Carl Willis

Carl Bleackley Willis, born on March 23, 1893 at Daylesford, died on May 11, aged 37. Educated at Wesley College, Melbourne, and Melbourne University, playing in the Eleven of both, he was a stylish bat and a very good outfield. As a member of the A.I.F. team of 1919 he was very successful, making four hundreds in scoring 1,652 runs in first-class matches with an average of 41 and being first among those who played regularly. His most meritorious innings was doubtless his 96 v. An England XI. at Scarborough. His highest scores were 156 not out v. Leicestershire, when he and C. E. Pellew added 261 for the fifth wicket, 129 not out v. Worcestershire when,with Pellewagain as partner, he helped to put on 301 (unseparated) for the fifth wicket in two hours and forty minutes, 130 v. Notts, when he and Oldfield added 169 for the ninth, and 127 v. Sussex. For the same team during its visit to South Africa he made 94 v. Western Province. His first big success was to play an innings of 168 for Victorian Colts against New South Wales Colts and Melbourne in 1912-13, and later he made 111 for A.I.F. v. Victoria in 1919-20, 133 for the Rest v. The Australian team at Sydney in 1921-2, and 100 for Victoria v. New South Wales, also at Sydney, in 1924-5. During the tour of the Victorian team in New Zealand in 1924-5 he scored 104 against Canterbury at Christchurch.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack