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It was a warm summer Friday in Adelaide and I had successfully negotiated an important business deal. Three business associates and I were at lunch and into our second bottle of Hill of Grace. In those days this iconic wine was under $30 and affordable.
The restaurant was busy and the atmosphere was suffused with happy people and glasses clinking in celebrations and salutations.
“Hey, Vinay, isn’t that Sir Donald across the room?”
I looked up and sure enough it was the Don holding court with what looked like a bunch of stockbrokers. There were perhaps six at his table and they all had their coats hanging behind their chairs and enough wine on the table for the Last Supper.
I wrestled with my good manners and the urge to walk over and interrupt what was a private lunch. I completely forgot my business colleagues and summoned all the bravado I could muster.
In retrospect, I am forever grateful to the Hill of Grace.
“Sir Don,” I stuttered, “Would you mind signing this, please?” “Pull up a chair, sit yourself down,” was his response and I was in a daze.
He poured me a glass of white wine and toasted my health. I was stunned and must have had the look of a hooked mullet.
“Show me your hands, young man,” and on looking at them he said, “You have to be a spinner.”
He picked up a bread roll and held his index and forefinger across the imaginary seam and asked, “Is this how you would hold the ball?”
I handled the bread roll as if it was Holy Bread and gripped it with fingers as he did but with a cocked wrist and explained that I got more spin and turn if I used my fingers and wrist together in concert.
This for me was like an audience with God.
The Don was fulsome in his praise of Vijay Hazare and Vinoo Mankad. He made mention of Hazare’s twin centuries in Adelaide and remarked: “He had such strong and supple wrists. His legside work was exemplary.”
The Don’s eyes crinkled and he was gracious and in good humour.
He made me feel at ease and I was on my second glass of wine before I realized I had some important customers waiting to order their food. The Don signed the back of my visiting card and I took my leave and remember to this day the firmness of his handshake and the warmth of his charm.
For the record, the Don scored four centuries in that 48-49 series against India, including two at the MCG.
In parting, the Don said: “I was lucky we won the toss in the four matches we won. Amarnath only won one toss and that Sydney Test was washed out”
What the Don did not say was that India were outclassed and the top six Australian batsmen all scored heavily. That top six was Barnes, Morris, Bradman, Hassett, Miller and a young Neil Harvey. Arguably the best batting lineup in the history of cricket.
There is a post script to this story.
I always carried that signed card in my wallet and one day I was walking along a beach in Goa with a mentor of mine – a very close friend and business associate.
He was much older than me and I was not to know he would die a few years later.
We were talking cricket and he regretted not having had the opportunity to see the Don play. Later that evening over dinner, I took out the signed visiting card and presented it to him.
He was overwhelmed and smiled: “I will now die a happy man.”
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