RING, DOUGLAS THOMAS, died on June 23, 2003, aged 84. Doug Ring was
one of the spear-carriers for the 1948 Australian Invincibles, cheerfully describing
himself as one of the "groundstaff bowlers" as he wheeled round the counties
without getting near the Test team until the morning of the final Test, when Bradman
asked Ring to sit alongside him in the taxi and told him he was playing. Ring was
a wrist-spinner in an era when Australia had plenty of choice - Colin McCool,
Bruce Dooland and fellow-Victorian George Tribe were all capped against England
in 1946-47, and it was February 1948, the last Test against India, before Ring got
a look-in. Match figures of six for 120 won him selection for England, and the
captain's admiration, which he retained. Bradman said Ring bowled consistently
well in England, and would have played far more but for the rule then in force
permitting the new ball after only 55 overs. He won a regular place at home against
West Indies and South Africa in 1951-52 and 1952-53, taking six for 72 against
South Africa at Brisbane. He was also instrumental in one of the most thrilling of
all Test wins. When last man Bill Johnston, his club-mate at Richmond, joined
him at the MCG crease on the last day of the New Year Test in 1952, the Australians
were 38 short of victory and the West Indians were one wicket away from squaring
the series 2-2. Ring thumped 14 from one Valentine over, took 11 off another by
Ramadhin and clinched the series. This was achieved with a borrowed bat - Ring
never took himself or his batting seriously enough to acquire one - and accompanied
by roars of "C'mon the Tigers", the
nickname for Richmond. He played
again in the Lord's Test of 1953, when
Willie Watson and Trevor Bailey
famously held out for a draw. Had Ray
Lindwall caught Watson at short leg off
Ring, Australia would probably have
kept the Ashes. On that tour, he passed
on the secret of his sliding top-spinner
to the young Richie Benaud. Afterwards,
he concentrated on captaining
Richmond, working as a civil servant
in a department run by Sir Robert
Menzies's brother, Les, who in keeping
with family tradition considered Ring's
frequent absences to commentate on
cricket for radio and TV entirely
reasonable. He kept his cheerful, legspinner's
disposition: "I never got
mad about the game, because it was
a game" he once said. Though the
joke has persisted down the decades,
there is no record that the famous
scatological scorecard entry, Crapp c
Hole b Ring, ever occurred.