Indian Express Cricket
Ct. Marsh b. Lillie: Cricket in the 70's (Part II)
Earlier, in the 1st part of this article, I discussed the performances of the major cricket playing nations. Now, it is time to concentrate on the interesting events, on and off the field that made the headlines during the decade. There were plenty of dramas, debates, innovations etc. Overall, it was an era of change, for the game of cricket.
South Africa is banned from International cricket
After England and Australia, South Africa is the 3rd oldest test playing nation in the world. Their test history goes back to the late 19th century. However, the apartheid policy of the Pretoria government meant that their cricketing relation was confined with England, Australia, and later NZ. There was no scope to play cricket with India, Pakistan or WI.
In the early 1960's, as the movement against racism reached its zenith worldwide, pressure was applied on the South African government. With pressure from the newly independent African nations, SA was barred from the Olympics, and other major sporting events. But, ironically, the issue of excluding SA from the cricketing fraternity first came into the headlines, mainly due to a South Africa born player.
Basil Lewis D'Oliveira was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1931. Though he showed great talent as a young cricketer, it was quite likely that he would have remained in the oblivion as he belonged to a mixed race, (and hence to the 2nd class). It was mainly due to the effort of John Arlott, Cricket writer and commentator, that he found a place in the Central Lancashire League in England. He soon found a place in the county side Worcestershire, and after becoming a British citizen, made his test debut in 1966.
During the Ashes series in 1968, D'Oliveira scored 158 in the final test at the Oval. This made him in the minds of the pundits a certainty for the SA tour in the winter. The SA authority clearly stated that they had no intention of welcoming back their own boy.
The selectors, perhaps in a bid to avoid controversy excluded Basil from the original squad, arguing that they felt that his type of bowling didn't suit the SA conditions (apart from being a batsman, he was a useful slow medium bowler).But, the issue was not over yet. After medium pacer, Tom Cartwright, withdrew due to injury, D'Olveira was included as his replacement. The SA authorities, however, stood firm in the stance, and the tour was cancelled. The anti-apartheid group faced an initial setback, as a move to ban SA cricket altogether was voted against by the MCC members.
But, an eventual ban was inevitable. It finally came during the summer of 1970, as the tour by the SA team to England was cancelled. SA-Australia official cricket relations ended as the 1971-72 tour by the springboks was abandoned. SA remained in isolation for more than 2 decades, returning in 1991, after apartheid was abolished from the country.
The sanction was a cruel blow to some of SA's best players, and to the team as a whole. After thrashing the Aussies 4-0 in early 1970, they were the unofficial world champions of cricket. But, they were unable to play any official test matches for 22 years. During this period many of their cricketers, (like Mike Procter, Clive Rice, Barry Richards), would play in County Cricket with great distinction. All these three (and others) would also feature prominently in the rebel WSC of Kerry Packar in the 1977-79 period. Some, like Tony Greig and Kepler Wessels would qualify to play for other nations (in these cases England and Australia respectively). But, without any doubt, the most interesting case was that of Cilve Rice, the young all rounder from Transvaal. Originally selected for the Australia tour of 1971-72, (which was eventually cancelled), he waited for 20 years before leading SA in the 3 ODI matches on their return to international arena. Kepler Wessels led SA on their return to test arena, breaking new grounds by playing against WI in the spring of 1992.
The 1980's would see the start of the ‘rebel' tours of SA. Thus SA cricket again came to the headline, but not necessarily for the right reasons.
Though he never played for SA; in 2000, Basil D'Oliveira was named among the top 10 SA cricketers of the century.
The Prudential World Cups (1975 and 1979)
Although the 1st ODI was played in Jan 1971, between Australia and England at MCG, the one day game took time to spread to different corners of the globe. From 1972 onwards, England regularly hosted a number of 60 over matches against the touring sides each summer. Of course the different limited over competitions had by that time become integral part of the English domestic season. But, the growth of the shorter version of the game was pretty slow in other parts of the world. To make the limited over game more popular, the 1st World Cup was organized in England during June, 1975.
Only 8 teams participated in the 1st World Cup; the 6 test playing nations at the time (with SA banned), were joined by SL, by far the strongest Associate member nation at the time and East Africa, a team consisting of players from different nations of that region. There were only 15 matches played, many questioned whether it could be called a proper world cup. Some of them even preferred to call it ‘The Prudential Cup' after the name of the insurance company which sponsored this event. From hindsight, the prudence of ‘Prudential' deserves rich plaudits. (The Prudential Company sponsored the first 3 world cups, all held in England. Another insurance company ‘Reliance' took over the sponsorship as the 1987 event came to the subcontinent).
