Famous Cricketers No 54 - Stan McCabe

McCabe was married on 5 February 1935 to Edna Linton (whom he had met on the Northern Queensland tour) at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney. They went on to have two children (Geoffrey and Christine). Another of his great innings came in the 1935/36 tour of South Africa where he hit an unbeaten 189 to put Australia in with a real chance of winning, only for the opposing South African captain, Wade, to appeal against the light. His final tour of England in 1938 was fairly undistinguished, except for a couple of innings, the main one being 232 at Trent Bridge where, like his century in 1932, he shielded the tailenders from the strike, getting many quick and valuable runs for his side. With all three of his famous innings they could not produce an Australian victory, losing two and drawing the other. McCabe, like everyone else, was unaware that he had played his last Test. McCabe was a magnificent player with lightning footwork and perfect timing, who could play shots all around the wicket, his favourites being the square cut and the hook, where he got many runs; but like all strengths they can also be a weakness, the hook accounted for his wicket nine times in Tests. But O’Reilly believed McCabe to be “the best hooker he ever saw”. He was the complete player, Bradman thought him to be a good batsman of fast bowling, while Grimmett reckoned McCabe to be one of the best at playing spin-bowling. He was not a man for records or batting for the sake of it, playing for pleasure and thinking of the team first were in his thoughts most. This could account for him not converting more of his fifties into hundreds – 68 fifties but only 29 hundreds. McCabe often got out when well set as he played the same when 20 were on the board as 150. He was lucky Australia had a strong batting line-up in his early days, and that results went their way, otherwise his place would have been under threat. As it was, he had an unbroken Test career of 39 Tests over an eight-year period and averaged a hundred every 10.33 innings. Throughout his Test career and early years at New South Wales, McCabe suffered following Bradman in the batting order, often the side would have 200 or so on the scoreboard before McCabe got a bat. The following are examples of when he went to the wicket in Test Matches: 585-3, 423-3, 506-4, 423-3, 265-3, 408-3, 427-4, 472-2, 233-1, 511-7. His runs tended to be when the side needed them and was often out sacrificing his wicket for quick runs. McCabe’s famous three innings were all scored when Australia needed them and when Bradman either did not play, or as in 1938 when he made only 51 (almost a failure by his standards). As a bowler he took many valuable wickets at all levels, he was deceptive and often a little quicker than he looked, but in the main was a medium pacer, who bowled the occasional googly, which was bowled at speed. This accounted for the prize wicket of Hammond at The Oval in 1930. McCabe was good enough to open for Australia in 18 Tests (not including the one ball to finish the First Test in 1932), often with tidy figures, with his best performance being 4 for 13 off 12 overs against South Africa in 1931. His Test scalps included Hobbs, Duleepsinhji, Jardine, Woolley, Leyland, Headley and Mitchell, all great batsmen. Captains would use him to help scuff the ball sufficiently so the spinners would be effective. Due to his worsening foot condition, his bowling became restricted in his later years. McCabe was a superb fielder in any position, with a good eye and a quick reflex, taking in excess of a catch for every Test match played. As with batting, McCabe was a positive captain whenever possible, always pressing for an advantage; with players like O’Reilly, Chipperfield, Barnes, Fingleton etc. in the state side they would always be difficult to beat. Under his captaincy they won the Sheffield Shield twice, but the other seasons New South Wales suffered with Test calls and injuries, finishing last in the 1938/39 championship. McCabe went as vice-captain on two tours (South Africa and England) as deputy to Richardson and Bradman, but never captained Australia in a full Test. Only when Bradman injured himself while 5