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| Sunday, 28 August 2005 |
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Jim Laker's 19 for 90 at Old Trafford best performance in Ashes Tests by A. C. de Silva The scores 1-all with one drawn and both Australia and England will no doubt go flat-out to clinch victory in their Fourth Ashes Test at Trent Bridge that is presently on to take that all important 2-1 lead in the five-match series. The Ashes series have produced memorable matches over the years and it has been a series that is eagerly looked forward to by many cricket fans the world over. Many top cricketers have made their presence felt in the series, both for England and Australia which makes the series what it is in the present day. One name that will live long in the memory of cricket fans, maybe for ever, will be England's off-spinner Jim Laker who figures in the Ashes series. His name, will probably, live in the minds of past cricketers and fans alike as long as the game will be played in England and elsewhere. He has an outstanding achievement - a match bag of 19 wickets in the Old Trafford Test of 1956 in these series against Australia which will probably not be beaten or equalled. On that occasion in Manchester, Laker had figures of 16.4-4-37-9 wickets and 51.2-23-53-10 wickets. The earthy side lay in the dust bowl surface of the pitch, which gave the side batting last no chance of avoiding defeat against a competent finger spinner. When Australian captain Ian Johnstone lost the toss and was asked to bat second, he realised that the match was virtually lost before it began. As he picked up the coin flipped by England skipper Peter May, 'Johnne' looked towards the pavilion and the England dressing room. There on the balcony, rushing around from his pastoral duties in the East End of London, was England No. 3 the Reverend David Sheppherd, still dressed in his clerical garb. 'Thommo' quick wits Australian Arthur Morris never found anything particularly amusing in the middle playing Test cricket. But after stumps, off the field, there were lots of laughs and lots of fun. Jeff Thomson, the Australian speedster was known among his teammates as having one of the quickest wits in cricket. 'Thommo' was never lost for a word or a comeback and everyone saw him at his best - even if it was a bit naughty - at Leicester one morning during the 1985 Ashes tour. Jeff was one of the eight players warming up before the start of play with some sharp fielding practice in front of the members pavilion. The exercise was being watched with interest by a group of spectators, some of them seeking autographs. It was fair dinkum practice, with the ball being whacked by or deflected from the bat to the close fieldsman. A fee of the shots were getting through the cordon and sent the spectators scurrying. A particular sharp deflection slipped through 'Thommos' fingers and struck a woman in the crowd a nasty blow in what commentators described as "er... the groin". It floored her and the players jumped the fence to see if she was 'ok'. It was quickly apparent that she was somewhat shocked and as she was assisted to her feet, Jeff said: "If she wants to catch the ball, she shouldn't snatch at it." Famous Obituary Most people are by now familiar with the Ashes series cricket, but many may not know the famous obituary on English cricket that was published in the London Sporting Times in August 1882. It bemoans England's first defeat at the hands of William Lloyd Murdock's Constalks and records its death, cremation and subsequent transportation of its Ashes to Australia. The now traditional Test struggle for those Ashes began in Adelaide in the following winter, when the captain of the England touring side, the Hon. Ive Bligh, proclaimed his crusade to regain the symbolic trophy. But not many cricket enthusiasts know how the physical Ashes and their Urn came into existence. Originally it was thought that Miss Florence Murphy - an Australian lady from Beechworth, a shipboard companion of the England touring team, a governess in the employ of Australian squatocrat Sir William Clarke, the wife-to-be of Ive Bligh, and the future Countess of Darnely, was responsible. She was said to have persuaded some ladies of her acquaintance to get the bails used during the Melbourne Test and present them, enclosed in a small earthenware-urn, to bligh after England won the third Sydney game and the rubber 2-1. Later, however, it was revealed that the England side had spent Christmas Day and Boxing Day on the Clarke estate at Sunburry, just outside Melbourne. In the course of Yuletide festivities, the host, his family and guests indulged in a special game of cricket, after which there was a ritual burning of the bail used in the match. Many now believe it was the ashes of this bail which were enshrined in the clay urn that now reposes in the memorial gallery at Lord's. But the romance of the Ashes story does not end there. After the death of Lord Darnley in 1927, the ashes were bequeathed to the Marlebourne Cricket Club. Some years later, a former maid in the Darnley household came forward with the story that one day, while dusting the Darnley Lounge, she had inadvertently upset the Ashes Urn, spilling its contents. She said that she replaced them with the ashes from the dead fire in the hearth. The Ashes therefore, may be of mundane origin, but the men who contested the games for them, were not. Australian Arthur Morris never found anything particularly amusing in the middle playing Test cricket. But after stumps, off the field, there were lots of laughs and lots of fun. For on-field humour, one could hark back to that great England player Cecil Parkins, who so loved his cricket and his county that he has his ashes spread over the county pitch when he dead. A few days later, on a wettish track, a county opening bowler, who had a habit of wetting his fingers between deliveries, was heard to remark: "Blimey, old Cecil doesn't taste half bad today'." Test cricket is grim and tough but laughs do come after stumps and sometimes years later Arthur Morris has said. Off the field, and on it sometimes, the impish behaviour of Lindsay Hassett never ceased to amuse many. In England in 1938, he master-minded the famous goat-in-the bedroom trick, showing great ingenuity and courage to get a goat into Bill O'Reilley's bedroom in the middle of the night - and surviving. It was later revealed that the goat eventually ended up in Don Bradman's room. When Bob Simpson and Bill Lawry opened the Australian Innings with 201 at Manchester in 1964, a big total was inevitable. Simpson went on to make 311 in Australia's 656 for 8 wickets declared. England replied with 611 with Ken Barrinton (256) and Ted Dexter (174) scoring the bulk of the runs, the latter's century coming after a very strange reprieve.On 108 Dexter scooped a ball upto "point" and the heavily-built Peter Burge dived forward and appeared to slide his hands clearly beneath the ball and complete a catch. Dexter seemed to think so and, tucking his bat under his arm, turned and strode towards the pavilion. He covered ten yards when he paused, turned and said: "Oh, I say Peter, did you catch it?" Burge, caught off guard by the eloquent and civilised enquiry answered in like fashion, "well Ted, I really don't know." The players then looked at umpire Syd Buller. He simply said, "well if he doesn't know if he caught it, we had better play on." England had a star pace bowler in Bob Willis and he is of the view that Test cricket was devalued in the years 1977-79 because of men like Dennis Lillee, Rodney Marsh and Greg Chappell were off the scene playing World Series Cricket. When they returned to the Test field, they beat England 3-nil in 1979-80, but at least it was good to be back against the genuine sides again. Inevitably, funny moments kept crowds in on him says Willis as he recalled all those momentous games with the Ashes at stake. On his first trip to Australia in 1970-71, what struck him most was the
hospitality of the home fans despite the inconvenience of their being so far
away from the essential amenities. |
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