It was clear before the SFs that the idea was to stay. All that was needed was some modifications of rules and involvement of more teams. (Both occurred in due time). During the initial stages of the tournament, though, it was clear that not all the teams were properly prepared for the cup. There was even some lack of knowledge of the rules among the players. Most interesting was the case of the Indian team, specially their most reliable batsman, Sunil Gavaskar.
On 7th June, on the opening day of the tournament, India took on hosts England at Lords. Batting first, England piled up a massive score of 334/4 from 60 overs. Dennis Amiss, one of the most successful batsmen in the initial years of ODI cricket, smashed 137. Keith Fletcher, always more at home against spin than pace, made 68, and Chris Old utilized the long handle well, smashing 51 of 30 deliveries.
Aware that India had no chance of winning the match, Gavsakar reckoned that by batting out the 60 overs India could save the match, and share the points. So, he played one the most extra-ordinary innings in the history of the world cup, remaining 36* of 174 deliveries, as India finished on 132/3 (from 60 overs). England won the match by 202 runs.
The SF match between, the old enemies England and Australia at Headingley provided more even contest. Batting first England found left armer Gilmour almost impossible to handle. The top five failed to reach double figures, skipper Mike Denness top scored with 27, as the hosts were bundled out for 93. Gilmour produced the outstanding bowling effort of the cup finishing with 6/14.
In reply though, Australia seemed to have run into an even deeper trouble. Arnold, Snow and Old all got the ball to move in the air and of the wicket, and Aussie side slumped to 39/6. But, then Gilmour had the final say. Batting with gay abandon, he smashed unbeaten 28 of 28 deliveries, and along with more sedate Doug Walters took the Aussies home for a 4 wicket victory.
The West Indies were the comfortable winners over NZ, in the other SF. (This match started the rather remarkable sequence of WC SF defeats for kiwis. So far they have reached the SF 6 times without being successful once. Their last failed attempt came at Colombo, in March, 2011). So, the WI took on the Aussies in the final at Lord's, on 21st June. A huge ground gathered to watch the final, and at the end they got their money's worth.
Ian Chappell won the toss and decided to bowl first. For the 1st hour or so, his decision seemed to be a correct one. The unusual dismissal of Roy Fredericks started an early collapse. Fredericks, an impulsive hooker, hit a short pitch delivery from Lillie out of the ground, only to lose his balance, and stumble to the wicket to be out hit wicket. Greenidge and Kallicharan also perished cheaply, and as skipper Clive Lloyd came out to join the veteran Rohan Kanhai, the Windies were struggling at 50/3.
Everybody expected the WI captain to put his head down, bat cautiously and start a recovery act with Kanhai. But, Lloyd had other plans; counter-attack. He smashed 102, completely dominating the 4th wicket stand of 149. His runs came from just 85 deliveries, 12 fours and 2 sixes contributing almost 60% of his runs. Kanhai was as astonished as the Aussie bowlers were, but he too played his part with a patient 55. After the departure of this two, the Aussie bowlers, led again by Gilmour, fought back. Wickets fell regularly as the Windies went for quick runs. The innings ended at 291/8, with Gilmour taking 5/48, and finishing the tournament with 11 wickets for just 62 runs.
Chasing a huge target, the Aussies made a gallant effort; but while a number of their top order batsmen got starts, no one could play the really long innings necessary. 3 crucial run outs in the middle of the innings, all due the alacrity of Viv Richards, didn't help the Aussie cause. (Eventually they would have 5 batsmen run out). At 233/9 it seemed over. But, Lillie and Thomson, better known for their bowling, started to build a partnership for the 10 th wicket. They came close, but, WK Murray eventually ran Thomson out to give the WI a 17 run victory. They were the first WC champions.
4 years later, the Windies successfully defended their title. Sir Viv Richards' brilliant 138* set up an easy final victory over the hosts England. Perhaps, Pakistan posed a bigger threat in the SF at Oval; but after a brilliant 2nd wicket stand of 166 runs between Majid (81) and Zaheer (93), the Paks collapsed to 250 all out , 44 runs short of the victory target.
