Spirit On The Water (13 page)

Sobers started the penultimate over with Australia needing 9 runs to win. They ran two quick singles and then Benaud pushed a delivery wide of square leg and called for a run. Soloman pounced on the ball and threw down the wickets in one action. Davidson was run out for 80, a fantastic innings to go with his 11 wickets and first knock of 44.

Wally Grout, taking Davidson’s place, had the strike and got a single off the seventh ball. Unless Benaud could get a single himself, Grout would have to face the start of the last over from Hall. Sobers bowled a perfect length and Benaud could not get it away. The last over of the last day began at four minutes to six. All four results were still possible. Australia needed six runs to win. The West Indies needed three wickets to win. A draw and a tie were also still in contention.

Wes Hall charged in and sent down the first ball of the over. It reared off a length and hit Grout on the thigh. Most professional footballers would have gone down in a heap, cried for their mummy and demanded that the perpetrator be sent off. With the ball at his feet, Grout looked up and saw Benaud rushing down the wicket. Grout did the only sensible thing. He got up and ran
down the other end. Australia had sneaked a single and, more importantly for them, Benaud was on strike.

Seven balls to go, 5 runs to win, 3 wickets to win
.

Hall trudged slowly back to his mark. Worrell had expressly told him not to bowl any bouncers. He ran in at pace and let go .......... a bouncer. Benaud was tempted, got a touch and Alexander took the catch. The Australian captain had scored a magnificent 52 in just over two hours but he could no longer influence the game.

Six balls to go, 5 runs to win, 2 wickets to win
.

Ian Meckiff came in next and played a straight bat to his first ball. No run.

Five balls to go, 5 runs to win, 2 wickets to win
.

Hall’s next ball went down the leg-side to the keeper. As it went past Meckiff, Grout called him for a run. Meckiff had little option but to respond. Hall had followed through down the pitch and Alexander threw the ball to him. Hall turned and shied at the stumps at the bowler’s end. Had he hit, Meckiff would have been out. The ball missed and Australia had gained another run.

Four balls to go, 4 runs to win, 2 wickets to win
.

There were only 4,000 spectators in the ground but they were delirious with excitement. The next ball, Grout went for a big hit to try and win the match. He mistimed his stroke and the ball spooned up somewhere between mid-wicket and square leg. At least four West Indies fielders could have taken the catch. Kanhai was under the ball ready to catch it when Wes Hall charged in, knocked him out of the way and jumped up to take the catch. The ball spilled out of his hands and Australia, instead of losing a wicket, had gained another run.

Three balls to go, 3 runs to win, 2 wickets to win
.

Hall was distraught. He later said it was one of the worst moments of his life and you could well believe it. Frank Worrell
showed no sign of annoyance, put his arm round his shoulders and told him to relax. Without Worrell’s calming influence, Hall would have been in pieces and probably found it difficult to even run up and bowl.

As it was, he put everything into the next ball and Meckiff swung at it. He connected and it went at speed towards the square leg boundary. A four would have won the match for Australia. If they could run three that would do as well. The ball held up in the grass and Conrad Hunte raced round to collect it. As Grout was coming back for the third run to win the game, Hunte’s throw from 90 yards was perfect. It had to be. Alexander took the throw cleanly and broke the wicket. Grout hurled himself full length but was out by a foot. The scores were level.

Two balls to go, 1 run to win, 1 wicket to tie
.

Australia’s No.11, Lindsay Kline, replaced Grout. The atmosphere was so tense that even Trevor Bailey might have been excited. Kline worked his first ball to leg and both batsmen ran. Joe Solomon swooped in from mid-wicket, picked up the ball one handed and, with only one stump to aim at, threw down the wicket. The umpire’s finger went up and the game was tied, the first Test match ever to end this way.
17

An extraordinary finish to an extraordinary Test match. The favourites to win the game changed throughout the game from session to session, hour to hour and in the final few overs, from ball to ball.

