Australia’s 1979 tour of India is a fascinating one for many reasons.
The first time India beat Australia in a series. The last series the official Australian team played without World Series Cricket players. The true dawn of the international careers of Allan Border and Kim Hughes.
The first time in 11 years India had played without one of their three legendary spinners: BS Chandrasekhar, Bishan Bedi and EAS Prasanna.
It’s a series not hugely well remembered in Australia – there were no equivalents of, say, the second tied Test, or the Doug Walters-inspired riot – and press coverage was limited.
But it’s not entirely forgotten either. I remember being well aware of it growing up, mainly via statistical reasons (there were a lot of big partnerships involving Graham Yallop, Kim Hughes and Allan Border).
I assume Indian cricket fans recall it with fondness – they won 2-0 and that might’ve been 4-0 if not for rain. It was the dawn of a new era for them as well, though this piece will be very Australian-focused. (For an Indian point of view, this article is highly recommended).
Some background. A World Series Cricket-free Australia had beaten India at home 3-2 over the 1977-78 summer. However that was at home, with local pitches and umpires, and under the captaincy of Bob Simpson who had since retired (again).
After that series, the Australians had found things tougher – they’d lost to the West Indies 3-1 and England 5-1, drew 1-1 against Pakistan, and had a disastrous 1979 World Cup.
The squad selected to tour India was as follows:
Batters
1. Kim Hughes (captain)
2. Andrew Hilditch (vice-captain)
3. Graeme Wood
4. Rick Darling
5. Allan Border
6. Graham Yallop
7. Dav Whatmore
Wicketkeeper
8. Kevin Wright (with Yallop as the reserve)
Fast bowlers
9. Rodney Hogg
10. Alan Hurst
11. Geoff Dymock
12. Graeme Porter
Spinners
13. Bruce Yardley
14. Peter Sleep
15. Jim Higgs
It was a very inexperienced squad. Half had never toured with the national side before, none had been to India. (To be fair, Australia hadn’t been to India for ten years.)
Was this the best team that could have been taken (taking the WSC players out of the equation)?
Let’s first look at the locks and/or the unsurprising selections.
(S&G/PA Images via Getty Images)
India wasn’t known as a fast bowler’s paradise but Hogg and Hurst both had superb summers in 1978-79, Hogg particularly. Geoff Dymock had also done well and had been super consistent over the years – he deserved his nod.
Bruce Yardley and Jim Higgs were established, solid spinners who had been picked with regularity over the last 12 months. Higgs was the better bowler but poor in the field and with the bat, areas where Yardley was strong. They counter balanced each other nicely.
Graham Yallop had been dropped as Australia’s captain but was probably the best batsman in the side. Kim Hughes had started and ended the summer well. Border had only just made his international debut that summer but had done well and offered a useful part-time spin bowling option.
Now for the more borderline cases.
Rick Darling and Graeme Wood had been erratic, earning a reputation as the Kamikaze kids for running each other out and Wood had been dropped for the series against Pakistan, replaced by Hilditch.
(Photo by Daniel Pockett – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images )
However Australia’s victories that summer tended to come when either of Darling and/or Wood did well and I think the selectors wanted an extra specialist opener.
Andrew Hilditch was greener than even Border but had played some handy innings following his debut and was the one batsman to do okay at the ’79 World Cup.
His sensible nature and leadership qualities were so highly regarded he was appointed vice captain over Yallop. (Hilditch, Yallop and Hughes would be the three selectors on tour.)
Dav Whatmore had been a very consistent part of a hugely successful Victorian side. He was a smart operator too. Many attributed Victoria’s Shield wins in ’78-79 and ’79-80 more to the leadership of Whatmore than the actual captain, Graham Yallop (that may be unfair, but I have read it, and the post-playing career of both men tends to support that).
He got the nod over others who had played Test cricket that summer including Jeff Moss, Trevor Laughlin, Gary Cosier, Peter Toohey and Phil Carlson. Of these the drop in form of Toohey and Cosier was the hardest to bear, as both had done so well in the past.
(Credit: Swamibu/CC BY-NC 2.0)
I really like Whatmore but I actually would’ve shown faith in Toohey, if only because he had done so well in the past against spin and had more experience.
I really like Cosier too, who offered a part time bowling option, but he’d been in decline for a few years now and one senses he would’ve struggled in India (Cosier played on for a few more years but never recaptured the form that earned him international selection; Toohey did).
Jeff Moss was unlucky, having enjoyed a great Shield season and playing a Test but ’78-79 was his first really good season. Laughlin and Carlson were bits-and-pieces all-rounders whose selection had been disastrous; no one seemed too upset when they were omitted (for Tests that is – I think both were under-used as potential ODI players).
Overall, I can’t criticise the selectors too much for the choices they made when it became to batters. With one exception.
I would’ve taken an extra batter. Seven was too few for a six-Test series, especially for such an inexperienced line-up.
And that extra one should’ve been John Inverarity, who should’ve been captain over Hughes, and who was still playing, and in good form, and could bowl.
They should’ve made Inverarity vice-captain to Simpson in ’77-78, and as captain over first Yallop and then Hughes in ’78-79 (the selectors had two opportunities to rectify that mistake). It was the key mistake of the tour.
John Inverarity (left) is perhaps better known for his period as a selector. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
As for the non-batters…
Kevin Wright was a decent keeper. He had replaced John Maclean, who had been vice-captain. Maclean’s experience would’ve been invaluable in India but he’d been dropped during the Ashes after a drop in form following a nasty injury, and he ended up retiring from first-class cricket at the end of the ’78-79 summer.
The third spinner, Peter Sleep, had just been voted Sheffield Shield player of the year, with 47 first-class wickets at 27 and 657 runs at 33 over the summer, and had already played one Test. It would’ve been hard not to pick him.
They must’ve considered taking Dave Hourn, who had 42 first-class wickets at 32 that season (and 49 the season before). But Hourn was a poor fielder and batter; Sleep was very strong in both those areas. I can’t blame them for picking Sleep.
Porter was a random selection – it even surprised Porter. They should’ve gone with Wayne Clark, who had played Tests, and took 35 wickets that summer. Medium pacers do well over there.
This is the squad I would have taken, trying not to be too wise in hindsight:
1. John Inverarity (captain)
2. Andrew Hilditch
3. Rick Darling
4. Graham Yallop
5. Allan Border
6. Kim Hughes
7. Peter Toohey
8. Graeme Wood
9. Kevin Wright
10. Rodney Hogg
11. Alan Hurst
12. Geoff Dymock
13. Wayne Clark
14. Bruce Yardley
15. Jim Higgs
16. Peter Sleep
(Photo by Murrell/Allsport/Getty Images)
So what happened on the tour?
Australia’s first Test side was as follows:
1. Hilditch
2. Wood
3. Border
4. Hughes
5. Yallop
6. Whatmore (replacing an injured Darling)
7. Wright
8. Dymock
9. Hogg
10. Hurst
11. Higgs
Border and Hughes batted magnificently, as they would throughout the tour. Hogg struggled, as he would throughout the tour. Australia got in a strong position on the first day but collapsed and only rain and some handy tail end batting saw them escape with a draw.
For the second Test, Darling came in for Whatmore and Yardley for Dymock.
Australia’s bowlers really struggled and India had the better of another draw. The home team probably would have won if not for rain.
In the third Test Dymock replaced Hurst, who had back trouble – so bad it prematurely ended his career (Geoff Lawson was flown out to replace him but did not play a Test).
(Photo by Simon Cross/Getty Images)
This was the first game Australia had a chance of winning due to some magnificent bowling from Dymock, but a number of dropped catches in India’s second innings and a batting collapse saw India take the game.
India had the upper hand for the fourth Test where an injured Bruce Yardley was replaced by Peter Sleep. However the game ended in a draw due to some fighting Australian batting.
Australia’s best chance to win a match came in the fifth Test, in which Yardley replaced Sleep.
Australia was in front for most of the game, declaring in their second innings, but the bowlers couldn’t break through and another draw resulted.
The wheels fell off in the sixth Test where Australia lost Yardley to injury and India won by an innings.
Australia didn’t win a game all tour but I think the 1979 expedition can’t be regarded as a fiasco. Australia did better than say their 2013 counterparts; they had a chance of winning two Tests and had the upper hand in most tour games.
Border, Hughes and Dymock had excellent tours; Yallop had a pretty good one (doing better as opener, surprisingly).
(Credit: Ben Radford/Allsport via Getty Images)
But they lacked support. Hogg had a rotten trip – he was pelted with fruit, kicked over stumps and was constantly no balled. Although he was not as bad as poor old Hurst, whose career ended with injury.
Wood, Hilditch, Darling, Higgs and Yardley had disappointing series. Sleep struggled in his one game. Porter never got a look in. Test averages are here.
Could this side have defeated India?
1. Wood/Darling
2. Hilditch
3. Yallop
4. Hughes
5. Inverarity (captain)
6. Border
7. Wright
8. Yardley/Sleep/Clark
9. Hogg
10. Hurst/Dymock
11. Higgs
I’m not sure. Hogg and Hurst had been so good and then didn’t deliver – in hindsight we would’ve been better off if both bowlers had been ruled out of the tour due to injury but who could have predicted that?
No one could have predicted Hilditch, Wood and Darling being so average. Catches were dropped. I think Toohey and Clark should’ve been picked over Whatmore and Porter but I can’t guarantee they would’ve done better. Maybe Hourn would have done better than Sleep – who knows?
I do think Inverarity’s leadership could only have helped (though there were no scandals from Hughes on this tour); ditto his part-time off spinners.
Even if he underperformed with the bat he surely couldn’t have done worse than Whatmore, or the openers. I actually think the selectors of the 1979 tour did a decent enough job except for overlooking Inverarity.
The Australian squad that toured India missed the first few rounds of Shield cricket in ’79-80. The next Test played was against the West Indies.
Eight of the 12 players selected were from World Series Cricket, including Greg Chappell as captain (despite some tactless public lobbying from Hughes for the job).
But Hughes, Border, Hogg and Dymock were kept in the side and Hughes was appointed vice-captain.
While some of the 1979 tourists would never play international cricket again (Whatmore, Wright, Porter, Hurst) the others did, all having decent runs at some point or another (Hilditch, Wood, Yallop, Sleep, Yardley, Higgs, Lawson).
Darling had a run in the ODI team, Whatmore became a top international coach, and Hurst surely would’ve played again if his back hadn’t packed it in.
The Australian team that toured India in 1979… it did alright.
Clear as mud
Guest
Invers also made 180 in Sydney early in the shield :(
Clear as mud
Guest
Lost in 10-11 as well but I don’t like to talk about it
Clear as mud
Guest
Yes Brighty did get 10 on a bunsen, so good on him, but any spinner might of? he got 0-for off 33 overs in the next, and 5-170 in the third, including 9, 10, 11. so I don't think, on balance, he bowls us to victory in India 6 months earlier. nobody does I guess. which is why we lost in 79-80, drew in 86 thanks to Kapil captaincy, lost in 96-7, lost in 97-8, lost in 2000-1, lost in 2008-9, lost in 2012-13, lost in 2016-17. and only one once.
Stephen Vagg
Roar Guru
Lawson bowled really well in the 1982 tour... that was the making of him as a test bowler, really. (https://www.theroar.com.au/2021/08/14/test-xis-we-should-have-had-pakistan-1982/) Bright was 1980.
Stephen Vagg
Roar Guru
Ray Bright did well in Pakistan. But the word was the pitches were doctored to help the local bowlers for the first test, then the second and third tests were on batters' paradises... to ensure two draws and a 1-0 result for the locals. I don't think Lillee would've gone that well in India but Greg Chappell would've added strength to the batting... and the scoreboard pressure would've helped.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
Can't remember the tour but Geoff Lawson bowled well on a Pakistan tour. Could have been the same one as Ray Bright taking a 7 for. Naturally they lost.
Clear as mud
Guest
Not sure Greg had any greater claim than Hughes at that stage. They both had held Pakistan 1-1, Hughes doing it without Lillee and Chappell; and he had led well in India. Whereas Greg wasn’t even captain in WSC Maybe he was just trying to make sure he made the side at all, given all the WSC triumphalism going on in the home papers
Clear as mud
Guest
To be frank I don’t think we had a single bowler in the country at that stage who would do well on those pitches. We hadn’t been to Asia for a decade. When Chappelli’s team did well in the Windies it was the leggies and Tangles. When we went to Pakistan 6 months later in early 80, nobody took wickets. We might have lost 1-o instead?
