[Ads-l] Antedating of googly (1903->1892, -> 1878 as googler), googler (1923->1872?)

[Hugo]

googly, n. OED: 1903
googly, attrib. or as adj. OED: 1909

A googly in cricket is "a ball which breaks from the off, though bowled
with apparent leg-break action."

Here's "googly ones" and "googly's" from February 1892.

The OED also has googler as a googly bowler (1923) but it was also an
alternate spelling of googly going back earlier to the 1870s, as a term
used by school children.

I also found an 1872 googler which I think refers to a googly bowler but
might also be a ball.

===

ANTEDATINGS: 1892 GOOGLY ONES, GOOGLY'S, 1893 GOOGLEY

---

International Cricket Match. (1892, February 2). Newcastle Morning Herald
and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954) , p. 5

[Begin]
Bannerman was playing
with unusual freedom, but for a time the
scoring was slow, Briggs keeping the bats
men quiet with his googly ones. At last
[End]

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/135969039?searchTerm=googly

---

LORD SHEFFIELD'S TEAM v. NEWCASTLE DISTRICT. (1892, February 10). Referee
(Sydney, NSW : 1886 - 1939), p. 8.

[Begin]
McGregor filled the vacancy, and retired without
scoring by putting one of Cresswick's googly's into
Johnson's hands at mid-off. 8—0—258.
[End]

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/121791411?searchTerm=googly

---

CRICKET. (1893, December 22). North Melbourne Advertiser (Vic. : 1873 -
1894), p. 3.

[Begin]
Their averages compare more
than favourably with other 'googley"
[unreadable]
[End]

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/66166002?searchTerm=googley

===

NEW ALTERNATE SPELLING AND ANTEDATINGS: 1870s-1890s GOOGLER

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SYDNEY TABLE TALK. (1878, July 16). Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners'
Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954) , p. 2.

[Begin]
The impor-
tant moment at last arrived ; David went to
the wickets; a ball of the very simple sort
which school boys call a " googler," was de-
livered, - expectation was on the tiptoe -
when the great player made a desperate lunge,
sending his bat into the middle of the field;
and allowing the ball to rest quietly amongst
the stumps, to the infinite merriment of all
the novices, who had previously been taking
lessons from the oracle.
[End]

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/136040717?searchTerm=googler

---

SATURDAY'S CRICKET. (1887, November 7). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 -
1933), p. 6.

[Begin]
Silvester came in, and
was completely beaten by a "googler"
from Coningham.
[End]

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/3482794?searchTerm=googley

---
1893 http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/8717893?searchTerm=googley
1895 http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/66813499?searchTerm=googley
---

===

ANTEDATING: 1872 GOOGLER (a googly bowler?)

---

Cricket. (1872, January 27). The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser
(NSW : 1871 - 1912), p. 109.

[Begin]
The 'googlers' would have been
terribly punished in a muff-match— but were very fatal
among the sixteen. Gregory made a very pretty catch, off
his own slows, to dispose of the last man, Wood.
Some of the sixteen batted very fairly.
[End]

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/162665902?searchTerm=googler

===

Hugo

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