A One-Man Army Of Occupation

Press, Issue 30997, 1 March 1966, Page 20

A One-Man Army Of Occupation

(K.Z. Press Assn. —Copyright) LONDON, Feb. 28. English cricketers and spectators would have to learn to live with if not love the Australian opening batsman, W. M. Lawry, John Arlott wrote in the “Observer.”

He listed a number of Lawry s duller inningsknocks when the 29-year-old Australian had stayed at the wicket for hours, scoring few runs, but shattering England’s hopes of victory. Unless struck by lightning, Lawry was likely to be around the cricket fields of England and Australia for the next eight to 12 years.

Lawry had many expert admirers, Arlott said. He wrote:

And he is any captains Ideal as an anchor man. Has he a weakness? If so, the records do not show it. It was once rumoured that he disliked the off-spinner turning away from his bat: tell that to Allen and Tttmus. Then, perhaps, the off-spin-ner flowing into Rim through

the air? Tell that too, to Allen and Titmus. High speed? Ask Hall and Griffith.

Off a length, fast bowling hits the middle of his bat. Dropped short, it comes into the range of his favourite and stronger stroke, the hook, or, if he has decided not to make strokes, it booms against his cavernous ribs without apparent effect. Length? Do not make the bowlers of the world laugh: the tighter they bowl to him the tighter he bats to them. Gaunt and gawky as an electric pylon, Lawry never had a chance to become a stylist But he settled for results; and he counted it useful to be left-handed, because that often unsettled the field and the bowler.

Spectators in England may walk out on him; Hiilites in Sydney may jeer. He is consoled by his run account Bill Lawry is a one-man army of occupation, extorting endless toll from the enemy. Such men as Kanhai or O’Neill or Barber play precariously exciting innings; runs settle on Bill Lawry like barnacles on an old stop. In the field Lawry was faster and more sure over the ground than he looks. He rarely dropped an outfield catch. And he has never, under any circumstances, missed the remotest opportunity to ask “How’s that?”