1876 SCG Members Edition No.3

M EM BERS EDITION SU M M ER 2021/2022

{ GA M E CH A NGE R } MERIVALE’S WINNING SCG PARTNERSHIP { FA R E W E L L, GI A N TS } REMEMBERING TWO OF OUR FINEST

Eyes on the prize OUR HOMEGROWN HERO CHASES ASHES GLORY

NEC celebrates its partnership with Venues NSW NEC has been delivering world class technology solutions in Australia for over 50 years. We are proud to be the Digital Display Technology partner of Venues for NSW. We have a history of delivering technology solutions that add value and help create a brighter future for society.

Through a period of tremendous digital and technological change, NEC continues to innovate with partners and customers to ‘Orchestrate a brighter world’

{ FROM T H E CEO }

Welcome to this edition of 1876, our first for a little while but in plenty of time for the busy summer of cricket ahead It’s 140 years since the first Australia-England Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and this year marks the 90th anniversary of the famous Bodyline series. But in the 2021-22 summer, we’ll see history made off the field as well as on it.

When the Sydney Sixers’ Big Bash League campaign began in December, it marked the start of our partnership with Merivale as the exclusive hospitality experience partner at the SCG. Justin Hemmes and his team are bringing the best of their world-class food and beverage network to the cricket ground this summer and the new Sydney Football Stadium when it opens in late 2022.

At the SCG, Merivale has been working around the clock to bring its trademark magic to our dining rooms, bars and outlets.

The group hasn’t just focused on the hospitality offering, with much

effort also going into transforming some of the wonderful spaces in the Members enclosure.

I can’t wait to sit down for a meal at Bistro 1886, a completely revamped dining room behind the Long Bar in the Members Pavilion. It’s modelled on Felix, the hugely popular Frenchleaning bistro in Sydney’s CBD. There’ll be new favourites all around the ground that you can read more about in this edition.

This year’s New Year’s Test will be the first without the legendary Alan Davidson, Australian Test player No.195. He has been a constant presence at our biggest matches, bread roll in hand, reliving how he dismissed Sobers, Cowdrey and their international contemporaries.

We know of his cricketing exploits of course, as well as his huge contribution to the sport but here, it is right to pay tribute to the two decades he spent as the member-elected

Trustee representing your interests.

This edition contains a fitting tribute to Davidson by our former chairman Rodney Cavalier, as well, sadly, as a similar farewell to the great Norm Provan, one half of the most famous photographs ever taken at our ground.

Both men were giants in their sport, and beyond, and we will continue to celebrate their very special contributions to the SCG for many years to come.

I look forward to seeing you at the New Year’s Test, the T20 and OneDay Internationals in February or at a BBL match as the Sixers pursue their third consecutive title.

Kerrie Mather and Justin Hemmes after the announcement of the partnership.

Kind regards, Kerrie K E R R I E M AT H E R Chief Executive Officer Venues NSW 1876

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INDEX 10

Guess who’s coming to dinner?

A culinary revolution sweeps the Moore Park precinct

12

Quick Singles

26

Photographic memory Photographer Phil Hillyard reveals his greatest Ashes images

The all-rounder like no other

16

Alan Davidson: a great amongst greats

Peter Lalor on the high-stakes series, and the new skipper ready to shine

20

Return & urn 10 historic moments from a 140-year-old rivalry

Game changers What’s on the menu when Merivale fires up the pans at the SCG this summer

38

The Pink Test; The Big Freeze; Mardi Gras

Winner takes all

50

44

On the shoulders of a giant Norm Provan: farewell to a legend

54

Danielle Alvarez Cooking with Merivale’s star chef

60

48

Fitness with Sydney FC’s ace goalie

Trent Robinson gets going

66

When the going gets tough ...

Jada Whyman

Where I Was When...

Michael Bevan scored that matchwinner

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CONTRIBUTORS

Jada Whyman

Phil Hillyard

Andrew Webster

Whyman is a proud Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta woman who grew up in the regional city of Wagga Wagga and made her W-League debut as a teenager for the Western Sydney Wanderers.

She is now the goalkeeper for Sydney FC Women, has played for the Matildas and three times claimed the National Premier League NSW Women’s goalkeeper of the year title.

Phil Hillyard, a staff photographer for News Corp for 30 years, is one of Australia’s leading sports photographers.

He has won nine Walkley awards, six Kennedy awards and twice been named Australian press photographer of the year.

He is a current Canon master photographer.

Sydney Morning Herald journalist Andrew Webster has covered multiple Olympic Games, grand finals, FIFA World Cups, cricket Tests and myriad other sporting events. He is also an accomplished author and his new book, If These Walls Could Talk, A Celebration of the Sydney Cricket Ground, was released on November 10, 2021.

Publisher

Elizabeth Meryment

Art director

Trevor Timms

Associate editor

Frances Hibbard

Group General Manager, Communications, Heritage and Community, Venues NSW Phillip Heads

Geoff Armstrong

Danielle Alvarez

Armstrong is the author of several sports books, including A Century of Summers, for the centenary of the Sheffield Shield, and Phar Lap, co-authored with Peter Thompson. His Stoke Hill Press is a leading sports publishing house, responsible for The Night the Music Died by Ian Heads and Anna Meares’s autobiography, Anna Meares Now, amongst many others. He has also produced the SCG Sporting Diary since 2018.

Alvarez was born and raised in Miami to Cuban-American parents, and honed her culinary skills at acclaimed San Francisco restaurant, Chez Panisse, before moving to Australia to work for Justin Hemmes at Merivale. In 2016, they launched Fred’s in Paddington: a restaurant that instantly became a muchloved institution. In 2020 she released her first cookbook, Always Add Lemon.

Contributors Danielle Alvarez Geoff Armstrong Neil Breen Rodney Cavalier Phil Hillyard Jordan Laing Peter Lalor Glenn Moore Gregg Porteous Ryan Selvage Andrew Webster Jada Whyman Cover image Pat Cummins by Phil Hillyard 1876 is created on Gadigal land.

We pay our respects to leaders past, present and emerging.

