Raymond Russell Lindwall (3 October 1921 – 23 June 1996) was an Australian cricketer who played 61 Test matches for Australia between 1946 and 1960. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers in cricket history. In addition to his cricket career, he played top-flight rugby league for St. George, appearing in two grand finals for the club.
Lindwall made his first-class debut for New South Wales in 1941–42. At the same time, Lindwall was playing for St. George in the first-grade of the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership as a full back. His career was interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the Australian Army in New Guinea from 1943 to 1945. He made his Test debut against New Zealand in March 1946. During the early part of his career, he also played rugby league at first-grade level before retiring from the sport in 1946 to focus on cricket.
A right-arm fast bowler, Lindwall was known for his smooth, rhythmic action and ability to generate pace and swing. Together with Keith Miller, he formed one of the most celebrated new-ball partnerships in Test cricket. He was a key member of Don Bradman’s Australian team that toured England in 1948, known as “The Invincibles”.
Lindwall was also a capable lower-order batsman, scoring two Test centuries. He was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 1996, named in the Australian Cricket Board’s Team of the Century in 2000, and inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009.
Early years
Lindwall was born in Mascot, in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, the fourth of five children. He had one younger sister, two older sisters, one of which was Eileen Lindwall who married Frank Weston and an older brother. The grandson of Swedish and Irish immigrants, Lindwall had a difficult childhood with his mother Catherine dying of pneumonia when he was seven. His father Arthur had a job at the Water and Sewerage Board, but the children were aware that their father could not financially support them beyond school-leaving age.
At the age of 11, Lindwall and his elder brother Jack were spectators at the Sydney Cricket Ground on the second day of the First Test of the 1932–33 Ashes series. The series saw the usage of the notorious Bodyline tactics by England's pace battery led by Harold Larwood under the captaincy of Douglas Jardine. Larwood, a man of relatively short stature like Lindwall, was less than six feet and intimidated opposition batsmen with express pace bowling, aiming short-pitched bouncers at their upper body. Larwood also had a smooth, rhythmic run-up and a classical side-on action, something for which Lindwall became famous.
The Lindwall brothers returned to their home in Hurstville, where Ray henceforth attempted to emulate Larwood. He wanted to replicate the physical threat posed by Larwood to batsmen, as well as the dynamic batting of McCabe. Lindwall attempted to copy Larwood's action in his routine street cricket matches, before terrorising his classmates at primary school.
thumb|right|100px|[[Bill O'Reilly (cricketer)|Bill O'Reilly, Lindwall's captain at St George]]
Lindwall was only in the Third XI of St. George at the time, but by December, he was in the First XI along with future Invincibles teammate Arthur Morris. The senior team was captained by Bill O'Reilly, a leg spin bowler who represented Australia in Tests and was regarded as the best bowler in the world. O'Reilly was a firm man and came to be a father figure for Lindwall. Lindwall came into the team seeing himself as an into-the-wind swing bowler. O'Reilly felt that pace bowlers were only useful for a few overs with new ball, so he instructed Lindwall to lengthen his run-up and bowl as fast as possible. Both Morris and Lindwall became world-leading players in the fields that O’Reilly chose for them. By the end of the 1938–39 season, Lindwall had not yet established himself as a cricketer. Former Test batsman Charlie Macartney lamented what he perceived as a lack of talent and substance at St. George. Lindwall returned to school, attempting to obtain his Leaving Certificate while also playing third-grade rugby. In July, Lindwall's father died, leaving him and his four siblings orphaned. The Sheffield Shield season was cancelled a month later after the December 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, that signalled the widening of the war into the Pacific arena. The Sydney grade cricket competition continued, and Lindwall helped St. George to a hat-trick of premierships with 27 wickets at 22.19 and 405 runs at 27.00. and St. George were defeated by Canterbury-Bankstown 11–9. All the while, the Japanese were inching ever closer to Australia. Malaya had fallen and the northern Australian city of Darwin had been the subject of Japanese air raids. despite the rigours of war having reduced him to just 73 kg, which was thin for his height of 178 cm. An innings of 134 not out in just 180 minutes against Queensland at the SCG underlined by cutting and driving exhibited his batting skill, and with a haul of 9/77 against South Australia further underlining his allround credential. With 33 wickets for the season, Lindwall opened the bowling with state teammate Ernie Toshack. Lindwall had limited opportunities on a sticky wicket which favoured the slower bowling of O’Reilly and Toshack, who took eight and seven wickets respectively. Lindwall made a duck in Australia's only innings. His strong performances saw him promoted to first grade and that season St. George Dragons qualified for the grand final against the Balmain Tigers. Lindwall's goalkicking abilities were not on display that day, as Balmain won the game 13–12, scoring three tries to St George's four, with Lindwall missing every kick at goal. He retired from competitive rugby on the advice of O`Reilly to concentrate on cricket. He scored his first runs with 31 as Australia reached 645. He bowled only briefly in the first innings, with 0/23 before being forced from the field with chickenpox, which prevented him from bowling in the second innings as Australia secured a heavy innings victory. – with record receipts of £44,063. Lindwall was dismissed for only nine in Australia's first innings, bowled by Alec Bedser. He set up a successful fast bowling partnership with Keith Miller, known for giving the English batsmen an "opening blitz", especially Len Hutton. One English pressman wrote that this was Bodyline, to the anger of Vic Richardson, Alan Kippax and Clarrie Grimmett who had seen the real thing. Lindwall took his first Ashes wicket, having Test world record holder Len Hutton caught for two by a diving Colin McCool before having Bill Edrich leg before wicket. Lindwall later dismissed English captain Wally Hammond in the second innings.
In the Fourth Test at Adelaide Lindwall came the closest to a hat-trick in his entire Test career. He finished England's innings by clean bowling three batsmen in four deliveries, with the unsuccessful ball barely missing Doug Wright's stumps to end with 4/52. Lindwall took two further wickets in the second innings as Australia took a 3–0 series win with another innings victory. Lindwall topped the bowling averages on either side with 18 wickets at 20.38, in addition to his 160 runs at 32.00.
Invincibles
As a result, Lindwall was selected as part of Sir Donald Bradman's Invincibles that toured England without defeat in 1948. There were two concerns for Lindwall in the lead-up to the start of the tour. Lindwall was carrying an injured leg tendon and his foot drag in the delivery stride led to murmurings in the media and among umpires as to its legality. Bradman recalled how Ernie McCormick had been no-balled 35 times in traditional tour opener against Worcester during the 1938 tour, destroying his confidence. Lindwall was not no-balled in the first match at Worcester, and so it remained for the rest of the tour.
Lindwall lined up for the First Test at Trent Bridge, where he had taken six wickets in the tour game. Australia bowled first, and Lindwall took the wicket of Cyril Washbrook, before he was forced to leave the field with a groin strain with figures of 1/30.
Lindwall was subjected to a thorough fitness test on the morning of the Second Test at Lord's two weeks later, the home of cricket. Bradman was not convinced of Lindwall's fitness, but the bowler's protestations were sufficient to convince his captain to gamble on his inclusion. Despite this, Lindwall persevered through the pain. He had Washbrook caught behind in his fourth over and then clean bowled Edrich and Tom Dollery in the space of three balls. In later years, Bradman told Lindwall that he pretended not to notice Lindwall's pain. Lindwall was worried that Bradman had noticed his injury, but Bradman later claimed that he feigned ignorance to allow Lindwall to relax. The Australians were pleased, feeling that Hutton was England's best batsman. England batted first and made 350, with Compton making an unbeaten 145 despite being felled by a Lindwall bouncer. Lindwall then removed George Emmett, Edrich and Jack Crapp to leave England at 5/119 before Compton returned to revive the innings as Lindwall ended with 4/99. Lindwall came into bat at 6/172 with Sid Barnes forced to retire hurt and Australia facing the prospect of the follow on.
Hutton returned for the Fourth Test at Headingley and an opening partnership of 168 resulted until he was bowled by Lindwall. England ran up a large score of 496, with Lindwall taking 2/79. dominating in stands of 48 and 55 with Johnston and Toshack respectively, leaving Australia 38 runs in arrears on the first innings.
left|thumb|225px|A signed sports card of Lindwall.
The final Test at The Oval saw Lindwall at his best. English captain Yardley won the toss and elected to bat on a rain affected pitch. Lindwall had Compton dismissed before lunch after Morris had taken a difficult catch. finishing with 6/20 in 16.1 overs. Bradman described the spell as "the most devastating and one of the fastest I ever saw in Test cricket". After Australia had replied with 389, England were bowled out for 188 in their second innings, giving Australia an innings victory and the series 4–0. Lindwall took 3/50 to give him 9/70 for the match. He ended the series as the leading wicket-taker with 27 wickets at 19.62, and scored 191 runs at 31.83. The English were unable to cope with his swing, with 43 of his wickets coming after the batsmen had missed the ball and were bowled. The match raised around 10,000 pounds. Miller stated that he wished to be considered only as a batsman and his omission caused great controversy. reducing England to 6/30 before bowling them out for 122 to take the match by 70 runs. Lindwall took five wickets in the Second Test in Melbourne, two of which came in the closing stages of the English run-chase. Chasing 178, England lost Brown and Evans in consecutive overs to the second new ball and ended 28 runs short of victory. Australia went on seal the series with an innings victory in the Third Test in Sydney – Lindwall bowled Brown and Bedser before breaking Trevor Bailey's thumb in the first innings to help Australia seize control. In the Fourth Test in Adelaide, Lindwall took 3/51 in England's first innings before scoring a patient 31 in Australia's second innings, helping to set up at target that was 274 runs too much for Brown's men. Lindwall had taken 15 wickets at 22.93 for the series. Their batting was led by the celebrated batting trio, the three W's: Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott. before a sixth wicket stand of 54 between Lindwall (29) and Graeme Hole (45*) saw Australia secure a narrow three wicket victory. The Second Test in Sydney saw an increase in the amount of short-pitched deliveries, leading Wisden to bemoan the "relentless bumper tactics". allowing them to take a 3–1 series lead instead of a 2–2 result. The series ended with a controversial battle between Lindwall and Weekes on the final day of the Fifth Test in Sydney. The tourists resumed at 2/112 in pursuit of 416 for victory and were repeatedly bounced by Lindwall and Miller. During Lindwall's sixth over, Weekes missed an attempted hook shot after hesitating. His batting partner Stollmeyer ordered him not to play the hook, something that Lindwall overheard. Lindwall responded by bowling further bouncers, which elicited uncertain responses from the batsman. Weekes repeatedly positioned himself to hook, before restraining himself, leading to further instructions from Stollmeyer and taunting from the Australians. Lindwall bowled his fourth consecutive bouncer and managed to extract an uncertain hook shot from Weekes, which resulted in his dismissal behind the wicket. Lindwall went on to take 5/52 for the innings and 7/72 for the match,
Lindwall accepted an offer to play in the Lancashire League in England during the Australian winter of 1952, joining Nelson Cricket Club for a sum of 600 pounds and bonuses, which did not include the boat fares for him and his wife. Lindwall took 96 wickets at 8.37 during the season and developed an inswinger on the advice of a local umpire who adamantly refused to give leg before wicket decisions to outswingers. Lindwall returned to Australia with a newborn son who has been born during his stay in Lancashire, and he was greeted by media speculation as to whether his professional sojourn had improved or detracted from his capabilities.
Lindwall showed his versatility again in the First Test in Brisbane, scoring an unbeaten 38 in the second innings to extend Australia's lead to 373. When South Africa attempted to chase the target, Lindwall took 5/60 to cut them down 96 runs short of victory. Lindwall was reunited with Miller when the latter returned from injury for the Second Test at Melbourne, and despite the old combination taking 12 wickets, with Lindwall taking match figures of 5/116, Australia fell 82 runs short and South Africa had its first Test victory over Australia in 42 years. The teams moved to the home ground of Miller and Lindwall for the Third Test in Sydney, and the local pair delivered, taking seven wickets between them to skittle the tourists for 173, with Lindwall taking 4/40. With Australia having taken a 270 first innings lead, Lindwall allowed Australia to seize the initiative, removing both openers in his first three overs, before ending with 4/72 to ensure an innings victory and a 2–1 series lead. In the tour matches leading up to the Test, Lindwall set about gaining a psychological advantage over England's leading batsmen. In doing so, he could leave them in a poor state leading up to the Test, potentially curtailing their ability to win matches. In a match against Yorkshire, Lindwall bowled Hutton with an inswinger yorker, something he had developed the previous year. During a match against the country champions Surrey at The Oval, Lindwall came across Peter May, who was regarded as the best young English batsman to emerge from the post-war era. Lindwall's first over to May consisted of three inswingers and three outswingers, leaving him perplexed and uncertain about his position at top level cricket. Although Lindwall did not dismiss May, he regarded it as his best over at any level of cricket. The unsettled May was bowled in the following over by Ron Archer. Lindwall's performances saw him regarded as the finest fast bowler of his time. The match was drawn with Lindwall taking 2/26 in the second innings. After Australia took a 97 run lead, Lindwall took 3/104 to help leave the tourists with a victory target of 177. This was not before dour English all rounder Trevor Bailey attempted to stone-wall an Australian victory by batting for over four hours for 38 runs. Along with Miller, the pair took 14 wickets between them, displaying their pivotal role in Australia's bowling attack, especially in the absence of the injured Johnston, who was unavailable for most of the tour. Hutton ordered Bedser and Bailey to bowl leg theory from a long run, sending balls down the leg side to prevent the Australians from scoring. England held on for a draw with Australia 30 runs short when time ran out. The teams met at The Oval for the deciding Test and Australia could manage 275 after winning the toss with Lindwall striking a quickfire 62 noted for an array of off drives to top score and push the total to respectability. Lindwall then took 4/70 but it was not enough to prevent England taking a 31 run lead. Australia collapsed for 162 in the second innings, with the Surrey spin twins of Jim Laker and Tony Lock taking nine wickets between them. This left England 132 to win, something they achieved with eight wickets intact. Lindwall was unable to remove any of the Englishmen.
Transfer to Queensland
left|thumb|Lindwall traps [[Peter May (cricketer)|Peter May LBW in the First Test against England, 1954–55.]]
In November 1953, Lindwall was given employment in Brisbane for the bus and transport company Cobb and Co., but continued to play for New South Wales for the remainder of the 1953–54 season before being dropped for the last match of the domestic season. The move generated criticism from the cricketing community who felt that Lindwall's service merited a more dignified farewell. Lindwall had a mediocre season by his standards, taking only 22 wickets at 30.14. His batting was even more ineffective, scoring only 14 runs in six innings. Such performances led to media speculation that Lindwall was in decline. Lindwall began his career for Queensland at the start of the 1954–55 season and did well enough to retain his place for the First Test of England's Ashes tour. After the match, English paceman Frank Tyson asked Lindwall for advice on how to bowl a more effective bouncer. Lindwall promised that he would show Tyson on their next meeting, which happened to be the Second Test in Sydney. Lindwall bowled Tyson in the first innings and in the second innings, Lindwall gave him a bouncer which skidded towards Tyson's throat. Tyson turned his head and was hit the back of the skull, Tyson was taken to hospital for X-rays and was bowled upon his return by Lindwall. He later said "thanks so much for showing me the bouncer". Lindwall struggled in the Third Test while carrying a leg strain and a bout of hepatitis,
Lindwall had no intentions to retire. He continued onto the early 1955 tour of the West Indies, Lindwall was determined to enjoy himself, having recovered from his recent illness. By day, he and Miller battled with the three W's but at night they socialised. However, Lindwall needed respite and dietary discipline in order to completely ward off his hepatitis. He was no longer the reveller that Miller once knew. The team's travelled to Queen's Park in Trinidad for the Second Test, where the West Indies batted first and made 382. This time Lindwall bowled a long spell of 24.5 overs, and eventually prized out six of the West Indians for the cost of 95 runs. The culmination of this was a spell of 4/16. Australia replied with 9/600, with Lindwall contributing an unbeaten 37 with the bat. Lindwall's match soured in the second innings when he broke down with an achilles tendon problem as the match ended in a draw. Lindwall recovered for the start of the Third Test at Bourda in Georgetown, Guyana. Lindwall had a quiet time in a spin dominated game, taking two wickets in an eight-wicket Australian victory.
Lindwall performed steadily during the 1955–56, which was purely domestic. Lindwall was appointed the Queensland captain, Lindwall's tour was further compounded by a recurrence of his groin injury. He took 0/43 in the first innings of the opening Test at Trent Bridge and broke down, being unable to bowl in the second innings. as Laker and Lock ravaged the Australians. Lindwall's poor run continued, scoring two and a duck and taking match figures of 1/64 as Australia fell to a nine wicket defeat. The situation worsened throughout the match as pacemen Alan Davidson and Pat Crawford were hindered by stomach bugs and hip strains respectively during the game. Leg spinner Richie Benaud could not bowl for part of the match after being affected by a fever and left arm orthodox spinner John Wilson pulled a muscle midway through his debut. Lindwall finished the tour with scores of eight and 28 in the Third Test in Madras. It was a successful series for Lindwall, taking 12 wickets at 16.58 and scoring 92 runs at 30.66.
Omission and comeback
The end of the tour represented a changing of the guard in Australian cricket. In their late 30s, Johnson and Miller retired from first-class cricket. In the 1956–57 season, Lindwall took 27 wickets at 23.74 and made 243 runs at 27.00. Having had a successful series in the most recent international fixtures, Lindwall had no reason to expect anything but a continuation of his senior role in the team. Lindwall heard the news on the radio while he was working, having not being given prior notice. The pacemen selected were Davidson, Ian Meckiff, Ron Gaunt and John Drennan. While Craig's men defeated South Africa 3–0, Lindwall continued his consistent performances for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield, with 26 wickets at 25.77 and 274 runs at 34.25. During the seasons, Lindwall broke Ernie Jones' record of 209 wickets in Shield competitions in his 54th match in the competition.
right|270px|thumb|Lindwall (l) with (l to r) Australian prime minister [[Robert Menzies|Sir Robert Menzies, his former Test captain Lindsay Hassett and then West Indies' captain Frank Worrell at Manuka Oval in 1961.]]
During the winter of 1958, nearing his 37th birthday, Lindwall stepped up his bid to reclaim his Test place. He committed him to an intense fitness program that included a 5 km daily run followed by vigorous exercises to increase his abdominal and back strength. He set up equipment in his garage. Lindwall was determined to add to his Test tally of 212 wickets, which was just four behind the Australian record of Clarrie Grimmett. He was unmoved by a 6000-pound offer from an English newspaper to cover the 1958–59 Ashes series as a journalist, instead wanting to play in the series. dismissing Watson, Milton, Colin Cowdrey, Trevor Bailey and Jim Laker. He removed both openers for seven in the second innings before rain curtailed the match, leaving Lindwall with match figures of 7/73. Meckiff was injured during the Third Test, leaving him in doubt for the Fourth Test. In the meantime, Lindwall had a Shield match away against South Australia to make a final claim for a recall. The hosts batted first in stifling heat around 42 degrees on a batting pitch, and Lindwall delivered 41 eight-ball overs to take 7/92. Lindwall received a standing ovation for his performances in unfavourable conditions and was greeted by Bradman, the chairman of selectors. Lindwall avoided Bradman's inquiries as to whether he had any injury worries, fearing it would hinder his chances of selection.
Lindwall was rewarded with a recall for the Fourth Test at the Adelaide Oval at the age of 37. He took two difficult low slips catches but could not take the wicket that would move him ahead of Grimmett, finishing with 1/36. Lindwall opened the bowling in the second innings with 28,000 fans awaiting a new record. He beat Bailey with two outswingers in his first over before bowling him for a duck to move ahead of Grimmett. Lindwall took two further wickets to end with 3/37 as Australia completed a 4–0 series victory. Lindwall finished his resurgent season with 40 wickets at 20.55.
At the age of 38, Lindwall made his final appearances for Australia during the 1959–60 tour of the Indian subcontinent, which saw three and five Tests against Pakistan and India respectively.
Style
thumb|right|200px|Ray Lindwall at full stretch
Lindwall, widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, bowled with a classical and artistic side-on bowling action. David Frith wrote that "there was a balance, rhythmic run, a build-up" and an "ecstasy" in his smooth delivery action. Richie Benaud said that Lindwall was "technically the best fast bowler" that he ever saw. Lindwall's childhood hero Harold Larwood rated Dennis Lillee to be equal to Lindwall "but not ahead of him". Lindwall's ability to swing the ball at high pace allowed him to repeatedly breach the defences of his opponents; of his 228 Test wickets, 98 were bowled and another 31 were leg before wicket. In 1952 he developed an inswinger and then coupled it with his yorker, which homed into the feet of batsmen at high pace. Together the pair formed a new ball fast-bowling combination regarded as one of the best in Test history. Hutton's battles with Lindwall were regarded as one of the key match-ups in Anglo-Australian battles of the time, and Hutton said his opponent had the ability to "strike at will". When England developed quality pace bowlers of their own in the 1950s, Hutton was captain and he implemented a similar strategy to that executed by Lindwall and Miller.
Later years
Upon returning to Australia, Lindwall played in Queensland's final Shield match of the season, before retiring from representative cricket. However, he continued to play for Northern Districts in Brisbane's district competition, as well as making sporadic first-class appearances for private teams, which played in New Zealand, the West Indies, Rhodesia, Kenya and Pakistan. He and Peggy had two children, a son and a daughter. He published two books, Flying Stumps in 1954 and The Challenging Tests in 1961. In 2000, he was named in the Australian Cricket Board's Team of the Century as one of its opening bowlers.
Personal life
Lindwall was married to Peg, and together they had one son and one daughter. He died following a stroke, aged 74.
Lindwall, who became a florist after his cricket career, provided the wedding flowers for fellow Australian fast bowler Jeff Thomson, who would later share Lindwall's Australian Cricket Hall of Fame status in 2016.
Test match performance
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto" width="80%"
|-
!colspan=2|
!colspan=4| Batting
!colspan=4| Bowling
|-
! style="text-align:left;"| Opposition
!| Matches
!| Runs
!| Average
!| High Score
!| 100 / 50
!| Runs
!| Wickets
!| Average
!| Best (Inns)
|- style="text-align:right;"
| style="text-align:left;"|
|| 29
|| 795
|| 22.08
|| 100
|| 1/4
|| 2559
|| 114
|| 22.44
|| 7/63
|- style="text-align:right;"
| style="text-align:left;"|
|| 10
|| 173
|| 19.22
|| 48*
|| 0/0
|| 725
|| 36
|| 20.13
|| 7/38
|- style="text-align:right;"
| style="text-align:left;"|
|| 1
|| 0
|| 0.00
|| 0
|| 0/0
|| 29
|| 2
|| 14.50
|| 1/14
|- style="text-align:right;"
| style="text-align:left;"|
|| 3
|| 29
|| 7.25
|| 23
|| 0/0
|| 186
|| 4
|| 46.50
|| 2/72
|- style="text-align:right;"
| style="text-align:left;"|
|| 8
|| 107
|| 13.37
|| 38*
|| 0/0
|| 631
|| 31
|| 20.35
|| 5/32
|- style="text-align:right;"
| style="text-align:left;"|
|| 10
|| 398
|| 30.61
|| 118
|| 1/1
|| 1121
|| 41
|| 27.34
|| 6/95
|- style="text-align:right; border-top:solid 2px grey;"
| style="text-align:left;"| Overall
|| 61
|| 1502
|| 21.15
|| 118
|| 2/5
|| 5251
|| 228
|| 23.03
|| 7/38
|}