Thankfully they didn’t have the ubiquitous, superfluous, plethoric man of the match awards back then (they are a bit silly aren’t they?) If they had, then I would not have wanted to be the judge. There were at least eight very strong contenders. Maybe
the award should have gone to the umpires? They remained composed throughout the game and refreshingly neutral. This, of course, was in the time before ‘independent’ umpires were appointed. The last four wickets to fall were three close run outs and a faint touch to the keeper. No need for referrals to a third umpire in those days!

The match was a huge credit to the two captains, Worrell and Benaud. Both were trying to win throughout the five days, with no thoughts of playing for a draw. Before the Tests started, they had both promised to play attacking cricket with the aim, at all times, of forcing a result. Benaud was supported in this attitude by his Chairman of Selectors, Sir Don Bradman. At tea on the last day, Australia had 124 to get in 120 minutes with only the tailenders to come after Benaud and Davidson. It was not a strong position, but during the interval Bradman asked Benaud: “What are you going for Richie, a win or a draw?” “We’re going for a win, of course,” replied the captain. “I am very pleased to hear it.” said The Don.

The match was a tie but cricket was the winner. Cliché spotters may groan when reading this but it really was true. The game of cricket was revitalised by the positive approach of both teams. Test cricket in general and batting in particular had drifted into a very defensive and negative frame of mind during the mid and late 1950s. In 1956, for example, P.E. Richardson had scored the slowest Test century ever, in eight hours and eight minutes, for England against South Africa. Then D.J. McGlew went one better (or worse depending on your point of view) by taking just over nine hours to score a century for South Africa against Australia in 1958.

When you add in performances such as Bailey’s two hours for 8 runs against South Africa in 1955 and his seven and a half hours for 68 against Australia in 1958, it was hardly surprising that cricket
followers were getting bored and starting to look elsewhere for their entertainment.

The West Indies and Australia had added an extra dimension to Test cricket with the first match of the 1960/61 series and brought the crowds back to the game. It seemed that spectators enjoyed watching the flashing cover drive of Garry Sobers rather more than the forward defensive prod of Trevor Bailey.

The Second Test attracted large crowds to Melbourne. Australia had won the toss and chosen to bat. They scored 348 on the first day at more than 5 runs an over. There was just time for Solomon, Hunte’s new opening partner, to be out for a duck and the West Indies ended the day at 1 for 1.

After the early loss of Hunte, Seymour Nurse and Rohan Kanhai took the score to 108 for 2 when play on the second day ended because of rain. On the third day, Kanhai was out when the total was 124, having made 84 of the runs. Nurse, restraining his normal aggressive stroke play, made a painstaking 70 but the tail folded easily and the West Indies were all out for 181.

In those days the ‘follow-on’ deficit in Test matches was 150 and Benaud invited the West Indies to bat again. They had reached 97 – 2 when Johnny Martin, playing in his first of only eight Tests, took the wickets of Kanhai, Sobers and Worrell in the space of four balls. Hunte and Alexander survived till the end of play. On the fourth day, Hunte made 110 and Alexander 72 but no one else contributed much and the West Indies were all out for 233. Australia only needed 67 to win and they got them with the loss of 3 wickets.

It was a tremendous anti-climax for the West Indians after the excitement and euphoria of the First Test. Worrell’s captaincy was once again put to the test. Past West Indies teams might have felt demoralised and allowed it to affect their performance. Worrell’s
captaincy style was one of calm authority. He encouraged discussion and players making their point of view known. This was something new for West Indian cricketers.

C.L.R. James had a number of discussions with Worrell when he returned from the tour, and was struck by these words from him: “If something was wrong I told them what was right and left it to them.” This surely was the key to his captaincy. Most captains can, and will, say what is going wrong. Some will also say what should be done to rectify a situation. Very few will then leave it to the players to put what is required into practice themselves.

West Indian cricketers had been used to being told what to do, following orders in other words. How much stronger and more personally satisfying it is if the leader that you respect lays down what he wants to happen and leaves it to you to actually do it.

Whether an individual was a team player or not was very important to Worrell. So was discipline on the field. During an early tour match, Sobers was adjudged LBW. He did not think he was out and showed his disagreement. Worrell was at the
non-strikers
end and indicated his displeasure with the dissent shown by Sobers. Later that day, Worrell had a team meeting and told his players that there would be no questioning of the umpire’s decisions and no swearing on the field of play. The Australians and the umpires respected them for this and it helped to make the series a success.

