 Until the invention of the googly, bowling was expected to be predictable, and the googly may initially have been considered an underhand tactic. On one occasion, Nottinghamshire batsman William Gunn was stumped after running down the pitch in an attempt to stop a ball bowled by Bosanquet. Gunn's team-mate Arthur Shrewsbury then protested that Bosanquet's bowling was unfair. On another occasion, when asked if the googly was illegal, Bosanquet is said to have replied, "Oh no, only immoral." For many years, the googly was known in Australia as a "Bosie". His Times obituary stated, "No man probably has in his time had so important and lasting an influence on the game of cricket".
