As the years roll by, the great sporting names of one’s
youth inevitably pass on too. 2015 has seen some great figures depart, who gave
enormous pleasure, unexpected thrills or ecstatic moments to me and my
generation. I honour a selection of those lost in 2015 here.
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| Benaud the pundit |
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| Benaud the bowler |
Richie Benaud
captained the Australian cricket test team from 1959-64 and flourished as a
hard hitting batsman and superlative leg-spin bowler from 1951. Bowling both over
and round the wicket his deliveries were cunningly flighted and many an English
batsman was baffled by his deceptive cat-and-mouse skills, a joy (a dread, if
you were English!) to watch. In retirement Richie became a laconic pundit, his
Aussie drawl complementing his real cricketing wisdom.
Another departing Australian star was Arthur Morris, a left-handed opener whose salad days were with
Bradman’s 1948 Invincibles who won 4
tests in England, with Morris scoring 3 centuries. Rather before my time, I recall
his name in the 1954-5 Ashes series but Morris had lost form and soon retired.
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| Tom Graveney's off-drive |
Among the very finest of English batsmen was Tom Graveney. A stalwart of
Gloucestershire and then Worcestershire, Tom had all the strokes. John Arlott
once waxed lyrical describing the sound of a Graveney off-drive “as mellow as
old port”. His career with England was inconsistent but he still notched up 11
test centuries and a highest test score of 258, while often being the highest
scorer in county cricket.
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| Brian Close, Yorkshire Hero |
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| Frank "Typhoon"Tyson |
Brian Close never
had a regular place in the English test team although he spasmodically played
during the 1950s and 60s. He captained Yorkshire and won 4 county championships
in the 1960s; he then fell out with the committee and moved to Somerset. He had
been recalled as English captain for the final test against the seemingly
unbeatable West Indies in 1964 and duly won it by an innings and 34 runs. An
angular Yorkshireman with a sharp tongue he was recklessly courageous, braving
the West Indies fast bowlers in the era before body padding or head guards,
even in his final test in 1976 aged 45.
Frank “Typhoon” Tyson
was perhaps the fastest bowler of all time. His heyday was brief but he won
immortality as the man who skittled out Australia in the 1954-5 series,
allowing England to retain the Ashes. Knocked unconscious by a bouncer from Ray
Lindwall, Tyson returned the next day and shattered the Aussies with 6 wickets
for 85. In the 3rd test he bowled at a terrifying pace to take 7 for 28 in the
Australian 2nd innings and their challenge was over.
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| Dave Mackay (Spurs) remonstrates with Billy Bremner (Leeds) |
Moving away from cricketers, football has also seen the loss
in 2015 of Howard Kendall, Everton’s
iconic manager who won 2 league championships, an FA Cup and the European Cup
Winners Cup in the mid-1980s. The greatest player to pass on must be Dave Mackay, the Scottish dynamo, who
played left half for Hearts – I saw him several times at Tynecastle in the
1950s – but who gained a wider audience in the memorable Spurs side 1959-68.
With his barrel chest, leadership qualities and exquisite ball skills, Mackay
was the complete footballer.
The roll-call for 2015 cannot be complete without due
tribute being paid to phenomenal Pat
Eddery, champion jockey 11 times, winner of 3 Derbys and 4 Prix de l’Arc de
Triomphe, whose haul of 4,632 British flat winners was only exceeded by Gordon
Richards.
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| Pat Eddery wins the 1997 St Leger on Silver Patriarch |
SMD
18.11.15
Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2015
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