The Roar
The Roar

The Roar

All day Roseville all day

Roar Guru

Joined April 2020

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Interested in stadium politics, competition programming, sporting administration, cricket history and trivia

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I get “Dazed and Confused” sometimes

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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“Maybe I’m a Leo,” off Machinehead…

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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Adam Voges had a career average of 61.87, surely it must be him ? 😁

Lara’s a personal favourite. And Trumper, based solely on raw ability and big-match temperament. But he was disinterested when a game was going nowhere or being easily won. Otherwise his average of 39.04 (around 50.00 in current value) would have been far far higher.

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But noting that the AISCBCA in Adelaide fast-tracked elite talent at best, rather than producing it from scratch. After all, it was only ever sent the very best of the best. The State associations as always did the early work including talent identification. Paul Wilson was the only player to turn up unannounced and talk his way in. And by the late-1990s each State was finally able to set up its own academy with contracted full-time players, state-of-the-art sports science, winter training facilities, etc of its own.

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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After the lockdowns lifted I re-discovered Council and university libraries, charity shops, and second-hand book stores. Great sources of long-out-of-print and obscure classics.

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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Maybe he was a Deep Purple fan ?

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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After 1938 he continued to play at Shield level for a few seasons more, until WWII stopped even that. But he never had to commit to tour NZ, WI, India, Pakistan…

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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Unless you bowled spin like Clarrie Grimmett, Don Blackie or Bert Ironmonger ! 😁

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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So many eye-witnesses were adamant it was either out or not-out, couldn’t agree.

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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I became a Roarer too late for the centenary of the AIF team of 1919, but did write my first “anniversary piece” on the Ashes tour of 1921-

Ashes anniversaries: Armstrong’s Australians

WWI impacted the careers of so many players. Mailey debuted in first-class cricket in 1912/13 then had to wait 8 years for a Test cap. Ironmonger 1909/10 waited another 19 years. Grimmett 1911/12 then 13 years. Ryder 1912/13 then 8 years. Tommy Andrews 1912/13 then 9 years. The cancelled 1914/15 tour to South Africa would have included Ryder and Andrews. Then there was Jack Massie and Norm Callaway, one injured and one killed in action.

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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McCabe always seemed to bat for longer when Bradman was absent, or had already got out. The first Bodyline Test, the 1935/36 tour to South Africa. Like Trumper he didn’t seem interested in some of those run-fests of the 1930s.

And such a shame that WWII came along when he was just 28 years old, although by then he was already having problems with his feet that were affecting his bowling in particular.

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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Thanks tagger,

Knox is my current favourite Australian writer. His books “The Captains” and “The Keepers” are equally good.

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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Different gates, and also separate hotels and railway carriages. And while amateurs got fed at the ground, pros had to queue with spectators for lunch. And at the SCG, you can still see in the away changeroom the separate area for each group.

Yet the amateurs could claim “expenses” and an amateur WG Grace made far, far more money out of cricket than any professional. The favourable view being that he needed to pay a locum whenever he left his medical practice.

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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Yes with great success. What ended his career in Australia was his crankiness to Bradman and umpire Jack Scott when the Services team later played South Australia at the end of an extremely long tour eventually spanning England, India and finally every State. Pepper’s card was duly marked “never to be selected for Australia,” and he returned to England to play Leagues and subsequently umpire.

Arguably one of the best Australians to never play a Test. Big hitter, and wrist-spinner with a brilliant flipper. But very mouthy.

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And it really helped prepare for Test cricket from 1945/46 onwards.

Stan Sismey was the team’s wicketkeeper and nominal captain, and I met him quite a few times in the late-1990s. A fantastic bloke.

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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The age-old dilemma of consistency v occasional brilliance.

If you were a selector, captain or No 3 batsman then you might prefer the opening batsman whose 200-run aggregate in 5 innings comprises 4 half-centuries and a duck, to the one who contributes a double-century and 4 ducks for the same series aggregate.

Bottom line is, a well-balanced team needs both types.

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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The Aus squad actually had four members make their first-class debuts during the series- Workman, Price, Ellis, Pettiford.

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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Another Bradman one, a golden in the first innings of the second Bodyline Test at the MCG after missing the first game at the SCG.

He batted at 4 behind Leo O’Brien, and played on to Bowes first ball, with a horrible pre-meditated pull shot. However he made amends in the second innings, with 103* out of 191, as O’Reilly took 10 wickets and Aus levelled the series.

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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Godfrey Evans scoreless for 97 minutes in Adelaide in 1946/47, to help save game for Eng. in its first innings, he’d got a golden duck. Ended up with 10* in 133 minutes.

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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When Aus tied with Ind in Chennai in 1986/87, the last wicket to fall was Maninder Singh.

For a fourth-ball duck.

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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And there was Graham Williams, whose weight fell by 31kg during 4 years as a POW, and who then played in the 1945 Victory Tests-

Just under a week later, the war in Europe was over and Miller was playing in the first Victory Test at Lord’s alongside several players who were far from match-fit. One of those was the Australian, Graham Williams, emaciated after years as a German prisoner of war. When it was his turn to bat, Miller was still at the crease with a hundred under his belt. Emerging through the Long Room and onto the pitch, Williams received a spontaneous and deafening standing ovation. “It was,” Miller later recalled, “the most touching thing I have ever seen or heard, almost orchestral in its sound and feeling. Whenever I think of it, tears still come to my eyes.”

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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BG,

In case you’re interested here’s a link to my article on the 75th anniversary of the 1946/47 series-

75 years on: The historic Ashes series of 1946-47

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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Thanks Ollie Your Eminence

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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Thanks BG,

Yes, Bradman’s mates Gubby Allen and Walter Robins really came to the party when the 1948 series’ playing conditions were being negotiated.

And just as in 1921, the English were woefully under-prepared for a pace-centric strategy.

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Thanks matth, appreciate it.

Rory Burns at The Gabba, in 2021/22 ?

Ajit Agarkar’s four consecutive ducks in a series in Aus ?

Any to complete hat-tricks eg first Darren Gough and then Devon Malcolm to Shane Warne at the MCG in 1994/95 ?

Happy anniversary to the most famous duck in cricket history

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