Bob Massie - 16/137 on debut at Lords during the 1972 Ashes
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2024
- Thanks to someone from ATT for the 1972 Ashes highlights, can't remember who (sorry).
From Cricinfo:
Bob Massie, a fast-medium swing bowler, will always be remembered for one of the most startling debuts in Test history. At Lord's in 1972, the mutton-chopped Massie swung the ball devilishly and demolished England with eight wickets in each innings, and his figures of 16 for 137 were the best by a Test debutant until Narendra Hirwani spun West Indies to defeat 15 years later. But Massie's star fell as quickly as it had risen: he played only five more Tests, and within 18 months of his Lord's debut he was dropped by his state side, Western Australia. Two years before that debut, Massie had been rejected after a trial with Northants. A banker by profession, he latterly became a radio commentator.
Dolly, Smith and Illingworth all 40 or pushing 40 by then and a 35 year old fast bowler Price playing his last test, in fact only Greig and Knott in that side were under 30.. a dads army of a side if ever there was one
Kent's Brian Luckhurst was the only English batsman to avoid being dismissed by Bob Massie in this match - Dennis Lillee got him in both innings !!
Massie bowled into the Fremantle Doctor at the WACA and got heaps of swing. The quicks had the end with the breeze behind them. He got enough wickets to get a call up for the Ashes tour. He was totally suited to English conditions and not to a dry heat with no breeze.
He actually should have been a professional in English cricket. There was no money in cricket in those days and the safe thing to do was to stick at a bank job.
The explanation Greg Chappell was quoted in his biography as having given was that Massie continued to bowl the same lines as at Lords without regard to the prevailing conditions; ie: he wouldn't just bowl line and length if the ball wasn't swinging
He was into 'em again in the first innings of the next Text, with only about 5 measly wickets.
1972 - The year of The Olympic games in Munich, The Centenary FA Cup final, Fischer v Spassky and Britain had a Tory government with Ted Heath as PM - strikes, power cuts and a three day week ! Bob Massie had a dream start to his test career, but only played in five more tests for Australia !
This must be probably the test best bowling figure by an Aussie bowler in the history of this format I believe.
I was watching this at the garage where I worked at the time. Every time I came back in from filling someone's car another wicket had fallen. I remember being baffled as his deliveries seemed so innocuous.
there were some rank bad shots at the top of the order.
@@davec8730 (1st innings) Yes, the top 3 all played cross batted shots to what looked straight balls. Knott could have left his delivery it was so wide and Greig looked like he was done for lack of pace playing far too early. Knowing Illingworth he would have been furious
wow.His bowling (final) action resembles Hadlee's.
Good call it does look like Hadlee follow through especially the late swing
Except that Massie was bowling with this action when Sir Richard was a mere boy lassoing lambs on the Canterbury plains.
@@flamingfrancis And what?
from memory richard hutton of yorkshire too.
John Edrich said that Massie was over-bowlEd in this match. He does look bloody tired at times.
Seems strange for right handers to get out pushing at the ball when Massie was around the wicket to them. Perhaps he was swinging it in sufficiently even from around the wicket to get the right handers to push at the away moving ones.
He made those duke balls talk, but he hardly gets through the crease. You can see that if he didnt move it, he'd be fodder for the top quality batsman. Shame he didnt play more, hard to live up to that debut
Wtf? Vacant seats at Lord's on Day 1
How come he disappeared so quickly?
Didn’t have the longevity - some injuries. Couldn’t get a wicket if the ball wasn’t swinging
whatever happened to Bob Massie
BUT DO YOU HAVE IT ON BLURAY
wasnt it 16/137?
16/137, not 127! 8-84 & 8-53.
Good catch! Fixed.
Injuries, then went back to brick laying, sad really.
What happened was that he lost the swing, which makes me wonder whether swing is not a technique or skill, but rather an accident of nature? I wonder if today's new scientific physiotherapy could have saved his career? I mean, dropped by even Western Australia by the great '74-75 ashes when Lillie and Thompson announced the new era. No packer circus either I suppose.
My understanding is that he changed his action, to gain more pace, while touring the West Indies (where the ball rarely swings) and then couldn't re-work it back into swing mode!
@@EarlJohn61 Interesting!
I've been told that Massie's, whippy action, allowed him to put a lot of back-spin on the ball, without taking off pace. This apparently, causes the ball to swing dangerously late, rather than swing a lot. Combined with the humid conditions in which this match was played though, Massie would have had the best of both worlds, if you understand my meaning.
In the next test though, the English batsmen, batted out of their crease to Massie. The reduced length, meant that Massie's deliveries did not traverse a sufficient distance for "late swing" to kick in.
I don't know if this assessment is correct. If it is right, it could explain why Massie tried to gain more pace. The threat of the a few faster deliveries, would deter some batsmen from venturing forward. Pity it produced the negative result that you described. Perhaps he could have gone the other way, like Adam Dale or Chris Harris (of New Zealand) - i.e. slow down a little so that keeper can stand up to the stumps. That would certainly stop batsmen from batting out of their crease.
@@mombaassa The back spin stabilises the ball, keeping the ball in the correct position for the desired outcome. He did change his action in WI to cope with the pitches, and then found he had lost his ability to swing the ball when returning to Australia. The loss of the ability has always been a mystery, but I put it down to the 'yips'. This is a sudden loss of confidence and ability due to fear of failure. Here the subconscious brain deliberately sabotages performance to reduce the external pressures of expectation. It is to reduce the risk of any real or imagined repercussions from others angry at a disappointing performance. His control of his swing was highly instinctive and not something he could consciously and mechanically reproduce. His problem was getting 16 wickets on debut knowing that he could never replicate that feat.
Massie would have achieved late swing by bowling slightly faster than the optimum speed for swing (under the conditions), and having the ball slow naturally in the air to the optimum speed.
@@chriswatson7965 Thanks for your insights. It's clarified things nicely.
Richard Snell, the South African paceman started his career with a wonderful late inswinger at lively pace. Coaches apparently told him to develop an away swinger and he was never the same again, lost his inswinger, became wayward.
damn shame about his career. sacrificed for quickis to challenge the rise of west indies black lightning? maybe.
Yeah, last time I had sex with his wife I took some blurays on the way out