Line and Length
Cricketer Of The Year
Over the many years of reading cricket books, magazines and articles one occasionally encounters cooked up stories that are more fiction than fact.
Example 1: The Victory Tests
The so called "Victory Tests" between an Australian Services XI and England in 1945 was a resounding success with huge crowds, starved from cricket for too long, flocking to grounds to see the games. The series comprised five 3 day "tests" and ended in a 2-2 draw. The games were apparently played in excellent spirit and the Australian XI, which contained only one player with Test experience (captain Lindsay Hassett) unearthed some great talent including Keith Miller.
The series wasn't granted full Test status as the ACB correctly pointed out that the Services XI wasn't a true Australian representative side. A story that subsequently went around was that Don Bradman had written to the ACB voicing his concern that the series shouldn't be given Test status as he wasn't playing. Nowhere have I been able to find evidence of such a communication even though the Don was well known for voicing his views on a range of topics to cricket's governing bodies.
Example 2: Graham McKenzie
McKenzie was Australia's premier fast bowler between the eras of Alan Davidson and Dennis Lillee. In his final Test match appearance (the 4th Test in the 70/71 Ashes series) he had his nose badly broken by a John Snow short ball. He subsequently missed the 5th and 6th Tests but in a lead up game to the 7th Test he broke Geoff Boycott's arm. He missed selection for that final test and, although only 29 and still bowling impressively, he never represented Australia again (apart from coming out of retirement for the World Series games in 1977). A journalist in WA suggested there was a conspiracy afoot during the 72/73 home series against Pakistan claiming McKenzie was overlooked on two counts. The first was that the ACB didn't want too strong an Australian test attack against the visitors as games wouldn't last the full 5 days and crowds would be down. The second was that McKenzie had 246 Test wickets - just 2 short of Richie Benaud's then Australian record - and the selectors didn't want to see the former captain's record broken. The first claim warrants inspection of the Australian attack used in that series. Debutant Max Walker had the best average (12 wickets @ 19.2) and Ashley Mallett the most wickets (13 @ 22.6). Greg Chappell had a better bowling average (24.2) than the opening bowlers Lillee (12 @ 29.4), Massie (8 @ 29.7) and Thomson (wicketless for 100 runs). No doubt, at the time, McKenzie warranted inclusion but the selectors were embarking on a youth policy that ultimately bore fruit. As for the Benaud suggestion, it hardly warrants comment.
Have any CW members come across similar stories relating to these and other examples?
Example 1: The Victory Tests
The so called "Victory Tests" between an Australian Services XI and England in 1945 was a resounding success with huge crowds, starved from cricket for too long, flocking to grounds to see the games. The series comprised five 3 day "tests" and ended in a 2-2 draw. The games were apparently played in excellent spirit and the Australian XI, which contained only one player with Test experience (captain Lindsay Hassett) unearthed some great talent including Keith Miller.
The series wasn't granted full Test status as the ACB correctly pointed out that the Services XI wasn't a true Australian representative side. A story that subsequently went around was that Don Bradman had written to the ACB voicing his concern that the series shouldn't be given Test status as he wasn't playing. Nowhere have I been able to find evidence of such a communication even though the Don was well known for voicing his views on a range of topics to cricket's governing bodies.
Example 2: Graham McKenzie
McKenzie was Australia's premier fast bowler between the eras of Alan Davidson and Dennis Lillee. In his final Test match appearance (the 4th Test in the 70/71 Ashes series) he had his nose badly broken by a John Snow short ball. He subsequently missed the 5th and 6th Tests but in a lead up game to the 7th Test he broke Geoff Boycott's arm. He missed selection for that final test and, although only 29 and still bowling impressively, he never represented Australia again (apart from coming out of retirement for the World Series games in 1977). A journalist in WA suggested there was a conspiracy afoot during the 72/73 home series against Pakistan claiming McKenzie was overlooked on two counts. The first was that the ACB didn't want too strong an Australian test attack against the visitors as games wouldn't last the full 5 days and crowds would be down. The second was that McKenzie had 246 Test wickets - just 2 short of Richie Benaud's then Australian record - and the selectors didn't want to see the former captain's record broken. The first claim warrants inspection of the Australian attack used in that series. Debutant Max Walker had the best average (12 wickets @ 19.2) and Ashley Mallett the most wickets (13 @ 22.6). Greg Chappell had a better bowling average (24.2) than the opening bowlers Lillee (12 @ 29.4), Massie (8 @ 29.7) and Thomson (wicketless for 100 runs). No doubt, at the time, McKenzie warranted inclusion but the selectors were embarking on a youth policy that ultimately bore fruit. As for the Benaud suggestion, it hardly warrants comment.
Have any CW members come across similar stories relating to these and other examples?
Last edited:
