It was the first week of February 1972, the thirteenth round of the 1971-72 season, when Sydney University welcomed Bankstown for a one-day match at University Oval. Both sides were sitting in the middle of the First Grade table, each with five wins, each needing to win their last three games to have any chance of reaching the finals.
Both captains – Ian Fisher and Dion Bourne – were enjoying successful seasons with the bat: they were running joint second (behind Gordon spinner Dick Guy) in the First Grade best-and-fairest competition. Trailing just behind them were Doug Walters, Dave Colley, Ian Davis, Dave Renneberg and Jeff Thomson, all of whom had played Test cricket, or soon would.
But it rained.
Ian Fisher: It was extremely wet, and we had uncovered wickets…
Peter James: This was pre-covered wicket days.
Bruce Collins: The wicket was fairly fruity. But the footholds were good and firm, so the bowlers weren’t handicapped.
Play began late. The teams were lucky to get on at all: that day, four other First Grade matches were washed out altogether. But umpires Bitel and Davies decided that the ground was dry enough for the teams to squeeze in about four hours play. It was a declaration game, with no limit on overs except that 15 (eight-ball) overs were to be bowled in the last hour.
University batted first. And Bankstown had something that most mid-table Grade teams didn’t have – a truly formidable opening attack. Neither Jeff Thomson nor Len Pascoe had yet played for New South Wales, but they were easily the fastest bowlers in the State. They weren’t the most reliable cricketers in Sydney: they were known to turn up late if the surf was good. But this was a lousy beach day, and they were ready to take the new ball when the game began.
Peter James: They were surely scary on a green wicket that was fast, especially given no helmets in those days. At that stage of his career, Thommo was express but typically swung the ball in. For a bumper starting outside off, the ball kept swinging in towards your head. So you certainly had to keep your eye on the ball, and not rock backwards, because the ball would follow you, so that typically the batsman found himself overbalancing backwards. That season, I played with Thommo for City vs Country on SCG No 2, which then was the fastest track in Sydney (and almost same size as SCG). One bumper cleared the batsman and keeper and bounced just once more before hitting the fence. In the first hours of that match, I took a catch off Thommo at first slip, undoubtedly travelling faster than any other catch I took, taken shoulder high wide from a cut/slash. It swung me around 360 degrees, and somehow stayed in my right hand. Pascoe was a bit less predictable, and did move it both ways, so in a sense, more difficult to face.
Andrew Falk: This was my first First Grade game – Jeff Thomson and Lennie Pascoe on a wet track… before the game started while we were waiting for the pitch to dry out, Thommo was about level with the stumps at the southern end of the ground and slinging catches to his teammates up on the old No 2 ground. This was before his shoulder injury, of course. Fairly intimidating none the less!
University batted first, and Thomson and Pascoe wasted no time making an impact on the game. Inside the first couple of overs, they sent back Greg Wilson, Dennis Hill and Ian Fisher, all without scoring.
Ted LeCouteur: It’s amazing, I’ve played hundreds of games of cricket over the years, but of all of them, I remember this one most clearly. Both those guys are imprinted on my brain – Thomson from the southern end, Pascoe from the northern end. I soon realised that you couldn’t bat normally because the wicket was too green and bouncy, the bowlers were too fast, the ball was moving too much. There was a lot of swish and slash in my innings! But I wasn’t likely to be bowled because the ball was bouncing way over the stumps. Quite a few of my fours went between the keeper and point…
Ian Fisher: Full credit to Ted, he thrashed the bowling.
Bruce Collins: I distinctly remember that, when I went out to bat, I’d never seen slips fieldsmen standing so far back. They were half way to the pavilion. This was the day I thought that I might have to start wearing a thigh pad.
Bankstown’s attack consisted of extreme pace and finger spin. Barry Thebridge bowled right-arm off-spin, and Tony Radanovic was an orthodox left-armer. Radanovic, born in Germany, was one of two Bankstown players of Yugoslav descent. Len Durtanovich had changed his surname to Pascoe; Zivko Radanovic found that Australians struggled with his first name, so he became Tony. LeCouteur and Collins weathered the storm from Pascoe and Thomson, then picked off runs against the two spinners.
