The 1965-66 Australians drew 1-1 with the touring England team in the 1965-66 Ashes series. They were strong in batting, but weak in bowling and by the end of the series had seven batsmen, an all-rounder, a wicket-keeper and only two specialist bowlers in the team, with the batsman helping out with their part-time bowling skills.
Bobby Simpson was a physically compact, highly accomplished batsman with a striking penchant for compiling high scores...He was a pleasant, personable cricketer, and a captain with genuine feeling for his players. Those who watched him will never forget the masterly ease of his slip-catching.[1]
Robert Baddeley Simpson, better known as Bobby Simpson was a cricket prodigy who had a difficult time establishing himself as a Test batsman, taking 30 Tests to make his maiden Test century, 311 against England at Old Trafford in 1964. He had already made a number of big centuries in the Sheffield Shield for New South Wales and Western Australia and in the middle of his career made 159 in Pakistan, 201 in the West Indies, 225 against England and 159 in South Africa. He was a careful opener, but once established had a number of strokes and unlike his regular opening partner Bill Lawry was able to hit the ball attractively. He had been a leg-spinner in his youth and had taken 5/57 against England in 1962-63 and he took 5/59 against India in what was to be his last Test until his 1977 recall. His greatest talent was in the field and held 110 catches in only 62 Tests and was "one of the greatest slip-fielders of all time. He had lightning-quick reflexes and it was rare indeed for a chance to go begging if the ball was anything like catchable."[2] As a captain he was well liked, but more cautious than courageous. He held onto the Ashes with a 1-0 win in England in 1964 - his 762-minute triple century made sure that England would not recover the urn - and a 1-1 draw in 1965-66. He lost 2-1 in the West Indies in 1964-65 and 3-1 in South Africa in 1966-67 and his only other series victory was when he beat India 4-0 at home in 1967–68, when Simpson gave the captaincy to Bill Lawry after the Second Test. This poor record was caused by the weakness of the Australian bowling attack in the late 1960s, which relied heavily on the fast bowling of Garth McKenzie. Simpson first retired in 1968, but returned in 1977 in the midst of the Packer Crisis when Test players deserted regular cricket and Australia were left with a team of debutants and Jeff Thomson. Simpson had been playing grade cricket in the intervening years and returned as Australian captain, beating India 3-2 at home, but losing 3-1 in the West Indies. He asked the Australian Board of Control to promise his place in the 1978-79 Ashes series, but they refused and he took to broadcasting.[3][4][5]
Battingedit
Australia had a long batting line up in the 1965-66 Ashes series and in the Fourth and Fifth Tests they had seven specialist batsmen, the all-rounderTom Veivers and the wicket-keeper Wally Grout batting at number 9. Bobby Simpson and Bill Lawry were the best opening partnership in the world, being the only opening batsmen to have both made a double century in the same innings as they added a record 382 for the first wicket in the West Indies in 1964-65. Lawry was a "tall, lanky, dour, watchful left-hander, and a better player than he looked...a great fighter, and a splendid resister in a corner",[6] who was once unfairly described as "a corpse with pads on".[7] His 592 runs (84.57) in the series was the most in an Ashes series since Don Bradman's 680 runs (97.14) in 1946–47 and his three centuries were the most since Arthur Morris made three in 1948. The old hand Grahame Thomas and the tall and ungainly Ian Redpath were used as replacement openers when Simpson was ill or injured and Thomas was kept on after the captain returned, but made little impression. Redpath would later become the main opening batsmen in Ian Chappell's Australian powerful teams of the early 1970s. The imaginative strokemaker Doug Walters was the real find of the series, making 155 on debut and 115 in the Second Test. Later he was found to have a weakness against fast bowling and English bowling conditions, but this was not a problem he faced in 1965-66 and he soared. Bob Cowper made 307 in the Fifth Test, the highest Test century in Australia until Matthew Hayden made 380 against Zimbabwe in 2002–03. A tall, correct left-handed batsmen who was dropped for the Fourth Test because he batted too slowly, he averaged an impressive 75.78 in home Tests but only 33.33 overseas and the difference of 42.45 is a Test match record.[8] Vice-captain Brian Booth a "modest, unobtrusive stylist"[9] failed to make any runs and was dropped when he lost the Third Test in Simpson's absence. Peter Burge was another veteran, a heavyweight front-foot batsman nicknamed 'Burge the Bulge' and whose four Test centuries were all made against the England in times of crisis. He made 120 to save the Second Test, but was dropped due to his otherwise poor form. The young Keith Stackpole and Ian Chappell were brought into the team at the end of the series, but their catching proved to be of more importance than their batting. Tom Veivers was an off-spinning all rounder who averaged 31.26 and made seven 50s in only 21 Tests. Wally Grout was not the best batting wicketkeeper, but he liked to swing the bat about and could make vital runs.
