Three deaths and a triumph

A little over a week before Aaron Finch amp Co reached out for the champagne following their T20 World Cup final win over New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday Australian cricket was in the throes of bereavement with the demise of former Test players Ashley Mallett Alan Davidson and Peter PhilpottThe trio were fine bowlers without earning the distinction of bagging a hattrick in Test cricket But they formed a rather inauspicious hattrick of deaths with them passing away on October 29 30 and 31 respectivelyThey were not known for their cricketing prowess alone Offspinner Mallett did a good amount of coaching in Australia England and Sri Lanka and became the most prolific writer of cricket books in his country no less than 27 in number Premier allrounder Davidson got involved in cricket promotions that included organising events and legspinner Philpott got immersed in coachingMallett who passed away battling cancer is remembered by Indian cricket followers as the man who was Australiarsquos bowling hero on the 196970 tour of this country his 28 wickets playing a significant role in the touristsrsquo 31 series victory The enormity of the feat is manifest in the fact that Australia couldnrsquot win a series on Indian turf for another 35 yearsMallett was no blower of his own trumpet He was nicknamed Rowdy not because he was loud and boastful but because he was just the opposite He took success and failure in his stride and first retired from cricket in 197576 to pursue a career in journalism He wrote for The NewsWhen Kerry Packer launched World Series Cricket in 1977 Mallett thought about returning to the game He got on the phone to his South Australian mate Ian Chappell who was appointed Australiarsquos captain for the unofficial series and asked him if he had a place for him in his team Chappell had to check with Packer and when he did the business tycoon didnrsquot warm up to the idea ldquoIrsquom not paying money to that fkg straightbreakerrdquo Packer apparently said as mentioned in Mallettrsquos 2005 book on Chappell Packer though kept a window open Adelaidebased Mallett would have to fly down to Sydney and bowl an over to him If Packer succumbed to the offspinnerrsquos guile hersquod get a contract When Chappell relayed Packerrsquos lsquoofferrsquo to Mallett he got this for an answer ldquoTell Mr Packer to get fkdrdquoMeanwhile Mallett got a call from Sir Don Bradman who asked if he was keen on coming out of retirement to be part of Bob Simpsonrsquos rookie pack to face India in 197778 Mallett wanted an assurance that he would play all five Tests just like Simpson When Bradman said that he wouldnrsquot be able guarantee that Mallett asked if the Australian Cricket Board would match a probable offer from Packer No again said the cricket legend Mallett promised Bradman to think about his offer but two days later a contract from WSC came along and Mallett signed for AUD 20000 for the first year Did Chappell relay that expletivefilled message to Packer ldquoI didnrsquot think your telling him that would have served your best interestrdquo Chappell told his mateMallettrsquos firstclass cricket ended in 198081 after which he got further bitten by the writing bug A copy of his second book Spin Out is in front of me as I write this The chapter on the 196970 tour dwelled on all the inconveniences the Australian team endured But it had its funny bits Like how the team used to yell ldquojuldi juldirdquo to the various drivers of their team buses The riot at the Brabourne Stadium took up a few pages Itrsquos an incident which provided Mallett one of his best anecdotes from the tour Amidst violent scenes and burning stands the Australians found refuge in one of the larger residential rooms at the Cricket Club of India occupied by manager Fred Bennett and wicketkeeper Brian Taber Their bathtub was filled with beer Suddenly Bennett yelled as quoted in Mallettrsquos 2008 book on Doug Walters ldquoHell fellas there are 10000 angry people downstairs They are going wild threatening to tear the place apart They all want skipper Bill Lawryrsquos head Itrsquos bloody frighteningrdquo Walters played cool With a beer can in one hand and a cigarette in the other he said ldquoHand over Bill Lawry and letrsquos get on with the drinkingrdquo Luckily the riot caused by umpire Sambhu Panrsquos dubious verdict that sent S Venkataraghavan back abated and the Test resumed only to be won by AustraliaMallett wrote books on his teammates Ian Chappell Doug Walters and Jeff Thomson apart from legends like Victor Trumper Neil Harvey and Clarrie Grimmett He told me that he was planning to write a book on the great Indian spin quartet of BS Bedi EAS Prasanna BS Chandrasekhar and S Venkataraghavan but sadly that didnrsquot come to fruitionIn 1960 when he left school in Perth a teacher asked him what he planned to do in life ldquoI am going to play Test cricket and I intend on becoming a good writerrdquo said Mallett ldquoThere is no money in cricket and you are hopeless at Englishrdquo the unimpressed teacher respondedAshley Alexander Mallett was not only a tall offspinner His cricketing and literary deeds were tall tooAt the start of last week Rod Marsh Mallettrsquos Australia teammate fought hard to hold back his emotions while continuing to pay a funeral tribute to his mate Therersquos some consolation perhaps in the fact that the week ended far more cheerfully for Australian cricketmiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper