Bill Lawry

Lawry was born in the Melbourne suburb of Thornbury. He was given the names William Morris after the early Prime Minister of Australia, William Morris Hughes. His father Alfred played amateur cricket until the age of 51. Bill never saw his father play, who was aged 47 when Bill was born. Aged nine, he played competitive cricket for the first time with the Thornbury Presbyterian Church team. He made a duck against the South Australians and did not see any further action for the Seconds for the rest of the summer of 1954–55. The following season, Lawry was recalled to the Seconds and scored 183 against South Australia. A few months before turning nineteen, Lawry made his debut for Victoria, against Western Australia at the Junction Oval in the 1955–56 season. He scored only three as the hosts took an innings victory and it was his only senior match of the season. He played in all but one of Victoria's matches in 1956–57, but had modest results. He passed fifty only twice, scoring 51 against Queensland in his fourth first-class match, and making 74 against South Australia two games later. He made only one and seven against arch-rivals New South Wales in a low-scoring match that ended in the first tie in Sheffield Shield competitions. He ended with only 248 runs at 20.66. Lawry was dropped completely in 1957–58 and did not play a match for his state even though they were depleted with Test representatives overseas in South Africa. The left-hander stayed on the sidelines for the first half of the following season when the Test players returned. Recalled for Victoria's match against the touring English cricket team in 1958–59, he scored 24 and 22, failing to seize his opportunity against international opponents. He also bowled at first-class level for the first time, bowling two overs without success. However, he was retained in the team, and scored fifties in four of the remaining five innings of the season and ended with 361 runs at 60.16. In 1959–60, the national team were away on an eight-Test tour of the Indian subcontinent, opening up opportunities for players in domestic cricket. Lawry played in all 10 of Victoria's inter-state matches. After starting the season with 70 and 50 not out against Western Australia, Lawry went into a form slump and accumulated only 56 runs in his next six innings. He scored 85 and 33 and took his maiden first-class wicket in the next match against South Australia, but his form remained modest until the end of the season. He scored fifties in consecutive matches before registering his maiden first-class century, 127, against Western Australia, before scoring an unbeaten 38 in the second innings to see the Victorians to their target of 46. He ended with 666 runs at 44.40 for the season. His batting form remained modest at the start of the 1960–61 season, scoring only 148 runs in the first seven innings of the summer. In the first match of the season against South Australia, he took a wicket in each innings, the only time he took more than one wicket in a first-class match. His summer's total of two wickets was the most he ever took in a season. He made his major breakthrough in the fifth match of the season when he hit 266 (after being dropped on 12) against New South Wales at Sydney in 1960–61, shortly before the Australian selectors chose the team for the 1961 Ashes tour. It was more than half of his team's 4/457. Lawry followed his double-century with scores of 66, 83 and 85 in consecutive innings, and then ended the interstate season with a 134 against Queensland. He had scored 840 runs at 56.00 up to that point in the season and was selected for the tour of England. He scored 202 runs at 50.50 in three warm-up matches before the Australians departed for the British Isles. ==Test debut==

Lawry was sent to England as a backup opening batsman for the incumbent pair of Colin McDonald and Bob Simpson, who had performed well against the pace attack of the West Indies during the previous season and were expected to be retained for the Tests. Adapting quickly to English pitches, Lawry bounced back after failing to pass 30 in his first two matches to make his first century on the tour against Surrey at The Oval, which defeated Australia in the corresponding match on Australia's previous tour in 1956. This time, Lawry seized the initiative in an innings described by Wisden as "one of the most significant of the whole season" and "a flowering of technique and temperament". Lawry resisted for six hours, to register his maiden Test century of 130, while no other batsman on either side passed 66. It helped Australia to take a match-winning first innings lead, eventually leaving a target in the double figures for the second innings. It was his fifth hundred of the tour, giving him over a thousand runs inside two months. Lawry continued his fine form in the two matches before the next Test, scoring 70 and 35 against Somerset and 122 against Lancashire. In the latter match, he took 1/24 from four overs, his only first-class stint with the ball during the whole tour, and his heaviest bowling workload in a first-class match. Lawry then scored a pair of 28s as England squared the series at 1–1 in the Third Test in a low-scoring, three-day encounter at Headingley. He then scored against Northamptonshire. In the Fourth Test at Old Trafford, Lawry played a part of innings that was crucial in Australia winning the series. After making 74 in the first innings, he and Simpson put on an opening partnership of 113 in the second, the first century opening partnership of the series. Lawry went on to make 102, helping to set a match-winning target before skittling England on the final afternoon. After the match-winning performance in Manchester, the latter stages of Lawry's tour were comparatively unproductive. He made a duck in his only innings in the drawn final Test at The Oval, and scored 109 against the Gentlemen of England, but made only two fifties in the last six first-class fixtures of the tour. Nevertheless, Lawry topped the batting aggregates with 2,019 runs at 61.18 in first-class matches and 420 at 52.50 in five Tests. He struck the most centuries on tour, with nine triple-figure scores. Only Bradman and Neil Harvey had made over two thousand runs in an English tour since the Second World War. As a result, he was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1962. ==Later career==

1961-62 Upon his return to Australia, he became the captain of Victoria for the 1961–62 season following the retirement of Test opener McDonald. The left-handed opener was one of the few to perform against the champions, scoring 65 and 113, and 97 and 67 in the respective matches, accumulating more than a third of his team's runs. 1962-63 Lawry made his Test debut on Australian soil in the First Test of the 1962–63 Ashes series at Brisbane. After making half-centuries in consecutive lead-in matches, At one point, he struck two fours in succession, prompting the crowd to yell "lightning does strike twice!" The unbeaten knock was part of barren run of 12 innings in which Lawry passed 20 only twice. Between Tests, the Victorian skipper continued his strong run with 73 and 130 not against Queensland and 94 against New South Wales. Lawry proceeded to make 94 in the Fifth Test at The Oval, helping to secure a 197-run first innings lead and draw the match, retaining the Ashes 1–0. He ended with series with 317 runs at 39.62. his 592 runs (84.57) were the most in an Ashes series since Don Bradman in 1946–47 and his three centuries the most since Arthur Morris in 1948. He was in fine form in the four lead-up matches, hitting 160 in the opening game of the season against South Australia and 153 and 61 for the Victorians against the Englishmen. The Victorian skipper added fifties in the other two matches. Between Tests, the Victorian ran into form in a match for the Tasmania Combined XI against England. He made 47 as the hosts collapsed for 199 in their first innings and then compiled an unbeaten 126 in the second innings to help wipe out a deficit of 272 and prevent defeat. the highest opening partnership for Australia against England and still the highest opening partnership against England at home. A further 108 in a 212 run stand with Bob Cowper in the Fifth Test helped ensure the match was drawn and the Ashes retained. The Essendon team included Ian Monks (captain), John Grant, Greg Brown, Barry Davis, Daryl Foster, Keith Kirby, and John Swanson; and, apart from Lawry, the team's captain, the Northcote team included Frank Brew, Ian Cowley, Tom Ryan and Paul Shanahan. ::There was nothing unusual about Bill Lawry pulling off seemingly unending rearguard actions, but his marathon innings in the Victoria Cricket Association Premiership final of 1965-66 was perhaps the most outrageously unbelievable." The match was played at the Albert Cricket Ground over four days — 2 April 9 April (Easter Saturday), 11 April (Easter Monday), and 16 April 1966 — to reach a first innings result: Essendon declared at 9/514 at tea on Day 2, and Northcote chased the total, making 5/516, with Lawry finishing 282 not out, having been at the crease for 509 minutes, faced 454 balls, and hit 32 fours. 1966-67 He was less successful in 1966–67 as Australia toured South Africa and lost the five Test series 3–1. In his first trip to Africa, Lawry struggled. In five first-class matches leading up to the Tests, he made starts without converting them into big scores, scoring 334 runs at 41.75 with four scores between 35 and 60. Lawry's best score was 98 in the First Test in Johannesburg, which ended in defeat. Lawry's innings took Australia to a 126-run first innings lead, but the hosts made 620 in their second innings. Lawry then made 27 as Australia collapsed to a 333-run loss. His Test series performance declined as the tour went on, failing to pass 45 again and only managing 44 runs in his last four innings as the hosts dominated the series. He aggregated 296 runs at 29.60. He did have some success in the three remaining first-class matches, passing 50 in each one, including a 107 against Griqualand West. In the match against Orange Free State, the Victorian claimed his first wicket at first-class level for six years. In a limited-overs match against the South African XI, he struck 91 out of Australia's 8/323 but the hosts scraped home by three wickets. ==Captaincy==

Lawry started the 1967–68 home series against India well. After compiling 42 and a duck in the First Test win, he made an even 100 in the Second Test in Adelaide to help secure an innings victory. His form remained consistent, scoring 64, 45, 66 and 52 in the two remaining Tests as Australia completed a 4–0 clean sweep. He had a productive summer with 369 runs at 52.71. In all first-class matches, Lawry made 805 runs at 47.35, adding a second century for the season in a vain attempt to prevent a Victorian defeat at the hands of Western Australia. Lawry returned and made 27 and 46 in county matches before the final Fifth Test at The Oval. He finished the series with 270 runs at 38.57. With the series at 2–1 leading into the Fifth Test in Sydney, Lawry struck 151 in the first innings after Australia were sent in to bat. The hosts made 619 and took a 340-run first innings lead, but their cautious captain let his team bat until they reached 8/394 to declare with a lead of 734, making 17 runs himself. The Australians still had enough time to take 382-run win and complete a 3–1 series win. His 667 runs at 83.38 was the highest series aggregate of his career. India in 1969–70: historic win and riots Lawry's last success as captain came during the five-Test tour to India in 1969–70. The 3–1 win was to be Australia's last Test series victory in India for 35 years, standing out among a series of subsequent failed attempts by Australian leaders to conquer the subcontinent. However, at the time, Lawry and Australia's victory was overshadowed by the public relations disasters that beset the tour. The tour started with a stop in Ceylon, where the Australians played three non-limited-overs one-day matches and an unofficial Test. They won one of the one-dayers and the others were drawn, with much time lost to tropical downpours. Most of the Australian players were dissatisfied with the events, feeling that the batsman had been robbed. It resulted in crowd rioting and the crowd started to shout "Lawry, Lawry, Lawry". The spectators lit fires and threw projectiles at the Australians after Lawry refused to adjourn the match, contrary to police advice that warned them to run for their lives. During the chaos, Johnny Gleeson was hit in the head by a bottle, and when the teams left the field at the end of the Indian innings, Lawry was hit by a flying chair. Australia went on to reach the target of 64 and win by eight wickets after the Indians fell for 137, sparking off another riot. In another incident, Lawry threw his baggy green cap on the ground after the umpires adjourned play for the luncheon interval; Lawry felt that there was time for one more over. The Australian captain was not prominent with the bat in his team's win; he made 25 and 2. However, following the rest day, India comfortably won the match by seven wickets to square the series. Australian spinner Ashley Mallett claimed that India's Ashok Mankad later admitted that the hosts had switched the pitches on the rest day so they could bat on a favourable pitch. Australia then completed a 96-run win over East Zone in Guwahati, Lawry making 37 and 30. This was exacerbated by protests by the Communist Party of India (CPI), a major political party in West Bengal, against Australian batsman Doug Walters. Walters had been conscripted during the Vietnam War period, although he was never sent to Vietnam to fight against the communist Viet Cong. On the field, after Lawry made 35 of Australia's 335 to create a 123-run lead, Lawry scored 120 in the first innings, his only century of the tour, as his colleagues collapsed to be all out for 195. This gave South a 44-run lead and they declared at 6/255 on the final day. Gleeson came out to bat and talked with both umpires at length before taking guard; he later claimed to teammates that he had threatened to hit the umpires in the head if they gave him out. Gleeson then padded every ball away without attempting a shot, but every leg before wicket appeal was rejected. In an attempt to waste time, Lawry pulled away from the wicket when a woman in a colourful sari walked into front of the sightscreen, leading to allegations that he had insulted Indian womanhood. Nevertheless, the series continued and Lawry's men received a positive welcome upon arrival for the Fifth Test in Madras. Lawry made 33 as Australia batted first and made 258, taking a 95-run lead. He then fell for 2 as Australia collapsed for 153 in the second innings to give the hosts an opening, Perhaps as a result of the controversy, Lawry could only manage 239 runs at 34.14 for the series. Following the tour, Lawry wrote a series of newspaper articles that criticised the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and their treatment of the Australian team. For his part, the Australian commentator Alan McGilvray said that when they arrived in Johannesburg, the Australians "looked haggard. Their eyes seemed to be standing out of their heads and some of them looked positively yellow." Initially, it appeared that the Australians were unaffected by the long campaign and change in conditions; they won their first two lead-in matches against their provincial sides by an innings and ten wickets respectively, Lawry scoring 86 against North Eastern Transvaal and 157 against Griqualand West, finishing unbeaten on both occasions. They drew the third match against Eastern Province, Lawry again unbeaten twice on 9 and 43. At the end of the match, angered by officiating that he considered to be unacceptable, Lawry refused to accept a presentation by the two umpires. The series moved on to Kingsmead at Durban. Host captain Ali Bacher outwitted Lawry by persuading the Australian skipper to toss long before the start of play. Bacher won the toss and decided—against conventional wisdom—to bat first on a green pitch that would normally offer assistance to the bowlers. Immediately after, ground staff ran onto the field and cut off all the grass, making it ideal for batting, thereby giving the South Africans the advantage. Knowing the rules in greater detail, Bacher had tricked Lawry. The laws of cricket allowed for the wicket to be mown up to half an hour before the start of play, so Bacher had talked Lawry in tossing early so that he could change the pitch condition to advantage his team. South Africa amassed 9/622 declared and Australia fell to its first innings defeat in four years, folding for 157 and 336. Lawry could not see off the hosts' opening bowlers, falling for 15 and 14, while the tired pace spearhead Graham McKenzie took 1/333 and was thought to be suffering from hepatitis. Behind the scenes, the South African Cricket Board approached the Australian Cricket Board attempting to organise a Fifth Test. The players were unreceptive to this after spending five months overseas in what was then an amateur sport. The proposed extra match fell through after a pay standoff led behind the scenes by Ian Chappell, later to spearhead the breakaway World Series Cricket (WSC), which offered players substantial remuneration. The dispute was the genesis of WSC, and on the team's return to Australia, Lawry sent the Board a letter expressing player grievances. According to Chappell, "That was the end of Lawry as captain of Australia. Then it was just a matter of finding any excuse to get rid of him." Lawry was largely ineffective, with 193 runs at 24.13 with only one half century in the First Test. Lawry also had personal differences with Ian Chappell, Doug Walters, Ashley Mallett and Brian Taber, which reduced morale and led to a deterioration in Australia's performances on the field. Sacking The 1970–71 home series against England was the longest in Test history, with six Tests scheduled and another added when the Third Test was washed out. Lawry was to bow out of international cricket in one of the most acrimonious series in Test history. Lawry had gone through a difficult phase on the previous tour, with only 432 runs at 28.80 in nine Tests on the tour of India and South Africa. With Australia losing, and as a non-smoker and non-drinker, he became more distant from many of his own teammates. Lawry had been under pressure after a highly critical report by team manager Fred Bennett. Lawry had success in his preparation, scoring 87 and 58 not out in a ten-wicket win over Western Australia at the start of the season. The Second Test was drawn after England made 397 and Australia replied with 440, Lawry making a duck and 38 not out as the hosts batted out the match in the second innings. Lawry making 27 in his only ODI. Lawry's critics became more vocal, despite a defiant unbeaten 60 carrying his bat as Australia collapsed and fell for 116 in the second innings. His own batting saw him described by Ian Wooldridge as "a corpse with pads on". Lawry declared in the Fifth Test with Rod Marsh within eight runs of a maiden Test century (and what would have been the first-ever Test century by an Australian wicketkeeper) after the hosts batted first and reached 9/493, the captain making 56 himself. Australia continued to play defensively, and after making 42 in the second innings, the skipper declared and set the tourists 271 in less than a day, and the match petered out to a draw with Australia still behind in the series. becoming the first Australian captain to be sacked in the middle of a series. He was not informed privately by the Board and only found out after his axing was made public. Two days earlier, after lengthy discussion, the ACB had voted 7–6 to acknowledge and respond to Lawry's letter following the South African tour, although their reply did not directly address Lawry's concerns. His successor, Ian Chappell, condemned the Board's actions as "unbelievable". and he later went out on his own terms. At the same time, Sheahan said that Lawry was "a bit of an autocrat" and "not the sort of captain who stood alongside you and drew the best out of you." Australia went on to lose the final Test and the series 2–0. Lawry retired from first class cricket at the end of the 1971–72 season, bowing out with a three-wicket win over South Australia. ==Playing style==

