text: bobby peel robert " bobby " peel ( 12 february 1857 – 12 august 1941 ) was an english professional cricketer who played first - class cricket for yorkshire between 1883 and 1897 . primarily a left - arm spin bowler , peel was also an effective left - handed batsman who played in the middle order . between 1884 and 1896 , he was regularly selected to represent england , playing 20 test matches in which he took 101 wickets . over the course of his career , he scored 12 , 191 runs and took 1 , 775 wickets in first - class cricket . a match - winning bowler , particularly when conditions favoured his style , peel generally opened the attack , an orthodox tactic for a spinner at the time , and was highly regarded by critics . peel began playing for yorkshire in 1883 but , after a successful debut , was overshadowed in the team by edmund peate and often played only a minor role with the ball . improvements in his batting and his excellence as a fielder kept him in the team and when peate was sacked for drunkenness in 1887 , peel became yorkshire 's main spinner . he had already played for england , touring australia with two professional teams , although he did not play a test in england until 1888 . over the following years he regularly took over 100 wickets in each season and often played in the prestigious gentlemen v players matches . he was generally yorkshire 's leading bowler — until the emergence of george hirst , he generally received little support from other members of the attack — and often among their leading batsmen . his best season in county cricket came in 1896 , when he recorded the double of 1 , 000 runs and 100 wickets , and made his highest first - class score of 210 . among his notable feats in tests , he bowled england to victory after they had followed on in australia in 1894 – 95 and took six for 23 in his final test . the first english cricketer to reach 100 wickets against australia , in 1894 – 95 he also became the first player who failed to score in four successive test innings . as a player , peel was very popular and admirers often entertained him socially ; he became well known for liking alcohol . on the morning of the match that england won after following on , peel was intoxicated and had to be sobered up . in 1897 , he was suspended by yorkshire for drunkenness during a match . although it is unclear what exactly happened — peel said he slipped when fielding , but hirst later recalled that he came on the field drunk and when asked to leave , bowled a ball in the wrong direction — he never played for the county again . decades later , a widely circulated story suggested that peel urinated on the pitch before being sent away . historians consider the story unlikely , and attribute it to a misunderstanding by its reporter . peel continued to play and coach cricket for most of his life and in later years became associated with yorkshire once again . among his other jobs , he became the landlord of a public house and worked in a mill . he died in 1941 at the age of 84 . early career yorkshire cricketer peel was born in churwell , a village close to morley , on 12 february 1857 . he was the son of a miner , and peel himself worked in the mines for a time . from the age of 16 , he played with increasing frequency for the churwell cricket team , and by 1882 was part of the yorkshire colts . at the time , ted peate was the first - choice left - arm spin bowler in the yorkshire team , and his presence restricted peel 's opportunities . an injury to peate allowed peel to make his first - class debut for yorkshire against surrey at sheffield on 10 july 1882 . peel took nine wickets in the game , including five for 83 ( five wickets taken while conceding 83 runs ) in the second innings . lord hawke — who assumed the captaincy of yorkshire later that season — subsequently described peel 's debut as one of the most impressive for yorkshire . peel played regularly alongside peate between 1883 and 1886 . he had a junior role , and his bowling was used sparingly ; in five seasons he took 163 wickets for yorkshire , and he only took over 50 first - class wickets in a season once before 1887 . his obituary in wisden cricketers ' almanack in 1942 stated : " yorkshire were singularly rich in bowling talent , so that [ peel ] had to wait several years before attaining real distinction " . peel retained his place through his ability as a batsman and fielder ; in his history of yorkshire county cricket club , r. s. holmes judges that peel was " brilliant " as a fielder and that it was " probably the marked improvement in [ his ] batting which first secured him a place in the county eleven . " he had occasional success with the ball , for example taking eleven for 87 in the match against gloucestershire in 1884 — a match in which peate did not play . meanwhile , his batting average gradually improved until it reached the mid - 20s in 1887 . at the time , the yorkshire team was generally inconsistent . test debut during the english winter of 1884 – 85 , peel was included in the team which toured australia under the management of alfred shaw , arthur shrewsbury and james lillywhite . english teams that toured australia at this time were not composed exclusively of the best cricketers in england . the 1884 – 85 english team , like most earlier tours , contained only professional cricketers ; less usually , the team contained nine players who , critics judged , would likely have been in a full - strength england side . much of the cricket was overshadowed by off - field clashes with the australian team that had toured england in 1884 ; the disputes mainly concerned each team 's share of match receipts . peel was required to bowl a large number of overs ; in minor matches , mainly played against the odds ( where the opposition teams included more players than the english team ) , he took 321 wickets at an average of less than five . in first - class matches , he was the leading wicket - taker with 35 wickets , but his average of 19 . 22 was relatively high . during the tour , peel made his test debut and played all five matches . his first test began on 12 december 1884 . opening the bowling , took eight wickets in the match ; in the second innings , he took five for 51 on a pitch affected by rain . he was less effective in the remaining games , ending the series with 21 wickets at an average of 21 . 47 , and scored 37 runs at an average of 7 . 40 . he was not selected in the next test matches played by england , against australia in 1886 , and missed the next english tour of australia , in the winter of 1886 – 87 , again organised by shaw , shrewsbury and lillywhite . leading bowler main yorkshire spinner in 1886 , lord hawke became full - time captain of the yorkshire team . one of his first actions , with the support of the yorkshire committee , was to sack peate early in the 1887 season . at the time , many professional cricketers drank heavily and the yorkshire team had many players who liked alcohol . peate had been the chief offender for some years , and while he remained yorkshire 's leading left - arm spinner , his disruptive influence and disregard for authority was having a negative influence on the team . the historian mick pope suggests that hawke may have felt able to act as he knew that peel was available as a replacement . with peate unavailable , peel began to play a leading role . in the 1887 season , a year in which good weather produced conditions generally in favour of batsmen , he took 85 wickets at an average of 17 . 32 . he also improved his record with the bat , scoring 835 runs at 25 . 30 . according to his wisden obituary , he recorded at least two match - winning performances that season : against kent he took five for 14 and scored 43 runs in a low - scoring game ; in the match against leicestershire he took eleven wickets for 51 . twice in 1887 , peel appeared for the professional players in their prestigious match against the gentlemen , the first time he had been selected for the team . he played regularly for them until 1897 . during the winter of 1887 – 88 , the melbourne cricket club organised another english tour of australia . the team was mainly composed of amateurs , but peel was included with three other professionals . at the same time , a rival english team , organised by shaw , shrewsbury and lillywhite , also toured australia . the resulting confusion affected the attendances at games and the financial success of both tours . the lack of success for the australian team in this period lessened the quality of tests and , amid declining spectator interest , touring teams no longer generated profits . in his history of early international cricket , malcolm knox observes that " two england teams were coming when australian cricket was not strong enough to host one " . peel took 49 first - class wickets on the tour , finishing second in the bowling averages for the team , and scored 449 runs in first - class matches at an average of 34 . 53 , which placed him second in the batting averages . although various matches were played by both teams against combined australian teams , only one official test match was played on the tour . the best eleven players from both english teams combined to defeat an australian team which had several leading players missing ; later writers questioned whether the match should have the status of a test . peel took nine wickets in the match , including five for 18 in the first innings as australia were bowled out for 42 runs . home test matches in 1888 , an unusually rainy summer led to wet pitches which made batting difficult . peel took 171 first - class wickets , the first time he had passed 100 wickets in a season , at an average of 12 . 22 . he also topped the yorkshire bowling averages for county matches . his best performance came against nottinghamshire , when he took eight for 12 in the first innings on the way to fourteen for 33 in the match ; for the players against the gentlemen , he took six for 34 . in the season , peel scored 669 runs at 13 . 38 . that year , an australian team toured england and peel was chosen for his first test matches in england . the australian team , missing several key players , won the first test match before england recovered to win the final two games . playing all three tests , peel took 24 wickets at an average of 7 . 