Ian Meckiff

Ian Meckiff (born 6 January 1935) is a former cricketer who represented Australia in 18 Test matches between 1957 and 1963. A left-arm fast bowler, he is best known for two matters that were unrelated to his skill as a player: he was the batsman run out by Joe Solomon in 1960, causing the first Tied Test in cricket history; and in December 1963, his career was sensationally ended when he was called for throwing in the First Test against South Africa by Australian umpire Col Egar. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, there had been a media frenzy about the perceived prevalence of illegal bowling actions in world cricket. The controversy and speculation that dogged Meckiff in the years preceding his final match caused sections of the cricket community to believe that he had been made a scapegoat by the Australian cricket authorities to prove their intent to stamp out throwing.

With an unconventional front-on bowling action, Meckiff progressed through the district cricket ranks at South Melbourne Cricket Club, making his first-class debut for Victoria in 1956–57. After a productive first season, Meckiff was named in a new-look Australian team for the 1957–58 tour of South Africa. This was the result of a generational change in the Australian Test team after a decline in performances in the 1950s. The shift saw Meckiff open the bowling in his debut Test, where he performed strongly to take eight wickets. Generating his pace from an unusual bent-arm action which involved a flick of the wrist, Meckiff reached his peak in the Second Test of the 1958–59 season against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He took 6/38 in the second innings as England were dismissed for 87, setting up an Australian victory. His achievement was engulfed by controversy, as English media and former players accused him of throwing Australia to victory.

The controversy over Meckiff's action persisted as throwing was in the spotlight in England, where it was regarded as a growing problem. The issue prompted numerous international discussions and meetings on amending the throwing law and the interpretation thereof. An expected confrontation with English umpires in 1961 was averted when the bowler suffered multiple injuries in the preceding Australian summer and was omitted from the team to tour England, but Meckiff had two strong seasons in domestic cricket that forced the Australian selectors to recall him for the Tests against South Africa in 1963–64. The Victorian's recall had occurred despite his being no-balled for throwing in two separate Sheffield Shield matches in the previous season. In his first over of the Test, Meckiff was no-balled four times by umpire Egar. Australian captain Richie Benaud chose to not bowl his paceman again, and Meckiff retired from all cricket at the end of the match. The throwing controversy provoked heavy debate among cricket commentators, players and umpires, past and present; some praised Egar's no-ball call while others condemned the umpire and felt that the paceman had bowled in the same way as he had always done. Others felt that Meckiff had been set up so that he would be no-balled in an "execution" or "sacrifice" to prove Australia's resolve against throwing.

Early life

Meckiff was the second of three children born to Vera and Walter Meckiff; he had an older brother Don and a younger sister Margaret. Growing up in the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Mentone, the children went to Mentone Primary School before progressing to Mordialloc-Chelsea High School, where both brothers became prefects. All of the children represented their high school for sport—Don and Ian in athletics, swimming, football and cricket; and Margaret in softball. The brothers played for Mentone Cricket Club in the Federal District Cricket Association, Ian as a left-arm unorthodox spinner. He routinely dominated the opposition batsmen in the competition, taking 200 wickets at a bowling average of only 4.50 during his career with Mentone. He began playing in Mentone's under-16 team at the age of 11.

Early career

Having failed as a spin bowler in a trial at Richmond in 1950, Meckiff switched to fast bowling in 1951–52 when he began his district career in Victorian Premier Cricket with South Melbourne.Cashman, p. 211. He started in the Fourth XI after his brother had to withdraw from a match. The following summer, aged 17, Meckiff was in the senior team and played in South Melbourne's first championship-winning side in his debut season in the First XI, although his club career was sometimes interrupted by national service in the reserves. After receiving requests from cricket administrators, the military authorities scheduled the leave of young players for weekends, so that the impact on their careers would be minimised.Haigh, p. 27. At the time, Australia lacked bowlers of great pace, so a teammate advised Meckiff to bowl as fast as he could, without regard for accuracy—a plan he successfully adopted.Haigh, p. 108.

