All hail the Phantom

This is one in a series of articles about the playing careers of cricket commentators. The focus of the previous one was the inimitable Tony Greig; it seems only appropriate to follow up with his long-time sparring partner and colleague Bill Lawry.

Lawry was born on February 11, 1937 in Thornbury, a suburb of Melbourne. Historically the lower-level cricket competitions in Australia's cities were often structured around "Churches Cricket Leagues", and Lawry's first organised games of cricket were through his school and for the Thornbury Presbyterian Church. He transitioned into the formal district cricket competition at 12, playing initially for the Northcote Fourth XI. He also played for Preston Technical School, then the largest technical school in Victoria, where he was to undertake a plumbing apprenticeship.

Lawry worked his way through the grades at Northcote, and was selected to make his first-grade debut at the tender age of 16. He was a technically correct left-hand opening batsman, and his ability to bat for long periods of time was quickly recognised by the state selectors and he was chosen for the Victoria 2nd XI to play against South Australia on December 31, 1954. The match was not a personal success for Lawry, as he was bowled by Alfred Bailey for a duck. Victoria went on to win by an innings and 40 runs and Lawry therefore didn't get the chance to bat again. Eleven months later, Lawry played another 2nd XI match against South Australia with far more success; he single-handedly passed the visitors' innings of 157 with his own score of 183. This innings, along with his continuing good form for Northcote, saw him selected to play his initial first-class game against Western Australia in February 1956. Victoria won that game by an innings, but Lawry personally failed, with a score of just 3.

During the 1956-57 season, Lawry became a first-choice opener for Victoria. However, he didn't immediately set the world on fire. He played seven matches and scored 248 runs at 20.66 with two fifties. This inability to put together big personal totals saw him dropped from the Victoria side, and his next first-class match wasn't until the 1958-59 season. Lawry was recalled to the team for the final four matches, and he started to show that he truly belonged at that level. While he did not manage a century, he finished the season second in the Sheffield Shield averages with 78.75 and 315 runs. He was not dismissed for less than 14, a sign of his valuable ability to successfully see off the new ball.

The 1959-60 season saw Lawry play all eight Shield matches, and to continue to improve. He scored 595 runs at the solid average of 45.76, with a highest score of 127 in the final game against Western Australia. The 1960-61 season was a very important one for all Australian cricketers, as a tour of England beckoned. Lawry continued his trend of improving his game each year - his final season tally of 813 runs was nearly 150 runs more than the next highest run-getter Sam Trimble's 679. These figures were hard for the Australian selectors to ignore, and Lawry was subsequently chosen for his first tour of England, in 1961, under Richie Benaud.

Ashes schedules have changed a lot in the past 50 years; there were a total of 11 first-class matches before the first Test at Edgbaston in 1961. Bob Simpson and Colin McDonald had opened the batting in Australia's previous Test, against West Indies, and started the tour as an established partnership. However, during the sequence of lead-up games Lawry hit a rich vein of form, including three centuries highlighted by a fine 165 against a Surrey attack featuring Test bowlers Peter Loader and Tony Lock. His form was such that the selectors opted to drop Simpson down the order to No. 6, and to reward Lawry with his first Test cap. This was to prove an inspired decision. Lawry finished the five-Test series as Australia's leading run scorer and with the highest average. His 420 runs at 52.50 in the Tests included 130 at Lord's in the second Test and 102 at Old Trafford in the fourth Test.

Lawry was, in many ways, a classic opening batsman. He began each innings with a limited range of scoring options, but as he grew in confidence so did his repertoire. He was recognised as being one of the finest players of fast bowling in the world, with John Arlott describing his ability to hook even genuinely hostile bouncers as "imperious". Lawry remained a key member of the Australian batting line-up for ten years, from 1961 to 1970-71. During this time, he established his reputation as one of the world's leading batsmen. Some of the highlights included 496 runs at 55.11 against South Africa in 1963-64, 592 at 84.57 against England in 1965-66, and 667 at 83.37 against West Indies in 1968-69. His highest Test score of 210 was made against a very hostile West Indies bowling attack of Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith in Bridgetown in 1965. Lawry opened the batting in every one of his 123 Test match innings. An interesting but slightly perplexing statistic is that he averaged nearly 50 when he faced the first ball of the innings, but six runs fewer when his partner took first strike.

Lawry's breakout Test season in 1961 had resulted in the Victorian selectors choosing him to lead the state. He did so for many years, and was also subsequently appointed to take over from Simpson in 1968 as the Australia Test captain. Lawry led Australia in 25 matches, but his conservative batting translated to unadventurous captaincy, with Australia only winning nine of these games. Both Lawry's Test leadership and his international career came to an unsatisfactory conclusion that reflects badly upon the Australian cricket hierarchy of the time. At the end of the sixth Test of the 1970-71 Ashes series, Lawry was unceremoniously dumped from the team, without the courtesy of a phone call from the selectors: he found out after hearing about it from team-mates and via the radio.

It was a sad end, and rumours abound that he was axed primarily because of a negative letter he wrote to the Australian Cricket Board after the debacle of the 1969-70 combined tour to India and South Africa. His batting statistics in the 1970-71 Ashes were still solid, with 324 runs at 40.50, and while it can be argued that his captaincy was struggling, his complete sacking from the team appeared excessive. Lawry finished his 67 Tests with 5234 runs at an average of 47.15. These figures compare very well to other leading openers of his era, such as Geoffrey Boycott (47.72).

It is interesting to reflect that Lawry's full name is William Morris Lawry, in honour of the fifth Australian Prime Minister William Morris (Billy) Hughes. Billy Hughes had an eventful 58-year career in politics in which he changed parties five times, was expelled from three of them, and represented four different electorates across New South Wales and Victoria. In contrast, Lawry has remained steadfastly loyal to his home in Melbourne. However, Lawry did share with his namesake a keen sense of humour that manifested in dressing room practical jokes that seldom were witnessed by the general public. While Lawry was seen as a dour batsman and captain, colleagues such as Keith Stackpole, Simpson and Benaud described a very different personality, and Lawry has subsequently become much loved as a television commentator.

He has received many awards over the years, including induction into the Cricket Australia Hall of Fame in 2014. In 2001, the Darebin City Council, in conjunction with the Northcote Cricket Club and Victorian Cricket Association, renamed Northcote Park the Bill Lawry Oval. This is perhaps the most appropriate recognition of a humble cricketer who should be feted for his sterling performances on the field, his loyalty to his team-mates, and his great love of all things Victorian.