54 . in the decisive third test , he took seven for 31 in the first australian innings and finished with match figures of eleven for 68 . wisden noted that peel " bowled remarkably well " in the second test ; it stated that , in the third , " the australians were helpless against peel " and judged his overall performance " altogether admirable " . peel 's performance in 1888 resulted in his selection , prior to the 1889 season , as one of wisden 's " six great bowlers " ; this was the first time wisden had made the award which in later years became the prestigious wisden cricketer of the year . the citation said : " during his early career [ peel ] was contemporary with peate , and naturally did not get the same chances that have fallen to his lot during the last two years . he has won his way to the very front rank by sheer merit , and bats and fields so well that he would be worth playing in any eleven if he could not get a wicket . " yorkshire had a poor season in 1889 , finishing second - from - last in the list of counties ; writing in 1904 , holmes described this as " the low - water mark of yorkshire cricket " . the team lost twelve games and won eight , affected by the decline of several leading players . the fielding was poor ; peel had twelve catches dropped from his bowling in one game . only peel had a good season , and holmes pondered : " where would yorkshire have been without peel ? " he took 130 wickets at an average of 16 . 39 ; with the bat , he scored 991 runs , his best seasonal aggregate to that point , at an average of 22 . 02 . he came top of both the yorkshire batting and bowling averages and had three times more wickets than any other player . additionally , he was the only player in the team to score a century in matches against another county ; against middlesex at lord 's , he scored 158 runs , his maiden first - class hundred . at the end of the season , hawke ended the careers of several players ; the yorkshire president told the committee that the " demon drink " was to blame . in 1890 , peel took 171 wickets at an average of 13 . 71 and scored 817 runs at 18 . 56 . he missed several yorkshire games while playing representative matches , but was comfortably their leading bowler with 91 wickets for the county — the next best figure was 37 wickets . the australians toured england again that year , and peel took six wickets in the first test at lord 's . the touring team 's results were poor , which resulted in a loss of prestige for the test matches . the newly formed county championship was a rival attraction , and several players were withdrawn from the england team to play for their counties — andrew stoddart , for example , was withdrawn by middlesex before the first test . with middlesex due to play yorkshire , stoddart was also withdrawn from the second test ; upon finding this out , lord hawke withdrew his yorkshire players from the england xi , including peel . in the middlesex – yorkshire game , peel dismissed stoddart twice . the third test was rained off completely . during the 1891 season , peel took 99 wickets at 17 . 35 and scored 971 runs at 24 . 27 , including his second first - class century , but yorkshire again performed poorly . this prompted a reorganisation of the club over the following two years . peel led the yorkshire batting averages and came second in the bowling . in the winter of 1891 – 92 , he was included in the touring team to australia organised by lord sheffield and captained by w. g. grace . he came fourth in the team 's bowling averages with 15 wickets at 18 . 86 and finished fifth in the batting averages with 229 runs at 25 . 44 . he played in all three test matches , taking six wickets at 21 . 33 , and scoring 134 runs at 26 . 80 . in the third game , he scored 83 , his first test match fifty , but did not bowl ; the lancashire cricketer johnny briggs bowled australia out on a rain - damaged pitch but this was england 's only victory as australia won the series 2 – 1 . in first - class matches during 1892 , peel scored 772 runs at 19 . 79 and took 121 wickets at 16 . 80 . additionally , in a non - first - class games against leicestershire , he scored 226 as well as taking five wickets in leicestershire 's first innings . in the 1893 season , he took slightly more wickets at a lower average ( 126 at 14 . 51 ) but his run aggregate fell to 550 runs at 13 . 75 . he was part of a successful yorkshire team . the county won their first official county championship title and the team was no longer as dependent on peel with the ball — ted wainwright took more wickets than he did . the australians toured england once again , but peel played in just one of the three test matches . he did not take a wicket , did little with the bat , and was left out of the team for the second test . as the australians had proved poor on the field , lord hawke withdrew peel and stanley jackson from the team for the third test so that they could play for yorkshire . in 1894 , peel scored 699 runs at 16 . 25 , failing to score a half - century . with the ball , he took 145 wickets at 13 . 