Stephen Vagg
Roar Guru
I remember Hookes saying that in his memoirs. It is interesting what would've happened had Hookes stayed with establishment cricket. Depends on his form of course - Craig Serjeant was vice captain in 77-78 then dropped, ditto John McLean in 78-79... if either of them had stayed in form they could've been captain in 79-80 (I think McLean would've done a good job of that). Hookes is one of the great enigmas of Aussie cricket. What if he hadn't gone with WSC? Hadn't broken his jaw? Hadn't been dropped so early in 85-86? He never really seemed to crack it at test level - even in his best summer, 82-83, he never quite got there. Great player though. So exciting.
sheek
Roar Guru
Kalva, Actually, it goes back further for Hookes than the 1979 Indian tour. Hookesy should have stayed with the ACB instead of signing with WSC. However, all his heroes & mentors had gone to WSC & Packer wanted his signature as the young gun of WSC. I'm sure Hookesy's head swelled with everyone wanting him on their team. Of course, many things focus sharper with the benefit of hindsight. Hughes, Yallop & Border all became better rounded batsmen by staying with ACB. Hookes became a great player of pace but Underwood was the only decent spinner he faced in WSC. Spin became his Achilles heel by the simple process of him signing with WSC. Thommo is the other guy who might have benefited from having Hookesy with him in ACB. Thommo couldn't join WSC because he was locked into a long-term contract signed with journalist/manager David Lord. Kallicharran was also signed to Lord & didn't sign with WSC for the same reason. They were kindred spirits, Thommo & Hookesy, both possessing a rebel streak. I don't think Thommo really gelled with any of the ACB guys. Hookesy may have made all the difference to him, & indeed for each other. Anyway, it's all history now!
Kalva
Roar Rookie
I remember reading an interview with David Hookes when he retired in which he regretted that he didn’t go on this tour. He believed that he would have learnt to play spin the way Hughes and Border and Yallop benefitted from the tour. I’m not so sure about that but it’s interesting. It’s also an interesting what if question as to what would have happened if Hookes had turned down WSC 2 years before, considering that he was a higher profile player than the above mentioned but ended up with an inferior Test record. Could he have been captain on this tour?
sheek
Roar Guru
Stephan, I understand & agree. Chappelli's selection (as captain) would have relied on a very narrow window of goodwill. But the ACB were hostile to him, & he only belatedly made himself available for test selection during the summer. In any case, I think the WSC players, exhausted from the Windies tour, appreciated having some down time before a very busy domestic season. They certainly had the inside running on the ACB players, who returned from India with the season already under way, & immediately had to adjust to different conditions. Not selecting Inverarity as captain in 1978/79 was the big failure. And the sad thing is that you don't require hindsight to say it was failure on the part of the ACB.
Stephen Vagg
Roar Guru
I think the selectors liked him, they just liked other bowlers more. It's interesting though that he was not offered a WSC contact, or picked in 77-78 even without WSC players (Wayne Clark, Sam Gannon, Alan Hurst and Ian Callen were all picked over him).
Stephen Vagg
Roar Guru
I enjoyed your thoughts. If they were allowed to take WSC players I'm not sure Ian Chappell would've been available, and/or as captain - he captained for Packer but in 75/76 and 79/80 played as just a batter. Yallop's skill with spin might've seen him get the nod as a replacement.
sheek
Roar Guru
Rowdy, Of course, had Invers been captain throughout 1978/79, then it makes sense he would have led the team to India. His place in the team would have given them flexibility in choosing one or two spinners to suit, with Invers good enough to play 2nd spinner on most occasions. And with the WSC players, they hadn't long returned from a very physically draining series with their WSC Windies counterparts in the Caribbean. So maybe it was they who had made themselves unavailable to tour India. I hadn't given that much thought previously. I always assumed it was ACB that prevented their selection. But with a big home season coming up, maybe they all wanted a break, which makes sense.