1876 is produced by Local Publishing Co in association with Venues NSW. localpublishingco.com.au

CALENDAR

DECEMBER

JANUARY

21

05-09

Sydney Sixers vs Adelaide Strikers

Australia vs England

7.15pm

10.30am

29

19

BBL CR ICK ET

T EST M ATCH T he Ashes

BBL CR ICK ET

BBL CR ICK ET

Sydney Sixers vs Brisbane Heat

Sydney Sixers vs Sydney Thunder

6.35pm

7.40pm

* The 2022 AFL Fixture had not been released in full at the time of publication

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FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

05

05

17

ON E-DAY I N T ER NAT IONA L

Australia vs New Zealand 2.10pm

11

T W EN T Y20

Australia vs Sri Lanka

SY DN EY GAY & L ESBI A N M A R DI GR AS 6pm

12 NRL

Sydney Roosters vs Newcastle Knights

7pm

3pm

17-20

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SH EFFI EL D SH I EL D

NSW Blues vs SA Redbacks 10.30am

SU PER RUGBY

NSW Waratahs vs Melbourne Rebels 7.45pm

NRL

Sydney Roosters vs NZ Warriors 2pm

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SU PER RUGBY

NSW Waratahs vs Crusaders 7.45pm

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N R L A NZAC DAY CU P

St George Illawarra Dragons vs Sydney Roosters 4pm 1876

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The new Sydney Football Stadium will be a world-class hub for sport and entertainment.

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{ STA DI U M U PDAT E }

Making a stand GREEN SPACE, AN UNDERGROUND CAR PARK, NEW TENNIS FACILITIES AND AN OPENING DATE THAT EDGES EVER CLOSER; THE SYDNEY FOOTBALL STADIUM REDEVELOPMENT POWERS AHEAD While the stands have been eerily quiet, the sounds of construction continue as the Sydney Football Stadium redevelopment progresses apace.

There is a real buzz around the SCG precinct as John Holland Group works to install the stadium roof and seating. It is exciting to think we are less than 12 months away from the official opening of Sydney’s newest stadium.

This state-of-the-art venue will quickly establish itself as one of Australia’s top destinations for major sporting and entertainment events.

The new SFS will put NSW in an enviable position to attract major international entertainment acts while also being home to some of Australia’s most successful sporting franchises.

The facilities will cater for the needs of elite male and female athletes, while the food and beverage offerings from hospitality giant Merivale will be of the highest quality at every price point.

The redeveloped stadium will deliver an open and accessible public domain which reconnects the precinct with its surrounding local communities while also having a strong focus on accessibility for people with different ages, backgrounds, genders, and mobility levels.

The redevelopment will also include a new village precinct, new tennis facilities for members and an underground 1500-vehicle car park. This will help transform the former bitumen car park into a revitalised community space for nearby residents, as well as the millions of people who will visit the area each year for sporting and entertainment events.

Moving vehicles off the grass near Kippax Lake and into a purpose-built underground car park is a win for locals and visitors. A sea of cars will now be replaced by inviting open parkland for community recreation and sport, making it a great setting for the new Sydney Football Stadium.

The precinct project is being funded by Venues NSW and will be delivered in two stages, with the first stage to be operational in time for the stadium opening. The second stage will be completed in 2023.

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{ M E R I VA L E N E W S }

Guess who’s coming to dinner (and lunch and tea and drinks)?

JUSTIN HEMMES IS DELIVERING MERIVALE’S A-TEAM TO THE MOORE PARK PRECINCT. IT’S A BOLD MOVE WORDS: ELIZABETH MERYMENT

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If you were to ask any reputable food journalist for their list of Sydney’s favourite culinary creations, a few dishes would spring almost universally to mind.

Tetsuya’s cured ocean trout, of course; Neil Perry’s Mirabelle tart (a riff on which was recently introduced at the chef’s new restaurant, Margaret); Peter Gilmore’s snow egg, currently off the menu at Quay but never forgotten. Then there are the next-gen hits: Bill Granger’s scrambled eggs, Black Star Pastry’s watermelon cake; Dan Hong’s cheeseburger spring rolls.

Accessing the big hit dishes of Sydney food has not always been easy. For all its legendary status, how many people, in all honesty, have dined at Tetsuya’s? The snow egg is but a memory. Even getting to taste Hong’s famous spring roll, which is a mind trick because it looks like a spring roll but tastes like a cheeseburger — don’t ask me how

it’s done — requires a booking at his smallish Potts Point restaurant, Ms G’s, with its loud music and youth-focused vibe.

So news that Hong will be doing a speciality stand at the SCG, starting this summer, selling just cheeseburger spring rolls, could be a seminal moment in this city’s food trajectory.

Hong himself, speaking to 1876 in our story in this edition (Heat of the Moment, from page 50) is confident the stand will be a hit.

“I reckon it will go nuts,” is how he succinctly puts it.

You’d be a fool not to agree.

Hong, as much as any chef in this city, absolutely understands the Sydney palate, with its everincreasing lean into umami-rich Asian and American flavours.

(He’s also doing dim sum at the stadiums, another brilliant and undeniably original idea).

Therein lies the genius of the partnership that has been signed

between Venues NSW for its jewels, the Sydney Cricket Ground and the Sydney Football Stadium, and hospitality giant Merivale. For the first time in the ground’s history, the off-field offerings will match the on-field performances. Cult dishes such as the cheeseburger spring roll will suddenly be right there, available for consumption by the public in a mass context. Buy as many as you want, as often as you like. And eat them with Merivale’s take on their porn-star martini (if you’re in the right area, and that way inclined). It’s not the sandwich and canned Tooth’s of old, that’s for sure.

The risk here is all Merivale’s. It is a huge decision to put yourself up for mass public scrutiny, and not an easy task to deliver food to the standard of the city’s best restaurants in a stadium setting.

Merivale CEO Justin Hemmes has put a lot on the line for the deal and has leaned on his top chefs, big names in their own rights, to bring their

A-games to this new table. Fred’s star Danielle Alvarez, Hotel Centennial/ The Paddington’s Ben Greeno — a man who used to run the tiniest, most bespoke restaurant in Sydney in The Star’s Momofuku Seiobo — and Mimi’s Jordan Toft, to name but three, are among those who spent lockdown hammering out the details of the tastiest, most stadium-friendly dishes they could imagine.

There are also new spaces to enjoy the experience, too, including beautifully themed bars and, in the Members’ Pavilion, 1886 — a dining room that’s a Sydney take on a Parisian bistro.

“This is an incredible and truly unique opportunity for Merivale,” Hemmes said when the deal was announced. “We are humbled to be a part of Sydney’s sporting and entertainment history.”

Hemmes went on to say that apart from bringing his talent, his brands and world-class experiences to the grounds, he was also

bringing Merivale’s “inherent love of Sydney” with him. This is extremely important.

What he is bringing, in fact, is the taste and the feel of Sydney to the stadium. Generic food is no longer good enough, anywhere.