Meckiff made his first-class debut for Victoria in 1956–1957 against Western Australia. Coming in to bat with his state's score at 8 wickets for 77 (8/77), he made 19 not out to help them reach 131, before taking three wickets for 45 runs (3/45) to restrict Western Australia to a 34-run first innings lead. His first wicket was future Australian captain Bob Simpson for a duck, and he followed up by removing Test batsmen Barry Shepherd and Ken Meuleman. Meckiff made 11 in the second innings and took 0/40 as Victoria lost by four wickets.

Meckiff's most prominent showing in his debut season was in the Sheffield Shield match against New South Wales during the Christmas period of 1956. At the time, the two states were by far the strongest in Australia; in the past decade, the teams had 18 of the 20 top-two Shield placings between them, and New South Wales were in the process of winning nine consecutive titles. The arch-rivals were at full strength as no international matches were held during the season.

Coming in at 7/173, Meckiff top-scored with 55—his only first-class 50—as Victoria batted first and made a late recovery to end with 244.Pollard, p. 114. Meckiff took 3/65, including the wickets of Test players Bill Watson and Richie Benaud as New South Wales responded with 281. In the Victorian second innings Meckiff managed only 8 as Victoria left their opponents a target of 161 runs for victory. The paceman took 4/56 and claimed the final wicket, removing Test opener Jim Burke caught for 8 as New South Wales mustered 160, causing the match to end in the first tie in Shield history. Burke had returned to bat after being injured earlier in the innings, while New South Wales captain Ian Craig, who had been ill, hauled himself out of bed in an attempt to salvage the match after his team had fallen to 7/70. Meckiff's other victims in the final innings included Test players Alan Davidson and Johnny Martin.

Strong showings for Victoria earned Meckiff selection in Neil Harvey's XI for the one-off match against Ray Lindwall's XI at the start of January 1957. These annual fixtures were used as trials for the leading players vying for national selection. Lindwall's men batted first and made 428; Meckiff was the most successful bowler, taking 6/75 while his fellow-bowlers struggled to make inroads into the opposition batsmen. His first wicket was Test batsman Ken Mackay for 99, and he followed this by removing Bob Simpson, Norm O'Neill and Graeme Hole in the middle-order. Meckiff followed his productive bowling with 47 runs in a tail-wagging performance, adding 71 for the eighth wicket with Wally Grout as Harvey's men responded with 419. The Victorian took 0/18 in the second innings as Lindwall's team fell for 188 to leave Harvey's XI with a victory target of 198, which was achieved with seven wickets in hand.

Meckiff had performed strongly in his debut first-class season, ending with 27 wickets at an average of 23.66. He was the ninth-highest wicket-taker for the Australian summer and his average was superior to all eight bowlers who took more wickets. At season's end, he was rewarded with selection for Australia's non-Test tour of New Zealand in February and March 1957. The hosts had Test status at the time, but Australia refused to ratify games against their trans-Tasman neighbours as Test matches, citing the weakness of the New Zealand team.Pollard, pp. 115–116.Haigh, p. 104.

The tour represented a changing of the guard in Australian cricket following the tour of England and the Indian subcontinent in 1956, with the bowling line-up heavily overhauled due to advancing age, injury and loss of form. Australia had lost three Ashes series in a row, and captain Ian Johnson and his deputy Keith Miller retired upon their return home. Johnson was Australia's first-choice spinner while Miller and the 35-year-old Ray Lindwall had formed Australia's new ball pairing for the previous decade. In addition, the fast bowling all rounder Ron Archer suffered a long-term knee injury during the 1956 tour, while paceman Pat Crawford played only one first-class match in 1956–57 after his marriage broke down. In the wake of Australia's decline in the past five years, the selectors turned to youth in an attempt to rebuild the side, resting several established Test representatives from the side. Ian Craig was installed as the nation's youngest ever captain at the age of 22, having previously played only six Tests without securing a regular position in the team.