In earlier matches, SL caused an upset by beating India by 47 runs at Old Trafford, Manchester. Batting first, the Lankans reached 238/5, thanks mainly to Wettimuny (67), Roy Dias (50) and Duleep Mendis (64). Both Mendis and Dias played key roles in the early test matches for SL. Dias made 77 in SL's debut match against England in 1982. Later that year, Mendis scored centuries in each innings at Madras against India. He would captain SL in their maiden test victory over India, in 1985. A decade later, he would be the manager of the WC winning team of Ranatunga. Althouth, Sunil Wettimuny's international career didn't last very long, his brother, Sidath Wettimuny became the 1st century maker for SL in official test matches; scoring 157, in the process sharing a 217 run 2nd wicket stand with Roy Dias (against Pakistan, at Faisalabad). But, he is best remembered for his mammoth 190 at Lord's in 1984.
Coming back to Old Trafford, a number of Indian batsmen got starts, but at the end the top score was 36 by Vengsarkar. Medium pacer Tony Opatha and leg spinner Somachandra De Silva shared 6 wickets between themselves to instigate India's collapse. It is worth mentioning that this time SL didn't get any automatic invitation from the organizers. Instead, they had to win the 1st ICC trophy, held also in England. The runners up team, Canada also qualified for the WC. This ICC trophy, though played in minor grounds with little media coverage, can be considered an important event of the 70's. This was the first step in trying to make cricket popular among the non-test playing countries.
England hosted the first 3 World Cups (in 1975, 1979 and 1983). Although the one day game was becoming popular, the 60 over game played in England had some limitations. The lunch and tea breaks in the middle of batting quite often stifled the run rates. The 50 over game (with only one break in between the two innings), popularized in Australia proved more suitable, and eventually became the standard form for the one day game. The 1987 WC in the subcontinent saw 50over games, and the 1992 WC in Aus/NZ saw the first D/N WC games.
Interestingly, while the Aussies did so much in the early development of the 50 over game, they themselves took a pretty long time to learn the tactics of this game. After trying all kinds of experiments, (including the infamous under-arm delivery by Trevor Chappell in 1980-81), the Aussies eventually became a strong one-day unit under the leadership of Allan Border, in the mid 1980's.
The ‘Bodyline'Test Match: India Vs WI ,Kingston, March 1976
In June, 1975 Clive Lloyd's WI won the 1st World Cup in style. With Lloyd at the helm, and young batsmen like Greenidge, Richards and Kallicharan emerging, and Andy Roberts bowling at blistering pace, it appeared that the WI team was heading for some great successes. Yet, within months after their Lord's triumph, they were humiliated by Greg Chappell's Australia. A 5-1 loss down under saw the moral of the WI side reach an all time low. So, when the Indians, led by the spinner Bishen Bedi arrived in the spring of 1976, the WI side was looking for some moral boosting wins. But, things would not go according to plans.
WI won the first match at Bridgetown by the huge margin of an innings and 97 runs. The pace and extra bounce of the Bridgetown wicket proved too much for the Indian batsman. They looked more comfortable in the 2nd match at Port of Spain, where the pitches always tend to be a bit slow. With centuries from Gavaskar and Patel, India was the better team in the drawn match. More good news followed for the Indian team.
The 3rd test match was originally scheduled for Georgetown Guyana; but almost non-stop rain there meant the match was shifted to Port-of-Spain, the favorite ground of the Indian's, especially of their vice captain Sunil Gavaskar. And, he didn't disappoint his fans there. India needed more than 400 runs on the final innings, but with centuries from Gavaskar and Viswanath, they easily reached their target, losing just 4 wickets in the process. Lloyd, by this time had become desperate. His future as WI captain seemed uncertain. Desperate situation called for desperate tactics.
The record-books will tell us that the home side won the 4th (and final) test match at Kingston, Jamaica, by 10 wickets. A closer look at the scoreboards would reveal that India lost just 11 wickets in the match, 6 in the 1st, 5 in the 2nd. The others were either retired hurt, or were unable to bat at all. At the end of the match, the Indian team accused the opposition for bowling persistent short pitch stuff targeted at the body of the batsmen.
To be fair to the Windies, it didn't appear that there was any pre match plan to attack the batsmen's bodies. Instead, it was the nature of the newly laid pitch that inspired such tactics. Perhaps they can be criticized for over-doing the stuff. The umpires too needed to intervene but didn't. The bounces at the two ends were different. Even bounce in one end itself was unpredictable. And with Holding bowling at their bodies, at almost 100 miles per hour, the Indian batsmen found it difficult to avoid injuries.
