Famous Cricketers No 40 - Neil Harvey

with 146 made in 319 minutes while Harvey made his highest score to date, 229, after reaching his hundred in 127 minutes. Batting for 299 minutes he hit thirty-six fours. When the tourists reached Sydney they were wrecked in the first innings by A.K.Davidson (4-26) to be dismissed for 111; at the close of the first day the state were 174-2 with Harvey 95* and O’Neill 35*. Harvey had batted with majestic skill and the following day had reached 109 in 182 minutes with one six and 12 fours before being called for an impossible run by O’Neill and run out after they had added 108 runs; Harvey’s fifty-ninth century brought him level with A.L.Hassett. The first Test was the historic tie. Harvey never looked comfortable in his first innings, his first ten runs coming in singles and he batted 63 minutes for his fifteen. Australia needed 233 to win but Harvey was dismissed early, brilliantly caught by Sobers off Hall. In the return state match against the West Indians he made 74 adding 142 in 117 minutes with N.C.O’Neill (114) who was scoring his third successive century against the tourists. Harvey failed in the next three Test innings. In the second innings of the Third Test Australia were set 464 runs to win and after McDonald and Simpson had been dismissed for 83 Harvey and O’Neill came together and added 99 runs in 89 minutes by the close of the fourth day - Harvey 84*, O’Neill 53* - with Harvey showing his best form of the series. During the innings he completed 1000 Test runs against the West Indies, the first player to reach the landmark in matches between the two countries. Running a sharp single the next morning he pulled a muscle in his left leg and hampered by this he played uppishly at Gibbs and was caught by Sobers. From 191-3 Australia collapsed to 241 all out. The leg injury caused him to miss the Fourth Test, only the second time, after the broken finger in South Africa, that injury had kept him out of the side. Brought back for the Fifth Test he injured the leg again while taking a sharp catch to dismiss Kanhai and failed again with the bat to end the series with only 143 runs at 17.87. After the Fifth Test the side to England was chosen and though some people thought that Harvey was a trifle lucky to be chosen, his early season form surely proved he was a worthy choice. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 251. New South Wales v Queensland, Brisbane, October 21, 22, 24, 25 (Match drawn) c G.R.Reynolds b C.E.Westaway 135 372 - - - - 307 1 2 0 4 0 105-3 1 252. Australian XI v West Indians, Perth, November 4, 5, 7, 8 (Match drawn) c C.C.Hunte b S.Ramadhin 80 194 289-9d lbw b F.M.M.Worrell 63 384-8 339-5d 1 253. New South Wales v Queensland, Sydney, November 11, 12, 14, 15 (New South Wales won by 162 runs) b K.R.Perrins 229 544-6d - - - - 221 did not bat - 55-1d 1 0 4 0 216 1 254. New South Wales v West Indians, Sydney, November 25, 27, 28 (New South Wales won by an innings and 119 runs) run out (W.W.Hall) 109 429-6d 111 199 1 255. New South Wales v Victoria, Melbourne, December (2), 3, 5, 6 (Match drawn) b I.Meckiff 16 411-7d 1 0 7 0 325 did not bat - 86-2 256. AUSTRALIA v WEST INDIES, Brisbane, December 9, 10, 12, 13, 14 (Match tied) b A.L.Valentine 15 505 453 1 c G.St A.Sobers b W.W.Hall 5 232 284 1 257. New South Wales v West Indians, Sydney, December 23, 24, 26 (New South Wales won by an innings and 97 runs) b S.Ramadhin 74 468 163 208 1 258. AUSTRALIA v WEST INDIES, Melbourne, December 30, 31, January 2, 3 (Australia won by seven wickets) c G.St A.Sobers b F.M.M.Worrell 12 348 181 1 c F.C.M.Alexander b W.W.Hall 0 70-3 233 259. AUSTRALIA v WEST INDIES, Sydney, January 13, 14, 16, 17, 18 (West Indies won by 222 runs) c G.St A.Sobers b W.W.Hall 9 202 339 1 c G.St A.Sobers b L.R.Gibbs 85 241 326 1 36