Bowlingedit
Graham McKenzie - with 100 Test wickets to him name before the series started and at the age of 24 - was a fine bowler with a model action, and he and Neil Hawke made a good opening pair, as they had done in England. But they scarcely got any support worthy of the name.[10]
After the retirement of Richie Benaud and Alan Davidson the Australian with the lowest bowling average was Doug Walters at 29.08 and seven England batsmen averaged over 40.00 in the series. Their best bowler was Garth McKenzie, a 6'2" gentle giant he had a knack of taking wickets on flat batting tracks and at 24 who had just become the youngest bowler to take a 100 test wickets. Strangely he was not an automatic choice for Australia and was dropped in favour of Peter Allan in the First Test and almost in the Fourth. Allan had taken 10/61 in the Sheffield Shield, the third best innings return in Australia, and was recalled for the Fourth Test, but was injured and McKenzie returned to take a match-winning 6/48. McKenzie's new-ball partner was Neil Hawke a strong fast-medium bowler who played Aussie Rules football, but like McKenzie ended his career with a Test average of 29. After this the quality of Australian bowling fell away sharply. Alan Connolly was a decent fast-medium bowler, but he failed in the series and in the end Australia used the batsmen Doug Walters as their first change bowler. Similarly the leg-spin of Bobby Simpson, Keith Stackpole and Ian Chappell was pressed into action, as was the off-spin of Bob Cowper and in the Fourth and Fifth Tests Australia only used three specialist bowlers. Peter Philpott took 5/90 in the First Test with his leg-spin, but fell away and David Sincock's slow left-arm wrist-spin failed despite their rarity value. Tom Veivers was a useful lower order batsmen, but his off-spin took few wickets and he could only be used for containment.
Fieldingedit
With their baseball experience Australia were traditionally a stronger fielding side than England. This was Wally Grout's last Test series and at the time his 187 dismissals in 51 Tests was second only to Godfrey Evans's 219 in 91 Tests.[11] He was 30 when he played in his first Test on the 1957-58 South African tour, when he held a record 6 catches in an innings and soon established himself as the best wicket-keeper in the world. Bobby Simpson was one of the greatest slip fielders in cricket, Bill Lawry and Grahame Thomas were noted outfielders and Doug Walters was good anywhere. Ian Chappell and Keith Stackpole took some fine catches in the last two Tests and Garth McKenzie took 4 catches in the outfield.
Colin Cowdrey, M. C. C. The Autobiography of a Cricketer, Coronet Books, 1977
Bill Frindall, The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877-1978, Wisden, 1979
Chris Harte, A History of Australian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, 1993
Ken Kelly and David Lemmon, Cricket Reflections: Five Decades of Cricket Photographs, Heinemann, 1985
Mark Peel, The Last Roman: A Biography of Colin Cowdrey, Andre Deutsch Ltd, 1999
Ray Robinson, On Top Down Under, Cassell, 1975
E.W. Swanton(ed), The Barclays World of Cricket, Collins, 1986
External linksedit
January 01, 1970
australian, cricket, team, australia, 1965, 1965, australians, drew, with, touring, england, team, 1965, ashes, series, they, were, strong, batting, weak, bowling, series, seven, batsmen, rounder, wicket, keeper, only, specialist, bowlers, team, with, batsman,. The 1965 66 Australians drew 1 1 with the touring England team in the 1965 66 Ashes series They were strong in batting but weak in bowling and by the end of the series had seven batsmen an all rounder a wicket keeper and only two specialist bowlers in the team with the batsman helping out with their part time bowling skills Contents 1 The Captain 2 Batting 3 Bowling 4 Fielding 5 Test statistics 6 First Test Brisbane 7 Second Test Melbourne 8 Third Test Sydney 9 Fourth Test Adelaide 10 Fifth Test Melbourne 11 References 12 Bibliography 13 Annual reviews 14 Further reading 15 External linksThe Captain editBobby Simpson was a physically compact highly accomplished batsman with a striking penchant for compiling high scores He was a pleasant personable cricketer and a captain with genuine feeling for his players Those who watched him will never forget the masterly ease of his slip catching 1 John Arlott Robert Baddeley Simpson better known as Bobby