At the end of the 1st day, India was 175/1. But it was not comfortable going at all. Gavaskar made 66, but it was not the same Gavaskar of Port of Spain. Almost every run was a struggle. He was dropped twice before eventually being yorked by Holding. Gavaskar's opening partner, Gaekwad remained 58*, but he had to take several blows at his body. With Holding bowling round the wicket, there was little opportunity for the Indian batsmen to sway away from the short rising deliveries. To their great credit, the Indian top order held out bravely on the 1st day.
Things started to happen for the Windies, on the 2nd morning, with the 2nd new ball. Amarnath and Viswanath, perished early, both caught by Julien of Holding in the backward short leg region. Viswanath had his finger dislocated, ensuring that he had no further role to play in this match. India's injury list increased with Gaekwad and Brijesh Patel retiring hurt. Gaekwad's 81 (retired hurt) turned out to the highest score of the match. At the fall of 6th wicket, with the score at 305, Indian captain Bedi declared. He didn't want to expose himself and Chandra, the main bowlers of the team, to bouncers of Holding and Holder.
Indeed, Bedi and Chandra bowled superbly to restrict the home side to 397 in the 1st innings, the runs coming at a rate of less than 3 runs per over. In fact, it could have been even worse for the Windies. The 6th wicket (Julien) fell at 217. But WK Murray (71), Holding (55) and Holder (36*) took the score close to 400. Bedi and Chandra both were their usual selves. Bedi, very accurate, commanding respect from all the batsmen, finished with 2 for 68 from 32 overs. Chandra was more aggressive, ready to give away a few runs to pick up his wickets; his figures were 5/153 from 42 overs. Interestingly both the bowlers injured their fingers while attempting return catches; thus only half the Indian side was fit to bat in the 2nd innings.
Gavaskar fell cheaply, ct. by Julien of Holding for 2. But, two youngsters, Vengsarkar and Mohinder Amarnath showed great courage, by not only surviving, but by mounting a counter-attack. Amarnath was especially aggressive, hitting 3 sixes and 7 fours in his score of 60. Ironically, within the next 3 years he would lose his place in the national team, for his apparent inability to handle short pitch bowling. He, however, would make a triumphant return to the test arena during the 1982-83 season. After scoring 5 centuries in 11 test matches against the best fast bowlers in the world (Imran, Sarfraz, Roberts, Holding, Marshall and Garner), he would rightly enjoy the reputation of being the best player of fast bowling in the world. Vengsarkar would become a reliable, if slightly unspectacular middle order batsman. With successive test hundreds at Lord's in 1979, 1982, and 1986, he would get his name in the record-books. Back on the 2nd day of this match, he was the only Indian to bat confidently against Holding, Coming on to bat at No.5, he had seen Gaekwad and Patel perish heavily injured. But he carried on for almost 3 and a half hour scoring 39. In the 2nd innings, as a makeshift opening bat, he made 21. Left arm spinner Jumadeen dismissed both Amarnath and Vengsarkar. Then holding accounted for MadanLal and Venkataraghavan, and the Indian innings ended at 97/5. There was no one fit enough to join Wk Kirmani (0*) at the wicket. Initially, it was thought that Bedi had declared with a lead of 12 runs, but 15 minutes after WI had reached their target, Bedi expressed his written desire to consider the Indian 2nd innings to be considered completed.
WI won, but their tactics came under severe criticism from both home and abroad. Later, the WI fast bowlers (Holding, Roberts, Garner, Marshall and others) learned to use the short pitch bowling much more efficiently. Rather than pitching everything short, they used to mix up the short pitch stuff with the yorkers (especially with Holding, Garner and Amborse) or with the out-swingers (specially with Marshall) with devastating (of a different sort) effects.
MCC Tours Bangladesh (1976-77)
On the last week of 1976, the English cricketers were enjoying their time in Calcutta. Under the leadership of Tony Greig they had already thrashed India twice in the first two tests. During the holiday period, they were relaxing and preparing themselves for the Calcutta test beginning on the new year's day. (They won that match by 10 wickets to clinch the series). Around that time, a group of less well known English cricketers arrived at nearby Dhaka (or Dacca as it was called then). Ted Clarke, led the MCC team for a short tour of Bangladesh. All the matches were of exhibition nature. Yet, this short tour now assumes historical significance as this tour effectively started the cricketing history of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh, the former East Pakistan, emerged as an independent nation in 1971. The initial years after the independence saw slow development in different fields. After re-starting the Dhaka League, the cricket authorities here contacted the ICC for Associate Membership. The MCC team arrived in late December, to first assess the cricket condition of the newly born country.
