Gary Gilmour in action during the World Cup 1975 |
Tale of the Headingley Track
The semi-final match was to be played on the same track
where Australia
and Pakistan
played against each other during a group encounter. During that time, the track
was suitable for batting, but before the semi-final clash, the groundsman had
watered the pitch and made it look much livelier. Even though the moisture on
the pitch was expected to vanish with the progression of the day, but the damp
conditions didn’t let it happen.
The Australian hierarchy included an unknown left-arm swing
bowler named Gary Gilmour instead of offspinner Ashley Mallet. It was a shrewd
move in these conditions as Gilmour’s inclusion was to create a heavy impact on
this match.
Gary Gilmour wreaks havoc with the ball
Ian Chappell won the toss and elected to bowl first. England
openers, Denniss Amiss and Barry Wood came out to bat. After Lillee’s first
over, the English openers were expecting a lively burst from Thomson. But
Chappell introduced Gilmour left-arm swing bowling. Immediately, Gilmour
dismissed Amiss with a ball that pitched on the leg stump and hit Amiss’s pads
after straightening.
Barry Wood confidently drove Lillee through the covers for
the first boundary of the day, but his confidence took a setback when his off-stump
was pegged back by a deceptive inswinger from Gilmour.
Rod Marsh catches Tony Greig in an acrobatic fashion |
Tony Greig and Keith Fletcher joined together to do the
repair work, but a superlative acrobatic catch by Rod Marsh dented the repair
work: Gary Gilmour pitched one wide outside the off stump at which Greig
slashed hard. The ball flew to first slip where Ian Chappell was standing to
take a regulation catch, but Marsh flew to his right and in front of Chappell
to grab a superman-like-catch.
Frank Hayes, the next man in, on-drove and hit the first
boundary off Gilmour, but his stay at the crease was cut short by Gilmour’s nip-backer
against which Hayes tried to shoulder his arms – the ball hit the pad and
Australia’s appeal for lbw was upheld.
By trapping Fletcher leg before, Gilmour had bagged a five-for
and became the second bowler in the history of one-day cricket to do such after
Dennis Lillee who achieved such feats in the same tournament. And by dismissing
Alan Knott with another inducker, Gilmour had become the first bowler in the
history of one-day cricket to bag a six-wicket haul.
Gilmour was simply irresistible on that way. He generated
extravagant movement both in the air and off the surface. He relied more on
pitching the ball up and most of his deliveries were induckers which resulted
in four leg-before wickets. Gilmour finished with figures of 6 for 14.
At 37 for 7 the game was almost over for England .
But the English captain, Mike Denness, decided to fight back and showed enough
resilience to score 27 runs. But his resistance was ended by Lillee who
replaced Walker after lunch. Geoff
Arnold added some valuable runs, but England
were finally all out for 93 runs in 36.2 overs.
Gilmour delivers with the bat for Australia
Chasing 94 runs in 60 overs was supposed to be a cakewalk
for the strong Australian batting line-up. But against Arnold, Snow, Old and
Lever, the Australian batting line-up jolted.
Gary Gilmour in action with the bat |
Gilmour came out to bat and joined Doug Walters. He shunned
the wait-and-watch theory and smashed a quickfire unbeaten 28 runs and qaushed
further embarrassment. The partnership between him and Walters was worth 55
runs off just 58 balls. There was once a slice of luck for Gilmour as he was
dropped by Greig at slip while the score was at 78 for 6.
Gary Gilmour’s allround performance is still regarded as one
of the best in the history of one-day cricket and ICC World Cup. It’s a pity
that such a talented cricketer didn’t live up to the expectations and faded
away.
Note: This article has been published in Sportskeeda on 11/10/2014 http://www.sportskeeda.com/cricket/icc-world-cup-1975-gary-gilmour-allround-exhibition-australia-england
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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