Flat-Out: Rick Darling dives for his crease after yet another misunderstanding with opening partner Graeme Wood, Melbourne, 1978–79. Cricketer magazine

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‘It got too much for young Johnny who yelled: “Jessssus #@&%ing Christ!”…’

‘YOU BASSTARDDDD!’

The Rev. Garry Jacobs had been a notable first-grade player in Perth before matters of the cloth took precedence and he became the Presbyterian minister at my old home town of Beaumaris, 30 minutes south of Melbourne.

Sunny-natured, skilful and smart, he involved himself in the local cricket club, wanting to meet as many of the locals as possible. Telling them that he’d played a bit of cricket, he was immediately included in the first XI.

A 17-year-old John Ward, destined for Victorian honours, was the local express and they formed quite a combo: ‘c Jacobs, b Ward’.

One day an opening batsman from Cheltenham played and missed at Ward three times in a row. On the third it got too much for young Johnny who yelled: ‘Jessssus #@&%ing Christ!’

‘No, noo, NOOO John,’ called the Reverend in admonishment. ‘Never use Christ’s name in vain.’

Next over the opener got an edge. It flew to the Reverend’s right… a bread-and-butter catch that he somehow managed to drop. Seething with rage he pointed to the sky and yelled: ‘You basstardddd!’

YES, NO… SORRY

Adelaide Riverlander Rick Darling is another old cricketer who thanks billionaire businessman Kerry Packer for helping to change the game in the late 1970s.

Without Mr Packer’s considerable investment into the game from 1977, Darling could well have stayed in the backwater of Sheffield Shield cricket.

Apart from the emerging Kim Hughes, who was never offered a contract, Packer was to claim the very best two dozen Australian cricketers for his rebel World Series Cricket movement and thus in the next two years, 23 newcomers were introduced into traditional Test cricket ranks. Darling was one of those to be promoted, and with his attractive strokeplay he was an immediate favourite.

Shotmaker: Riverlander Rick Darling at the Sydney Cricket Ground, 1978–79. Cricketer magazine

In 14 Tests he was to average only 26, and when Mr Packer brokered a compromise with Sir Donald Bradman, Darling was among a dozen to return permanently to lesser grades.

He made an impression, however, all but swallowing his tongue after being hit by English express Bob Willis in home town Adelaide, and developing an opening combination with West Australian Graeme Wood which was so helter-skelter that they soon became known as the Kamikaze Kids, their full-length dives at the crease a common occurrence after a ‘Yes, no… sorry’ call.

They ran each other out in two of their last three Tests together, their average of just over 25 including just three half-century stands in 16 innings. Running in unison was not their forte…