Worrell united the West Indies in a way that no one else could have done. He had seen the bickering and parochialism of earlier tours and was determined that it would not happen again. His overriding aim was to make his players into a team in which talent could blossom. He did not want them to be merely a bunch of brilliant individuals.

The touring party recovered some of their confidence with victories over a Combined XI and Tasmania and then moved on to Sydney for the Third Test.

The West Indies scored 303 for 5 on the first day, thanks mainly to another wonderful unbeaten century from Garry Sobers. He was out soon on the second day and the West Indies collapsed to 339 all out. Davidson got five wickets and Benaud four. Australia reached 172 for 5 at the end of the day.

The next morning it was Australia’s turn to collapse. Lance Gibbs, who had replaced Sonny Ramadhin in the side, took three wickets in four balls and they were all out for 202. With a healthy first innings lead of 137, the West Indies batted again but were soon in trouble at 22 for 3. Worrell played a captain’s innings but was out just before the close for 82, the Windies finishing on 179 for 7.

Gerry Alexander had been 11 not out overnight and now picked an excellent time to score his first Test century (he also scored half centuries in all the other Test matches in the series). There was good support from Gibbs who batted for an hour and half for 18 before being stumped by Grout off Benaud. Hall, with uncharacteristic restraint, batted for over an hour for 24. Alexander was last out for a magnificent 108 and Australia were set 464 to win.

They started well and reached 182 for 2 by the close of play, with Neil Harvey on 84 not out and Norman O’Neill on 53 not out. The final day saw Australia succumb to the spin of Gibbs and Valentine on a turning pitch. At one point, Gibbs took four wickets for 2 runs and finished with 5 for 66. Valentine took four of the other wickets and Australia were all out for 241. The West Indies had squared the series.

The Fourth Test, played at Adelaide, was another extraordinary match. Kanhai scored a century and Worrell and Alexander both
got half centuries in a first innings total of 393. Australia had reached 281 for 5 when Gibbs took a hat trick to make it 281 for 8. Then Des Hoare, playing in his only Test match, in place of the injured Davidson, helped Benaud to add 85 runs for the 9
^th
wicket and Australia were all out for 366, just 27 runs short of the West Indies total.

In the second innings, Hunte scored 79 and Kanhai made another century. There were half centuries again for Worrell and Alexander. The West Indies declared on 432 for 6 leaving Australia an almost impossible target of 461. They finished the fourth day on 32 for 3 with defeat looking inevitable.

Despite some resistance from Norman O’Neill and Peter Burge, wickets fell at regular intervals. Australia were reduced to 207 for 9, with an hour and fifty minutes still to play, when Lindsay Kline came out to join Ken ‘Slasher’ Mackay. Almost immediately, Sobers, fielding close to the bat, appealed confidently for a catch from Mackay off Worrell’s bowling. It was turned down and the two Australians embarked on one of greatest rearguard actions in Test history.

Although Mackay never scored a century in his thirty-seven Tests, he averaged just over 33 with the bat and scored 13 half centuries. The sobriquet of ‘Slasher’ was ironic. He was a very useful batsman especially in tight situations. Kline, on the other hand, never improved on his 15 not out that he made in this Test. Mackay, who had been dropped first ball, batted nearly four hours for his 62 not out. Amazingly, the pair held out till the close of play. The West Indies had missed out on a wonderful opportunity to take a winning lead in the series.

Australia only had a draw to play for on the last day so the match never acquired the legendary status of the ‘Tied Test’ where all four results were possible up to the last over. Nevertheless, it
was yet another exciting game which left the series fascinatingly poised at 1 – 1 with one match to play.

The Australians had taken Worrell and his team to their hearts. After years of negative and tedious cricket, the Australian public was captivated by the series. Worrell and Benaud had promised to play positive cricket and they had remained true to their word. This is not the same thing as trying to hit every ball for six or always having three slips in place. Rather, it is having the philosophy of ‘how can we win this game?’ as opposed to ‘how can we make sure we don’t lose this game?’