An all-time great Aussie fast bowler

A pity that I saw him during a Test but didn’t get to see him bowl. One of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, Ray Lindwall was in India on his last tour ever in 1959-60 as a member of Richie Benaud’s team.

He was 38 and his tour of Pakistan & India was plagued by injury and illness which saw him out in four of the eight Tests. He didn’t play in Delhi, where Davidson, Mechiff & Rorke were the new bell bowlers. I had lost my chance of seeing “the great” bowl in flesh.

As Australia mull over the choice of whether or not to play all four – Lee, Johnson, Clark & Tait against India, it is natural that thoughts of cricket lovers drift down the memory lane to some of the great fast bowlers that have graced the scene in India – Australia Series.

Names that spring to mind straight away are Lindwall – Miller, Lillee – Thomson and McGrath - Lee. As late as the year 2000, Lindwall was named as one of Australia’s opening bowlers in Australian Cricket Board’s Team of the Century, signifying his place amongst the greats in 100 years of Test cricket.

No one deserves it more.

Ray Lindwall conjures up visions of classicism, smoothness, subtlety, variations and ……..sheer pace. Lindwall was fast. Period. In his hay days there was no one quicker than him and when one has pace and swing at that pace, batting can be a nightmare. His 228 wickets at 23.03 a piece are testimony to his skill and were, for several years, an Australian record. He was also the first in cricket annals to score 1500 runs and take 200 or more wickets. Many today would be tempted to call him an all rounder with such statistics. He hit 2 Test centuries and 5 fifties, averaging 21.15, his first century as also his first wicket coming in his 2nd Test after he was forced to sit most of his debut Test out with chickenpox.

Inspired by England’s Harold Larwood whom he first saw in Sydney during the 1st Test of the Bodyline Series in 1932-33, Lindwall 13 years later terrorized England quite the same way Larwood had. Whilst he had made his debut against New Zealand, his first Test wasn’t credited as a Test till much later, so for him his real debut was at Brisbane in 1946 – 47.

It was at MCG that he burst on the international scene, scoring the second fastest century in Australian cricket history ( 88 balls) and taking 4 wickets in the match. In his very first Test Season, he topped the bowling averages with 18 wickets. He then tore into the hapless Indians again taking 18 wickets including his career best 7 for 38 at Adeleide.