Simpson was a cricket prodigy who had a difficult time establishing himself as a Test batsman taking 30 Tests to make his maiden Test century 311 against England at Old Trafford in 1964 He had already made a number of big centuries in the Sheffield Shield for New South Wales and Western Australia and in the middle of his career made 159 in Pakistan 201 in the West Indies 225 against England and 159 in South Africa He was a careful opener but once established had a number of strokes and unlike his regular opening partner Bill Lawry was able to hit the ball attractively He had been a leg spinner in his youth and had taken 5 57 against England in 1962 63 and he took 5 59 against India in what was to be his last Test until his 1977 recall His greatest talent was in the field and held 110 catches in only 62 Tests and was one of the greatest slip fielders of all time He had lightning quick reflexes and it was rare indeed for a chance to go begging if the ball was anything like catchable 2 As a captain he was well liked but more cautious than courageous He held onto the Ashes with a 1 0 win in England in 1964 his 762 minute triple century made sure that England would not recover the urn and a 1 1 draw in 1965 66 He lost 2 1 in the West Indies in 1964 65 and 3 1 in South Africa in 1966 67 and his only other series victory was when he beat India 4 0 at home in 1967 68 when Simpson gave the captaincy to Bill Lawry after the Second Test This poor record was caused by the weakness of the Australian bowling attack in the late 1960s which relied heavily on the fast bowling of Garth McKenzie Simpson first retired in 1968 but returned in 1977 in the midst of the Packer Crisis when Test players deserted regular cricket and Australia were left with a team of debutants and Jeff Thomson Simpson had been playing grade cricket in the intervening years and returned as Australian captain beating India 3 2 at home but losing 3 1 in the West Indies He asked the Australian Board of Control to promise his place in the 1978 79 Ashes series but they refused and he took to broadcasting 3 4 5 Batting editAustralia had a long batting line up in the 1965 66 Ashes series and in the Fourth and Fifth Tests they had seven specialist batsmen the all rounder Tom Veivers and the wicket keeper Wally Grout batting at number 9 Bobby Simpson and Bill Lawry were the best opening partnership in the world being the only opening batsmen to have both made a double century in the same innings as they added a record 382 for the first wicket in the West Indies in 1964 65 Lawry was a tall lanky dour watchful left hander and a better player than he looked a great fighter and a splendid resister in a corner 6 who was once unfairly described as a corpse with pads on 7 His 592 runs 84 57 in the series was the most in an Ashes series since Don Bradman s 680 runs 97 14 in 1946 47 and his three centuries were the most since Arthur Morris made three in 1948 The old hand Grahame Thomas and the tall and ungainly Ian Redpath were used as replacement openers when Simpson was ill or injured and Thomas was kept on after the captain returned but made little impression Redpath would later become the main opening batsmen in Ian Chappell s Australian powerful teams of the early 1970s The imaginative strokemaker Doug Walters was the real find of the series making 155 on debut and 115 in the Second Test Later he was found to have a weakness against fast bowling and English bowling conditions but this was not a problem he faced in 1965 66 and he soared Bob Cowper made 307 in the Fifth Test the highest Test century in Australia until Matthew Hayden made 380 against Zimbabwe in 2002 03 A tall correct left handed batsmen who was dropped for the Fourth Test because he batted too slowly he averaged an impressive 75 78 in home Tests but only 33 33 overseas and the difference of 42 45 is a Test match record 8 Vice captain Brian Booth a modest unobtrusive stylist 9 failed to make any runs and was dropped when he lost the Third Test in Simpson s absence Peter Burge was another veteran a heavyweight front foot batsman nicknamed Burge the Bulge and whose four Test centuries were all made against the England in times of crisis He made 120 to save the Second Test but was dropped due to his otherwise poor form The young Keith Stackpole and Ian Chappell were brought into the team at the end of the series but their catching proved to be of more