England In Australia: 1970/71
Where Are They Now? ––
Eight ball overs. A seven Test series. And a tour that began in November 1970 and finished in February 1971. Who said that touring Australia was any easier in the past?
R
egarded by many as one of England’s very-best overseas performances, this Ashes victory also proved a personal tour de force for skipper Raymond Illingworth. Contending with a famously hostile crowd – fast bowler John Snow being manhandled when fielding on the boundary at Sydney – an impromptu and first ever ODI – a Boycott broken arm - and a perceived bias of umpiring (no Australian out LBW across the whole series) and media – it was no small achievement when the Yorkshireman claimed a two-nil win and a shoulder ride from team-mates when exiting the field in that final match. An undefeated run of 27 Tests between 1968 and 1971 still speaks volumes for ‘Illy’s’ reign, England using 14 players that Aussie winter.
16 / THEPCA.CO.UK
SIR GEOFFREY BOYCOTT 657 series runs with seven scores past 50 and an average of 93.85 tells the story of a tour the opener himself describes as being the very best of Boycott. A stellar playing career (‘hundred hundreds’) was followed by an equally acclaimed one as a media pundit. The term ‘corridor of uncertainty’ finding its way into the game’s lexicon courtesy of the world’s definitive Yorkshireman. He continues to pull no punches, but from the bleachers.
SIR COLIN COWDREY ‘MCC’ by initial, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge by title, ‘Kipper’ to the dressing room, Kent’s most famous cricketing son proved a player for the ages. Famed for his cover drive and portly silhouette, he was the scorer of
almost 43,000 first-class runs with 107 first-class centuries. Knighted in 1992, sons Graham and Chris (briefly captaining England) also played for the county club. As did grandson Fabian. Cowdrey passed away in December 2000. He was 67.
BASIL D’OLIVEIRA Born in Cape Town, South Africa, and universally known as ‘Dolly’, the Worcestershire all-rounder contributed a century (117 at Melbourne), two fifties and ten wickets across the series. 1968 was the year his name became cemented in history, when South Africa’s Apartheid government refused to accept his inclusion in the England touring party, the refusal accelerating the country’s sporting isolation. D’Oliveira died in 2011 after a long
ABOVE: The
England/ MCC cricket team recording ‘The Ashes Song’ at the Decca recording studio in London, UK, 19th April 1971. From left to right (back row) Alan Ward, Ken Shuttleworth, John Snow, Bob Willis; (middle row) assistant manager and physiotherapist Bernard Thomas, Alan Knott, Bob Taylor, Keith Fletcher, Peter Lever, Derek Underwood, Colin Cowdrey and Basil d’Oliveira; (front row) Brian Luckhurst, John Edrich, Ray Illingworth, Geoff Boycott, Don Wilson and John Hampshire.
