The first Test match I ever watched was a triumph for my team, South Africa, against Peter May's England side - a triumph made possible by the bowling of my boyhood hero Hugh 'Toey' Tayfield. Tayfield took nine England wickets in the second innings and 13 in the match. This was the fourth Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg in 1957, and South Africa had come back from 2-0 down to that point in the series. Later, at Port Elizabeth, they would level it to 2-2.
In the second Test I went to - a year later at the same venue - South Africa were playing Ian Craig's Australians. Different game, different story. One-nil down already, South Africa were soundly thrashed. The player who made the greatest contribution to this thrashing was Richie Benaud.
Benaud made an exact hundred in Australia's first innings, and something I've always remembered was how his innings ended. No sooner had he got to his century than he let rip, as if wanting to hit the ball right out of the ground. But he only succeeded in hitting it straight up into the air. At the time I thought no cricket ball could ever have been struck as high, and it seemed a long time coming back down. Russell Endean, one of the most reliable of catchers, caught it. Here are three contemporary accounts.
Benaud, after playing himself in, attacked the bowling and completed an excellent century before he skied a hook. - Wisden 1959Notice the satisfying development from one account to the next. The first account leaves the ball up in the air; the second intimates what its fate was to be when it returned to earth; and the third synthesizes all the available information in a way that reflects my old memory. I always did like Roy McLean.A few minutes later Benaud, who had beaten his own best time for a century (202 minutes) reached his 100 in 183 minutes. In sheer delight he attempted to hook Heine, and Endean solved that problem. Benaud had completely altered the tenor of the game. Not only had he placed his team in a sound position, but he had brought untold enjoyment to the large Friday crowd. - South African Cricket Annual 1959
Benaud had already gained the honour of recording the fastest century during the first Test. This is worth £100 to the player at the end of the series. Benaud, it seemed, wanted to make doubly sure of that money. He had cut 19 minutes off his previous best time when he reached his century... Immediately afterwards he lashed out at the injured Heine who had come back into the attack. The ball was skied to a great height but Benaud had chosen the wrong fielder. Endean stood with the sun in his eyes, cupped his hands above his head, and out went Benaud. He had scored a round 100 of the 158 third-wicket stand with Burke. - Roy McLean, Sackcloth Without Ashes
A curiosity of this Test match was that when Australia began their second innings the scores were tied, so that only one run was required for victory. I was cast down. The Wanderers, scene of the previous year's triumph that had sent me back on the road to Bulawayo experiencing my first ever taste of sporting elation, had now pulled me back to earth, just like gravity had that bloody ball struck by Richie Benaud.
[For links to the other posts in this series, see here.]