The tourists left London immediately after Christmas. After arriving in the Tejgaon Airport in Dhaka, they quickly left for Rajshahi, for the two day match against the North Zone side. The match started on 31st December, 1976.
As stated earlier, all the matches of this short tour were of exhibition nature. The highlight, unquestionably was the 3 day ‘unofficial' test match at the Dhaka Stadium (Now called the Bangabandhu National Stadium). This, stadium of course was a regular test match venue (for Pakistan) in the 1950's and 60's. In more recent time (in Feb. 2011), the stadium hosted the opening ceremony for the World cup.
Back to the match against MCC, on the opening day, the local side recovered from a bad start to reach 266/9 (Decl.), thanks mainly to a patient 78 by the all rounder, Yousuf Babu. In reply, the tourists crossed the 300 mark with Micheal Mens (75*) leading a late rally. Sussex opener Barclay continued his fine form of the tour with a well made half century. Left arm spinner Lintu was most successful bowler for the home side, taking 4 wickets. Determined effort in the 2nd innings from skipper Shamim Kabir and all rounder Rumy ensured the match ends in a draw.
Overall, the MCC team was impressed enough by the cricketing standards and the infrastructures. At their suggestion, ICC granted Bangladesh the Associate membership in the summer of 1977. 23 years later, Bangladesh became a full member of ICC.
The Centenary Test Match (Melbourne, March 1977):
In March 1877, David Gregory's Australian team defeated James Lilywhite's English team by the narrow margin of 45 runs, in a match which is now included in the record books as the first official test cricket match. Exactly 100 years after, in the very same ground, the two teams met again, in what was described as the' Centenary' test match. Coincidently or not, this match also ended with the Aussies victorious, the margin of victory exactly 45 runs.
Of course it was more than just a match. It was a grand social occasion. More than 200 cricketers from both the countries, who had represented their respective countries in an ‘Ashes' match were present. 87 year old Jack Ryder was the oldest Aussie player present, 84 year old Percy Fender defied his old age to travel to Melbourne from England. The Queen was also there to enjoy this historical event. But, perhaps the greatest satisfaction to the organizers was the fact that the match fully lived up to its pre-match hype. There were twists, turns of fortune, drama, and as we will see alter, some truly memorable moments.
Things started badly for the hosts. Tony Greig won the toss, and decided to bowl first. Some pundits saw this as a defensive tactic, as they felt that Tony was apprehensive of facing Lillie in conditions favorable to seam bowling, Whatever, may be the reason of Tony's decision, the first day belonged completely to England. The Aussies were bowled out for only 138 runs, and even the loss of Woolmar before the stumps didn't seem to bother the English too much. The Aussie captain Greg Chappell top scored with 40, but it was not the usual elegant Chappell. In difficult batting conditions he had to work for almost 4 hours to get his runs. He was one of the 3 victims of Underwood. The Kent left-armer was his usual miserly self taking 3/16 from 11.6 overs (these were 8 ball overs). The seamers also enjoyed the conditions, as Lever, Willis and Old shared the remaining 7 wickets between themselves.
The Aussies were on the back foot at the end of the 1st day, yet they took back the initiative on the 2nd morning, thanks mainly to the superb bowling by Dennis Lillie. In heavy conditions, he found considerable movement, both in the air, and of the wicket. The England captain top scored with 18 as England collapsed to 95 all-out. Lillie took 6/26, and with his buddy Thomson absent due to injury, Lillie got excellent support from Max Walker who took 4/54.
It was the bowlers' match up to that point, and it seemed to continue in that fashion as the hosts slumped to 53/3 in their 2nd innings. It was the 79 run 4th wicket stand between opener Ian Davies and the veteran Doug Walters that gave the first signals that the conditions were now more conducive to batting. Still, both Davies (68) and Walters (66) had to work hard for their runs. After their departure, two left-handers, Rod Marsh, the extremely popular WK batsman, and David Hookes, the debutant from South Australia took over.
