Former Australian wicketkeeper John Maclean seeks answers from Cricket Australia about scary 1979 practice concussion

Former Test wicketkeeper John Maclean has demanded Cricket Australia explain why he was abandoned after a life-threatening training injury in 1979 left teammates fearing he would die.

John Maclean former Test wicketkeeper

Cricket’s fight against concussion has taken a shock detour with a former Australian Test player seeking an official explanation of why he was abandoned after a “life-threatening’’ incident 47 years ago.

Former Test wicketkeeper John Maclean, who played four Tests against England in the 1978-79 Ashes, has written a five-page letter to Cricket Australia chairman Mike Baird detailing his concerns over how he was treated after being cracked under the eye in the SCG nets two days before the Test.

Former Test wicketkeeper John Maclean. Picture: Liam Kidston

A Cricket Australia spokesman said Baird had responded, requested a catch up with Maclean, adding: “We acknowledge John’s courage and leadership and very significant contribution to cricket in a variety of roles as player, administrator and volunteer over several decades.’’

After declining to join Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket which started the same season, Queensland stalwart Maclean was preparing for the fourth Test in Sydney when he was struck by fast bowler Alan Hurst.

The volatile practice pitches were in a poor state and Maclean’s left eye was severely damaged and still sags as a result of the incident. The vision in Maclean’s left eye is still inferior to his right eye.

“I’m not after money,’’ Maclean, who also had one of his teeth knocked out, told this masthead.

“I just want them to recognise that no one did anything about it.’’

Helmets were still in an experimental stage during that series. Maclean was wearing one but it had no visor and he felt the heaviness of it may have slowed his response.

In the detailed letter, Maclean, who played the Sydney Test despite the injury, claims the injury caused him such distress he was “delusional’’ when he returned to the dressing room on a day so humid that an ABC cameraman collapsed in the grandstand due to heat exhaustion.

Two of Maclean’s Australians teammates, Rodney Hogg and Kim Hughes, feared for Maclean’s life when he was in an incoherent state in the dressing room.

An article from January 5, 1979, when Australian wicketkeeper John Maclean was struck in the face by a cricket ball at Sydney Cricket Ground. Picture through Channel 9, Sydney.

With no sighting of the team manager Bob Radford and no doctor on hand, frantic team members summoned a doctor from the members’ area to treat Maclean.

“I don’t dwell on it but I do marvel that no one ever followed up on it,” Maclean said.

“I was frightened. When I caught (Geoff) ‘Dusty’ Miller out (on day one) my hands started shaking and when I got into the room my whole body seized up.

“The room attendant was running around and they did not know what to do. Kim Hughes said he thought I was going to drop dead.

“I reckon I was concussed for the first two days of that game. There is no way in the world I would have been allowed to play had it been today.

“The reason I played was because we had just won a Test and I felt it would have been a negative for team morale had I withdrew.’’

John MacLean after being hit in practice in 1979

Hughes said he will never forget the sight of distressed Maclean in the dressing room.

“Him playing that game was one of the bravest yet silliest things I had seen,’’ Hughes told this masthead.

“I remember he was so crook on the field that the first slip almost had to hold him up.

“He was a very tough cricketer and a great bloke. He was Queensland’s version of Rod Marsh. Very tough. It was a very hot day and I remember thinking there was a chance he could die.

“Cricket Australia has treated him very poorly. He should have been financially compensated for what happened.’’

Maclean said he made a “miraculous’’ recovery with the help of medication but Australia lost the Test and he never played again, being replaced by Kevin Wright.

In retrospect he believes the best decision would have been not to play.

Originally published as Former Australian wicketkeeper John Maclean seeks answers from Cricket Australia about scary 1979 practice concussion