44 . during the season , he was awarded a benefit match at bradford , which raised £ 2 , 000 . the retirement of george ulyett that season made peel the team 's senior professional , an important position at the time . australian tour of 1894 – 95 during the 1894 season , the melbourne cricket club and the trustees of the sydney cricket ground combined to organise another english tour of australia . they asked andrew stoddart to raise a team , and peel was chosen . peel was successful in the opening first - class matches of the tour . he took five wickets in innings against south australia , victoria and new south wales ; after three games , he had taken 23 wickets , and he and briggs provided the main threat with the ball . against victoria , peel also scored 48 and 65 with the bat . he played a leading role in the first test , which wisden described as " probably the most sensational match ever played either in australia or in england " . australia scored 586 in their first innings ; england scored 325 and , following - on , scored 437 to leave a target of 177 to win . at the end of the fifth day 's play , australia had scored 113 for two , and were overwhelming favourites to win . until then , peel had been ineffective in the match . several of the england team , including peel , drank heavily in the night thinking the game was lost , but overnight rain drastically changed the nature of the pitch . peel had not sobered up when play was scheduled to start , although stoddart had given him a cold shower to speed up the process , and arrived late . as another player was also missing , the start was delayed ; this allowed the pitch to dry further and therefore become more sticky and difficult to bat on . peel had slept through the overnight storm and was astonished when he saw the state of the pitch , suspecting someone had watered it . he reportedly said : " gi ' me t , mr stoddart . ah 'll get t out before lunch " . with briggs , peel bowled australia out , taking five wickets to go with the one he took the previous evening to finish with six for 67 . australia scored 166 and lost by ten runs . one australian newspaper reported that peel " found the match rather a trying one , and came in fairly done up " . the english team were praised for fighting back , but the role of the weather was acknowledged , and some critics blamed the australians for batting badly in the second innings . england won the second test ; after both teams ' first innings were low - scoring , peel , appearing at number six , batted for 150 minutes in the second innings to score 53 without hitting any fours . stoddart 's 173 set australia a big target , and peel took four for 77 to bowl england to a 94 - run win . australia won the third test by 382 runs ; peel took four wickets in the game , but was dismissed in both innings without scoring . it is possible that around this time , peel was threatened by stoddart with expulsion from the tour owing to his drinking . australia won the fourth test to level the series at 2 – 2 . in very favourable bowling conditions , peel took three for 74 but australia totalled 284 . england were bowled out twice to give australia an innings victory , and peel suffered his second consecutive pair ( i.e. failing to score in either innings ) . he was the first player to score four successive ducks in test cricket , a succession of failures not repeated until 1936 , and this remained the record number of successive ducks until 1985 . amid great public interest — the game was advertised as " the match of the century " — and great tension , the decisive final test match was played . peel took four wickets in australia 's first innings , then scored 73 runs in the first innings , sharing a 162 - run partnership with archie maclaren . in australia 's second innings , peel took three more wickets to return match figures of seven for 203 in 94 overs . jack brown scored a century to guide england towards a target of 297 , and peel eventually hit the winning runs . peel ended the series with 27 wickets at 26 . 70 , second in the averages behind tom richardson , and 168 runs at 18 . 67 , placing him sixth in the batting averages . david frith suggests that this series was vital in establishing the importance of test cricket , and that the interest felt in both england and australia , and the coverage by the press , set up the pattern and expectations of future test series . in all first - class games , peel scored 421 runs at 21 . 05 , to be eighth in the averages , and took 57 wickets at 25 . 28 , placing him third in the averages behind richardson and briggs , although the latter had fewer wickets . final seasons returning to england for the 1895 season , peel took 180 wickets , the most he took in any season , at an average of 14 . 97 . this included the best figures of his career when he took nine for 22 against somerset ; in total he took fifteen wickets in that match , and wisden described this performance as " causing a sensation " . he led the yorkshire bowling averages , and george hirst became his regular partner opening the bowling . both men took over 130 wickets for yorkshire that season and the pair established an effective bowling partnership until the end of peel 's career . with the bat in 1895 , peel scored 847 runs at 17 . 28 . in 1896 , peel performed the double of 1 , 000 runs and 100 wickets for the only time in his first - class career . in a dry summer which favoured batsmen , his wickets came at a higher average : he took 128 at 17 . 