Young Hookes played the most attractive innings of the match. His 56 took just 69 deliveries, and included 9 fours. At one stage, he hit Tony Greig for 5 successive fours. Unfortunately for ‘Hookesy' he failed to build on his impressive start in the big arena. Soon he would be away from the official test cricket arena, instead playing under Ian Chappell with the rebel Aussie team in the Packar Series. After the Packar saga was over (in 1979), Hookes found it difficult to hold his place in the middle order due to the emergence of Kim Hughes and Allan Border. His start and stop international career ended in 1985. He scored just one hundred in 23 matches, that too against SL, at that stage the whipping boys of world cricket. He however proved himself to be highly successful both as a coach, and as a popular TV commentator, before his tragic death in 2004.
Back to MCG, 1977, Hookes departed (Ct. Fletcher b. Underwood) with the Aussie score on 244. But. Marsh continued on and eventually became the first player to score a century in this historical match. He got excellent support from Gilmour and Lillie, but it was his 54 run 9th wicket stand with RB McCosker that stole the limelight.
Things had started badly in this match for McCosker, the 30 year old right handed opener. On the 1st morning, after struggling for more than half an hour for just 4 runs, he had his jaw broken by a short pitch delivery from Bob Willis. To make matter worse, the ball hit the stumps and poor McCosker was out, bowled. He was expected to play no further part in the match. Indeed, all rounder Kerry O'Keeffe had opened the bating in the 2nd innings. Yet after the fall of the 8th Aussie 2nd innings wicket, with Rod Marsh approaching his hundred, McCosker came to the crease, late on the 3rd evening. He was heavily bandaged, and his movements were extremely restricted. Yet, he fought on manfully for 85 minutes to score 25 runs. Even now, the Aussie supporters talk about this innings. In size it is not even close to Sir Don's 334 at Headingley (in 1930). In style it cannot be compared with Stan McCabe's 232 at Trent Bridge in 1938. (It was during this innings that Sir Don Bradman called a group of Aussie players busy playing cards in the dressing room. ‘Come and watch this' Sir Don said, ‘You may never see anything like it again'). For most Aussie fans, though, RB McCoskers effort at MCG is the supreme example of courage and determination, the two most important factors in the Aussie success in world cricket (and in fact, in other sports as well).
The Aussie skipper, Greg Chappell, declared on the 4th morning, with the score at 419/9; Rod Marsh remained unbeaten on 110. With the Aussies having a lead of more than 450, and with more than a day and a half to go, only one result looked probable. Yet this fascinating game would see more drama and twists of fortune before the end.
As the England openers Woolmar and Brearley went out to bat on the 4th day, they knew that England had a mountain to climb. Yet, they also knew that they had few things in their favor. The condition was now much more comfortable for batting, the pitch was slow making big strokes difficult, but there was no big alarm for the batsmen. Also, apart from Lillie, there wasn't much venom in the Aussie bowling. O'Keefe, the main spin bowler was more of a container, rather than a wicket-taker. Still, Brearley (43), Amiss (64), Greig (41) and Knott (42) all got out after looking well set. The English innings was held together by a young man from Nottingham, Derek Randall.
Just a few months earlier, Randall had made his test debut, in the new-year's test match at Eden Garden, Calcutta. He was an attractive batsman, but at the same time he had his limitations. He never looked comfortable against genuine pace, and generally looked happy at No. 5 or 6. But, the England selectors tried him in different positions in the order, including the opening slot after the end of Boycott's test career. Not surprisingly, like Hookes, he too ended up with a start-stop career. In his final test match, against the fearsome Windies, at Edgebaston, in June 1984, he managed scores of 0 and 1, batting at the No.3 position.
At least he can look back at his efforts at MCG, in this historical match with loads of satisfaction. Overall, in the 2nd innings, he batted for more than 7 hours, faced 353 deliveries hit 21 crisp fours, on his way to a career-best score of 174; an innings that very nearly won the game for England. At the end though, they fell 46 runs short of the winning target. Randell was the 5th man out with his team score at 346, but the tail failed to wag. Lillie completed a superb bowling performance with 5/139, to go with his 6/26 in the 1st innings. But, it was Derek Randall who was adjudged the MoM.
Of course, Randall's innings provided the most memorable moment of the match. At one stage, he was adjudged to be out, Ct. behind by Marsh, of the gentle medium pace of Greg Chappell. But, Rodney Marsh, one of the fiercest competitors, the game of cricket has ever seen, went to the umpire and told him that the ball had already touched the ground before the catch. So, Randall was called back and was allowed to carry on his memorable effort. Marsh's attitude got rich applauds from the pundits (and there were plenty of them present at MCG on this historical occasion); but I feel he was a bit lucky that Greg, not Ian Chappell was the Aussie captain. Ian wouldn't have been too impressed by Rod's action.
