An attractive left-handed batsman, William Bruce was a thorough entertainer. He loved to live by the sword and therefore, die by it. He was the first southpaw from Australia to visit England and immediately left an impression on those shores. Jones could also bowl useful left-arm medium pace and the uniqueness of the angle made him a handy customer with the ball. He was primarily a batting all-rounder whose bowling duties were mostly restricted to providing support to the main seamers. While Bruce's rollicking strokeplay made him a treat to watch, he did have technical issues, particularly in defence and was extremely fragile when it came to weathering the storm. Nevertheless, he had his moments, more so for Victoria though he averaged lower in FC. With over 5000 runs and close to 150 wickets, Bruce had a fairly impressive First-Class career. Off the field, there were issues aplenty for him, none more deadly than his lust for alcohol. Having been a qualified lawyer, he also had problems there, possibly causing a severe mental stress. So much so that, he committed suicide at the age of 61 by drowning into the sea.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan