About Ray Lindwall
Raymond Russell Lindwall (3 October 1921 – 23 June 1996) was an Australian cricketer who played 61 Test matches for Australia between 1946 and 1960. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers in cricket history. In addition to his cricket career, he played top-flight rugby league for St. George, appearing in two grand finals for the club. Lindwall made his first-class debut for New South Wales in 1941–42. At the same time, Lindwall played for St. George in the first-grade of the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership as a full back. His career was interrupted by World War II, in which he served in the Australian Army in New Guinea from 1943 to 1945. He made his Test debut against New Zealand in March 1946. During the early part of his career, he also played rugby league at first-grade level before retiring from the sport in 1946 to focus on cricket. As a right-arm fast bowler, Lindwall was known for his smooth, rhythmic action and ability to generate pace and swing. Together with Keith Miller, he formed one of the most celebrated new-ball partnerships in Test cricket. He was a key member of Don Bradman’s Australian team that toured England in 1948, known as “The Invincibles”. Lindwall was also a capable lower-order batsman, scoring two Test centuries. He was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 1996, named in the Australian Cricket Board’s Team of the Century in 2000, and inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009. Lindwall returned to Australia still suffering from the after-effects of tropical disease, but he quickly made an impact upon the resumption of first-class cricket. Lindwall was known for his classical style, with a smooth and rhythmic run-up and textbook side-on bowling action, from which he generated his trademark outswinger. At the age of 11, Lindwall and his elder brother Jack were spectators at the Sydney Cricket Ground on the second day of the First Test of the 1932–33 Ashes series.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.