Did a badminton champion lead the way in popularising the wearing of shorts by men players of racquet sports?
It’s been more than 90 years since Bunny Austin shocked Wimbledon by giving up on the white cricket flannels traditionally worn by male tennis players on the grounds their weight slowed him down and reached the 1934 finals in shorts.
But by then Bristol-born Raymond ‘Bill’ White had been playing in shorts for at least three years while winning multiple tournaments on the international badminton circuit, including when reaching the men’s singles finals of the sport’s equivalent of Wimbledon in 1932, and winning the men’s doubles with Donald Hume.
White’s well-documented adoption of shorts and championship titles give him a place of honour in the Badminton Museum, Milton Keynes, where the photo records include one from a1931 England v Ireland international match he played in shorts in London against in Frank Devlin.
There is no evidence, alas, of another alleged wardrobe first by White – that is that he is still the only racquets sports star to report to a major tournament referee dressed in a dinner jacket.
From the mid-30s onwards more and more racquet sport players switched to shorts but long pants continued to be favoured at Wimbledon by France’s Yvon Petre, including when he won the 1946 men’s title. The last Wimbledon player seen in trousers was Trey Waltke, USA, who wore a pair held up by an old school tie for fun during his 2nd round defeat in 1983 by that year’s eventual semi-finalist, Ivan Lendl…more
Pam Beddard