importance than their batting Tom Veivers was an off spinning all rounder who averaged 31 26 and made seven 50s in only 21 Tests Wally Grout was not the best batting wicketkeeper but he liked to swing the bat about and could make vital runs Bowling editGraham McKenzie with 100 Test wickets to him name before the series started and at the age of 24 was a fine bowler with a model action and he and Neil Hawke made a good opening pair as they had done in England But they scarcely got any support worthy of the name 10 E W Swanton After the retirement of Richie Benaud and Alan Davidson the Australian with the lowest bowling average was Doug Walters at 29 08 and seven England batsmen averaged over 40 00 in the series Their best bowler was Garth McKenzie a 6 2 gentle giant he had a knack of taking wickets on flat batting tracks and at 24 who had just become the youngest bowler to take a 100 test wickets Strangely he was not an automatic choice for Australia and was dropped in favour of Peter Allan in the First Test and almost in the Fourth Allan had taken 10 61 in the Sheffield Shield the third best innings return in Australia and was recalled for the Fourth Test but was injured and McKenzie returned to take a match winning 6 48 McKenzie s new ball partner was Neil Hawke a strong fast medium bowler who played Aussie Rules football but like McKenzie ended his career with a Test average of 29 After this the quality of Australian bowling fell away sharply Alan Connolly was a decent fast medium bowler but he failed in the series and in the end Australia used the batsmen Doug Walters as their first change bowler Similarly the leg spin of Bobby Simpson Keith Stackpole and Ian Chappell was pressed into action as was the off spin of Bob Cowper and in the Fourth and Fifth Tests Australia only used three specialist bowlers Peter Philpott took 5 90 in the First Test with his leg spin but fell away and David Sincock s slow left arm wrist spin failed despite their rarity value Tom Veivers was a useful lower order batsmen but his off spin took few wickets and he could only be used for containment Fielding editWith their baseball experience Australia were traditionally a stronger fielding side than England This was Wally Grout s last Test series and at the time his 187 dismissals in 51 Tests was second only to Godfrey Evans s 219 in 91 Tests 11 He was 30 when he played in his first Test on the 1957 58 South African tour when he held a record 6 catches in an innings and soon established himself as the best wicket keeper in the world Bobby Simpson was one of the greatest slip fielders in cricket Bill Lawry and Grahame Thomas were noted outfielders and Doug Walters was good anywhere Ian Chappell and Keith Stackpole took some fine catches in the last two Tests and Garth McKenzie took 4 catches in the outfield Test statistics editTest Statistics of Australian Team 1965 66 Name State Age Role Tests Runs Highest Average 100s 50s Ct St Wickets Best Average 5 Wt 10 Wt W M Lawry Victoria 28 Left Handed Opening Batsman 67 5234 235 47 15 13 27 30 0 0 I R Redpath Victoria 24 Right Handed Opening Batsman 66 4737 171 43 45 8 31 83 0 0 R B Simpson c New South Wales 29 Right Handed Opening Batsman 62 4869 311 46 81 10 27 110 71 5 57 42 24 2 G Thomas New South Wales 27 Right Handed Opening Batsman 8 325 61 29 54 3 3 R M Cowper Victoria 25 Left Handed Top Order Batsman 27 2061 307 46 84 5 10 21 36 4 48 83 47 B C Booth vc New South Wales 32 Right Handed Top Order Batsman 29 1773 169 42 21 5 10 17 3 2 33 48 66 P J P Burge Queensland 33 Right Handed Top Order Batsman 42 2290 181 38 16 4 12 23 I M Chappell South Australia 22 Right Handed Top Order Batsman 75 5345 196 42 42 14 26 105 20 2 21 65 80 K W Stackpole Victoria 25 Right Handed Top Order Batsman 43 2807 207 37 42 7 14 47 15 2 33 66 73 K D Walters New South Wales 19 Right Handed Top Order Batsman 74 5357 250 48 26 15 33 43 49 5 66 29 08 1 A T W Grout Queensland 38 Wicket Keeper 51 890 74 15 08 3 163 24 G D McKenzie Western Australia 24 Right Arm Fast Bowler 60 945 76 12 27 2 34 246 8 71 29 78 16 3 P A Allan Queensland 29 Right Arm Fast Medium Bowler 1 0 2 2 58 41 50 A N Connolly Victoria 26 Right Arm Fast Medium Bowler 29 260 37 10 40 17 102 6 47 29 22 4 N J N Hawke South Australia 26 Right Arm Fast Medium Bowler 27 365 45 16 59 9 91 7 105 29 41 6 1 D J Sincock South Australia 23 Slow left arm wrist spin Bowler 3 80 29 26 66 2 8 3 67 51 25 P I