Ian Meckiff

Ian Meckiff (born 6 January 1935) is an Australian 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, He began playing in Mentone's under-16 team at the age of 11. 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, 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.

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.

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. The arch-rivals were at full strength as no international matches were held during the season. Meckiff took 3/65, including the wickets of Test players Bill Watson and Richie Benaud as New South Wales responded with 281. 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. 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. At season's end, he was rewarded with selection for Australia's non-Test tour of New Zealand in February and March 1957.

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, 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.

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. Meckiff was selected for the tour as part of Australia's generational change, after a single season in first-class cricket, 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. 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. 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. 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, 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. 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 Backed a by a vocal home crowd, 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". while former English paceman Alf Gover claimed that none of the left-armer's deliveries were legal; 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. As with Meckiff, Lock was under scrutiny at the time and later tried to change his bowling action but the new style coincided with a downturn in results. In 1993, Robert Coleman, the historian of the Victorian Cricket Association, decried the anti-Meckiff campaign as "Fleet Street bleating", and said: "there have been no more hysterical outbursts on the subject [of throwing] than occurred during England's 1958–59 tour". An Australian television debate program featured an entire session where English journalists Wellings and Crawford White discussed the throwing issue with former Australian Test cricketers Keith Miller and Sid Barnes. and he missed a month of cricket before returning for the final Test in Melbourne in mid February, Meckiff was also prominent in the two Shield matches against New South Wales, when both teams were at full strength. In the first contest he had match figures of 5/129, his victims including Test teammates Burke, O'Neill and Davidson (twice),

For a delivery to be fair, the ball must be bowled, not thrown or jerked; if either umpire be not entirely satisfied of the absolute fairness of a delivery in this respect, he shall call and signal no-ball instantly upon delivery. while the selection panel of Don Bradman, Dudley Seddon and Jack Ryder continued to pick the paceman, implying that they regarded his action as legal. Bill Dowling, the chairman of the Australian Board of Control, denounced the media attention on suspect bowling actions as excessive and "magnified out of all proportion".

Off the field, the throwing controversy was beginning to affect Meckiff adversely. In his 1961 autobiography, prophetically titled Thrown Out, he said the accusations took a deep personal toll on him and his family, and prompted him to shun the public. He became known by the derisive nickname "Chucker" and was credited on the front cover of his autobiography as "Ian 'Chucker' Meckiff". before swinging the arm over during the delivery stride. Over the next two years, sceptics and sporting opponents mostly regarded his action as fair, and said so in public. Before the Third Test, he helped the tourists beat the President's XI in a low-scoring game in which none of the four innings totalled over 140. Meckiff claimed four wickets in the match, and was batting (he scored two not out) when Australia reached their victory target with three wickets in hand. Meckiff was unable to capture a wicket in the Indian second innings as Benaud's men won by an innings and 117 runs. Meckiff was unbeaten on 14 when India secured the final wicket. Meckiff continued to hold the upper hand over Borde, dismissing him in both innings. He had particular success against Borde, dismissing him five times in as many Tests.

Alterations to the throwing law In 1960, at a meeting of the Imperial Cricket Conference in London, cricket's "throwing law" was changed to forbid the straightening of the arm at the instant of the ball's delivery. Despite the agreed change in the law, because of conflicting interpretations in different countries a compromise was agreed, which specified an amnesty during the forthcoming 1961 Australian tour to England. It was agreed that on the tour, umpires would privately report any concerns about bowling actions to the teams concerned, for them to remedy. After the tour, umpires would "call" bowlers whenever they felt the new law to have been breached.

On his return to Australia, Dowling angrily accused the English cricket community of pre-judging Meckiff. and claimed that some administrators had privately told him that the Australian paceman would be called if he toured England. Meckiff played in the First and the Third Tests, taking two wickets at 117.00 and scoring 12 runs at 6.00; These fitness problems resulted in his omission for the three other Tests. During the summer, Meckiff's bowling was passed by Col Egar, who later ended his career. He noted that the umpire had told him there was little point in changing his action. Despite his unpenetrative performance with the ball, the paceman was retained for the First Test in Brisbane. The Caribbean team batted first and attacked Meckiff, taking more than seven runs per over from his bowling. The paceman ended with 1/129 from 18 overs as the visitors amassed 453; his only wicket was that of Gary Sobers for 132. a leg side full toss that he hit to mid-on. Grout top-edged the following ball straight up into the air, but the two fielders who converged beneath it collided and dropped the catch, allowing the Australians to take another run. The hosts thus needed three runs from the last three balls. Meckiff faced the sixth ball; it was a half volley and he lofted it over square leg. Grout attempted a third run, which would have won the match, but an accurate long throw saw him run out. Umpire Col Hoy said of his decision to give Meckiff out: "God, it was easy. He was miles out."

After missing the Australian victory in the Second Test due to injury, Meckiff returned for the Third Test and he was again attacked, taking 1/74 from 13 overs in the first innings, The Victorian did not recover in time for the rest of the Tests. Despite healthy results for the season overall, the paceman struggled and took match figures of 2/136 and 3/112 as Victoria lost both their matches against the dominant New South Wales XI, who won their ninth successive Shield.

Meckiff was hoping to regain his Test place, and started his 1962–63 campaign in a Sheffield Shield match against South Australia. After Victoria made 174, the paceman took 4/65 to dismiss South Australia for 141 in the first innings. In the second innings he took 3/76 to help seal a win.

