Born 1 October 1900 in
Gloucester, Goddard joined
Gloucestershire in 1922 as a
fast bowler, Goddard met with so little success in his first six years that he was not re-engaged by Gloucestershire for 1928. However, determined to succeed, he joined the ground staff at
Lord's and switched to
off spin. With his massive hands and steep bounce due to his height (about 190 centimetres or six feet three inches), he was an immediate success and Gloucestershire re-engaged him for 1929. His haul of 206 wickets in the
1947 County Championship will forever stand as the last case of 200 wickets in a season in that competition. With much slower over-rates and fewer matches, few bowlers today can take a third as many wickets. Among his best bowling feats for Gloucestershire were: – 17 for 106 against Kent at
Bristol in 1939 – 16 for 99 against Worcestershire at Bristol in 1939 – 16 for 181 (10 for 113 in second innings) against Worcestershire at Cheltenham in 1937 – 15 for 107 (9 for 20 to finish match) on a "pitch of easy pace" against Derbyshire at Bristol in 1949. – 9 for 37 against Leicestershire at Bristol in 1934 – 9 for 82 against Surrey at Cheltenham in 1946 – 9 for 21 against Cambridge University at Cheltenham in 1929 In 1951, at the age of fifty, Goddard was forced to retire due to an attack of
pneumonia and
pleurisy, but because he wanted so desperately to reach the 3,000-wicket mark, he came back for fourteen matches in 1952, even managing to pick up a ten-for, till at 51 years of age it became apparent his body could no longer support his immense will-power; he ended with 2,979 wickets, fifth on the
all-time wickets tally after
Wilfred Rhodes,
Tich Freeman, Parker, and
Jack Hearne. He left Gloucestershire's off-spin heritage safe in the hands of
John Mortimore,
Bomber Wells, and
David Allen. After he retired, Goddard ran a furniture shop in his home city of Gloucester, right up to a year before his death on 22 May 1966. From his shop, Goddard provided an early cable television service to customers in Gloucester in the 1950s. This pioneering system offered a superior reception to that which was available from rooftop aerials in the city. == References ==