50 , but he scored 1 , 206 runs at 30 . 15 , his best batting aggregate and average in an english season . he came third in the yorkshire batting averages , and often succeeded in scoring runs when the team were under pressure . against warwickshire , he scored 210 not out , the highest first - class innings of his career , and one of four centuries in the innings , out of a yorkshire total of 887 . a contemporary critic described peel 's innings as the best ever played by a left - hander . he shared a partnership of 292 for the eighth wicket with lord hawke . as of 2014 , this remains yorkshire 's highest partnership for that wicket , and the fifth - highest eighth - wicket partnership recorded in first - class cricket . he also took a hat - trick against kent . the australians played three tests in england in 1896 , but peel only played in the final one . before the match , several english professionals — not including peel — threatened to strike , but the dispute was settled . then , before the third day of the game , the pitch was mysteriously watered , becoming very difficult for batting . australia only needed a small total , but peel believed that he could bowl them out . he took six of the last seven australian wickets at a cost of 23 runs to bowl england to victory ; in recognition of this achievement , stanley jackson , a team - mate in this game , gave him a gold watch - chain ornament . he was less successful with the bat , scoring a pair once again . this was his final test match . in total , peel played 20 tests , scoring 427 runs at an average of 14 . 72 and taking 101 wickets at 16 . 98 . in january 1897 , the australian fred spofforth claimed in a letter to the sporting life that peel occasionally threw the ball , an accusation he also levelled at tom mckibbin , an australian bowler . spofforth wrote that peel " has no need to resort to throwing . i acknowledge that he does not often take to it , still , it is well known to cricketers that at times he does ' shy ' [ throw ] . " peel denied this and claimed that leading umpires would support him . dismissal by yorkshire in the 1897 season , peel was suspended by yorkshire for drunkenness . alcohol was popular with many professional cricketers , and the careers of several yorkshire players in this period , including peate , had been ended for this reason . peel was always known to be a heavy drinker , but his behaviour had been tolerated . his fame , brought about by his performances , made the problem worse . derek hodgson , in the official yorkshire club history , writes : " a cheerful , gregarious man , [ peel ] took to hospitality and entertaining with alacrity and moved in such society , particularly in london , that when one of the foremost journalists of the day asked to see him he was off by a man who announced himself as ' peel 's secretary ' , adding : ' he does not like interviews and has little to say . he sent me to take his place . ' " hodgson observes : " it is not impossible , of course , that bobby was either shy , or ' indisposed ' at that particular moment " , and suggests that peel 's downfall , like peate 's before him , was because he " was too often the toast of the town " . in 1897 , peel had played regularly until july with some success . he scored 115 against leicestershire , and took eight for 53 against kent . he then suffered an injury in a match against lancashire that caused him to miss around a month of cricket . he returned to the yorkshire team to play middlesex at sheffield on 16 august . in middlesex 's first innings , peel took five for 71 , but on the third day , he appeared on the field drunk . later that day , the yorkshire committee met and resolved to suspend peel for the remainder of the season for " presenting himself on the field in a state of intoxication " . according to anthony woodhouse , in his history of yorkshire county cricket club , this was not peel 's first such offence . contemporary accounts give no indication of trouble on the field involving peel , but the influential lord hawke may have encouraged the press to remain silent . the decision to suspend peel was made public on 19 august , the following day . there are several conflicting versions of what happened on the field in the middlesex game . on the morning of 19 august , replying to suggestions that he was drunk , peel spoke to a newspaper reporter and stated : " before i went on the ground at sheffield — i don 't blush to say it — i had two small glasses of gin and water . at luncheon time i had nothing " . peel said that he opened the bowling with stanley jackson and was eventually rested without a word being said to him . he stated that he later slipped twice while fielding , but the cause was that the spikes on his boots were broken . that evening , when he went to collect his wages at the end of the game , the yorkshire secretary , joseph wolstenholme , informed him of the suspension on the grounds that his play was " unsatisfactory " , and when pressed by peel for an explanation , he told him : " you have had a glass too much " . the cricket writer a. a. thompson relates a different story told to him fifty years later by hirst , who was playing in the match . according to this account , hirst was having