Australia in 1928-29 (modest with the bat) and remained Kent's senior batsman through to the late 1930s. He played 64 Tests for England, scoring 3,283 runs at 36.07 with 5 hundreds. His county-cricket career ended in 1938.