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It’s just four days until the start of the ICC World Cup, but today I salute those Australians who wore the baggy green with distinction and pride, but never played a ODI.
So their careers were all pre-1971, when the very first ODI was created by accident. The first three days of the January Ashes Test at the MCG were washed out.
To appease the Melbourne faithful, a hastily arranged ODI was scheduled – Australia captained by Bill Lawry, his only ODI, the England led by Ray Illingworth.
Australia won by five wickets in front of a 46,000-plus crowd, when a max of 20,000 was predicted for the ‘new format’.
Every one of my selections would have revelled in ODIs, but never got the chance.
Arthur Morris (1) and Bill Ponsford (2)
Morris (1946-1955) played 46 Tests, scored 3533 runs at 46.48 with 12 Test tons, and 12 half-centuries. He was a magnificent striker of the ball all around the wicket, a brilliant fieldsman, and an underused left-arm slowie,
Ponsford (1924-1934) played 27 Tests, scoring 2748 runs at 48.22, with seven tons and seven half-centuries. He got the nod over Bill Woodfull (1926-1934) with 35 Tests, 2300 runs at 46.00 with seven tons and 13 half-centuries, and Sid Barnes (1938-1948) with 13 Tests, 1072 runs at 63.85, with three tons and five half-centuries.
The clincher were the massive runs Ponsford scored for the Vics – including 437 in 621 minutes, 429 in 477, and 352 in 363.
Don Bradman (3)
There could never be anyone else. Between 1928 and 1948 in 52 Tests, The Don scored 6996 runs at 99.94 with 29 tons and 13 half-centuries.
Neil Harvey (4)
Played 79 Tests, scoring 6149 runs at 48.41 with 21 tons and 24 half-centuries, and a superb fieldsman anywhere from the cordon to the country, with a magnificent arm.
Norm O’Neill (5)
Played 42 Tests between 1958 and 1965, scoring 2779 runs at 45.55 with six tons and 15 half-centuries – his 181 in the first tied Test in 1960 at the Gabba one of Test cricket’s greatest knocks.
O’Neill got the nod over Stan McCabe in a photo-finish because he was the more aggressive adventurous batsman, a brilliant field with a bazooka arm, and a more than handy leggie. McCabe played 39 Tests, scored 2748 runs at 48.21 with six tons and 13 half-centuries, and was a great batsman in his era.
Keith Miller (6)
One of Australia’s greatest all-rounders in 55 Tests, scoring 2958 runs at 36.97,and 170 wickets at 22.97. There was never a dull moment when Miller was on duty, he was the world’s first debonair cricketer.
Richie Benaud (7)
Another of the all-rounders in 63 Tests with three tons in his 2201 runs at 24.45, and 248 wickets with his leggies at 27.03. It was his bonus batting that gives him the nod over Bill O’Reilly (1932-1946) in 27 Tests taking 144 wickets at 22.59, and Clarrie Grimmett (1925-1936) in 37 Tests with his 216 wickets at 24.21.
Alan Davidson (8)
Played 44 Tests between 1953 and 1963, capturing 186 wickets at 20.53, and scoring 1328 runs at 24.59. The bat, and his outstanding fielding, known as the claw, gave ‘Davo’ the nod over Invincible Bill Johnstone’s 40 Tests, capturing 160 wickets at 23.91.
Wally Grout (9)
The Queensland keeper kept wickets for Australia from 1957 to 1966 in 51 Tests with 163 catches, and 24 stumpings. Grout got the nod over Bert Oldfield (1920-1937), who survived the Bodyline series in 1932-1933, with a career 78 catches and 52 stumpings in 54 Tests, and Invincible Don Tallon (1946-1953), who made his Test debut at 30, 13 years after debuting for Queensland. Tallon’s career in 21 Tests – 50 catches, and eight stumpings.
Ray Lindwall (10)
One of the greatest fast bowlers in history, Lindwall was no mug with the bat either. Between 1946 and 1960 in 61 Tests, he captured 228 wickets at 23.03, and scored 1502 runs at 21.15, with two tons. The new-ball combination of Lindwall and Keith Miller is cemented in Test folklore.
Jack Iverson (11)
The mystery bowler of the 1950s, he came, he saw, he conquered – all in the one Test season against England in 1950-1951. With the ball balanced between his middle finger and thumb, Iverson bowled an offie, a leggie, and a googly with the same action, depending on how he flicked the ball – unseen by the batsman. He captured 21 wickets at 15.23 in that sensational Ashes series, and then he was gone to run his family business.
There were lots of other genuine contenders, but my XI is there for Roarers to add their thoughts.