Precision and perfection at Lord’s

Swing bowler Bob Massie leads the Australian team in after his extraordinary Test debut in which he claimed 16 wickets against England in the June 22-26, 1972 Ashes Test at Lord’s. Greg Chappell, the other hero of the game, is third from right. Pic/Getty Images

Over the years, I have treasured a good number of Ashes memories at Lord's through magazines, books and documentaries.

Ashes Tests at Lord's and I'm thinking 2005. Has there been a better start to an Ashes series in terms of quality bowling at the spiritual home of cricket than that one, albeit the Test ending in a big victory for Australia?

You had pace bowling that saw Australia reduced to 92-7 on Day One; Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison providing a glimpse of the kind of impact they were going to have in the series. And Kevin Pietersen the following day coming through as a breath of fresh air for English cricket with a half-century on Test debut. He scored another in the second innings.

Yet, England lost. By a massive margin of 239 runs, with Glenn McGrath claiming nine wickets in the game. In 1997, the New South Welshman's 8-38 in England's first innings didn't eventuate in a win; rain forcing a draw.

There have been plenty of heroes over 37 Tests England and Australia have played at Lord's before Wednesday's battle. If the London rain is kind, more heroes could emerge over the next few days.

My favourite Ashes heroes at Lord's have been Greg Chappell and Bob Massie. The master batsman (then still a South Australian), and the West Australian swing bowler were the chief constructors of Australia's victory in the second Test in 1972 after a loss in the opener at Manchester.

Massie went down in history as the most successful debutant bowler with 16 wickets in the Test, to be joined later by India leggie Narendra Hirwani (16 on debut v WI in 1988) while Chappell's knock reinforced the fact that his debut in the Perth Test of the 1970-71 Ashes was no fluke.

Ray Illingworth won the toss and batted. What may have surprised the wily 1970-71 Ashes-winning English skipper was the swing Massie generated to torment his batsmen. Dennis Lillee dismissed opener John Edrich and one-drop Brian Luckhurst while Massie eventually accounted for the rest as England scored 272. His first spell of 20 overs resulted in three wickets. He returned to bowl eight more for the day and took two more wickets. Three came the next day. And just to prove that the first innings 8-84 was no fluke, he claimed another eight wickets in the second innings, bowling out England for a mere 116.

"Bob bamboozled the England batsmen with an immaculate display of swing bowling. Bob's was as near to perfect a piece of bowling as I could imagine," wrote Dennis Lillee in Back to the Mark, the first of his several books.

Lillee, who went on to become Test cricket's record wicket-taker in 1981-82, claimed four in that Lord's Test. The fact that all 20 wickets were credited to two bowlers hailing from the same state pleased him no end. Massie, the bank teller from Perth had earned his riches! It went down as Massie's Match and the book, Cricket's Greatest Headlines tells us that the headline writers on Fleet Street had a field day. MASSIECRE, screamed one headline.

I had the good fortune of meeting Massie outside the Australian Broadcasting Corporation commentary box in Perth during the 1999-2000 summer. I didn't have the good fortune, though, of interviewing him. Understandably, he was tired talking about his finest hour over the years. He politely declined to be interviewed.

Back to Lord's 1972. Before Australia completed their eight-wicket victory, Greg Chappell had scored one of the finest hundreds at cricket's then headquarters.

Chappell walked through the Long Room, on to the hallowed turf with his team at seven for two, joining his elder brother and captain Ian, who had come in at the fall of the first wicket. The brothers had put on 75 when Ian mistimed a hook that went to Mike Smith at fine leg. With some help from Ross Edwards - another West Australian Test debutant - Greg staged a recovery for his team and helped himself to a hundred. Rod Marsh smashed 50 off 68 balls and Australia got a 36-run first innings lead.

Greg, who spent more than six hours at the crease, was dismissed for 131 by veteran Basil D'Oliveira.

The late Richie Benaud believed the century was the best he had seen from Greg, who had to battle the accomplished John Snow and John Price. "It was an innings of technique and refusal to be disconcerted by the amount of movement of the ball either in the air or off the seam," wrote Benaud in My Spin on Cricket.

The man who scripted a knock which pleased all those purists at Lord's didn't think too much of it, though. "It was no big deal. It was the focus of my whole attention, all day, my mind, the whole bloody thing. But that's what I was picked in the team for. It was satisfying rather than exciting," Greg told his biographer Adrian McGregor for a 1985 book.

Greg scored 22 Test hundreds after the Lord's one. In fact, he scored another in the fifth and final Test to be instrumental in Australia's victory at The Oval, where the series was squared 2-2. Massie on the other hand, faded away, playing his last Test against Pakistan at Sydney in January 1973.

Pundits reckoned Massie needed conditions for him to succeed. Lord's 1972 provided him that and he made full use of the chance to be a hero. Massie and Greg were heroes of Lord's 1972. Who will it be 51 years later is anyone's guess.

mid-day's group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance.
He tweets @ClaytonMurzello. Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper.