He didn’t have the pace, the swagger, the chains, the moustache (though he tried at one point) or the outright hostility in a time of alpha male fast bowlers, but do we underrate Terry Alderman?
Statistics can be bent to suit any argument but on some fronts he could be ranked among the very best.
As we’ve seen over the past fortnight, the Ashes is the pinnacle of the sport in Australia. Terry Alderman holds a special place as the Australian who has taken the most wickets in a series with 42 in 1981, a figure he almost matched with 41 wickets in 1989 (and a hold on equal second spot).
The only person from either nation to have taken more wickets in an Ashes series than Alderman’s two efforts was Jim Laker’s 46 in 1956.
That tally will always have an asterisk against it, given 19 wickets were taken at Old Trafford on the most controversial pitch in Ashes history – a pitch reportedly prepared specifically for the purpose of Laker wreaking havoc.
While English conditions clearly suited Alderman’s bowling, he was a visitor who just happened to excel, not one getting favourable treatment from other sources.
To use an AFL analogy, Alderman’s effort is a bit like the magical 150 goal seasons that were produced by Bob Pratt in 1934 and Peter Hudson in 1971 – except that he produced both of them.
For some reason, however, Alderman never features when we talk about the greats which is a shame, because Alderman’s is one of the statistically best, if not most interesting, careers of all.
In some quarters it may be seen that Alderman’s Ashes triumphs were seen as lightning striking twice in favourable conditions and that beyond that there was nothing else to his career – almost like an extended version of Bob Massie’s career. That view overlooks so much and is most uncharitable.
The starting point is that England in 1981 was his debut Test series, and that he took nine wickets in his first Test. That is John Coleman-like as far as immediate impact, especially when you compare it to the inauspicious debuts that most of our great bowlers had.
Unfortunately it seems that Botham’s Ashes and the painful loss from an Australian perspective overshadowed Alderman’s achievements. That he took 42 wickets while also having a near his peak Dennis Lillee at the other end taking 39 wickets is testament to where he might really belong.
From there he was likely to be the logical successor to the Lillee throne, however things panned out much differently.
After a solid home summer he then took on England in the return Ashes bout on Australian soil and fell victim to one of the most bizarre incidents on a cricket field, wrecking his shoulder when he tackled a ground invader who had clipped him across the ear.
It took nearly 18 months for him to regain full fitness and his place in the Australian team.
For someone who was making those tentative steps back, the all-conquering West Indies may not have been the ideal opponent. But after a barren Caribbean tour, Alderman returned to his home ground to take six wickets in the Windies’ only innings, including Greenidge, Richardson, Richards, Lloyd and Dujon in what may have been his finest moment.
Video footage shows that he wasn’t the military medium bowler that he’s best remembered as now – the man himself claims he bowled 140kmh at his peak.
But again fate would intervene. After that 1984-85 West Indies series, perhaps triggered by his previous injury battles and the general dissatisfaction that was overwhelming Australian cricket at the time, he took the guarantees that the rebel tour to South Africa offered.
The negativity around the concept of the tour put a permanent line through participants for some of the public.
After participating in the tours and serving the subsequent bans, the end result was that over four years had elapsed between Tests when he was recalled for the third Test in 1988-89 – again to face the world champion West Indies.
Underlining his ability, he took four wickets to spearhead Australia bowling out the West Indies for their first sub-par score of the summer. He added three more wickets in the second innings but was only to bowl 12 more overs forthe Test summer.
Just getting back into the team at the age of 32 after a four-year break and his injury history was an achievement, but his crowning glory of 1989 was soon to follow.
The 1989 Ashes was much sweeter as the 41 wickets were taken in an Ashes win (bizarrely, of the top five wicket taking performances in an Ashes series by an Australian, four were in losing efforts) and a man of the series award to go with it.
He famously had an unbreakable hold on one of the era’s greats in Graham Gooch, forcing the England great to give up his place in the team.
But it didn’t quite end there. H followed that up with a consistent home summer that garnered 26 wickets across six Tests in Australia, followed by an encore Ashes performance the next summer. With Australia facing a 40-run first innings deficit, Alderman destroyed the English with 6-47 , resulting in a 10-wicket Test win and retaining of the Ashes.
Alderman played his last test in the West Indies in 1991 as he neared 35, finishing with an impressive 170 wickets from just 41 Tests. If you take the top 100 wicket takers in Test history and break it down to a wickets per innings figure Alderman fares impressively at number 28 on the list with an average of 2.33 wickets per innings he bowled in.
But here is the kicker. If you were to pick an all-time bowling Australian bowling attack based on wickets per innings figures containing three pacemen and a spinner, the pace contingent would be Lilllee, McDermott and Alderman.
Alderman just shades McGrath on these figures and although nobody would suggest that Alderman was better than McGrath, it does tell us that despite the setbacks Alderman should feature in any conversation about the greats.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.
It seems franchise cricket has forgotten about the great battle between bat and ball. In fact, this season in the IPL there is no battle at all.
The mammoth rise of Jake Fraser-McGurk - his enormous potential and the destructive shot-making that he possesses makes him a very tempting option.
Marcus Stoinis produced his first IPL century and it was a beauty. He went 6, 4, 4, 4 to finish off the Lucknow Super…
Xavier Bartlett has been permission to extend his cricketing education with a spell of T20s in England, playing in the Blast competition for Kent…
Three-Test spinner Matthew Kuhnemann has signed with Tasmania in a bid for red-ball game time ahead of Australia's tour of Sri Lanka next summer.…
Last week, you read about the Matt XI, a compilation of the best cricketers ever to represent the name Matt. And to be fair,…