Philpott New South Wales 31 Right Arm Leg Spin Bowler 8 93 22 10 33 5 26 5 90 38 46 1 T R Veivers Queensland 28 Right Arm Off Spin Bowler 21 813 88 31 26 7 7 33 4 68 41 66First Test Brisbane edit10 December 196515 December 1965 scorecard nbsp Australia v nbsp England 443 6 dec W M Lawry 166 K D Walters 155T R Veivers 56 D J Brown 3 71 280F J Titmus 60 K F Barrington 53 J M Parks wk 52 P Philpott 5 90 186 3 following on G Boycott 63 R M Cowper 1 20 Match DrawnBrisbane Cricket Ground Woolloongabba Australia Umpires C J Egar AUS amp L P Rowan AUS 11 December 1965 See Main Article 1965 66 Ashes seriesSecond Test Melbourne edit30 December 19654 January 1966 scorecard nbsp Australia v nbsp England 358R M Cowper 99 W M Lawry 88 R B Simpson c 59 B R Knight 4 84I J Jones 3 92 558J H Edrich 109 M C Cowdrey vc 104J M Parks wk 71K F Barrington 63F J Titmus 56 G Boycott 51 G D McKenzie 5 134A T W Grout wk 3 Ct 426P J P Burge 120K D Walters 115R B Simpson c 78 W M Lawry 67 G Boycott 2 32 K F Barrington 2 47B R Knight 2 61 5 0G Boycott 5 Match DrawnMelbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne Australia Umpires C J Egar AUS amp W J Smyth AUS See Main Article 1965 66 Ashes seriesThird Test Sydney edit7 January 196611 January 1966 scorecard nbsp England v nbsp Australia 488R W Barber 185 J H Edrich 103 G Boycott 84 D A Allen 50 N J N Hawke 7 105A T W Grout wk 5 Ct 221R M Cowper 60 G Thomas 51 D J Brown 5 63J M Parks wk 3 Ct amp 2 St 174 following on K D Walters 35 F J Titmus 4 40 D A Allen 4 47M J K Smith c 3 Ct nbsp England won by an innings and 93 runsSydney Cricket Ground Sydney Australia Umpires C J Egar AUS amp L P Rowan AUS See Main Article 1965 66 Ashes seriesFourth Test Adelaide edit28 January 19661 February 1966 scorecard nbsp England v nbsp Australia 241K F Barrington 60 G D McKenzie 5 48 516R B Simpson c 225 W M Lawry 119 G Thomas 52 I J Jones 6 118F J Titmus 3 116J M Parks wk 4 Ct 266K F Barrington 102F J Titmus 53 N J N Hawke 5 54A T W Grout wk 3 Ct nbsp Australia won by an innings and 9 runsAdelaide Oval Adelaide Australia Umpires C J Egar AUS amp L P Rowan AUS See Main Article 1965 66 Ashes seriesFifth Test Melbourne edit11 February 196616 February 1966 scorecard nbsp England v nbsp Australia 485 9 dec K F Barrington 115J M Parks wk 89J H Edrich 85M C Cowdrey vc 79 K D Walters 4 53A T W Grout wk 4 Ct 543 8 dec R M Cowper 307 W M Lawry 108 K D Walters 60 I J Jones 3 145 69 3K F Barrington 32 G D McKenzie 3 17 Match DrawnMelbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne Australia Umpires C J Egar AUS amp L P Rowan AUS 15 February 1966 See Main Article 1965 66 Ashes seriesReferences edit pp239 241 Arlott p70 Graveney and Giller pp239 241 Arlott p70 Graveney and Giller pp229 230 Colin Cowdrey Simpson Robert Baddeley E W Swanton ed Barclays World of Cricket Collins Willow 1986 pp158 159 Arlott see Bill Lawry The best and worst travellers Cricket Features Global ESPN Cricinfo Retrieved 13 August 2012 pp178 179 Moyes and Goodman p132 Swanton p238 ArnoldBibliography editJohn Arlott John Arlott s 100 Greatest Batsmen Queen Anne Press 1986 Peter Arnold The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of World of Cricket W H Smith 1985 Ashley Brown A Pictorial History of Cricket Bison Books Ltd 1988 David Gower Heroes and Contemporaries Granada Publishing Ltd 1985 Tom Graveney and Norman Miller The Ten Greatest Test Teams Sidgewick and Jackson 1988 John Snow Cricket Rebel An Autobiography Littlehampton Book Services Ltd 1976 E W Swanton Swanton in Australia with MCC 1946 1975 Fontana 1977Annual reviews editPlayfair Cricket Annual 1966 Wisden Cricketers Almanack 1966Further reading editGeoffrey Boycott Boycott The Autobiography Pan Books 2006 Colin Cowdrey M C C The Autobiography of a Cricketer Coronet Books 1977 Bill Frindall The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877 1978 Wisden 1979 Chris Harte A History of Australian Cricket Andre Deutsch 1993 Ken Kelly and David Lemmon Cricket Reflections Five Decades of Cricket Photographs Heinemann 1985 Mark Peel The Last Roman A Biography of Colin Cowdrey Andre Deutsch Ltd 1999 Ray Robinson On Top Down Under Cassell 1975 E W Swanton ed The Barclays World of Cricket Collins 1986External links editCricket Archive Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Australian cricket team in Australia in 1965 66 amp oldid 1128875253, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