People expect more, they expect something uniquely ours, and finally they’ll get it.

Venues NSW CEO Kerrie Mather describes the Merivale partnership as a “transformational moment for our precinct” and this is absolutely true.

This summer, when we’re at The Ashes or the Big Bash eating Greeno’s delicious crispy chicken wings or Alvarez’s cheesy chicken roll, or sitting in the 1886 dining room supping on Sydney rock oysters and steak frites, the changes will become real to us.

It will be great fun, Sydney style.

Justin Hemmes (centre) with his team Franck Moreau, Debbie Higgins, Sam Egerton, Ben Greeno, Jordan Toft, Oliver Stuart, Vinnie Biondini, Dan Hong, Danielle Alvarez, Tessa Bruce, Luke Ashton.

Picture: Phil Hillyard

Elizabeth Meryment is the publisher of 1876 and has been a food critic and writer for News Corp for almost 20 years

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QUICK SINGLES 12

sydneycricket-

When the Big Freeze came to the SCG Nathan Buckley and Tony Shepherd.

Few would have predicted that the AFL’s Queen’s Birthday public holiday grudge match between Melbourne and Collingwood, one of Victoria’s biggest annual sporting traditions, would ever be played at the SCG. But in 2021, a year when nothing went quite as planned, the blockbuster derby looked right at home at Sydney’s great cricket ground, as the grandstands turned black and white and navy and red for the day.

The Big Freeze match is also an occasion to shine a light on the work of the FightMND charity, co-founded by AFL identity Neale Daniher. The legendary Bombers player and Demons ground.com.au

coach has fought to educate Australians about motor neurone disease since his own diagnosis with MND in 2013.

His charity aims to raise funds to help find effective treatments and hopefully a cure for the terminal disease, which slowly reduces a patient’s use of their body, and their ability to breathe.

With much more than just four premiership points on the line, the match was attended by a crowd of 16,453 and saw the Pies prevail by 17 points. Yet despite the victory, the result signalled the end of Nathan Buckley’s tenure as coach of the famous club.

Importantly, the Big Freeze match raised a staggering $14.6 million for FightMND. fightmnd.org.au

Colour us happy The New Year’s Test is much more than Sydney’s favourite annual sporting fixture. It is also the McGrath Foundation’s biggest annual fundraiser to support Australians with breast cancer.

In 2021, the Pink Test faced uncertainty as a result of Covid-19 capacity limits at the SCG for the Australia vs India clash. This led to the creation of the first “virtual seats” campaign to ensure the McGrath Foundation fundraiser was still well supported, despite not everyone being able to get to the ground.

The initiative was a huge success, with 150,600 virtual seats sold, including many to SCG members, and more than $3.01 million raised for the McGrath Foundation. The money funds 22 breast-care nurses for a year, which means that 2200 families will be assisted by a breast-care nurse.

And this summer, the “virtual seat” campaign returns alongside the physical event, with its 100 per cent seating capacity.

Expect the SCG to once again be a sea of pink for the entire Test, which runs from January 5-9.

The McGrath Foundation, which was founded in 2005, has supported almost 100,000 Australian families by helping to place more than 171 breast-care nurses in communities around the country.

With 55 Australians diagnosed with breast cancer every day, the Pink Test fundraiser is crucial in enabling the McGrath Foundation to continue to help Australians.

Rainbow warriors

pinktest.com.au

MARCH

5

SY DN EY GAY & L ESBI A N M A R DI GR A S SCG, 6pm

In a year of firsts, the 2021 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras moved inside the gates of the Sydney Cricket Ground, ensuring that one of the city’s great traditions could continue safely even during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The event saw 134 parade groups and 30,000 spectators turn out for the city’s sparkliest party parade.

This success ensured that the event will return to the SCG in 2022 and is likely to continue at the precinct in the future.

The 2022 Mardi Gras is themed United We Shine, with the March 5 parade the centrepiece of a fortnight of festivities for the LGBTQI+ community.

“The iconic event brings together LGBTQI+ people from all over to share their passion, champion equal rights and show their pride to the world,” say organisers of the 44th annual parade. “In 2022, the parade returns to the SCG where tens of thousands of spectators will cheer on as marchers take to the field in a display of colour, community and love. The parade will be broadcast live on ABC so audiences from across the country can tune in and be a part of the celebrations.”

The after party will take place at the Hordern Pavilion, beside the SCG. 2021 headliner G Flip says the event was something they will never forget. “This will stay with me for the rest of my life,” G Flip says. “I’ve walked Mardi Gras before and usually it’s just wave and walk, this was a whole experience. I lost control of myself at the end, and I started to cry backstage.” mardigras.org.au

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QUICK SINGLES 14

No Swans dive for newcomers Preparations are in full swing for the inaugural Sydney Swans AFLW team to take the field in late 2022.

The Swans will be one of four new teams to enter AFLW next season, bringing the number of teams in the national competition to 18: the same as the men’s competition.

Swans chairman Andrew Pridham says the foundations are in place to launch a successful AFLW team.

“For nearly 150 years, our men’s team has competed at the elite level, forging a rich history,” Pridham says.

“From today, our AFLW team will be a significant part of our future story.

“As we introduce a second elite team, we are committed to a

sydneycricketground.com.au

one-club approach, providing the best, most integrated environment we can for both our men’s and women’s teams.

“There are currently 290 girls engaged in the QBE Sydney Swans Academy program and it is exciting for our club that those girls now have a pathway to wearing the red and white at the elite level.”

Sydney Swans executive general manager consumer and product, Natalie Fagg, who spearheaded the AFLW bid, says she’s pleased the AFL Commission has recognised the club’s strong submission.

“Our licence into season seven of the AFLW competition is wonderful news for all Swans members, fans and our entire red and white community,” Fagg says.

“One of the key points in our submission was the opportunity AFLW provides for our fans to have a year-round connection to the Swans. When the AFL competition concludes in September, our AFLW team will be preparing to take to the field.

“For our fans, it means more Swans matches, more marks and goals and more memorable days at the footy.

“Our ‘It’s Game On’ bid campaign garnered overwhelming support from our members and fans as well as our corporate and government partners. It is clear that the Swans community is ready to be part of AFLW.” With the Swans entry into AFLW confirmed for late 2022, the club is already focused on key AFLW appointments.

Kate Mahony, pictured above, has started as the head of the AFLW program as the club begins its search for an inaugural AFLW head coach.

The Swans are inviting supporters to join the club’s AFLW journey, with new AFLW Foundation Memberships now available. sydneyswans.com.au

Think! About your choices.

Call Gambler’s Help, Gambling Help or the ACT Gambling Counselling & Support Service on 1800 858 858 www.gamblinghelp.nsw.gov.au or www.gamblinghelponline.org.au.

You know the score. Stay in control.

Gamble Responsibly.

WINNER TAKES ALL CAREERS AND FUTURES ARE MADE AND LOST AT THE ASHES. THIS YEAR, A LOCAL SON IS READY TO SHINE WORDS: PETER LALOR

R

icky Ponting said something ahead of these Ashes that provides a clue as to why this series ranks so highly among all who play, watch and live every moment of it.

“Your name and your reputation is forged from Ashes cricket,” he said. “That’s what the England players will be thinking: ‘We’ve got a real chance to prove everyone wrong, make a name for ourselves and make a name for this team’.”

Ashes performances at home confirm a player’s place in history, but it could be argued that those on foreign soil have the ability to challenge history.

The Ashes provide cricket its circadian rhythm.

You win at home, you lose away. Career-defining performances are made. We measure teams, coaches, captains and administrations by these series. Lose at home and there is hell to pay — usually in the form of sackings and inquiries which fall just short of

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Above: The Aussies, led by Steve Smith, celebrate in the SCG dressing room after their victory in the 2017/18 Ashes.

Right: Pat Cummins will be the first fast bowler since Ray Lindwall to captain Australia.

Pictures: Phil Hillyard

inquisitions. Nobody is safe, from boardroom to studded boot. Win at home and all is well with the world.

It is no coincidence that the Fifth Test of an Ashes series is a passing out parade for the legends of the game. Who can forget the exit of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Justin Langer at the end of play at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2007? Michael Clarke left The Oval and the game when that series ended in 2015.

We can take a reading on Australian cricket by where it was then and where it is now in terms of the latest cycle.

Was it only four years ago? So, so much has happened in the intervening period. And not all of it has been bad.

But there were inconceivable shocks waiting for all of us who watched that last game at the SCG that resulted in Australia winning the Ashes 4-0.

Usman Khawaja made 171 that seemed to guarantee him permanency. But the game and selectors had other ideas. Shaun Marsh (156) and his brother Mitch (101) shared a 169-run partnership. Joe Root proved his

THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CHANGE SINCE THE PREVIOUS SERIES IS THE RISE AND RISE, THEN CORONATION OF SYDNEY’S FAVOURITE SON, PAT CUMMINS. 1876

17

mettle, battling a stomach bug and debilitating heat in one of the bravest innings of his career.

How the world was set to change. Steve Smith was the triumphant captain having assumed the job on Clarke’s retirement two years earlier in an away series.

David Warner was vice and would be asked to take the reins on the white ball tour of New Zealand while Smith and the others rested, then prepared for that series on the other side of the hemisphere.

Marnus Labuschagne? Not even a sparkle in the selectors’ eyes (and to this day yet to play an entire Ashes series). He averaged less than 40 in first-class cricket, yet he was the second-highest run scorer behind Matt Renshaw and just above Callum Ferguson. His time would come but not before a false start or two.

Ask the person with you who opened the batting in the match. Warner has opened the batting with Chris Rogers, Ed Cowan, Shane Watson, Joe Burns, Shaun Marsh, Phil Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Harris and Will Pucovski but in this Ashes series he was establishing a relationship with Cameron Bancroft.

Warner has been the one constant in the position at the top of the order for the past decade. He was central to the scandal soon after the last Ashes that saw Smith removed from the team for 12 months and Bancroft for nine.

Smith was allowed a chance to rehabilitate himself as a leader, Warner’s sentence was an extraordinary life-long leadership ban, although the fairness of this has been debated ever since.

If Warner has a good run at the top of the order then Australia will win this series comfortably. Which is not to say they will not win if he doesn’t. It is a truth universally acknowledged that he goes better at home than away and the difference in performance is never greater than between English and Australian conditions.

It is hard to forget the horror of his 2019 visit to the home of the heavy cloud and deceitful Dukes; an average of nine gives some indication of the difficulties faced by the left hander. He did, however, score five half centuries on the previous tour. At home, Warner averages 60.

We’ve had bushfires, floods, pandemics and two captains stand down in tears since that last series.

The most significant change since the previous series is the rise and rise, then coronation of Sydney’s favourite son, Pat Cummins. The boy from the foothills of the Blue Mountains spent a lot of his life commuting from the family home he shared with four siblings and parents to training with Blues squads as a kid, but lives much closer these days.

If you cast your eyes over the modern succession of captains, it becomes apparent that the SCG is as fertile a breeding ground for leaders as it is for Test players.

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Clockwise from above: If David Warner has a good series with the bat, Australia will win the Ashes; Marnus Labuschagne is expected to play a starring role in the New Year’s Test; Joe Root played an innings of courage in the Fifth Test in Sydney in the 17/18 series.

Pictures: Phil Hillyard Pictures: If These Walls Could Talk/ Phil Hillyard

Before Cummins, Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, Michael Clarke and Steve Smith all came of age in these environs.

He is the first fast bowler to captain Australia since Ray Lindwall in 1956, which in a way is fitting. Lindwall was born in Mascot, not far from where Warner was raised. A smart fast bowler; some argue he is the inspiration for the modern quick.

Lindwall took 7-63 in the postwar Ashes at this ground. The only England batsman able to counter his pace and accuracy was Len Hutton who scored 122 at the top of the order but did not bat again as he was struck down by tonsillitis and returned home.

The thread of history is strong and it is said that it was Lindwall who took a young Alan Davidson aside early in his state career when he saw him bowl a short ball to a No.8. Lindwall asserted that a bouncer to a tailender was acknowledgment of the opponent’s skill and a signal of desperation from a quick.

Times have changed on that front, but the modern bowler is certainly more capable with the bat than some of those who have populated the lower orders through history.

Davidson’s career was commemorated at the SCG in December after the great servant of the game, on and off the field, passed away the previous month.

Lindwall led his country in just one Test match in India. The sparkling Cummins, however, is in for the long haul.

You know, the Ashes are like a great movie franchise.

The cast change subtly, the plots vary widely but each new instalment carries with it the gravitas of all those that preceded and the excitement of another twist, another turn, another summer that sears into our collective cricket memory.

JOE ROOT PROVED HIS METTLE, BATTLING A STOMACH BUG AND DEBILITATING HEAT IN ONE OF THE BRAVEST INNINGS OF HIS CAREER.

