innings. In the first innings of the Fifth Test he took 4 catches in his last Test to bring his total to 15 catches and 1 stumping in the series as Australia retained the Ashes with a 1–1 draw. Style and personality Don Bradman noted the similarity in footwork, "swoop" and aggression between Grout and Don Tallon. Grout described Australian teammate Alan Davidson as his "bread and butter", and snared 48 of his first 100 victims from his bowling. He took plenty of outside edges from late-swinging balls. He hated keeping to off-spinners as the ball is often obscured by the batsman until it is too late; this is in contrast to leg spinners where the ball is visible from the time it is bowled. "Asked by an Englishman if he'd attended a public school, he replied: "Eton. And drinkin'."" Grout loved billiards, and met champion Indian billiards player Wilson Jones in Kolkata in 1960; the test team cheered Wilson in the World Amateur Billiards Championship, which was being held at the same time as the test. In sports, prominent athletes often receive nicknames that then become widely used once they meet with popular approval. Grout's personality added his last name as a rhyming slang for a "Shout" (round). This poetic colloquialism arises in the context of drinking in a drinking establishment such as a pub, as in "And be sure to get your Wally Grout (shout) in." Here, a statement such as "It's your Wally" is a notification that it is the listener's turn to buy a round of drinks (a shout). Death "Grout ignored doctor's warnings about his weak heart and kept on playing until he was 39 – and died from a heart attack less than three years later." His obituary in Wisden commented: "Grout entered hospital only two days before his death. A Brisbane doctor was afterwards reported as saying that Grout knew that he might collapse at any time during the last four years of his Test career and that he took part in the Australian tour of the West Indies only a few months after a heart attack in 1964. Yet Wally's unfailingly cheerful demeanour gave no inkling that there might be anything amiss with him." References Cited texts External links Australian cricketers 1927 births 1968 deaths Australia Test cricketers Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductees Queensland cricketers Sportspeople from Mackay, Queensland Cricketers from