Paul
Roar Guru
The reason for Dymock not getting more love from selectors was down to one thing - speed, or in his case, a lack of it. Guys like he and Walker were not seen as real front line bowlers, but more as first or second change to the out & out speedsters Australia wanted. This was still the Lille & Thompson era, the Windies quicks were just starting their reign of terror - and along comes this mild, unassuming bloke bowling barely above medium pace? I thought he was a terrific bowler but certainly hard done by at Test level.
sheek
Roar Guru
Rowdy, True, Inveratity was indeed a fine all-round cricketer. The history of 1978/79 might have been different if the ACB did the sensible thing & replaced Simpson with Inverarity. They were similar players, could bat anywhere in the top 6, were outstanding slips men & tacticians, & useful backup spinners. Very dumb decision by ACB to ignore Invers.
sheek
Roar Guru
Stephen, When you talked about the team that should have been picked, I immediately presumed you would include WSC players. Peace had been brokered, but it wouldn’t be until the team returned from India that WSC players would be available. In a combined side, the only ACB players guaranteed their place would be Hughes, Border, Hogg & Hurst, with maybes for Hilditch, Yallop, Dymock, Higgs, Yardley & Wright as backup keeper. The key WSC players that would be likely to be selected were Ian Chappell, Greg Chappell, Bruce Laird, Rick McCosker, David Hookes, Rod Marsh, Ray Bright, Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson & Len Pascoe. So that’s 20 players to be pared back to 16. This is all based on what was happening in 1978/79. So let’s look at a 16 man touring team, comprising 7 batsmen, two wicket keepers, 4 pacemen & 3 spinners. Age in brackets. Batsmen: Ian Chappell (36-c), Greg Chappell (31-vc), Bruce Laird (29), Rick McCosker (33), Kim Hughes (25), Allan Border (240, David Hookes (24). Keepers: Rod Marsh (32), Kevin Wright (26). Pacemen: Dennis Lillee (30), Jeff Thomson (29), Rodney Hogg (28), Alan Hurst (29). Spinners: Ray Bright (25), Jim Higgs (29), Bruce Yardley (32). I’ve only selected two specialist openers, meaning the other batsmen would have to rotate in the position in non-test matches. There’s 9 WSC & 7 ACB players. Because of the possibility of illness & injury, the following would be backup players: Hilditch (23), Yallop (27), Dymock (34) & Pascoe (29). Hindsight is a wonderful thing. We didn’t know at the time of alternate selection that Hurst would break down, or Hogg would be useless. We didn’t know that Dymock would have a phenomenally successful summer. We didn’t know then that Hookes had a serious flaw against spin, or that Ian Chappell would initially decide to miss the early tests. However, with the enticement of captaincy, Ian Chappell is crucial to this team, as he was the only survivor from 1969/70. I have no doubt this rejigged team would have stood up to India, & probably at worst tied the series, & at best, beat them. Keep in mind this was not a great Indian team. It had some great players, but it wasn’t strong in very position. It would have been a fascinating contest. Much more fascinating than the one we got.
Stephen Vagg
Roar Guru
I think Dymock was always very reliable... he was picked for test cricket as early as 73-74... He was just back in the pecking order after people like Lillee, Thomson, and Walker. And in 77-78 for whatever reason the selectors went for other bowlers over him like Clark and Callen. I think on Aussie selectors preferred faster bowlers. But Dymock never did badly. And overseas, where there's less help for pace bowlers, his skill would go really well. Generally medium pacers do better than fast bowlers in India. He had a wonderful season over 79-80... but by 80-81 selectors went back to younger bowlers. There's a whole bunch of bowlers like him - reliable, fast medium, never trendy or the hot young thing... Jackson Bird is one, Trent Copeland, John Maguire...
Kalva
Roar Rookie
I remember this series and the very little coverage it got in Australia which was par for the course in those days. However, I believe that there were a lot of Indian journalists who were very impressed with Hughes both as a batsman, a leader and an ambassador under trying circumstances. It was the making of him and Border as batsmen but also recall Dymock doing well not just in India but then later in Australia when he was basically the 2nd best after Lillee. I always wondered how did that happen? He was in his mid 30s when he suddenly turned his career around and did so well. Kapil's figures are quite brilliant as well...on those pitches.