1876

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{ A SH E S H I STORY }

Return & urn

ENGLAND HEAD TO AUSTRALIA 140 YEARS AFTER THE TWO TEAMS FIRST MET IN A TEST AT THE SCG. HERE, A POTTED HISTORY OF THE GAME’S GREATEST RIVALRY, TOLD IN 10 MATCHES WORDS: GEOFF ARMSTRONG

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A huge crowd gathers on the SCG Hill in December 1901 for the First Ashes Test of the 1901-02 series, and (inset), W.G. Grace in action.

Main picture: Courtesy City of Sydney

I

t is no exaggeration to say that the Sydney Cricket Ground has been a part of the Ashes’ story from the very beginning. The concept of The Ashes originated in August 1882, after Billy Murdoch’s Australians beat England by seven runs in a Test at The Oval in London. Four days later, The Sporting Times published a mock obituary about the body of English cricket being cremated and its ashes being taken to Australia.

The English team led by the Hon. Ivo Bligh that toured Australia in 1882-83 set out to “regain the ashes”.

A tradition was born. As the story goes, after Bligh’s men defeated Murdoch’s team 2-1 in a three-match series — the first two games in Melbourne and the third in Sydney — some of Bligh’s local friends and admirers burnt a bail and put the ashes in a 10.5-centimetre terracotta urn and presented it to him. It became known as The Ashes and remains the trophy for England-Australia Test cricket.

Its fate was first decided in that Sydney Test, a dramatic game the tourists won by 69 runs despite a heroic bowling performance from Fred “The Demon” Spofforth, who took 11 wickets in the match.

Injury prevented Spofforth from appearing in the first two Australia-England Tests in Sydney, which were played in the latter stages of the 1881-82 season, six months before The Sporting Times published its famous death notice. The home team won both matches, with Victoria’s George “Joey” Palmer, who took 20 wickets in the course of the two games, and Percy McDonnell, who scored a stunning 147 out of an innings total of 260 in the second of the matches, establishing a standard for excellence that would become a feature of SCG Ashes Tests.

This summer’s game in Sydney is the 57th Test to be played between Australia and England at the SCG, dating back 140 years to those contests of early 1882.

There have been 27 home-town victories, 22 losses and seven draws. Here, quickly, is the story of Sydney’s Ashes Tests, a saga featuring an extraordinarily gifted cast of characters, told in 10 matches …

2 1903-04

{ FIRST TEST }

1 1894-95

{ FIRST TEST }

A surfeit of tours and interstate rivalries in the 1880s meant that cricket’s popularity was on the wane until Lord Sheffield brought a team led by W.G. Grace to Australia in 1891-92 that restored the public’s faith in the game and its players.

Three years later, a five-Test Ashes series began with an epic contest in Sydney, won by England after they’d conceded a first-innings lead of 261 runs and been forced to follow-on.

It was the first cricket Test played at the ground after it was announced in March 1894 that its name would change from the Association Ground to the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Local hero Syd Gregory scored 201, the first Test double century at the SCG, and at stumps on the fifth day the home team were cruising, 2-113 in their second innings chasing 177 for victory. But overnight rain drenched the pitch, the final eight wickets fell for 36 runs, and an “unlosable” Test was lost.

By the turn of the century, the top cricketers’ status as genuine celebrities was firmly established and after a brilliant performance in England in 1902, no Australian sportsman was more revered than Victor Trumper. R.E. “Tip” Foster’s 287 on his Test debut helped England to a huge first-innings lead, but Trumper’s magnificent 185 not out in reply was a class apart. Had Clem Hill not been controversially run out, a decision by umpire Bob Crockett that almost sparked a riot, it might have inspired a remarkable Australian win.

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{ FIRST TEST }

Australia dominated Ashes cricket in the first three series after the Great War, but by 1928-29, England were back in the ascendancy. They won the first Test in Brisbane by 675 runs and then piled on the runs in Sydney, with Wally Hammond scoring a majestic 251, the first of four Test hundreds (two of them doubles) he’d make at the ground.

The 58,446 crowd for day two remains the record for a Sydney Test. Australia’s 12th man was a Bowral boy named Don Bradman, who’d been dropped after making 18 and 1 in the series opener.

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4 1932-33

6 1974-75

“The Don” took run-getting to a new level in the UK in 1930, but he was out through illness when England captain Douglas Jardine launched his bodyline attack in December 1932. In Bradman’s absence, Stan McCabe produced arguably the greatest innings in SCG Ashes history, a thrilling unbeaten 187 that reached its climax during an amazing last-wicket partnership of 55 with Tim Wall, who was out for 4. Critics wondered if McCabe had found a counter to Jardine’s legtheory tactics, but Harold Larwood’s 10 wickets in this match and 33 for the series proved otherwise.

Australia won only one SCG Ashes Test — an Alan Davidson-inspired triumph in 1962-63 — from 1954 to 1971, but Ian Chappell’s team came into this Test, which began on January 4, seeking to regain the Ashes that had been lost in Sydney four years earlier. This they did, courtesy of centuries by Ian Redpath and Greg Chappell, the intimidating bowling of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, and an impressive lastday spell by off-spinner Ashley Mallett. The Sydney Ashes Tests had sometimes been played in the first week of January, but not always. Now it was entrenched.

{ FIRST TEST }

{ FOU RT H T EST }

7 1986–87

{ FIFTH TEST }

If the mid-1970s was a time of triumph for the Australian cricket, the mid-’80s was the exact opposite and by Christmas of 1986 Australian cricket was at a low ebb. The first sign of a resurgence came in Sydney in January 1987, when off-spinner Peter Taylor made his Test debut after playing just six first-class matches and took 6-78 and 2-76 as Allan Border’s men won a tense encounter with six balls to spare. England retained the urn, but this would be their last Ashes series win until 2005, and last in Australia until 2010-11.

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Don Bradman’s only Ashes century at the SCG occurred immediately after World War II, when he and Sid Barnes both scored 234 in an emphatic innings victory. Australia would also claim the Fifth Test in Sydney, Bradman’s second Ashes Test success at home, and then win again by an innings in 1950-51, when Keith Miller blazed a century and mystery spinner Jack Iverson took six second-innings wickets. When England won the Second Test in 1954-55, on the back of ferocious pace bowling from Frank “Typhoon” Tyson and despite some stirring batting heroics from Neil Harvey, it was their first victory in Sydney in 18 years.

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1998–99

{ FIFTH TEST }

Mark Taylor’s farewell Test match was an exhilarating contest, featuring fine batting from Steve and Mark Waugh, a hat-trick to England paceman Darren Gough (the first in an Ashes Test in Sydney since England’s Johnny Briggs in 1891-92), and a thrilling century by Michael Slater who, in the manner of Percy McDonnell in 1882, scored 123 of Australia’s second innings total of 184. Leg-spinner Stuart MacGill then became just the third local bowler after Charles “The Terror” Turner in 1887-88 and Herbert Hordern in 1911-12 to take 12 wickets in an SCG Ashes Test.

Justin Langer is chaired off the SCG by Brett Lee and Stuart Clark, just moments after the Australians secured a 5-0 Ashes sweep over England in 2006-07.

Picture: Gregg Porteous

Right: Stuart MacGill celebrates after taking 12 wickets in the Fifth Test at the SCG in 1998/99 series.

Picture: Phil Hillyard

9 2006-07

{ FIFTH TEST }

A long golden era for Australian cricket — which included eight straight Ashes series wins between 1989 and 2002-03 — ended in grand style, as Ricky Ponting’s team matched the “clean sweep” achievement of Warwick Armstrong’s Australians in 192021 and Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Justin Langer closed their celebrated Test careers on the perfect stage. England had won only one of the previous nine Ashes Tests in Sydney, their sole victory in that time remembered, ironically, not for the tourists’ exploits but for Steve Waugh’s last-ball-of-the-day century that made the final session of day two in 2002-03 one of the most fondly remembered afternoons in the SCG’s history.

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Who can forget Mitchell Johnson terrorising England with the ball, punishing them with the bat and all but scaring them off the Sydney Cricket Ground as the shadows fell on day three of the 2014 New Year’s Test.

The summer saw the very best of the left-arm tearaway: 37 wickets at 13.97 and the Compton-Miller Medal as player of the series.

When the tourists arrived in Sydney, Michael Clarke’s men held a 4-0 lead and had secured the urn for the first time since 2006-07. But that was not enough.

The same 11 Australian players who started the series in Brisbane took the field at the SCG against a broken and changed English lineup.

Steve Smith scored a first-innings century and Chris Rogers compiled his own in the second innings as England again failed with the bat.

Seven wickets fell in 52 minutes after tea on Jane McGrath Day and the series ledger was 5-0.

And in doing so, Clarke became just the third Australian captain to lead his side to a clean sweep alongside Warwick Armstrong and Ricky Ponting. The Hon. Ivo Blight’s terracotta urn was back in Australian hands. Emphatically.

This summer, the English team returns to Australia almost 140 years exactly since that first visit to the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Only four times have the tourists regained the Ashes on Australian soil, most recently in 1970-71 when Ray Illingworth’s team won a historic and controversial seventh Test at the SCG. That is the scale of the challenge England face this summer and, as ever, we’ll see history made at the SCG when the New Year’s Test begins on January 5, 2022.

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10 2013-14

{ FIFTH TEST }

Who can forget Mitchell Johnson terrorising England with the ball, punishing them with the bat and all but scaring them off the Sydney Cricket Ground as the shadows fell on day three of the 2014 New Year’s Test.

The summer saw the very best of the left-arm tearaway: 37 wickets at 13.97 and the Compton-Miller Medal as player of the series.

When the tourists arrived in Sydney, Michael Clarke’s men held a 4-0 lead and had secured the urn for the first time since 2006-07. But that was not enough.

The same 11 Australian players who started the series in Brisbane took the field at the SCG against a broken and changed English lineup.

Steve Smith scored a firstinnings century and Chris Rogers compiled his own in the second innings as England again failed with the bat. Seven wickets fell in 52 minutes after tea on Jane McGrath Day and the series ledger was 5-0.

And in doing so, Clarke became just the third Australian captain to lead his side to a clean sweep alongside Warwick Armstrong and Ricky Ponting.

The Hon. Ivo Blight’s terracotta urn was back in Australian hands. Emphatically.

This summer, the English team returns to Australia almost 140 years exactly since that first visit to the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Only four times have the tourists regained the Ashes on Australian soil, most recently in 1970-71 when Ray Illingworth’s team won a historic and controversial seventh Test at the SCG. That is the scale of the challenge England face this summer and, as ever, we’ll see history made at the SCG when the New Year’s Test begins on January 5, 2022.

Right: Mitchell Johnson celebrates the wicket of Alistair Cook during the Fifth Test at the SCG in the 2013/14 series.

Picture: Phil Hillyard

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Photographic memory BLINK AND YOU’LL MISS THE SHOT OF THE DAY, WRITES ACCLAIMED PHOTOGRAPHER PHIL HILLYARD, WHO HAS MANAGED TO CAPTURE MORE THAN HE HAS LET THROUGH, ESPECIALLY AT THE ASHES

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othing comes close to capturing the battle of a Test match, especially one against the old enemy.

The Ashes. I get goosebumps hearing those words. It brings back so many great memories for me, not just of what I have seen through my lens but also the childhood memories I have of cricket.

As a kid, I would fall asleep listening to the radio as the English commentators would take me away to Old Trafford, Lord’s or Headingley.

Richie, “Chappelli”, Tony and Bill were the voices synonymous with the Australian summer. If you were away from the television, Jimmy Maxwell and the good folk at ABC Radio’s Grandstand would get you through the day’s play.

I was hooked on cricket: listening to it, watching it, playing it, or when it came to my home town, going to it.

I pinch myself that I have had the opportunity to cover what was, arguably, the greatest-ever series of cricket to be played, the 2005 Ashes in England. It was a long tour that spanned 15 weeks, including the One Day Internationals. It came down to the final day of the fifth Test to decide the winner. It was incredible cricket.

Every one of those five Test matches was epic and I watched every ball from the edge of my seat.

Closer to home, I’ve also been lucky enough to witness so many of the great Ashes moments firsthand.

There have been few roars bigger than Steve “Tugga” Waugh’s last-ball century at the SCG in 2002-03. I couldn’t help but marvel throughout the 2006-07 series when the Aussies — brilliantly led by Ricky Ponting — obliterated the Poms. That was special.

And again in 2013-14 when Michael Clarke’s men won all five Tests with an unchanged lineup. To be here at the SCG, and to hang about the changerooms long enough to see Nathan Lyon convince the team to return to the centre wicket to sing the team song … there go the goosebumps again.

How good is Test cricket? When Day 1 arrives and the batsman walk out to take middle, that is it. From that point on, anything can happen.

As a photographer, I just take up my position and

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The Oval, 2005. Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne leave the field for the last time in an Ashes series. Taken at the end of the England innings during the Fifth Test.

