When Doug Walters left his birthplace Dungog as a teenager to try his luck in the ‘Big Smoke’, Australian cricket was the winner.
He hit the Sydney first grade competition with Cumberland like a hurricane with powerhouse shots all round the wicket, bowling his niggling medium pacers that broke many a stubborn partnership, and plying his brilliant fielding trade anywhere from the cordon to the country.
Kevin Douglas Walters was the full house of all-round cricket cards.
The baggy blue cap of NSW was awarded to the just turned 17-year-old, scoring 50 in the second innings against West Indian speedster Wes Hall playing for Queensland, and 60 in the next game.
Walters made the national selectors stand up and take notice with a career best 253 against South Australia, and claiming 7-63, making his Test debut against England at the Gabba with scintillating 115 just before his 20th birthday, and followed that up with another century in his second Test at the MCG.
It was my privilege to see both those digs in the flesh, along with his 242 and 103 against the Windies at the SCG in 1969 to become the first in history to score a double and single century in the same Test.
Two more memorable digs from the ‘Dungog kid’ stand out – his last ball of the day six off Bob Willis at the WACA in 1974 to give him another century in a session, and his career high 250 at Christchurch in a lightning 217 stand with Gary Gilmour (101) in 1977, flogging the Kiwi bowlers all round the field.
Magic memories alright, so when I caught up with the now 68-year-old a little while ago I suggested he select a 12-man side of the very best he’s played against in his 74-Test career from 1965 to 1981.
The list looked like a Who’s Who of international cricket:
England: Geoff Boycott, John Edrich, Ken Barrington, Colin Cowdrey, Tom Graveney, Alan Knott, John Snow, Derek Underwood, Tony Greig, and Ian Botham.
South Africa: Barry Richards, Graeme Pollock, Peter Pollock, Eddie Barlow, Denis Lindsay, Lee Irvine, and Mike Procter.
West Indies: Gary Sobers, Rohan Kanhai, Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge, Charlie Griffiths, Wes Hall, Lance Gibbs, Roy Fredericks, Lawrence Rowe, Viv Richards, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, and Joel Garner.
India: Erapalli Prassana, Bishen Bedi, Gundappa Viswanath, Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Sunil Gavaskar, and Kapil Dev.
Pakistan: Imran Khan, Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, Wasim Bari, and Sarfraz Nawaz.
And New Zealand with Bevan Congdon, Richard Hadlee, and Glenn Turner.
That’s 45 to chose from, Doug took just five minutes to select his 12 in batting order:
1 – Geoff Boycott.
2 – Barry Richards.
3 – Graeme Pollock.
4 – Viv Richards.
5 – Gary Sobers (vc)
6 – Clive Lloyd (c)
7 – Ian Botham.
8 – Alan Knott.
9 – Richard Hadlee.
10- Andy Roberts.
11- Derek Underwood.
12th man – Bishen Bedi.
That’s one helluva side, and a very pleasant walk down memory lane with an all-time great cricketer, and a great bloke – he’s never changed.
The current Test team could sure do with a Doug Walters right now.
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