‘Villain’ Mackay and Kline in memorable last-wicket stand prevents
Windies win
By A. C. de Silva
CRICKET - Throughout his long career on the cricket stage,
Australia’s Ken ‘Slasher’ Mackay was invariably cast as the ‘villain.’
Critics and crowds everywhere jeered at his dour, stonewall batting or
his negative, short-of-a length bowling.
Yet in one of his dullest, most dreary displays, ‘slasher’
unmistakably took over the heroe’s role. For just under two hours he
stood at the Adelaide Oval wicket in the Fourth Test against the West
Indies in the afternoon of February 1961, stoically chewing gum and -
with spin-bowler Lindsay Kline - defying the West Indian attack in one
of the most dramatic last-wicket stands in Test history.
Records have it that this pair were at the wickets for 109 minutes
and kept out the thunderbolts of fast bowler Wes Hall, the swing and
spin of Garfield Sobers and the subtle flight of off-spinner Lance
Gibbs. To have succumbed would have given the West Indians a 2-1 lead in
the series and may have ended Australia’s four-year domination of
international cricket.
Australia and the West Indies had each won a Test, with the first, at
Brisbane ending in a ‘tie’. If West Indies had won the Fourth Test they
would have needed only a draw at Melbourne to clinch the series.
Lanka Parliament adjourned
Sri Lankans, in those early years, though the country was not among
the Test fold, took a abiding interest in cricket clashes between
Australia and the West Indies. So, there was global interest in these
clashes between these two giant cricketing nations. That particular
afternoon of February.
Millions followed the match’s progress on the radio, work stopped in
shops and offices. So widespread was the interest that the Parliament of
Ceylon (as the country was then known) 4,000 miles or so away, was
adjourned to enable members to listen to the broadcast.
The finish of the Fourth Test provided one of cricket’s classics. The
last man was in and for most of those final 109 minutes practically the
whole West Indian team were breathing down the necks of Lindsay Kline
and Ken Mackay.
One incident marred Australia’s gallant fight back. Soon after Kline
came in, Mackay - he was 17 and Australia 9 wickets down for 208, hit a
ball from Worrell into Garfield Sober’s hands close to the wickets.
Sobers held the ball aloft and nearby fieldsmen jubilantly started to
walk off the field thinking the match was over. But Mackay, certain it
was a ‘bump’ ball held his ground. When the West Indians appealed for a
catch, umpire Col Egar turned it down.
Copybook display
As far as Worrell and his team were concerned, the incident ended
there but a number of cricket writers were convinced that the West
Indians had been ‘robbed’. In such a tense situation, with 1 3/4 hours
still to play, many batsmen might have felt the situation was hopeless
and elected to die bravely.
Not Mackay! Chewing furiously he bent lower over his bat, banged the
crease and dug in for the long seige. At the other end Kline was batting
more like a No 1. than a No. 11. Using a dead bat to the dangerous
balls, he was giving a copy-book display of defensive cricket while
striving to let Mackay have the strike.
At 5 pm with an hour still to go, Worrell called for the new ball and
brought Wesley Hall back into the attack. A section of the crowd
immediately started moving towards the gates. None of them expected the
partnership to survive more than another over or two. But at 5.27 as
Worrell relieved Hall and Sobers, switched to spinners at the other end,
the crowd suddenly realised that Australia’s last-ditch pair might play
out time and force a draw.
As the visitors strained for the wicket that would give them victory,
many minds flashed back to the day in Melbourne around July 1954 when
another last wicket stand thwarted the West Indians. On that occasion
bowlers Dong Ring and Bill Johnston had somehow scraped 32 runs together
to give Australia a thrilling victory. Then, in all the excitement, the
West Indians had ‘blown up’ badly.
There was nothing like that this time. Worrell kept a tight rein on
his team, switched his attack and gave the impression he was still
certain of winning. But the minutes were ticking away and as the
scoreboard clock crept towards 6 pm, the tension became almost
unbearable.
At three minutes to six, Worrell came on for what everyone thought
would be the last over of the match. He had every man clustering around
Kline but to the relief of the Australians the fair-headed spinner met
every ball with a dead bat.
The crowd’s cheers as the last ball was played safely soon turned to
groans when the umpires decided there was time for one more over. The
clocks showed one minute to six and Worrell lost no time in waving up
Wes Hall for a last, desperate assault.
The over took 11 minutes to complete and even the unflappable
‘slasher’ said afterwards: “It was the worst time of my life,” with
fieldsmen crouching all around him waiting for a catch. Mackay stretched
down the wicket and dropped each delivery straight at his feet. For the
sixth ball, Hall bowled around the wicket hoping to get ‘slasher’ to
nible - but he wouldn’t be tempted.
With the eighth delivery Hall overstepped the mark and the umpire
called ‘no ball.’ Not hearing the call and thinking the game was over,
hundreds of spectators swarmed over the fence to mob the players.
Hit in ribs
It took three or four minutes to clear the ground and then Mackay had
to go all through the last-ball-ordeal again. There was silence as Hall
thundered in, followed by a gasp as the ball pitched short and rose
towards Mackay’s heart. Realising he might be caught if he put his bat
to it, ‘slasher’ held his arms high and let the ball thud into his ribs!
He carried the bruise for a week but as he said later: “It was well
worth it.”
Once more the crowd rushed onto the ground and Mackay and Kline were
swept off their feet and carried to the pavilion in triumph. There they
received a thunderous ovation with the West Indians, disappointed as
they were, generously joining in the salute to one of the greatest
match-saving stands in history.
In the fifth and final Test at Melbourne Australia beat the West
Indies by two wickets to win the series. After a tour of England later
that year, Kline dropped out of first-class cricket and Mackay then
retired later on. Most cricket-lovers would have been genuinely sorry to
see him go. For dour as he could be, Ken Mackay was one of the game’s
characters and it will be a long time before cricket finds as likeable a
‘villain’ again.
WEST INDIES 1ST INNINGS: 393 - (Rohan Kanhai 117, Frank Worrell 71,
Gerry Alexander 63 not out,
Richie Benaud 5 for 96)
AUSTRALIA 1ST INNINGS: 366 - (Colin McDonald 71, Peter Burge 45,
Bob Simpson 85, Richie Benaud 77,
Lance Gibbs 5 for 97 - (including hat-trick).
WEST INDIES - 2ND INNINGS
Conrad Hunte run out 79
Cammie Smith c Heare b Mackay 46
Rohan Kanhai lbw b Benaud 115
Garfield Sobers run out 20
Frank Worrell c Burge b Mackay 53
Seymore Nurse c Simpson b Benaud 5
Gerry Alexander not out 82
Joe Solomons not out 16
EXTRAS: 16
TOTAL: (for 6 wkts dec.) 432
FALL OF WICKETS: 66 (Smith), 229 (Hunte), 263 (Kanhai),
270 (Solomon), 275 (Nurse), 388 (Worrell).
BOWLING: Des Heare 13-0-80-0,
Frank Misson 28-3-103-0,
Richie Benaud 27-3-103-2,
Ken Mackay 12-0-52-2,
Lindsay Klime 12-2-78-0.
AUSTRALIA - 2ND INNINGS
Les Faveli c Alexander b Hall 4
Colin McDonald run out 2
Norman O’Neill c and b Sobers 65
Bob Simpson c Alexander b Hall 3
Peter Burge c Alexander b Valentine 49
Richie Benaud c and b Sobers 17
Ken Mackay not out 62
Wally Grout lbw b Worrell 42
Frabk Misson c Solomon b Worrell 1
Des Heare b Worrell 0
Lindsay Kline not out 13
EXTRAS: 13
TOTAL: (for 9 wkts at close) 273
FALL OF WICKETS: 6 (Faveli), 7 (McDonald), 31 (Simpson),
114 (Burge), 128 (O’Neill), 144 (Benaud),
203 (Grout), 207 (Misson), 207 (Hoare).
BOWLING: Wesley Hall 13-4-61-2,
Garfield Sobers 30-11-87-2,
Lance Gibbs 28-13-44-0,
Alf Valentine 20-7-40-1,
Joe Solomon 3-2-1-0,
Frank Worrell 17-9-27-3.
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