Bruce Collins: Ted played an imperious innings, trying to drive Thomson and Pascoe, and when he edged it there was no way anyone was going to catch it. At one point Thomson bowled a no ball to me, and then made an angry gesture in the direction of the umpire. Ted came down to me at the end of the over and said, “Bruiser, I think this bloke’s going to try to hurt you. “
In just over an hour, they added 53 for the fourth wicket until Collins was caught from Radanovic’s bowling. LeCouteur carried on to reach 60, made in 123 minutes.
Ted LeCouteur: Captain Morris was our scorer, and when I got out, he ran down from the grandstand to shake my hand.
Only LeCouteur and Collins reached double figures in University’s innings, though Andrew Falk was unbeaten on nine when Ian Fisher declared.
Andrew Falk: I faced a few balls from each of Pascoe and Thomson. When Thommo was bowling, Lennie was fielding at silly mid-off, very close, and telling me where on my head the next ball was going to hit! Then, when Lennie was bowling, the roles were reversed but the description of my imminent demise was very similar!!
The declaration came after University had batted for just over two and half hours. Bankstown had 80 minutes to score 121.
Ted LeCouteur: I didn’t think we had enough time to win. It was just going to be a bit of fun for the bowlers…
Bankstown’s batting was not as powerful as its attack, relying heavily on opener Dion Bourne. Bourne, an accountant, became the highest ever run-scorer for Bankstown in First Grade, and had four nephews, name of Waugh, who followed him into First Grade at the club. He faced up to Peter James, and made it safely through the first over.
But University also had a highly effective pair of opening bowlers in Peter James and Geoff Pike. Pike, in his first season in First Grade, was a left-armer who could swing the ball late. And, on a responsive pitch, James was as threatening as any bowler in Sydney, producing outswingers and biting off-cutters at a lively pace.
Peter James: On damp soft pitches, one has to keep it up, but of course not too far or the ball would be lofted. If a bit short, the ball just digs in and balloons, so batsman steps back and can bang it. So the length is critical, and probably the good length is a smaller area than normal.
James and Pike kept hitting that small area with relentless accuracy, and wickets began to tumble. John Dunn was the first to go, edging Pike into James’ safe hands at slip. Then James dismissed Bourne, who was Bankstown’s top-scorer with 8, and struck twice more in his next over. Pike removed the vastly experienced Bob Madden (playing in his 28th and last season of First Grade), caught by keeper Mick Hewett. Just as in the University innings, three batsmen had fallen in quick succession without scoring. Suddenly, batting out time didn’t look like a very easy proposition.
Ted LeCouteur: I fielded at first slip, so I had a great view, and the ball swung a lot. Pikey had the ability to bowl outswingers, which is unusual for a left hander, and I remember watching and thinking ‘this guy is such a good bowler’. PJ, as usual, was very accurate and bowled beautifully. Our keeper, Mick Hewett, was pretty busy because the batsmen played and missed a lot.
James trapped the veteran Mick Stephenson in front of his stumps, and had Thomson caught behind; Pike removed Thebridge and Radanovic. After only eleven overs, Bankstown had crashed to 9 for 29. Only Pascoe and Bankstown’s keeper, Ian Gorman, remained. What happened next was every bit as illogical as the rest of the game. Pascoe lunged forward to Pike, and lobbed a gentle catch towards short mid-off, where University’s best fieldsman was stationed.
Andrew Falk: The best fielder I ever played with, and he dropped a sitter.
Peter James: The simplest imaginable catch to silly midoff, who dropped it. Amazing. One of the safest pair of hands in our team, and down it went.
Even then, University might have won: with two overs remaining, Pike drew another false shot from Pascoe.
Ian Fisher: Lenny was caught by Mick Hewett off Geoff Pike, but he was given not out.
And that was it: stumps were drawn with Bankstown safe at nine for 32. Peter James had taken 5-13, Geoff Pike 4-12. When the Sydney Morning Herald commended the opening bowlers for “fiery pace” and “hostile and accurate” bowling, it was referring to James and Pike, not Thomson and Pascoe. Writing in the Sun-Herald, journalist Phil Wilkins reported that he found the performances of Peter James and Jeff Thomson “interesting”. James, he decided, “would be an acquisition to the State side”, while Thomson “could develop into a State representative without great surprise.” Half of his predictions were accurate: within twelve months, Thomson was opening the bowling for Australia on the MCG.
Max Bonnell