Along with Bob Simpson, he formed an opening partnership that was regarded as one of the finest in Test history. Lawry was fast between the wickets, and the pair were especially well known for their understanding, as exemplified by their fluency in rotating the strike with quick singles. Lawry was known for his peculiar stance. He had little bend in his knees, and as a result batted with a stoop over his bat. He used his long reach to blunt spin bowling. He played with a very straight bat, combining well-organised defence with a somewhat limited range of strokes, marked by an efficiency of placement and an unusually heavy reliance on the hook shot. ==Commentary career and later work==

After retiring from playing, Lawry worked as a commentator on radio and television, firstly with Channel 7 and then Channel 0 Melbourne, before joining Channel 9 television, beginning in the days of World Series Cricket in the 1977-78 season. His distinctive, enthusiastic and excitable style has often been parodied, especially in The Twelfth Man series; During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Lawry was the cricket manager of the Victorian Cricket Association, helping to recruit players for the Victorian team. From 2013, Lawry scaled back his ball-by-ball commentary to international matches played in Melbourne such as the Boxing Day Test, and in Sydney for the New Year Test. In May 2018, he confirmed his retirement from broadcasting and commentary. ==Legacy==

In Australia a bottle opener is sometimes called a Bill Lawry, on account of him being a famous opener. Also a breed of pigeon (racing) is commonly known as the Lawry bird after his love of pigeon racing. The Westgarth Street Oval in Northcote was renamed the Bill Lawry Oval. In 2010, Lawry was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. ==Notes==