No one fancied facing Laker on a dry, white and dusty pitch
In July 1956 a ten-year-old schoolboy named Richard Stokes was taken by his father to watch Australia play England at Old Trafford.
The five-Test series was one apiece when Stokes junior – no doubt wearing his regulation school cap – and Stokes senior arrived in Manchester for the fourth Test. England batted first and made 459. Australia began their innings well, reaching 48 without loss. Then on came Jim Laker. Laker and the Aussies had previous; playing for Surrey against the tourists earlier in the season the off-break bowler had taken all ten of their wickets for just 88 runs.
First down at Old Trafford was Colin McDonald, caught Lock, bowled Laker. Neil Harvey went next, bowled second ball by an absolute snorter. Laker claimed it was the ‘ball that won the Test series’.
At that point Laker’s spinning twin had a say, Tony Lock having Jimmy Burke caught for 22. But the remaining seven Aussie wickets all went to Laker for just 37 runs. ‘Naturally I was proud of my return of nine wickets, but it would never have been as profitable if there had been much sanity in the Australian display,’ commented Laker, who was as surprised as anyone by the tourists’ crazy batting performance.
The Aussies sat stunned in their dressing room. No one much fancied going out again to face Laker on a pitch that was dry, white and dusty, and taking spin to a terrifying degree. ‘Our mental attitude was not very good,’ admitted Ian Craig, one of the Australian batsmen, on the fiftieth anniversary of the match. ‘We had lost some of our resolve.’
But out they went into the arena, brave gladiators being fed to Laker. Soon, though, rain intervened, and when young Richard Stokes turned up at Old Trafford for the final day’s play Australia were 84 for two with Laker having claimed both second-innings wickets. ‘It was cold, maybe wet, and there were lots of people in the ground,’ recalled Stokes.
Australia needed to bat all day if they were to save the match and stand any chance of reclaiming the Ashes in the final Test at the Oval. Colin McDonald and Ian Craig began the day in pugnacious mood, the pair finding that the damp conditions made batting easier. ‘When the wicket was wet it wasn’t as difficult, the ball wasn’t gripping,’ reminisced Craig. ‘It was only when it was dry that they were able to get the turn and bounce that they did.’
After lunch the sun came out and the Aussies caved in. As the pitch embraced spin so the wickets tumbled. Craig out for 38. Mackay, Miller and Archer, a trio of ducks, then McDonald, finally winkled out for 89. The rest were mopped up without too much trouble. Australia were all out for 205, and Laker had taken all ten wickets. It was an unprecedented feat in Test cricket, yet Laker took it all in his stride. Neil Harvey shook hands with his adversary and congratulated his historic achievement. ‘Well done, Jimmy,’ said the Australian. ‘You’ve done a great job.’ ‘Well,’ replied Laker, ‘you’ve got to get them when you can, don’t you?’
No one fancied facing Laker on a dry, white and dusty pitch
On the way back home to his wife, Laker stopped at a Lichfield pub, had a sandwich and a bottle of beer and, unrecognised, listened to other customers as they described the events at Old Trafford.
It was a day to remember for young Richard Stokes. A piece of cricket history and the retention of the Ashes. His love of cricket never left him, and forty-three years later, when he found himself in Delhi in February 1999 on a business trip, he decided to celebrate his fifty-third birthday by watching a day’s play between India and Pakistan at the Feroz Shah Kotla. ‘When I planned my trip to India, I knew I could not return without watching the Indo-Pak rivalry on the cricket field,’ the financial consultant told an Indian newspaper. Stokes arrived at the ground just after lunch when Pakistan had just passed 100 for the loss of two wickets. Almost immediately the Indian spinner Anil Kumble dismissed Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana. ‘I told a friend of mine that I have brought luck to Kumble and India,’ recalled Stokes. ‘When he had taken six wickets, I told him about my having watched Laker’s feat, and he just said that history was about to be repeated. I merely laughed.’
Laughter turned to disbelief when Kumble took the last four Pakistan wickets to finish with figures of ten for 74. For only the second time in Test match history a bowler had claimed all ten wickets in an innings. ‘My first reaction is that we have won,’ said Kumble afterwards. ‘No one dreams of taking ten wickets in an innings, because you can’t.’
But Laker had, and now Kumble, both spinning their way into cricket immortality, both watched by Richard Stokes. ‘My God! What luck!’ he told Indian reporters. ‘If Kumble himself couldn’t believe it, then how can I?’