Timeline 102762 Australia 01 Cricket on the Beach by James Philip

Author:James Philip [Philip, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-01-18T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16 | Van Diemen's Land

After the high drama of Melbourne the trip across the Bass Strait to Tasmania was inevitably something of an anti-climax. In the sixties the state side did not compete in the Sheffield Shield meaning that its best players tended to migrate to the mainland, or to be lost early to the game.

To make the ‘island leg’ of the tour more competitive it was the practice of the Australian Cricket Board to despatch a bevy of Test or ‘Test hopefuls’ to bolster a Tasmania Combined XI in a four-day first-class fixture against the tourists, and to permit the local ‘Tasmanians’ only a second-class two-day fixture.

By 1963 this was increasingly a source of frustration in Tasmania. Bringing in top players from outside might theoretically boost attendances and ‘even up the deck’ but it denied local men the opportunity to pit themselves against the highest class opponents, and often, the ‘guest’ players were jaded from recent international tussles. This latter was definitely the case as the MCC flew into Launceston on the evening of the miraculous ‘great escape’ at Melbourne. Whereas, the Englishmen were tired but in celebratory mood, Bill Lawry, Brian Booth, Bobby Simpson and Western Australian Barry Shepherd, who had been twelfth man at Melbourne, who now accompanied the tourists to Tasmania, were not!

Idiotically, the Combined XI match was listed to commence at the North Tasmanian Cricket Association Ground approximately sixteen to seventeen hours after the scheduled denouement of the Second Test. Mercifully, rain washed out the first day at Launceston.

MCC substituting Warwickshire glove man Alan Smith for John Murray and resting the four main bowlers at Melbourne brought in Ray Illingworth, Len Coldwell, Barry Knight and a half-fit Geoff Pullar, who was having a miserable ‘cricketing’ tour.

Put in to bat on an English-type ‘green top’ wicket on Saturday 5th January MCC faltered briefly and then prospered in conditions reminiscent of May at home. Dexter came and went after a dashing hour, and Cowdrey and Graveney batted through the afternoon before Ken Barrington, batting sixth joined Geoff Pullar for the final session. With 325 for 4 on the board Dexter declared at the close of play. There was a civic reception to attend that evening and tomorrow, the Sunday rest day, beckoned.

Of the imported players only Barry Shepherd impressed for the local team, scoring a fluent 87 before he was last out in a total of 207 shortly after tea on the second actual day’s play on Monday. Eschewing the temptation to bat out the match MCC, with Illingworth and Smith advanced in the batting order to gain a little match practice threw the bat and declared on the final morning inviting the Combined XI to chase a score of 250 in four-and-a-half hours on the last day. After Lawry and Simpson had perished early to Len Coldwell’s seamers, Ray Illingworth and Ken Barrington spun out the Combined XI for 127 with an hour to spare.

The whole Tasmanian adventure was a rushed affair with little thought

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