Lives in Cricket No 12 - Ric Charlesworth

But if his arrival as an international hockey player at Munich had further boosted his self-assurance, first-class cricket quickly brought him down to earth. In his Shield debut against Queensland in Brisbane he scored nought, opening in the first innings, and four, batting number eight in the second. Neither his captain, Inverarity, nor his hockey friend, Edwards, could complain too much. Inverarity made two and nought; Edwards – who had played for Australia for the first time in the last four Tests in England that year – fifteen and six. Only Marsh excelled with the bat, with 132 in the first innings of a match lost by six wickets, after Western Australia were dismissed for 54 in the second innings. ‘We played on a wet, impossible wicket,’ recalled Ric, ‘endeavouring to win when a prudent call might have been to abandon the match!’ Edwards redeemed himself with 158 in the first innings of the next match – ensuring his selection for the coming Test series against Pakistan – but Charlesworth’s nought as an opener and thirteen at number four, out caught and stumped by wicketkeeper Richie Robinson, were a poor contribution in a draw against Victoria at the Melbourne Cricket Ground [MCG]. In another draw, against South Australia in Adelaide, he began to redeem himself with 57 in the first innings but again was out for a duck, batting at number seven in the second. Ric’s first tour had been a harsh introduction to first-class cricket and an even worse preparation for his January commitments: ‘I remember getting back just before Christmas from the tour and I had three weeks before the exams and I’d practically done nothing … you can’t go away and study.’ It was ‘one of the most taxing times’ of his life, not just because of the pressure of exams but because he knew that, in less frantic circumstances, his sporting career and medical studies could be complementary rather than mutually damaging. However dubious he was about the ‘dry science’ of his pre-clinical years of study, it was around that time, in the clinical years, that the medical course started to make sense. I think the challenge of putting the puzzle together made diagnosis exciting … I enjoyed talking with patients. Their lives, their details of family and work and friends painted pictures to which I could always relate. My status as a sportsman very often helped to break the ice and ease me into their confidence. 17 28 1970-1976 17 Ibid ., pp 35-36.