Meckiff took a total of 3/50 in a seven-wicket defeat of Western Australia before the return match against New South Wales, in which Victoria were 34 runs short of victory with seven wickets in hand when time ran out, Meckiff's match figures being 6/121. Despite this continued run of prolific wicket-taking and his success against England, Meckiff was overlooked for the Fifth Test. Victoria drew the match and sealed their Sheffield Shield victory. Meckiff had been the state's leading wicket-taker and one of the key figures in their triumph, Despite his contributions, Victoria were unable to secure victories against either of their opponents.

At the start of the season, the Australian Board of Control had issued a directive calling on the umpires to "get tough" in enforcing the laws of cricket, and asked the state associations to "back the umpires to the fullest extent". Reaction in England was also hostile, ahead of Australia's forthcoming tour in the English summer of 1964. Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie wrote in the News of the World: "there is no room in cricket for throwers. Let us hope that...the Australian selectors realise this...otherwise the throwing war will be waged in earnest".

The Brisbane Test was dubbed "Meckiff's Test" by the Australian media; speculation abounded that the bowler was being chosen so he could be no-balled as a public relations effort to promote Australia's anti-throwing credentials. As a close friend of the fast bowler, umpire Egar was in a difficult situation; the duo had won a pairs lawn bowling competition just a few months earlier. On the second day, after the Australian innings ended on 435, South Africa began to bat just after the luncheon interval. Bowling from the Stanley Street End, Graham McKenzie conceded 13 runs from the first over. At the same time, the South African manager Ken Viljoen set up a camera square of the wicket among the spectators and began filming the left-armer's bowling action. Egar ruled the second, third, fifth and ninth balls to be throws, and therefore illegitimate. Meckiff had previously been passed in five countries, having played Tests in four of these nations. Egar had cleared his bowling on five previous occasions, in three Shield matches and two Tests; the Victorian had bowled 119.1 overs in these games without incident. Egar later said "My only judgement was what I saw at the time". Benaud removed his paceman from the attack and Meckiff did not bowl again in the match, He retired from all forms of cricket at the end of the game,

Barry Gibbs, the secretary of the Queensland Cricket Association and the manager of the Australian team, called the "humiliation" of Meckiff "without a doubt the most dramatic and emotion-charged" sporting moment he had witnessed. Egar's actions also ignited "one of the most emotional crowd displays in Test history", Half an hour before the close of the day's play, proceedings were suspended for two minutes as the crowd repeatedly chanted "We want Meckiff". After this incident, the Queensland Police escorted the umpire to and from the match venue.

Reaction During a rest day after the second day's play the media dissected the events of the previous afternoon. The South African writer Charles Fortune said that Meckiff's action was "not according to the laws of cricket" although he would not call the Australian bowler a "chucker". Egar claimed to be "the second most upset person in the world", and later added that he thought Meckiff's first ball was suspect. He said that he could have called more deliveries, but was worried whether the over would ever end. The Australian captain was criticised for being acquiescent, and one of his predecessors Lindsay Hassett believed Meckiff should have been used at reduced speed. For his part, Meckiff said: "the game is bigger than the individual" and he backed Benaud's decision because doing otherwise "could only have added fuel to the controversy". Former Test spinners Ian Johnson and Doug Ring said Meckiff's action was fair. He said that Egar's calls "hit him like a dagger in the back", Bradman showed frame-by-frame slow motion film of Meckiff and other suspect Australian bowlers, which purportedly depicted incriminating actions. This indicated Bradman's doubts over Meckiff's legitimacy, yet Bradman was one of the selectors who agreed to the bowler's inclusion in the Brisbane Test team.

Many members of the Australian media alleged a conspiracy against Meckiff. Ian McDonald of Melbourne's Sporting Globe said the bowler's action had not changed in the previous eight years and stated: "the whole affair smacks of a set-up". Keith Miller wrote a column calling for Bradman's and Jack Ryder's removal from the selection panel, noting that they had watched Meckiff's performance against Western Australia which prompted his Test selection. Benaud repudiated allegations claiming he was involved in a set-up. Gibbs remains suspicious of the motives for selecting Meckiff. He pointed out that although the pitch was conducive to spin bowling, Australia chose five specialist batsmen, two spinners and three fast bowlers. Gibbs speculated that the selection of an extra fast bowler—the most common strategy is to use four bowlers and six batsmen—instead of another batsman betrayed fears that Meckiff would be unable to complete the match. Alan Connolly remained adamant that his teammate's action was legitimate and implied a conspiracy, saying "I wasn't amazed [by Egar's call]...There was a good reason for that which I can't disclose and won't disclose." The couple had a son.

In retirement, the throwing issue continued to dog the former paceman. Former Australian captain and teammate Simpson wrote a book titled Captain's Story in which he assailed various cricketers—Meckiff chief among them—for throwing. Meckiff sued for libel in a five-year case, which ended with an out-of-court settlement and apology from Simpson. Despite this, Meckiff has continued to socialise with people involved in his last Test, including Simpson, Egar, Gibbs, Rowan and Peter van der Merwe, South Africa's vice-captain. Connolly said "'Meckie' was one of the nicest guys. It was to his great credit that he wasn't soured by the whole incident."