One of Bradman’s compatriots in the Australian middle-order through
the 1930s was Stan McCabe. He was every bit a top-class player, orthodox yet
aggressive, and one of the least heralded. His status was perhaps akin to
V.V.S. Laxman of modern times, ever the artist but forced to live in the
shadows of the mighty Sachin Tendulkar, the reliable Rahul Dravid, the
delightful Sourav Ganguly and the maverick Virender Sehwag. McCabe’s deeds were
eclipsed by the prodigious run-getting of Bradman and Ponsford.
187 not out versus England at Sydney, 1932-33
Just as Laxman’s memorable knocks against the world’s best team,
Australia, notably his astonishing 281 at Kolkata in 2001 will ever remain
etched in the minds of the public and critics alike, so have been brilliant
innings of McCabe for over 80 years already. His courageous, defiant unbeaten
187 at Sydney in the first Test of the 1932-33 Bodyline series was a terrific
riposte under daunting circumstances. Bradman did not play that Test due to his
dispute with the Australian Board of Control. As McCabe stood up boldly to the
short-pitched stuff and hooked it disdainfully, critics concluded that he
handled Douglas Jardine’s abominable leg-theory with greater finesse than
Bradman.
Learie Constantine in his The
Young Cricketer’s Companion wrote: “When Larwood went to Australia and tied
Bradman and most of the rest of them in sheep bends and clove hitches and made
some batsmen drop their bats and others sit on their wickets, it was McCabe who
improvised a daring hook to the leg boundary and made a brilliant century
against bodyline as he has done against most other kinds of bowling without the
least favouritism.”
189 not out versus South Africa at Johannesburg, 1935-36
If his display at Sydney revealed a tough mind, McCabe’s performance
at high altitude at Johannesburg’s Old Wanderers in 1935-36 was a triumph of
skill over limitations imposed by physical distress. With Australia at 85 for
one, chasing another 314 for a win on the fourth and final day, McCabe, short
of breath as a result of the rarefied air, and bleary of eye for the sleepless
night he had spent, was in no condition to bat. He informed Vic Richardson of
his discomfort. The skipper, in no position to oblige, urged his star batsman -
Bradman could not join the tour - to continue his innings, then anchored at 59:
“If the altitude gets to you, don’t run. Just hit fours.”
Left with no option, McCabe breezed out to the crease with the other
not out, Jack Fingleton. Deliveries leapt and turned square on the dusty
wearing track, but McCabe’s elegant shots found the gaps time and time again.
He raised his hundred in 91 minutes, fourth quickest at the time after the
feats of Jack Gregory (70 minutes in 1921-22 at this very venue), Gilbert
Jessop (75 minutes in 1902) and James Sinclair (80 minutes in 1902-03). He
clocked up an exact 100 before lunch, carving out 20 boundaries. Australia now
needed 182 runs to win in two full sessions. Fingleton offered a broad blade
and when he was castled for 40, the partnership was worth 177, of which
McCabe’s share was 148. Fingleton recalled, “McCabe’s innings seemed like a
crazy dream to me.”
As the thunderclouds drifted in from the northwest, the South
African captain Herbert Wade appealed against the light on the plea that
McCabe’s ferocious strokeplay was endangering his fielders! It was still only
2.45 in the afternoon and soon the heavens opened up with McCabe on 189, and
Australia poised at 274 for two.
Ray Robinson wrote in Between
the Wickets: “McCabe’s brilliance had so transformed the situation that,
instead of struggling to stall off defeat, the Australians were playing like
winners with 125 more to get and eight wickets in hand. He had batted three and
a quarter hours for his 189, while 66 were scored at the other end. He hit 29
4s, probably a record for a Test innings under 200.” He was indeed following
his skipper’s instructions to a tee, and in the process South African Dudley
Nourse’s second innings 231 was forgotten.
 |
| Don Bradman (left) and Stan McCabe walking out to bat. |
232 versus England at Nottingham, 1938
The third signature McCabe knock was at Trent Bridge in 1938, marked
by exquisite strokeplay. He came to the crease at the fall of Bradman’s wicket.
It was a breathtaking innings of 232 in only 230 minutes, during which eight of
his partners departed, having managed a mere 68 all told, extras included. The
next highest was Bradman’s 51. It was then the second-fastest double century in
223 minutes, after Bradman’s (in 214 minutes in 1930), and a shade quicker than
Trumper’s (226 minutes in 1910-11).
Vic Marks noted: “The wicket was a lot easier than the time Jessop
turned the tide, but McCabe’s strokeplay was purer with scarcely a hint of
risk, and accompanied by masterly manipulation of the strike.” So awesome was
the strokemaking that Bradman summoned his players - some of whom were playing
cards - to the balcony, telling them: “You won’t see strokeplay like this
again. McCabe hit 72 out of the last-wicket stand of 77 with Fleetwood-Smith in
a matter of 28 minutes.”
The full significance of the innings was elaborated by Denzil
Batchelor, when he observed: “McCabe had done a unique thing. Many men have won
matches off their own bat. On this wicket, and with England’s skyscraping
score, such a feat was not possible - so McCabe had done more. He had come in
at a moment in history when it seemed certain that the sun was about to set on
a long period in Australian ascendancy. McCabe, by his own efforts, had stopped
the sun, and saved the Australian empire.” The series was ultimately drawn 1-1.
Nicknamed ‘Napper’ for his striking resemblance to Napolean, he
rekindled nostalgia for the strokeplay of Trumper and Macartney. As Ken Piesse
wrote, “Impeccable footwork and his indomitable spirit in adversity made him
one of Australia’s true greats.”
Constantine was of the opinion that “McCabe had a great range of
strokes, and, though not such a complete master of the balls on the off-stump
and just outside as Wally Hammond was, he was very strong at forcing strokes
towards the on-side. I remember watching McCabe in a Test hitting across
Verity’s leg-break and carting it round to the on-side. Hardly any batsman who
has ever lived could have done it; yet McCabe brought stroke after stroke. They
all came off, and the result was a spectacular and sparkling innings. If he had
missed one of those patient, penetrating balls by the slightest bit of
mistiming the result would have been a dismissal that looked terrible - the
village blacksmith trying his arts on the past master of English bowling.
Success, you see, excuses itself - ‘the head of the table is wherever McGregor
sits’.”
McCabe made 2748 runs in 39 Tests at an average of 48.21 with 6
hundreds, and he scored at a very rapid rate. When he died in 1968 at the age
of 58 after falling from a cliff in Sydney, the game lost one of its most
popular figures.
(Author Indra Vikram Singh can
be contacted on email singh_iv@hotmail.com).
Published in India by Sporting Links
ISBN 978-81-901668-5-0
Fully illustrated
Paperback French Fold 11 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
188 pages
