Bumped into an old fella in a Balmain pub this week. Had never met him before but we were forced to become acquaintances when the barman told me I had to find a seat. Covid, and all.
He was slipping in a few quick beers before “the managing director for home affairs” noticed he was away. Had to fix a sandstone wall at his investment property. Boomers, hey?
Dave was genial in that old-fashioned way, using words you’re not allowed to use anymore and making fun of the “bloody millennial” behind the bar who just rolled his eyes in reply. He moved slowly and had both knees strapped. “Yeah too much bloody cricket,” he told me from his seat in the appropriately named Cricketers Arms Hotel.
It was David Colley, a former medium-fast bowler and big-hitting batsman who spent 21 years playing for Mosman, represented NSW in 87 games (including some as captain) and played three Tests for Australia during the 1972 Ashes tour.
He opened the bowling with Dennis Lillee that series, taking the wickets of Tony Greig and John Snow at Old Trafford in his first innings as a Test cricketer. He failed to take a wicket in his second Test at Lord’s, mostly because Bob Massie hogged them all, snaring 16 in his own Test debut.
Colley said someone once estimated he’d run the equivalent of Sydney to Brisbane and back again four times during his career. No surprise his now 73-year-old body was letting him down.
Back problems saw Colley fade from the top but the emergence of another NSW fast bowler, Bankstown boy Jeff Thomson, was another factor. “Thommo, yep played him plenty of times. He didn’t like me much at the time. I played for Mosman after all,” he told us.
A Week At A Time has longer wondered how many young men of the time woke on a Saturday morning, headed to a cricket ground with hangovers yet to abate and padded up to face Thommo in his prime. “Happened every weekend,” Colley said. “I can tell you I did.” And then he proceeded to replay perhaps the greatest tale of Sydney grade cricket ever told.
“I had to take guard in a pool of blood once …”
AWAAT headed home and looked it up. It was all true.
A 1973-74 first grade game at Bankstown Oval saw Thomson terrorise the Mosman batting linep on a damp pitch that saw the ball spit and hiss on every delivery. He was filthier than normal and Colley, who had been picked for NSW when Thommo hadn’t, was probably responsible for a lot of the rage.
“We had already told them to get their Rolls Royce out of there before we started anyway — they didn’t listen to good advice,” Thomson told Fox Sports a few years ago.
“The first bloke, I actually warned him beforehand the guy I hit … I smacked him in the face, his teeth were out and blood.
“The rest of them didn’t want to know about it, there was a pool of blood like this on the pitch, there were teeth lying in it.
“They were just shitting themselves … they just couldn’t get out of there quick enough.”
An 18-year-old Mosman batsman, Greg Bush, was hit in the face with a delivery so vicious his eye actually seemed to hang from the socket. The blood spread as Bush was taken from the field, Colley was next in.
Back at The Cricketers Arms this week, he stood gingerly and replayed the moment — scratching out an imaginery guard on the pub floor through Bush’s bodily fluids and giving the umpire a reluctant thumbs up.
“I used to make fun of him,” Colley said. “Made fun of his long hair and all that.”
Not the greatest move. “So how did you go?” I ask.
“Out first ball, barely saw it. Stump out of the ground.”
And with that, the phone rang again and Colley was off to his meeting with that sandstone wall.
XXXX
Thursday was the 20-year anniversary of Don Bradman’s death. The Don died in 2001, appropriately in the 90s, and tributes and anecdotes this week flowed for the greatest Australian sportsman of all time.
Our favourite comes from former News Corp sports photographer Phil Hillyard.
“I was in India with the Australian cricket team and woke very early to the news when my picture editor called me at 4am to alert me and relay it would be front, back and inside of the papers. ‘Get whatever you can,’” he said.
“I thought, I’m going to ring Warnie so I tried his room and he answered and I asked if he’d be photographed with Sachin Tendulkar reflecting on the passing of The Don. He didn’t hesitate so I rang Sachin and he answered and I asked him the same, then somehow we linked the phone to Shane Warne’s room and we had a three-way conversation. They were the two greatest cricketers in the world at the time both highly respected by Bradman. We met downstairs and I didn’t interrupt them, just quietly took a few pictures as they reflected.
“It’s fair to say the papers were happy.”
Hillyard’s picture of Indian cricket fans absorbing the news from a local Mumbai paper is a classic.
XXX
This week was also marked the anniversary of another significant death in the sports world. Eighteen years ago Socceroos coach Eddie Thomson passed away, as former colleague Ray Gatt reminded us. The legendary Scotsman coached the national team between 1990 and 1996 and helped jump-start what would become Australian football’s Golden Generation
“Thommo was as good with his staff as he was with his players and was always joking with them or playing practical jokes,” Gatty recalled this week.
“One time he was involved with the Socceroos as assistant coach. They were in China at an official reception for the team. There were all sorts of high ranking government officials there.
“Thommo always liked to take the mickey out of his good friend Charlie Jurisic, who was the team physio. In the middle of the function, Thommo suggested to Charlie that he couldn’t hold out his arm and balance a full teacup on the back of his hand. Charlie took the bait.
“He balanced the cup and was pretty cocky. While he still had his arm extended, Thommo said, ‘OK, I bet you can’t balance a teacup on the back of your other hand at the same time.’ Charlie took the bait again.
“There was Charlie, both arms extended, balancing two of what were probably very expensive pieces of China on the back of his hands and smiling proudly.
“Thommo said, ‘that is brilliant’. Charlie looked to him to take the cups off his hands, but Thommo just laughed. He had ensured the handles on the cup were pointing away, leaving Charlie to work out how he was going to get the cups off his hands without breaking them and spilling tea everywhere! The poor guy was there for ages, sweating profusely before the manager quietly intervened. Needless to say the players were almost in uproar.”
RIP Thommo.
BC’s Tip of the Week
Last week’s tip Positive Peace was in need of the outing at Rosehill when fourth and will keep for another day, according to our tipster Brendan Cormick.
“Ole Kirk finished down the track at Caulfield in the Group I Futurity Stakes, but jockey Kerrin McEvoy told connections the colt resented the going on the inside (watered on race morning) and didn’t stretch out,” Brendan says.
“In Race 7 No 1 Ole Kirk is the best horse in the Australian Guineas at Flemington and will be at generous odds to turn his form around.”
mcloughlins@
theaustralian.com.au
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