Australia’s most entertaining batsmen

If you ask any young cricket follower in any era who is their favourite batsman is, they’ll be quick with a reply: Donald Bradman, Neil Harvey, Norm O’Neill, the Chappell or Waugh brothers, Doug Walters, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Steve Smith, Dave Warner – the list goes on.

There’s no doubt these players are crowd favourites but were they genuine entertainers? There’s another type of batsman who can entertain in ways these guys cannot. They can amuse, they can surprise, they can terrify, they can keep people on the edge of their seats, they can bring sheer panic to the opposition and they can make people proud to be Australian.

I’m referring of course, to Australia’s No. 11 batsmen.

It’s late in the evening on 29 December in 1982, and Jeff Thompson is strolling out to meet Allan Border. Australia’s nine down and need another 74 runs to win. I remember thinking at the time we were gone and about what was I going to do the next day, but the pair got through to stumps, which was exciting enough.

The next day proved even more so, with Thommo batting sensibly for a change. AB trusted him, and the Poms started to fall apart with some ordinary bowling and fielding. Everyone knows the result, but that catch to get rid of Thommo caused a look of sheer terror on certain English players faces and complete relief after it had been taken.

Spectators, including me, had gone through a range of emotions mentioned above, and they were only possible because a No. 11 batsman had stuck it out.

The earliest example I can recall of an Australian No. 11 giving becoming a ‘batting superstar’ was in the Melbourne Test of 1937. This was a Test Australia had to win, yet the heavens opened before the game and the Aussie side batted first on a sticky wicket.

Bradman declared, as did Wally Hammond, with both sides failing to make 100. Bradman then told ‘Chuck’ Fleetwood Smith, the No. 11 bat, to pad up and open the batting. When Chuck asked why, Bradman supposedly put his arm around Fleetwood Smith’s shoulder and said, “Chuck, you can’t hit ’em on a good pitch, so you’re no chance in this one”.

Fleetwood-Smith stayed until stumps, the pitch improved overnight, Bradman got 270 and Australia won the Test.

The excellence of Australian No. 11s continued in the West Indies tour of 1960-61. Much has been written about the tied first Test, in which the Australian No. 11 helped create history, but not so much about the fourth Test, in which Lindsay Kline, a complete batting rabbit, outwitted and outplayed the West Indies for 100 minutes to help draw the fourth Test. Once again, his efforts caused emotions ranging from despair, through hope and to complete elation and pride that an Australian had done so well.

On the reverse, the West Indies went from gleeful anticipation, through concern and to panic and despair. How often will you get these feelings from a recognised batsman’s innings?

There are more examples of this. Craig McDermott almost got us across the line against a rampant West Indies side in the fourth Test in 1993. Mike Kasprowicz almost got us over the line against England in the second Test in 2005, and Brett Lee and ‘Superbat’ Glenn McGrath held out for a completely unexpected draw in the third Test of that same series.

No. 11s also provide hitting entertainment, and two guys have done this outstandingly well. The first player is the current world record holder for the highest score by a No. 11, Ashton Agar (98). His innings was pure entertainment, and when you consider his score is still more than guys like Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Aaron Finch, Cam Bancroft and Nic Maddinson have scored, it was valuable too.

The final entertainer has to be our last truly great No. 11, Glenn McGrath. Once he got the hang of batting at Test level – and once the West Indies fast bowlers retired – Superbat had so many centuries nipped in the bud by unbelievable deliveries or selfish recognised batsman that he was almost in despair until he played one of the most entertaining innings of all time in the first Test against New Zealand in Brisbane in 2004. The following highlights package of this innings is a much watch, though maybe not so much for Kiwi fans.

Initially the only person who bothered to watch was Adam Gilchrist, but as the innings progressed, the whole team became involved. You only have to look at the range of emotions they were expressing to know this was a special innings by a ‘special’ batsman. Clearly this was an outstanding innings – bat makers even created a special 61 X blade to mark the occasion.

So the next time you’re asked the pub question, ‘Who’s you’re favourite batsman and what’s your favourite innings?’, don’t be sucked in by the obvious choices – remember these and other outstanding efforts with the bat by our No. 11s before you answer.