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(Part 49.) Gary Gilmour’s day.
While the West Indies were breezing past New Zealand at The Oval in London in one semi-final, a relative newcomer to the Australian side had a day to remember up at Headingley in Leeds, as Ian Chappell’s men overcame their old rivals, England, to book a showdown with Clive Lloyd’s team in the 21 June final at Lord’s.
(via The Cricket Monthly.)
And with only two days to go before the 50th anniversary of that historic 1975 Cricket World Cup final, we once again visit Tony Cozier’s commemorative brochure World Cup Champions ‘75 for his reporting on that topsy-turvy encounter:
A remarkable cricket match, dominated by the all-round skill of the left-handed all-rounder Gary Gilmour, ended Australia’s way by four wickets.
The ball always dominated the bat, 16 wickets fell for 187 runs and the result was in doubt to within two overs of the end.
Scores:
England 93 all out off 36.2 overs (Mike Denness 27, Geoff Arnold 18 not out; Gary Gilmour 6-14, Max Walker 3-22, Dennis Lillee 1-26);
Australia 94 for 6 off 28.4 overs (Gary Gilmour 28 not out, Doug Walters 20 not out, Rick McCosker 15; Chris Old 3-29, John Snow 2-30, Geoff Arnold 1-15).
Result: Australia won by 4 wickets.
Toss: Australia.
The Australians made three telling decisions. The first was to put England in to bat on a dull, overcast day on a green pitch (strangely, the same strip on which the Australia vs Pakistan first round match had been played only ten days previous).
The second was to include Gilmour in the eleven for the first time, at the expense of Ashley Mallett. And the third was to open the bowling with him.
(via Sportskeeda.)
Gilmour, bowling left arm-over at fast-medium, produced a spell which totally devastated England. He kept a full length and no batsman seemed certain whether he was moving in or out.
As well as the young Australian bowled, however, England batted poorly under conditions to which they are supposedly accustomed.
Dennis Amiss was lbw thrusting his left pad half forward. Barry Wood was yorked off stump by an inswinger. Tony Greig chased a ball outside the off-stump which only his great height allowed him to reach and Rod Marsh took an unbelievable catch.
Photo: Patrick Eagar.
Frank Hayes offered no shot to an inswinger and was plainly lbw. Keith Fletcher and Alan Knott both played back with the same result: lbw.
By then, Gilmour had taken six for ten off nine overs and England had been reduced to 36 for six. That became 37 for seven when Old steered Max Walker into second slip’s hands and Gilmour completed his 12 overs with a return of six for 14.
Denness played a few brave shots, as did Arnold at number 11, but England could only muster 93 off 36.2 overs. A packed crowd of 20,000 knowledgeable Yorkshiremen had been stunned into almost total silence.
(via Historic Cricket Pictures.)
The Australian openers, Alan Turner and McCosker, started solidly and it appeared, for some time, as if victory was a mere formality. However, the excitement was not over.
Arnold trapped the left-handed Turner lbw at 17 and Snow, bowling with great fire, removed the Chappell brothers leg before—both playing back, at 24 and 32.
When Old bowled McCosker and Ross Edwards with breakbacks at the same score and clipped Marsh’s off-bail at 39 for six, the reaction of the crowd was delirious.
Photo: Hulton Archive.
The unpredictable Walters remained as the only recognised batsman with the inexperienced Gilmour as his partner and Walker, Lillee and Jeff Thomson to follow. If any side now looked likely winners, it was England.
It was to be Gilmour’s day. As the sun emerged from behind the cloud cover and the ball moved about less, he put his bat firmly to the ball and, aided by some luck, he and Walters brushed aside the England challenge with a bold approach.
Gilmour offered a very sharp slip chance to Greig off Peter Lever before the runs had been passed and Walters also profited by the use of the edge. But they remained there and saw Australia into the final in the 29th over of an unforgettable match.
Photo: Ken Kelly.
Reflecting on that day many years later on the Fox Television documentary 1975 World Cup Story, Gilmour said he couldn’t have wished for better bowling conditions to make his debut:
“They were perfect conditions to bowl that morning. It was freakish really. I ran in to bowl and the ball was swinging a mile, and the English batsmen, who had been brought up in those conditions, just had no idea (how to cope).
“In the long run, they were just letting the thing (the ball) go and it would whack them on the pads and [umpire] Bill Alley and those guys were doing the right thing and putting their finger up.
(via The Cricket Monthly.)
“I was a young upstart who probably thought I was pretty good and things went my way and it just kept going my way that day. Chaps like Dennis Amiss, Barry Wood, Greigy (Tony Greig), Frank Hayes, Mike Denness, all should have been experienced in what was going to happen.
“[…] But on that morning, they failed the test.”
Speaking in the same documentary, Amiss, who had a stellar year in 1974 until he encountered Lillee and Thomson in the Ashes series of 1974/75, couldn’t believe how much the ball was moving around that morning at Headingley:
(via The Cricket Monthly.)
“It (the ball) just went around all over the place and you thought, batting, by God, this is hard work! Are we going to get a total here? It was one of those heavy, hazy days and it just went all over the place.”
Gilmour passed away in 2014, a little over two weeks short of his 63th birthday. His career was short-lived—he played 15 Tests and five ODI’s over a four-year period from 1973 to 1977.
But he will always be remembered for the day he routed the old enemy and then helped drag his team to victory and a place in the first Men’s Cricket World Cup final.
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Fazeer Mohammed is a journalist/broadcaster with almost 40 years’ experience across a range of media.
His interest in cricket, and particularly its history, started at home via his father’s small collection of autobiographies and magazines, offering perspectives and context which have informed his commentary and analysis on contemporary issues in the game.
