Crash Craddock names his top ten larrikins in Australian cricket history
THEY were outspoken and overweight. They loved a beer, a cigarette, a fight, a punt and a laugh. But they livened up the game, writes ROBERT CRADDOCK.
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THEY’RE the biggest personalities in Australian cricket history.
The players who loved a beer and a punt — and occasionally a smoke or a fight.
They didn’t toe the company line and the public loved them for it.
They’re Aussie cricket’s ultimate larrikins.
Jeff Thomson
Years: 1972-85
Tests: 51
ODIs: 50
Outspoken, fearsome and a lover of all things outdoors including hunting and fishing, he was once questioned by the Queen at Lord’s about his love life. She asked him whether the tabloid rumours were true, he said: “sorry your majesty, I think you have mistaken me for one of those other jokers.’’
Shane Warne
Years:1992-2007
Tests: 145
194 (incl one ODI for ICC World XI)
The indomitable showman was a headline maker on and off the field. Brilliant bowler but also outspoken. A fearless critic but also an engaging one, he was also a longtime target of the paparazzi and a victim of several stings.
David Hookes
Years: 1977-86
Tests: 23
ODIs: 39
Would have been a pot-stirring social media sensation today. Loved being in the middle of controversy, such as accusing Tasmanians of having two heads.
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Keith Miller
Years:1946-56
Tests: 55
ODIs: —
Occasionally turned up to grade cricket wearing the dinner suit he had on the night before. After the stresses of being a fighter pilot in World War II, he could never see cricket as anything but a game. Occasionally refused to bounce his old war-time buddies from England, much to the chagrin of Sir Donald Bradman.
Doug Walters
Years: 1965-81
Tests: 74
ODIs: 28
Smoked more than 600,000 cigarettes before giving them away late in life, but still loves a cool ale on a warm day. Still in demand on the guest speakers circuit for his tales about an era dripping with colour and controversy.
Merv Hughes
Years: 1985-94
Tests: 53
ODIs: 33
Played the game on his terms and was often a few kilograms above what team coaches wanted, but had a heart as big as Phar Lap and enjoyed his journey. Was a merciless sledger of English batsmen, particularly the likes of Graeme Hick. His exchanges with South African batsmen included the day whether he asked one of them, “Does Orange Free State mean there are no oranges or you don’t pay for them?”
Andrew Symonds
Years: 2004-09
Tests: 26
ODIs: 198 (also played 14 T20Is for Australia)
Once missed a team meeting to go fishing in Darwin. While everyone was fretting about his whereabouts, he sent a photo of the fish he caught to Matthew Hayden. claiming “see what you missed’’.
Lindsay Hassett
Years: 1938-53
Tests:43
ODIs: —
Australia needed someone who could laugh at the world after the incomparable Bradman as captain, and Hassett did that. He once let a muddy goat loose in a teammate’s bedroom. And even though he was one of the shortest players to play the game, when Australia confronted an opponent who was shorter than he was, he told his fast bowlers, “Let’s get this midget out of here.’’
Dennis Lillee
Years: 1971-84
Tests: 70
ODIs: 63
Whether it be throwing his aluminium bat to the heavens, kicking Javed Miandad or encouraging the development of World Series Cricket, Lillee had a hot-blooded streak possessed by so many fast bowling greats.
Wally Grout
Years: 1957-66
Tests: 51
ODIs: —
The Griz, as he was known, died young (aged just 41) but what a life he led. The hard-bitten gloveman loved a punt, beer and billiards, and he had little time for fieldsmen who threw in shoddy returns from the balcony.
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Originally published as Crash Craddock names his top ten larrikins in Australian cricket history