Wayne Howell - Reasonable Doubt. Bizarre Tales of Death & Justice

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About the Author

Wayne Howell has covered the courts for the Herald Sun newspaper and the Australian Associated Press for about 12 of his 20 years in journalism. He reported on most of the stories in Reasonable Doubt at the time of the court trials. This is Waynes third book. His very successful first book, Eavesdropping on Evil , tells the story of an extraordinary police bugging operation that caught two police killers. His second book, Killer Excuses , is a collection of the classic excuses killers use to avoid punishment.

DAVID HOOKES

A CRICKET HERO DIES

One of crickets most famous matches of the modern era the 1977 Centenary Test between Australia and England was full of pomp and memories of 100 years of Test cricket. The Queen attended and dozens of former Test cricketers, decked out in their best suits, watched and reminisced about their glory days.

The first two days had moments dramatic enough to stop the old boys yarns for a while: England fast bowler Bob Willis broke the jaw of Australian opener Rick McCosker with a fierce short ball, and the worlds best fast bowler, Dennis Lillee, took six for 26 to skittle England for just 95 43 runs behind Australias modest 138. But, as the pitch and players nerves settled down, things became more sedate. Australia slowly built up a lead of about 200 and the oldies got back to catching up.

Then a blond, brash 21-year-old in his first Test changed all that.

In a match that was supposed to pay homage to crickets past, David Hookes introduced its future.

With the fall of veteran Doug Walters wicket shortly after lunch, Australia was five for 187. With McCosker uncertain to bat again (although he did, and made a vital 25 with his head swathed in bandages), the game was evenly poised; another wicket would have swung things Englands way.

With Hookes on 36, Englands captain South Africanborn Tony Greig decided to test Australias new young hope with spin from both ends.

Hookes defended Greigs first two balls, but then decided enough was enough. So what that it was the Centenary Test and all those big-shot legends were watching; so what that it was his first Test; so what that the bowler was the England captain: the offies he was serving did not look that impressive; they looked hittable; in park cricket they would have been hittable so Hookes hit them.

This is how 18 years later to the Herald Suns Jon Anderson Hookes described the five balls that changed his life, that turned him into a cricket legend who had lived out every cricket-mad youngsters dream.

Hookes : I didnt rate his [Greigs] off-spin all that highly and decided if the ball was up Id hit it back over his head, which is what happened. I anticipated the next ball being quicker and glanced it to the fine-leg boundary while the third four came from a cover drive. The next was an on-drive through mid-wicket followed by another cover drive.

As Alf Batchelder put it in The Centenary of Test Cricket :

After each brilliant stroke, spectators expected the fireworks to cease. Each time such thoughts proved to be wrong, their excitement increased. The whole ground exploded when Hookes clipped the next ball to the mid-wicket fence. The left-hander was timing the ball so fluently that he appeared to caress it rather than hit it crudely like most mortals. His fifth boundary was so languid that it seemed it would roll only halfway to the fence, yet it carried a good 90 metres before dropping into the gutter ahead of the pursuing fieldsman Hookes drove Greigs final delivery, but Derek Randall fielded safely. The England skipper took his sweater from Max OConnell [the umpire] with a smile of mock relief. Deep down he must have known he had little to smile about, for the onslaught had turned the tide Australias way Suddenly, it all turned to disappointment. With no addition to his score, Hookes was caught at short leg off Underwood As Hookes departed, the crowd rose, applauding not just his contribution to the score but some unforgettable moments of rare brilliance.

The old-timers reminiscing party had been well and truly crashed. Nothing like it had been seen at the MCG for 50 years. In a quavering voice, radio commentator Colin McDonald declared: A star has been born. The worlds greatest batsman Don Bradman said it reminded him of the West Indian great Frank Woolley: For just five balls I thought he had been reborn. Greg Chappell, the Australian captain in that historic game, later said: It was Hookesys youthful exuberance which allowed him to walk out there and play his natural game The over against Tony Greig seemed to burst the mental chains which were holding everyones batting and we started to realise this was a good batting wicket. After the Hookes whirlwind, Australias wicket-keeper Rod Marsh scored a century, helping his side set England a seemingly impossible 463 for victory. The fact that it got to within 45 runs spookily the exact margin by which it lost the first Test in 1877 was mainly thanks to an amazing 174 by jack-in-the-box batsman Derek Randall.

Hookes went on to be a key part of Kerry Packers World Series Cricket rebellion against the cricket establishment. He played the part of the young, blond, blue-eyed swashbuckling hero who would appeal to women, as well as cricket-mad youngsters. In one game in scoring 81 he hit the great West Indian fast bowler Michael Holding for 22 in an over, and Joel Garner for 16 in an over, before missing an Andy Roberts bouncer that shattered his jaw.

Despite his talent and (or maybe because of) his daring Hookes played only 23 Tests and five World Series Cricket Tests. He ended up with an average of 34.36 in Tests and 35.86 in WSC Tests. (He did, however, get the record for the most number of runs scored in Australias interstate competition.) He only scored one Test century an unbeaten 143 in Australias first Test against Sri Lanka in 1983. Good as that innings was, Hookes didnt leave all his fireworks on the field. That night he lit strings of tom-thumb crackers and pushed them under his team-mates doors. Eleven years later one of those team-mates Graham Yallop told the story: It was past midnight and we thought the Australian team was subject to a terrorist attack. Everyone dashed into the corridor in various states of undress, to see Hookesy doubled over with laughter, absolutely rapt at the success of it all.