Here’s an odd team to ponder while you’re having your morning coffee.
A team of Australian Test players whose position in the Test batting order, on at least one occasion, matches the total number of Tests that they played for Australia. I told you it was odd.
1. Wayne Phillips
Phillips was a short, gritty Victorian right hander who was selected to opening the batting in the fifth Test against India in 1992 following the poor form of Geoff Marsh in the preceding two Tests. He scored a total of 22 runs in his only Test.
2. Robbie Kerr
The Queensland right hander played the second and third Tests against NZ in 1985 but failed to impress, averaging just 7.75 in his four innings, and he subsequently lost his place to in the side Geoff Marsh.
3. Trevor Chappell
After failing to impress with the bat in the middle order in the first two Tests of the 1981 Ashes tour of England, Chappell swapped places in the batting order with the struggling Graham Yallop and came in at number three, where he scored just 27 and eight before permanently losing his place in the team to Martin Kent.
(Photo by S&G/PA Images via Getty Images)
4. Bill Watson
The 24-year-old found himself opening the batting for Australia alongside Colin McDonald, after just four first-class games for NSW, against the likes of Frank Tyson and Brian Statham in the fifth Test against the visiting Englishmen in February 1955. He did enough to earn his place on the following tour to the West Indies where he played three Tests coming in at number four, finishing with a top score of 30 before losing his place in the team.
5. Graeme Watson
Watson was a very handy all-rounder who was plucked from the Victorian Sheffield Shield team to join the tour to South Africa at the end of 1966. He made his Test debut in the second Test at Cape Town where he batted at eight and bowled first change, and went on to play three Tests in the series without reproducing his first-class form.
He came back from a serious injury to take his next Test opportunity on the 1972 tour of England when he batted at number five in both innings of the first Test for a total of two runs. His last Test match came later in that series when he opened the batting with Keith Stackpole.
6. Brad Hodge
How Victorian batting star Brad Hodge ever only played six Tests is a mystery known only to the Australian selectors. He scored 17,000 first-class runs and had a Test batting average of just under 56. More accustomed to batting at either four or five, his only innings at number six for Australia came in the second innings of the first Test against the West Indies in Jamaica when he came in after night watchman Mitchell Johnson.
(Photo by Hamish Blair/Getty Images)
7. Len Maddocks (wicketkeeper)
Maddocks was a very good keeper and quite a handy right-handed bat whose Test appearances were limited due to the presence of contemporaries in Wally Grout, Don Tallon and Gil Langley. He scored a watchful 47 batting at number eight to top score for Australia in the first innings of his Test debut against the visiting Englishmen in December 1954 and picked up the first three of his 20 Test dismissals. He batted in seven different positions in his 12 Test innings including opening the batting with Arthur Morris on one occasion, and batted at seven twice.
8. Johnny Martin
Martin was a popular left-arm leg spinner and big-hitting batsman from northern NSW who was in and out of the Australian team in the mid ’60s. He batted anywhere from six down and could really hit the ball a long way. He never really reached the heights as a Test match bowler but did once manage to take the wickets of Rohan Kanhai, Garfield Sobers and Frank Worrell in the space of just four balls.
9. Dave Gilbert
Gilbert was a more than handy Sheffield Shield bowler who unexpectedly got his Test opportunity due the unavailability of bowlers Rodney Hogg, Carl Rackemann, John Maguire, Rod McCurdy and Terry Alderman, who all joined the 1985-86 rebel tour to South Africa. Gilbert’s right-arm seamers weren’t as effective at Test level, unfortunately, and he finished with just 16 wickets at 52.68 from his nine tests. He was a fairly ordinary batsman and the highest he ever batted at Test level was at nine in the third Test against India in January 1986 where he scored just one run.
(Photo by Daniel Pockett – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images )
10. Wayne Clark
Doubts about his bowling action didn’t stop Clark being selected in Bob Simpson’s WSC-depleted side to face the visiting Indian team in 1977, and he made every post a winner, taking eight wickets in the match. He squeezed ten Test matches into his brief 18-month career and finished with 44 wickets at just under 29, and took four wickets in an innings on seven occasions. He batted as high as nine in his Test career, without causing too much work for the scorers, and only scored a total of four runs in his six innings at number ten.
11. Bob Holland
As batsmen go, Bob Holland was a very good leg spinner, although he did make his highest Test score of ten when batting at three in the third Test against England in 1985 at the age of 39 when sent in as night watchman. He was a late bloomer, making his NSW debut at the age of 32 and his Test debut six years later at 38 years of age. He had sporadic success during his brief career, the highlight being taking ten wickets in a Test on two occasions.
In my next article, we’ll come up with some opposition to the Australian team drawn from some of the other Test-playing nations, using the same election criteria.
Tony
Roar Guru
Excellent work Clay :thumbup:
Clay
Roar Pro
Not a bad XI in the end, competition for the #11 spot was surprisingly fierce. #1 Phil Jaques 11 matches, 902 runs @ 47.47 Was always a big wrap for him, pity about the injuries. #2 Cameron Bancroft 10 matches, 446 runs @ 26.23 The door isn't fully closed but gee it's close. #3 Barry Shephard 9 matches, 502 runs @ 41.83 More often played in the lower order but scored 43* in his only innings at #3 and that's good enough for me. #4 Archie Jackson 8 matches, 474 runs @ 47.40 Mainly an opener but he batted a few times at #4 - undeniable talent taken too soon. #5 Glenn Maxwell 7 matches, 339 runs @ 26.07 8 wickets @ 42.62 Absolute mystery why Maxi hasn't been given more matches really. #6 Greg Dyer 6 matches, 131 runs @ 21.83 22 catches, 2 stumpings Thanks, Heals. #7 Martin Love 5 matches, 233 runs @ 46.60 Yeah it's a low batting position for Love (or what could have been George Bailey) but the keeping options just weren't there. #8 Andrew McDonald 4 matches, 107 runs @ 21.40 9 wickets @ 33.33 Pat Crawford and Gordon Rorke had better records with the ball but both were genuine #11s. #9 Scott Boland 3 matches, 18 wickets @ 9.55 HM: John Gannon, John Maguire, Morris Sievers I mean, until he plays match 4 it's gotta be, right? #10 Laurie Nash 2 matches, 10 wickets @ 12.60 HM: Tom Kendall, Alec Hurwood, Simon Cook I strongly remember Simon Cook using a crack in the Hobart pitch to bowl NZ out but Laurie Nash is just a legend. #11 Mick Malone 1 match, 6 wickets @ 12.83 HM: Frank Allan, Len Johnson, James Faulkner, Ian Callen Allan / Johnson / Faulkner are more all rounders than genuine #11s so they missed out.
Tony
Roar Guru
Nice bit of trivia there Clay, and a great suggestion for another odd article. You should take it on!
Clay
Roar Pro
Really fun article this one. Maddocks was the 19th of Laker's 19/90 in 1956 as well. Besides a World XI it would be interesting to do a reverse number XI - Number 1 played 11 tests, number 2 played 10 and so on. Laurie Nash would be a good shout for batting 10 in that one for instance (2 tests, 10 wickets at 12.6).
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Was that 9, or 10, of this XI, being from the playing ranks of NSW and Vic? Oh dear :laughing:
Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
Thank you, Your Holiness.
Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
Pretty much says that there's always pressure; internal and/or external in test cricket and these pressures can impact a players run scoring/wicket taking ability irrespective of the specific situation. I can compare apples and llamas to a 5th grade grand final we won by miles where there was still pressure with minutes to go, but that's boring. Anyway I found this. I like it: https://www.theroar.com.au/2014/03/13/building-pressure-to-create-wickets/
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Those are quotes not always within context, and do not represent independent analysis of the real value of any specific runs or wickets in any specific match situation.
Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
Yeah but the reflections from loads of international cricketers over the decades do: "There's always pressure in test cricket" - Kevin Pietersen "Pressure is the biggest single factor in Test cricket" - Nasser Hussain "The mental strain of Test cricket was the worst. Physical exhaustion without accompanying mental stress can usually be quickly rectified. But together are a different proposition" The Don "I like to play test cricket. It is really challenging, because you need to really score runs, stay in the wicket and continue for five days" — Kumar Sangakkara "Cricket is a pressure game, and when it comes to India-Pakistan match the pressure is doubled" - Imran Khan "A bloke's bowling at 150kph trying to rip the fingers off your arms or probably even worse. You are in a fight. And to me that's what Test cricket is all about" — Justin Langer "Witness Mark Ramprakash – incredible in county cricket yet unable to succeed in Tests. The expectations of him from a young age were massive" - Martin Crowe "Some people don't realise how tough elite cricket is. Physically, mentally, technically, you are challenged by every single ball you are involved in" - Shane Watson "With most sports there is an off-season, a pre-season training and then there's a major season, but cricket is non-stop" - Jock Campbell, former Aussie strength and conditioning coach "The blokes know they are maybe three bad games away from being dropped" - Campbell again "I had to struggle in Test cricket with an inner voice which told me I had no right to be there" - Mike Brearley "I don’t know any game which entails such a severe and prolonged strain on the skipper" - The Don on captaincy "The pressure was immense. If you didn't perform you were out, man, no messing about" - Barry Richards on WSC "His leadership was criticised, even his personality was vilified. He was subjected to all manner of attacks" - James Anderson on Alastair Cooks captaincy post 5 nil Ashes destruction "If Cooky believed the stress he was under was affecting the team, he'd have stood down but he believed he should absorb the pressure himself and deflect it away from the players" - Anderson continues on Cook "I didn’t perform particularly well [she made scores of 11 and 0 on her debut] and was caught between the desire to score runs and this overwhelming pressure to not get out – Test cricket was about not getting out" - former England bat Claire Taylor "The Test match hundred, I’m afraid, does mean an awful lot more. Even now, people like me revere Test-match hundreds" - David Gower on the adulation associated with Test/ODI milestones "It’s still mind-boggling to me. Every international team should have three or four full-time psychologists working with the team. The mental side of Test cricket is so powerful and so strong, convincing yourself you’re going to do well every day, and yet we still pay lip service to it" - Graham Swann ” … The wicket is the same length, the ball is the same size, the bowlers are exactly the same – they’re not all of a sudden bouncing it five times. So what’s different? You create pressure in your head that doesn’t actually exist.” - Swann again “If you were to talk about stress level and pressure in that particular moment (in T20 or ODIs) then potentially yes there is a huge amount of pressure... But if you are going to speak of pressure as a whole; the fact of going through five days of a Test match, I think that is unbelievable pressure. I don’t think there is any pressure like that. There is no running away from it." - Rahul Dravid
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Nah my good friend, enough is enough. Nobody had even sick fantasies at Headingly in 1981 - that was just a freakish occurrence that happens once a century. Freakish exceptions do not disprove rules.
Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
They had sick fantasies at 500/1 at Headingley four years earlier too…. I don’t think you can apply the sense of pressure based on mathematical outcomes. It can be an errational, inconsistent, emotive response to any given situation which includes past experiences, expectations, self-belief or self-doubt. The doubt amongst the team was high so that adds to the pressure.
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
At the end of the day, if a team in England's position in this match we are discussing can have their sick fantasies about still being in the match snuffed out by a run a ball 30 then it was nothing other than a mirage in the desert to begin with.
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Quick clarification: I have been reading the 4th innings scorecard incorrectly – I have been thinking it was SOD who made the 29 off 32 balls, but it was actually Wayne Phillips, who I thought was already out. This hinders rather than helps your case. The myth of pressure in the small run chase was put to bed here: https://www.theroar.com.au/2021/09/08/the-myth-of-the-small-fourth-innings-run-chase-curse/ From the moment Australia reached a 50 run lead in their first innings (second innings of match) with wickets still in hand, England were behind in the game, and by the time Australia were bowled out they in near crisis situation. The closest they came to getting back in the game was when they had taken 50% of our second innings wickets, but simultaneously having conceded more than 50% of the small, straight-forward elementary target they had set us, with still our best batsman at the crease, and hardest to dismiss, together with our fastest scoring batsman. We had a bowling allrounder left in the shed, as well as Geoff Lawson who was a very useful tailender on quite a few occasions during his career, and who also served as a night watchman sometimes. Any tiny amount of pressure that had built to the point Phillips went in, he got rid of in 32 balls faced. The 9 that SOD scored could easily have been gathered by the four bowlers had he got a duck.
Tony
Roar Guru
The suspense is palpable :happy:
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Actually maybe not so obvious Matth , most of the SA 1970 team had a number of Tests already under the belt .Most of the 80s players never got to play even 1 official Test so don’t meet Tony’s criteria . Entire Test careers were blanked out completely. I have a few West Indians in mind though . Let’s see .
Tony
Roar Guru
Thanks Matt. I actually the cricket article done first :happy:
Tony
Roar Guru
Time will tell :happy:
matth
Roar Guru
Cracking article Tony. There's nothing like the satisfaction of realising that a good rugby league article also makes for a good cricket article. 4 for the price of 1 good idea! :stoked:
matth
Roar Guru
No I'm sure it will be fairly stacked with 1960's-1970's South Africa greats.
Tony
Roar Guru
Glad you enjoyed it :happy: