The First Ball After Lunch
Archie Mac |Published: 2025
Pages: 152
Author: Benaud, John
Publisher: The Cricket Press Pty Ltd
Rating: 4 stars
As a Cricket Tragic I enjoy perusing old newspapers, very old newspapers. On the 1899 tour one of the by-lines in the papers was ‘One of Them’ – which I took to be one of the players. Author John Benaud could have utilised this nom de plume in his book on the Australian tour of the West Indies in 1972/73. Benaud played in the drawn fifth and final Test, otherwise he was able to observe the series. And what a series it was, with Australia winning the only two Tests decided by backs to the wall efforts.
The First Ball After Lunch is set out like a menu. Entrée, lunch, seconds, afters, etc. The book starts at break neck speed, with the travel to the Caribbean and the first two drawn Tests all covered within 12 pages. Still, we learn the basics. Australia lose their two best bowlers, Dennis Lillee to injury and Bob Massie to indifferent form. The West Indies, despite having a young impressive fast bowler in Michael Holding available, rely on spin throughout the series.
The two most exciting Tests, the third and fourth are covered in detail and Benaud does an excellent job in capturing what the atmosphere must have been like at the grounds. The Aussies were in trouble in both, but with superior tactics and what, from Benaud’s writing, appears to be a greater desire for victory they took them.
Perhaps the real difference in the sides was between the respective captains. Ian Chappell without Lillee and Massie shows why history rates him as one of the very best leaders, as he manages to inspire his second string attack to lift and win the series. Benaud provides a number of examples of the ‘Chappelli’ hegemony skills which will materially add to his status as an exceptional captain.
After the author deals with the 1972/73 West Indies series he discusses some other interesting topics. These include the presence of Sir Donald Bradman and the impact of his and other administrators’ attitudes to players of the Chappell era. Benaud and many others retired in their late 20s or early 30s due to a lack of earnings from the game. Benaud provides a plethora of examples in which the players that took the ‘Packer Money’ and were described as only interested in pecuniary rewards, gave back to the game of cricket after their retirement.
The final chapter is titled washup and provides a brief bio of each Australian player involved in the series. Interestingly, the players’ records in Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket (WSC) competition are included. This was something Packer had advocated for when the inevitable repatriation between the warring factions occurred. Unfortunately, officially they remain absent from the WSC players official First Class records.
This is a quality and thought provoking read. John Benaud is a skilled writer with a precise and witty style. Given his ability, it is a surprise he has written so few book on the game. The book is printed on quality paper with first class production values. It comes in two hardback versions. A traded edition and a collector’s edition limited to 26 copies. The latter is signed by all the remaining tourists, including the recently deceased Keith Stackpole.
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