So, this historical game had a great finish. Everybody seemed happy. Test Cricket yet again proved itself to be a great game. Yet, just within months after this match, the cricketing fraternity would face its greatest challenge ever. ‘The Kerry Packar' affair or ‘The Kerry Packar Circus', (as many people called it) would threaten to destroy the whole structure of international cricket. After more than two years of confusions, conflicts, negotiations, bans, resignations, allegations, (and counter-allegations) an amicable solution would be finally reached. But, by that time the game of cricket would change forever.
The Kerry Packar Affair:
In 1974, following the death of his father, Sir Frank Packar, Kerry Packer inherited (among other things) the control of Channel Nine. The rating of the channel, however, wasn't very high, and Mr. Packar decided to take the bold strategy of introducing more live sports coverage to boost the rating of his channel. The introduction color television in 1975, increased the value of sports coverage on TV. After using millions of dollars on improving the image of the Australian Open Golf, he then turned his attention towards cricket.
In 1976, Kerry Packer offered the ACB, a 1.5 million dollars (Australian) bid for the right to televise Australia's home test matches for 3 years. Yet, his bid was unaccepted. Instead, ACB awarded the contract to state run ABC for a meager $210,000. Later, Mr. Packar sought (from TCCB) the right to telecast the Ashes series in England, during the summer of 1977. He eventually got the contract, but not before ACB intervened to complicate the matters. By this time, Mr, Packer have had enough, and he was determined to take revenge. At the suggestions of some his close friends, he planned to organize some exhibition matches among the best players in the world for TV. This series of exhibition matches eventually became more organized and would be known as World Series Cricket.
Packar made early contacts with Ian Chappell of Australia, and Tony Greig of England. Both were kind of maverick characters, and were constantly at odds with their respective cricket authorities. Tony was the captain of England, and although Ian had just retired from test cricket (he would make a brief return in 1979), his influence over the Aussie team was still substantial. With the help of these players. Packar managed to contact the leading players from Australia, WI, England, Pakistan, NZ and South Africa. Although, the story was leaked by the Aussie press on 9th May, 1977, it is generally believed that even before the historical centenary match at MCG, almost the entire Australian team had already pledged their support towards Mr. Packar's plans.
Initially the idea was to hold a series of matches between the Australian side and a World XI consisting of the best cricketers from abroad. Btu, a curious twist took place. Almost all the WI players showed great interest in playing in WSC. Some of them reckoned that by playing one season in WSC, they would earn more than they would earn by playing for their country for 10 years. So, the series became a 3 team event, Australia (led by Ian Chappell), WI (led by Clive Lloyd) and World XI (led by Tony Greig).
For obvious reasons, ICC, the games governing body worldwide, reacted quickly after the news of Packar's series came to the press. A meeting between ICC and Mr. Packar (along with Richie Benaud and two assistants) at Lords, in June, failed to reach an agreement. The issue went to the high-court after ICC threatened to ban the players involved with the Packar affair from both test matches and first class matches.
There Mr. Packer had its first victory, the court declared that is was within the rights of professional players to join such series. Packar, however, also had his setbacks. He could not use the terms ‘Test Matches'; instead it was to be ‘Supertests'. The Ian Chappell's side would be called ‘WSC Australian XI'. ACB would remain in control of the official Aussie team. More importantly, he couldn't gain access to traditional Australian cricket venues. So, he had to lease 4 grounds at Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth for his matches.
After all these controversies the WSC finally started during the 1977-78 season. The ‘Supertest' between the rebel Aussies and the rebel WI players at the VFL ground Melbourne, starting on 2nd December, 1977, marked the beginning of WSC. The first season can at best be described as moderately successful for Mr.Packar. The crowd attending his matches, found it amusing, but didn't take the events too seriously, despite the excellent quality of cricket played. However, a number of things were noted during the early days, which would have significant effects on cricket history.
Apart from the ‘Supertests', WSC organized ‘The International Cup', a series of 50 over matches. Although, England hosted 1st WC in 1975, the 60 overs games, with both lunch and tea break didn't always produced entertaining cricket. The 50 over game seemed lot more interesting. Eventually, the 50 over game became the most popular form of cricket (before the arrival of 20-20), and somewhat ironically both ACB and ICC helped in the modifications of the rules of 50 over crickets to make it more popular. Back to ‘The International Cup', to make the matches more interesting, Day-Night matches were introduced (and along with it came the color clothing and white balls) . The VLF ground hosted the first day-night game, and the statistics soon showed that the D/N games produced greater attendance.