breakfast when peel came in drunk . anxious that peel would be seen , and worried about bringing the team into disrepute , hirst forced peel to return to bed and went to the ground , where he told lord hawke that peel had been taken ill in the night and would not be able to play . hawke promised to see peel that evening and took the twelfth man onto the field . according to thompson , when hirst went onto the field , he saw " with dawning dismay that there were not eleven fieldsmen present but twelve . there , his face red , his cap awry , the ball in his hand , stood peel " . peel was even more drunk than at breakfast , and hawke ordered him from the field . peel replied that he was fine , and according to hirst bowled a ball to demonstrate his fitness , but in his confusion did so in the wrong direction . peel was then led from the field . after falling asleep in the hotel , he was advised by hirst to apologise to lord hawke , but refused , claiming that he was indispensable to the team and would be recalled . a different , widely circulated story suggests that peel urinated on the pitch before being dismissed by hawke . woodhouse , writing in 1989 , suggested that " it is difficult to ascertain the truth behind this long - standing tale " , while hodgson observes : " i have never been convinced of this account because it has always seemed to be so much out of character for a cricketer of that time when so much stress was placed upon behaving ' like a gentleman ' even in one 's cups . " mick pope writes : " the more recent accusation that peel urinated on the pitch remains unjust , unproven and such a myth ... that it should have no place in any study of bobby peel , the cricketer . " the story originated in a cricket publication , cricket quarterly , in 1968 . the historian rowland bowen , in an article called " fresh light on the dismissal of r peel in 1897 " , claimed that an " aged yorkshireman of 85 " told him that peel had urinated and that this was a common practice then . subsequent research by the historian irving rosewater established that bowen 's information came to him second - hand . the 85 - year - old had not used the word " urinated " but had actually said " pissed at the wicket " , meaning that peel was drunk ( " pissed " being slang for drunk ) on the pitch ( " at the wicket " ) . rosewater suggests that this was merely repetition of the already known story , not the new information claimed by bowen . rosewater self - published his findings in a book called an unjust on bobby peel in 1997 . peel , having concluded that the suspension would end his yorkshire career , signed a contract to play for accrington cricket club . he told a newspaper that he regarded his suspension as unfair , that he had been given no opportunity to explain , and that he had taken the appointment with accrington to provide for himself and his family . in 1900 , he told cricket magazine that , before his suspension , he had been bedridden for three weeks as a result of an injury he suffered while batting , that he played against middlesex with some success and was then suspended without any explanation . he later said of the incident : " [ lord hawke ] put his arm around me and escorted me off the field and out of yorkshire cricket . what a gentleman " . the journalist harry pearson suggests that this was " either very gracious , or exceedingly sarcastic . " hawke later described peel 's sacking as " the most decisive action of my whole career ... it had to be done for the sake of discipline and the good of cricket . nothing ever gave me so much pain . " at the time , hawke believed these events cost yorkshire the county championship , but the team had only two more games to play in that season 's competition , and it was mathematically impossible for them to win . hirst told thompson that hawke was always sorry that peel had to be sacked , and that whenever the pair met afterwards , they remained friends and that neither bore the other any animosity . although peel considered himself indispensable , the following year he was replaced by wilfred rhodes , who remained in the team until 1930 and took 4 , 184 first - class wickets . peel remained popular with the people of morley in the aftermath of his dismissal , and they supported him rather than believing the reports . later life peel made two further first - class appearances in 1897 after his suspension by yorkshire . he played in two end - of - season festival games at hastings , first for the north against the south and then for the players against the gentlemen , but did little with bat or ball . in all first - class games that year he took 72 wickets at 19 . 51 and scored 566 runs at 22 . 64 . his only other appearances in first - class cricket came in 1899 , when he played for a. j. webbe 's xi against oxford university and for an england xi against the touring australians . he ended his first - class career with 12 , 191 first - class runs at an average of 19 . 44 and 1 , 775 wickets at 16 . 