Lawry was done in, Paine too!

Itrsquos interesting how a forgotten figure is thought of in a current situation It happened to former Australia captain Bill Lawry when Cricket Tasmania chairman Andrew Gaggin fired a rocket at Cricket Australia for the way they have handled the Tim Paine controversyGaggin took exception to CA chairman Richard Freudenstein and CEO Nick Hockley saying that they would have sacked Paine if they were at the helm of affairs in 2018 when Painersquos lewd text messages to an employee of Cricket Tasmania came to lightIt must be stressed that Paine was investigated and cleared by CArsquos integrity unit thenldquoTim Paine has been a beacon for Australian cricket over the past four years and instrumental in salvaging the reputation of the national team after the calamity of Cape Town Yet at a time when CA should have supported Tim he was evidently regarded as dispensable The treatment afforded to the Australian Test captain by CA has been appalling and the worst since Bill Lawry 50 years agordquo said Gaggin in a statement earlier this weekSo herersquos what happened to Lawry half a century ago Australia were hosting England in the 197071 Ashes England went oneup in the fourth Test at Sydney The Melbourne and Adelaide Tests were drawn and the selectorsmdashSir Donald Bradman Neil Harvey and Sam Loxtonmdashwerenrsquot impressed Lawry may have been sound on strategy but flair daring and adventure were not his strong points An example of that came in the 196869 season when he didnrsquot enforce the followon against the West Indies in the fifth Test at Sydney and set them a ridiculously impossible victory target of 735 runs Bradman amp Co decided that a change was required and named Ian Chappell as Australiarsquos 36th Test captainAlso Read Three deaths and a triumphNeither the selectors nor the cricket board informed Lawry of his sacking even as some of his teammates knew about it in Adelaide itselfEngland were leading the series and Lawryrsquos men were annihilated by South Africa 04 in 196970 the very same season they beat MAK Pataudirsquos team 31 on Indian soilldquoThe selectors probably were looking for a changemdashthatrsquos fair enoughmdashbut it was the manner in which the axe fell In the situation as captain you have discussions with selectors and at least they or one of them should have said lsquoWell you are going to miss out tomorrowrsquo That would have been acceptable The mode of finding out was the biggest disappointmentmdashover the radiordquo Lawry told cricket writer Keith Butler in a book titled HowzatLawry became the first Australian regular captain to be replaced right in the middle of a series and mind you the Ashes werenrsquot surrendered until then He was very much a playersrsquo captain so when his touring team were subjected to some pathetic living conditions and tiresome train journeys on the Indian tourmdashwhich was followed by an illtimed South Africa tourmdashLawry wrote a letter to the Board raising his objections and demanding better facilities on future tours The players were aware of Lawryrsquos intention of writing to the Board and his deputy Chappell advised him not to be the sole signatory of that letter because his detractors would then look for the slightest excuse to sack him Lawry went ahead and signed it alone This could well have been a big reason behind him getting the bootldquoThe axe came down before the final Test A week short of thirtyfour the man who had held many a bridge for his country felt like not Horatius but Humpty Dumpty Teams he led won nine Tests lost eight and eight were unfinished No trace of sourness has been heard in his radio or television commentsrdquo wrote Ray Robinson in his widelyacclaimed book On Top Down UnderLawryrsquos successor got the news of his elevation as captain through a telephone call from South Australia cricketerturnedjournalist Alan Shiell while having a counter lunch in Adelaide ldquoThe bastards wonrsquot get me like they got Billrdquo was Chappellrsquos response when his thenwife Kay congratulated him on being named captain of AustraliaAustralia lost the 197071 Ashes 02 when Ray Illingworthrsquos side won the seventh Test at Sydney where Chappell took over But a new era dawned When Chappell decided enough was enough with captaincy after the 1975 Ashes triumph in England he hadnrsquot lost a Test series as captainThe Paine saga too could well open a new rewarding chapter for Australian cricket But like in the case of Lawry hersquoll go down in history as a captain who was probably hard done by courtesy a farfromperfect establishmentmiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stanceHe tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paperAlso Read Why not Pat Cummins as Australias captain