The New Zealand campaign was a chance for the younger players to establish themselves in the national team. Meckiff took 2/46 and 3/25 in his first-class debut for Australia, an innings win over Otago. He played in the first match against New Zealand, but after taking 0/41 in a drawn encounter, he was dropped for the second game. The paceman forced his way back into the team for the third match after claiming 4/12 and 5/48 to help to set up an innings victory over Auckland.

In the final match, New Zealand batted first and Meckiff played a leading role in Australia's victory, taking 4/28 from 27.2 overs to help dismiss the hosts for 198. The fast bowler was not required to bat as the tourists replied with 8/350 declared. He took 2/17 in the second innings as the home team fell for 161 before Craig's men sealed the series with a 10-wicket win. Meckiff ended the tour with 20 first-class wickets at 10.85, placing him top of the tour bowling averages.Pollard, p. 117.

Test debut

The following season, when the team for the 1957–58 South African tour was announced, Lindwall's name was omitted, despite his 212 Test wickets, second only to Clarrie Grimmett among Australian bowlers.Perry, p. 204. Meckiff was selected for the tour as part of Australia's generational change, after a single season in first-class cricket, and the squad departed for South Africa in October. On the tour, in five first-class matches ahead of the Tests he took 12 wickets, at 26.25.

Meckiff was one of four Australians to make their debuts in the First Test, which was played on a batsman-friendly surface in Johannesburg over the Christmas holiday period.Pollard, p. 121. Under some pressure due to Australia's decision to discard Lindwall and invest in new talent, he opened the bowling alongside Alan Davidson, who up to that point had taken only 16 wickets at 34.06 in 12 Tests. The match began badly for Australia's inexperienced attack as the South African openers Jackie McGlew and Trevor Goddard put on an opening stand of 176. Meckiff claimed his maiden Test wicket, and Australia's first breakthrough, when he bowled Goddard for 90. He then removed McGlew for 108 and later dismissed Russell Endean and Roy McLean for 50 apiece. South Africa amassed 470, and Meckiff had the best figures, taking 5/125 in the hosts' first innings, all five being specialist batsmen. When the tourists batted, Meckiff came in at 8/313 and held up his end as centurion Richie Benaud did the majority of the scoring in their 42-run partnership. The debutant ended with 11 in his first Test outing with the bat as Craig's team ended on 368. Meckiff took 3/52 in the South African second innings, including McGlew for the second time, as the match ended in a draw. This fine start to the Victorian's international career was halted in the Second Test at Cape Town, where he broke down with injury early in the first innings and took no further part in an Australian innings victory. He did not take a wicket.

Meckiff missed the Third Test in Durban and spent a month on the sidelines, before returning against a combined team from Orange Free State and Border at the end of January. He took 6/29 in the first innings, his best return of the tour, and earned a recall for the final two Tests of the five-match series. He was not as effective as he was on debut, taking two and one wickets for the matches respectively, and scoring 26 runs in his only innings of the Fourth Test. Overall, the Victorian paceman had made a steady start to his international career, with 11 Test wickets at an average of 32.09, and 56 runs at 18.66. In the entire tour, he took 33 first-class wickets at 23.09. However, there was a hint of the controversy that was to end his career six years later. A year after the series, the South African Test umpire Bill Marais said he was prepared to no-ball Meckiff and his teammate Jim Burke for throwing.Haigh and Frith, p. 119. There were reports that Craig had been tipped off about Marais's intentions and therefore operated the two bowlers exclusively from the end at which Marais was not officiating.

Career peak and start of throwing controversy

The Victorian paceman's international career peaked in 1958–59 during the English tour of Australia. He started the season with a match for Victoria against the tourists, taking 4/69 and 1/16 in a losing effort. His wickets included English Test batsmen Peter Richardson (twice), Arthur Milton and Raman Subba Row.