20 . in 1898 , peel played for accrington . his signing was widely reported in the press . before this , most professionals in league cricket were neither famous names nor particularly good cricketers . according to pearson , in his survey of club cricket in the north of england , peel was the first international cricketer to play in a league . he took 80 wickets that season , but only received a third of his salary ; the committee withheld the rest because of unspecified problems during the season . his contract was not renewed and he instead became the professional at morley . pearson suggests that peel 's signing showed the clubs that big - name signings could bring benefits . peel also accepted a position as a coach at essex in 1899 , and remained there until at least 1904 . the press suggested that he would qualify for essex , but he never played for that team . he later became the landlord of a public house in churwell . in 1923 he resumed his connection with yorkshire when he undertook a coaching and scouting programme for the county , in association with george hirst , organised by the yorkshire evening news . peel remained close to the yorkshire players . when the four yorkshire members of the english team that toured australia in 1932 – 33 departed from leeds , peel was present and gave each of them a white rose — the symbol of yorkshire . he attended the funeral of roy kilner in 1928 , and was one of many yorkshire cricketers to attend the memorial service for lord hawke in 1938 . peel continued to play cricket and coach locally into his seventies . in his later years , he worked in a woollen mill in morley . peel was married in 1878 ; he and his wife , annie louise , were married for over fifty years and had four children , one of whom was killed in the first world war . peel 's wife died in 1933 . peel lived until 1941 , when he died at the house of his daughter . among those who attended his funeral were hirst and rhodes . technique and personality wisden said that as a bowler , peel had a " fine length , easy action and splendid command of spin " , which meant that he " was often a match - winner " . peel consistently bowled a good length and varied the flight of the ball to deceive batsmen . he also bowled a quicker ball which , in contrast to his usual delivery , travelled in a straight line instead of turning . on a pitch affected by rain , batsmen found him very difficult to face , and he was very successful in these conditions . when bowling on pitches where the ball came more slowly off the surface , peel often bowled faster ; this pace made it difficult for batsmen to score runs against him even when conditions were in their favour . after he delivered the ball , the spin he imparted often made it curve in the air before it reached the batsman . according to woodhouse , when bowling , " peel brought his arm behind his back with a peculiar flourish - like action and then ' whipped the ball down ' " . he generally opened the bowling , including when he played for england . at the time , it was general practice to open the bowling with a fast bowler and a left - arm spinner . peel was the first english bowler to take 100 test wickets against australia . at a time when international matches were relatively rare , his 20 test matches were a considerable achievement , and it was unusual for a player to tour australia as often as he did : he went there four times . his main rival as a spinner and for a place in the england team was johnny briggs ; peel bowled faster , which made him harder to hit . archie maclaren , who captained england from the late 1890s and was a team - mate and captain of briggs , described peel as " the cleverest bowler of my time " . maclaren stated that peel thoroughly understood tactics and could spot weaknesses in a batsman 's technique . he concluded : " i place peel first on my list of great left - handed bowlers on account of his wonderful judgement , his diabolical cleverness and his great natural ability . " when rhodes took over the role of left - arm spin bowler in the yorkshire team , there was some debate over who out of peate , peel and rhodes was the best left - arm spinner to play for yorkshire . historians regard peel as part of a long - lasting chain of successful yorkshire left - arm spinners , preceded by peate and succeeded by rhodes . wisden described peel as a " punishing left - handed batsman " . batting in the middle order , he was often effective when other batsmen had failed . for england , he most often batted at number six . wisden also called him " a capital fieldsman , especially at cover - point " . during his playing days , peel was famous and well - respected — the actor henry ainley claimed that the highlight of his life was carrying peel 's bag . according to the historian david frith , peel was not a considerate husband . frith also suggests that he was sometimes involved in embarrassing situations ; for example , when ranjitsinhji invited him on a hunting trip , " peel blasted eight barrels at a hare , removing its legs , an ear and much else before chasing the remnants of the animal into a neighbouring property , still firing away , until all life was extinguished " . frith believes that peel had a " perverse " character , exemplified by lord hawke 's comment that he showed no pleasure at his many successes . pearson suggests that some of peel 's problems may have been connected to depression , but frith records that he mellowed in later life .