Another event on the 1st season had profound effect, not only on the future of WSC, but also on cricket as a whole. On 16th December, during a Supertest in Sydney, the Aussie Batsman David Hooke's jaw was severely broken by a fierce bouncer from Andy Roberts. While, Hookes was not the first batsman to suffer physical injury while facing the Windies pace attack, (nor was he the last), the close shots of the incident taken from different angles fully vindicated Packar's insistence of using multiple cameras on the ground. For the first time, the general public understood that technology properly used can show the spectators lot more than what is visible to the naked eye. Also, with fast bowlers becoming extremely dominant in WSC cricket, helmet was introduced as a safety measure for batsmen. Dennis Amiss was the first to use it, in 1978, but very soon it became extremely popular among all the international players.
Despite all these the first season (1977-78) belonged to ACB. The five match series between the official Australian team and the touring Indian team provided far greater crowd, The matches were keenly contested with hosts eventually winning the series 3-2. The idea to call back 41 year old Bobby Simpson to lead the Aussie side proved to be a masterstroke. At a time when the TV serials throughout the world was greatly promoting family values, Simpson's almost ‘Grandpa' like attitudes worked wonderfully well among the general public. The stars were missed, but the crowd enjoyed the actions.
By the start of the next season, though, the tides had changed considerably. Both Pakistan and WI had welcomed back their rebels; Pakistan for prestige, WI for financial reasons. But, the biggest blow for ACB came during the 1978-79 Ashes series. With Simpson no longer able to continue, inexperienced Yallop was given the captaincy. But, his side was no match for the English, and the one sided series ended 5-1 in favor of England. In a sense it was a bit frustrating for the English players as well, for example, David Gower's first test hundred (at Gabba), or Derek Randall ‘s match winning century at SCG, failed to get the plaudits these deserved, due to the poor quality of the opposition.
Meanwhile the Packar series flourished. But before the season was over it was clear that is was fast becoming a lose-lose game for both ACB and WSC. So, finally on 30th May, 1979 an agreement was reached. The Channel Nine was granted the rights to telecast Australian matches for 10 years.
So, the Packar's series had a fairly short lifespan. But, during this period it produced some permanent changes to cricket. Day-night Games, color clothing, white balls, helmets, have all become common norms throughout the cricketing world. Richie Benaud and others set new standards for TV commentary during the WSC matches.
Before I finish this topic, I would like to take a close look at the effects of WSC to different cricketing nations. Australia, without doubt, suffered most. Although, ACB reached agreement with Mr. Packar, in May, 1979, the rebels were not welcomed before the home season of 1979-80. Greg Chappell was reinstated as captain, but there was a clear division between the Packar and Non-Packar players. Not surprisingly this division affected their performance on the field. Australia struggled for most part of the 80's and didn't become a leading power in world cricket before the 90's.
In direct contrast, the WI cricket benefitted greatly from the professional environment of WSC. The team became more united. Talented young players like Gomes, Marshall and Clark gained valuable test match experience at the absence of the leading stars. During the 1979-80 season WI defeated the Aussies 2-0 and started their domination of World cricket.
Although, initially TCCB was one of the fiercest critics of Mr. Packar, it soon became clear that the national team had suffered very little. Ian Botham was more than an adequate replacement for Tony Greig as an all-rounder. The return of Geoffrey Boycott (from a self imposed exclusion) meant that Amiss wasn't missed. Bob Taylor was a perfect replacement for Knott as WK, and John Snow was already close to retirement. Perhaps, the loss of Underwood weakened the spin bowling department, but that didn't seem to matter much in home series. In fact, during the Packar affair, England dominated test cricket, with series victories over Australia (home and away) plus home series wins over Pakistan, NZ and India. NZ and India didn't really feature much in WSC cricket, and although Pakistan missed 5 of their best players (Asif, Majid, Imran, Mushtaq and Zaheer), following a disastrous tour of England, during the summer of 1978, they were quick to welcome back the rebels.
Finally, a number of SA players (like Clive Rice, Barry Richards, Mike Procter, Eddie Barlow, Garth Le Roux) played at WSC. Many South Africans followed the WSC games with a great interest and used the performance of these players at WSC to reinstate their claim as the strongest cricket playing nation.
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