Rorke on the Underground

Walking out of the Oval station, on the northern line of the London Underground, one sees different cricketing paintings on the wall, representing batting styles, bowling actions and fielding postures. The bowling illustration is most interesting.

Gordon Rorke played just four Tests for Australia, all in 1959, but had an unmistakable action. Strangely he never played a Test in England, leave alone The Oval, but still finds his action portrayed on the wall of a famous station. In fact Rorke’s only Tests were in Australia and India, in a career which was dogged with controversy over chucking and ‘drag’.

Exploiting the laws at the time, he dragged his back foot so successfully that he could deliver the ball with his front foot several feet over the bowling crease. In fact his ability to do this so successfully led to a review of the no-ball laws. He had a fairly successful start to his career, bagging eight wickets in his first two games against England in 1958-59, before a barren couple of Tests in India cost him his place.

He left from India early, not coming to terms with the country and losing weight at an alarming rate. He was never the same bowler again. His action, though, won’t be forgotten in a hurry.

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"Kevin Pietersen is unwell and will miss England's practice today." Andrew Walpole, England's media manager, preferred to be as economical with his information as possible at the start of the press conference today. Unwell with what? How serious? Was it an infection? Which part of the body was affected? Just a shrug of the shoulders. It later emerged that Pietersen had "mild temperature". This is England's best batsman we're talking about, the superstar of the future, the one whose actions the media cares about. And here is the England media manager underplaying it as if it was an afterthought. Surely a masterplan to put India off the hook.

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