Lives in Cricket No 12 - Ric Charlesworth

reclaimed the trophy. In January 1975 he had mixed fortunes in two Colts matches: two scores of six against South Australia before he came into his own with 106 against Victoria. That century, though, was never going to take him into the Shield team because the hockey World Cup in Kuala Lumpur was due in early March and by now Ric, state captain since 1974, was an automatic choice for a team that eventually finished a disappointing fifth in a tournament won by India. ‘Disappointment’ is not a strong enough word to describe Charlesworth’s feelings on 11 November 1975. Just as most Americans, and many others around the world, would remember for ever where they were when they heard of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, many Australians, especially on the left, recall vividly how they first heard of ‘The Dismissal’. Ric was driving to Royal Perth Hospital, listening to the regular broadcast of Parliament on ABC radio, and suddenly perplexed to hear his prime-ministerial hero, Whitlam, moving a motion of no confidence in the government. Soon he discovered that the governor-general, Sir John Kerr, had sacked Whitlam to break a prolonged crisis, following the conservative Senate’s refusal to follow convention and pass the financial legislation ensuring the government could continue. Whitlam was moving a no-confidence motion against Malcolm Fraser, the Liberal leader installed by Kerr as caretaker prime minister pending a new national election. While Charlesworth was one of many who followed Whitlam’s urging to ‘maintain the rage’ against Kerr’s unprecedented action, his first direct involvement in politics, ‘doorknocking’ to canvass support for the ALP, alerted him in advance to the electoral landslide that showed ‘Fraser’s tactics [in blocking supply] were legitimised in the eyes of many.’ 18 Although ‘The Dismissal’ would be one of a number of factors eventually committing him to a life in politics, in the short and medium-term future his main preoccupations were arranging his priorities. Rarely did his medical studies complement his sporting interests as successfully as in the moment in 1975 when he found that a hospital patient was a grade batsman whose head injury had been inflicted by a cricket ball. Ahead of his time – and of virtually everybody else except England captain Mike Brearley – Ric decided to devise a protective helmet. He took the design specifications to 30 1970-1976 18 Ibid ., p 42.