The Test team was now under the leadership of Benaud—Craig had been forced to withdraw from cricket due to hepatitis; Meckiff retained his place in the side. Prior to the Tests, English all-rounder Trevor Bailey privately described Meckiff as "the worst bowler ever to represent Australia", and felt he posed little threat to the visitors.Haigh, p. 124. However this proved to be questionable. The Benaud era started well for Australia and Meckiff, with a comfortable eight-wicket victory in the First Test in Brisbane. The paceman took 3/33 and 2/30, removing Milton, Colin Cowdrey and captain Peter May early on the first day to help Australia take the initiative after the tourists had batted first. The match also marked the start of behind-the-scenes rumblings about the bowler's action.

Meckiff's career peaked at the Second Test, which began on New Year's Eve, 1958 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was his first international fixture in front of his home crowd, and also marked the start of his career-long public problem with accusations of throwing. The match was dominated by the Victorian and his left-arm pace partner Davidson; the pair took 18 of the 20 English wickets to fall. England's first innings was headlined by Davidson's 6/64; Meckiff took 3/69, including the wicket of England captain May for 113 with a swinging ball, which breached the batsman's defence and crashed into the stumps.Piesse, p. 189. This ended a century partnership with Cowdrey, and triggered a collapse that saw England be dismissed for 259, the last six English wickets falling for 49 runs. Meckiff rated the ball as the best of his career. He made a duck as the hosts replied with 308 to take a 49-run lead. It was in England's second innings that Australia's left-arm pacemen were at their most potent; apart from one over from Benaud the pair bowled unchanged to dismiss England for 87 in the 32nd over, Meckiff taking 6/38.Whimpress, p. 69. Backed a by a vocal home crowd, the Victorian dismissed opener Richardson for three, before removing Bailey, Tom Graveney and Cowdrey in quick succession. He followed this by removing the English skipper for a second time to leave England at 7/71. This set up a comfortable Australian victory as they reached their target of 39 with the loss of two wickets. The Australian pace duo were aided by a series of difficult, diving catches. The pair combined forces when Davidson caught May, and then Graveney, in the leg trap behind square from the bowling of his fellow left-armer, who called the reflex catches "absolutely unbelievable". Meckiff described the hometown atmosphere as "electrifying", and attributed his performance to the crowd support.

The match ended on the eve of Meckiff's 24th birthday, but Australian celebrations were marred by English journalists, who levelled accusations of throwing against him and some of his colleagues. The evening edition of the Melbourne ''Herald'' carried a column by former English spinner Johnny Wardle, accusing Meckiff of "throwing England out".Whimpress, p. 70. Wardle's piece was written confrontationally, as a series of sentences starting with "I accuse". This was followed by more anti-Meckiff comments in the English press, including one that dubbed the bowler "the greatest ogre of international cricket since Larwood". '' The Evening News'' proclaimed: "Meckiff's throwing was devastating" and '' The Star'' said: "at least two of his wickets were obtained by deliveries which looked to be thrown". Former England spinner Ian Peebles asserted that Meckiff and Gordon Rorke threw "the greater number of balls they deliver",Haigh and Frith, p. 120. while former English paceman Alf Gover claimed that none of the left-armer's deliveries were legal; it was "ridiculous that a player of his action should be the agent of England's destruction".Pollard, p. 181. According to Australian writer Jack Pollard, such headlines relegated the Cold War, which usually occupied the front pages, to the interior of the English newspapers.

By contrast to the strident condemnation of Meckiff in the English press, Australian opinion was mixed. The former Test opener and leading commentator Jack Fingleton said: "when he eckiffdelivered to Bailey, his fastest ball looked most suspect" and that the left-armer should have been called for throwing. Fingleton claimed to know of five former Australian Test cricketers who felt that Meckiff threw, but only named the 1930s paceman Ernie McCormick. Former Australian player Tommy Andrews claimed: "if they stop throwing in Australia, cricket will die". Former Australian captain Ian Johnson argued that if Meckiff were to be cited for an illegal action for jerking his wrist, then leading English bowlers such as Trueman, Brian Statham

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