I watch and wait. Patience is the key to being a good cricket photographer. It helps if you love the game, too.

It’s important to not go chasing the action, and to just let it unfold. I’m often asked, “Do you take a photo every ball?”. The answer is no. But I try and watch all of them, as you never know when the “story of the day” moment will happen.

While my journo mates up in the air-conditioned press box get to watch replay after replay while snacking on party pies, I get to see it only once. There are no second chances. Miss it and it’s gone. It’s a horrible feeling when that happens.

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But on the flip side, nailing the moment when a match is on a knife’s edge: now that’s what it’s all about for me. Recording those moments in history. It’s a great feeling, flicking through the pictures and seeing you’ve got it, while it’s still sinking in to the crowd what’s just happened.

I especially love it at the SCG. The light, the shadows, the old, the new and the intimacy of its crowd. It is such a special place, and in some way, I feel connected to what is going on out in the middle.

Staring down the barrel of my 600mm lens, watching it in close-up, it’s as though I’m peering into the inner

thoughts of the players. I see their concentration as they talk to themselves. I sense their pressure and I can feel their disappointments. I also share in their highs.

Test cricket is the greatest sport of all, and The Ashes is the ultimate.

PODCAST Phil Hillyard talks about these great Ashes moments SCAN QR CODE

Phil Hillyard is one of Australia’s greatest sports photographers.

He was a staff photographer for News Corp for 30 years and has won nine Walkley awards, six Kennedy awards and twice been named Australian press photographer of the year. In 2014 he was named a Canon master photographer. Hillyard is originally from South Australia but now calls Sydney home.

PHILHILLYARD.COM

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Left: The Sydney Cricket Ground, 2014.

The clock strikes midnight on the Members Pavilion as Nathan Lyon leads the Australian team in their victory song back out on the pitch after their 5-0 series defeat of England in the 2013-14 series.

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Right: Lord’s, 2005.

Andrew Flintoff has his off stump ripped out of the ground by Glenn McGrath on Day 1 of the First Test.

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Clockwise from far left:

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Lord’s 2005. Glenn McGrath celebrates his 500th Test wicket in the First Test, dismissing Marcus Trescothick, caught Justin Langer, at third slip. The Lord’s Members Pavilion is in the background.

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Sydney Cricket Ground, 2003. Steve Waugh’s epic last-ball-of-theday century in the Fifth Test.

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Trent Bridge, 2005.

Andrew Strauss takes a spectacular full-length diving catch to dismiss Adam Gilchrist off the bowling of Andrew Flintoff.

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Trent Bridge, 2005. After losing the Fourth Test to England, Adam Gilchrist — having a bad series with the bat — sits on the dressing-room balcony.

In the return series in Australia, Gilchrist turned the tables by smashing a century in 57 balls, right.

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The Oval, 2005. Andrew Flintoff — who had an amazing series for England — starts the celebrations with Champagne at the presentation after England won The Ashes.

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Adelaide Oval, 2006. Mike Hussey celebrates the winning runs in the Second Test, as Australia pull off an incredible victory in the 2006-07 series.

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Sydney Cricket Ground, 2014.

Michael Clarke’s victorious Australian team celebrate their 5-0 clean sweep of England in the 2013-14 series. Australia played all five Tests with an unchanged team.

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SEAN ABBOTT fast & furious The Sydney Sixers are chasing a third straight Big Bash League title and this year, they’ll have the backing of a packed SCG WORDS: RYAN SELVAGE

The Sydney Sixers this summer hope to become the first franchise in Big Bash League history to claim three successive championships.

After a tough and testing season spent on the road last year, the Sixers return to the SCG to host five matches, headlined by a Sydney Smash showdown with crosstown rivals the Thunder on Saturday, January 15, 2022.

Interstate travel restrictions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic saw all Sixers home matches moved away from Sydney last season. But that was only until a twist of fate saw the competition decider return to New South Wales to be played in front of more than 25,000 fans at the SCG last February. The Sixers emerged back-to-back champions after the drama-filled finale.

“It felt like there was twice as many people in there than what there actually was,” Sixers player Sean Abbott says. “We had an unbelievable home-ground advantage in the final, and we’d love to experience that as many times as possible this season.

“It took us a while, a fair chunk of the summer, just to roll with the punches and to learn to take every day as it comes. It’s a little bit of a cliché, but we just tried to focus on not worrying too much about the future and took it as what ever happened, we’ll deal with it.

“So, when we heard the news that we were coming home and were going to play the final in front of our friends and family, it was obviously

a huge boost to everybody’s morale.

It was a really special night for all who were there.”

Not since the Perth Scorchers won back-to-back titles between 2013 and 2015 has a franchise had a shot at bagging a hat-trick of trophies.

But buoyed by their faithful fans this summer, the men in magenta are poised to add another piece of silverware to what is already a bulging trophy cabinet.

Abbott says the playing group is unfazed by the prospect of being the “hunted” ones again, and is instead keen to confront the chance of adding to the Sixers BBL legacy head on.

“For us, winning three in a row and going outright first with the number of trophies in the cabinet, it’d be unbelievably special,” he says.

“It’s definitely something that will get spoken about, but there’s a lot of cricket to be played between now and then. And it’s going to be tough because everyone’s going to be hunting us down again this year.” sydneysixers.com.au

JANUARY

15, 2022 SY DN EY SI X ERS vs SY DN EY T H U N DER SCG, 7.40pm

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{ I F T H E S E WA L L S C O U L D T A L K }

DISPATCHES FROM THE DRESSING ROOM TWO OF CRICKET’S GREATEST CHARACTERS LOOK AT BACK AT THE SECRETS, STORIES AND LESSONS OF THE PLAYERS’ SCG SANCTUARY, IN THIS EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT FROM ANDREW WEBSTER’S NEW BOOK

A

lan Davidson and Neil Harvey have as deep an affinity with this Sydney Cricket Ground home dressing room as any sportsperson can have. On February 20, 1963, at stumps on the final day of the Fifth Ashes Test against England, they walked from the field, up the stairs and past standing and applauding members, into this room and into retirement. Now, nearly 60 years later, over a long lunch in the home dressing room, they tell us what the walls will not.

“Memories live longer than dreams,” says Davidson, the boy who went from Lisarow to Lord’s and back again, having played 44 Tests, taking 186 wickets and scoring 1328 runs. “That’s the biggest thing about coming back to this place. I can remember every game that I ever played, every incident, every shot.”

Harvey, the left-handed attacking batsman from Victoria who scored 6149 runs in 79 Tests, can similarly remember the times spent on this ground and inside these walls.

“Always do, when I come here,” Harvey says. “When I got out of the car on Driver Avenue, it all came flooding back — although the ground seems a hell of a lot smaller.

You feel closed in now because of the new stands.”

Over the next few hours, sitting in the players’ viewing room with its large windows allowing us to look out over the empty sun-bathed playing surface, Davidson and Harvey transport us back to another time when the scoreboard didn’t run on electricity, nobody was desperate to connect to the WiFi network, and the beer was full strength. It came in a can, not a plastic cup.

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This is an edited extract from If These Walls Could Talk: A Celebration of the Sydney Cricket Ground,

by Andrew Webster (Stoke Hill Press, $49.99).

“The captain would come out here, into this viewing area, and meet with the journalists after stumps — but they were the only people who came in here,” Davidson recalls, before pointing to a door deeper into the dressing room. “Only the players were allowed inside that room. That was our sanctuary. One of the rare times someone else was allowed here was when Robert Menzies came in for a photograph before a match.”

Menzies, it should be pointed out, was the prime minister at the time.

“We never really had anyone come in after stumps,” Harvey continues. “Maybe the opposition players, but nobody from outside. Bradman, after he’d retired and become a selector, would sometimes come in before play started if he was the selector on duty. But outside of him I can’t recall anyone other than the players being in this room.”

Davidson waves a finger towards the dressing room again. “See those two massage tables in there?” he says.

“Richie and I would sit there and listen when we were the younger players of the team.” That’s Richie Benaud, who went on to captain Australia.

“There was Miller, Lindwall, Morris …”

Keith Miller. Ray Lindwall. Arthur Morris …

“Richie and I planted ourselves in that corner and we’d listen, listen, listen. They’d talk over the whole day’s play and we learned more in those times than we did in the middle. That’s where we learned so much about the game.”

Harvey, who was a 19-year-old in Bradman’s 1948 Invincibles side that conquered all opposition when

it toured England, was also smart enough to keep his mouth shut and his ears open as he learnt about the art of Test cricket.

“I would sit there after stumps and not say a word,” he chuckles, indeed an irony for those who know of Harvey’s candid views in later years to newspaper reporters about the modern-day game and its players. “You’d take your boots and socks off and listen to them talk about the game. And that’s how I learned, too. The best advice Bradman gave me was to hit the ball along the ground.

That way, you could never get caught. Pretty simple.”

The walls won’t talk but they do carry the honour boards that list every Australian player to score a century or take five wickets in an innings since the first Test played at this ground in February 1882. There’s Harvey’s 190 against South Africa in the Third Test in 1952-53 — an innings that set up Australia’s victory by an innings and 38 runs. There had been questions around this time about what was going to happen to Australia’s top order after Bradman and others had retired. The answer came in the form of a pocket-sized dynamo, standing at 5 feet 7 inches (170cm), with dark hair slicked back, sleeves rolled up, dispatching Red Kings to all parts of the ground, with every shot in the textbook, played with ferocity or elegance depending on the situation.

“There’s your name up there, Davo,” Harvey says.

“What for?”

“I took two five-fors here,” Davidson replies.

Those who saw Davidson bowl will tell you he was poetry in motion when bowling fast-medium. If he was cranky, though, he could be as quick as any other bowler

in the world at the time. “Deadly and devastating,” Keith Miller said of Davidson’s fast bowling. “Lightning fast when the mood took him,” West Indies great Sir Garfield Sobers once offered. And this from former Australian spinner Ashley Mallett: “Davidson, the cricketer, was a big man with broad shoulders, and he needed them, because for years he carried the Australian pace attack.”

“I was never as fast as Jeff Thomson,” says Davidson, referring to the Australian fast bowler widely considered the quickest of them all. “But who was?”

Davidson’s first five-wicket haul came almost a decade after he made his Test debut, in the Third Test against Frank Worrell’s West Indies team in 1960-61.

He’d already been involved in the frantic scenes at the Gabba in Brisbane earlier in the series when the Test was tied with Davidson scoring 80, with a broken finger, before he was run out late on the fifth day.

In Sydney, he took 5/80 in the first innings, including the prized wicket of Sobers, but Australia were still crushed by 222 runs.

Until this point, Davidson had never won a Test at his beloved SCG. He eventually did so two years later, in the Third Test against England, and he marked it with a second five-wicket performance.

Davidson and Harvey both announced during the 1962-63 Ashes series that it would be their last. They would retire after the Fifth Test, also to be played in Sydney, and when it came time for the two teams to make their way onto the ground at the start of the match, Benaud — who by then was the Australian

Neil Harvey and Alan Davidson pictured in the SCG home dressing room reminiscing about the final day of the Fifth Ashes Test in 1963.

Picture: Gregg Porteous

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captain — stopped at the white picket fence and let the two players take the field ahead of anyone else. The skipper started to gently applaud, and the rest of the players followed.

Few people recall with fondness the first day’s play that followed as England scratched around after losing early wickets. But they remember that enduring image of “Davo” and “Ninna” moving out onto the SCG: Harvey on the left (as the photographers on the field looked at them) with his arm reaching up and around Davidson’s broad shoulders, both of them smiling and in step with each other.

“I remember it well,” Davidson smiles. “We goosestepped out the gate.”

T

hey weren’t always in step with each other, arm in arm and playing for the same team. They certainly weren’t on January 26, 1957, when NSW hosted Victoria in a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG. In those days, matches between the two states were played with the intensity of a Test but there was added tension heading into this fixture. A draw would secure NSW the title but, perhaps more than that, Victoria had its nose firmly out of joint after the experienced Harvey, who was 28 at the time, missed out on the Australian captaincy to NSW’s 21-year-old skipper Ian Craig.

When the two captains came onto the field for the coin toss, Harvey knew he wanted to bowl, having earlier inspected the pitch.

“We tossed and I lost as usual,” Harvey recalls. “Ian said, ‘You can bat’. In those days, the wickets were very green, very grassy. It would seam beautifully.”

Losing the toss was bad enough but Harvey’s morning became far worse when he returned to the dressing room, where he was greeted by his great friend and teammate, all-rounder Sam Loxton.

“We’ve got a problem,” Loxton said.

Opener Colin McDonald had attempted a sweep shot while practising in the nets, missed the ball and taken it square on the nose, which was duly broken. It was so bad that an ambulance was called. McDonald was taken to nearby St Vincent’s Hospital. Bill Lawry was Victoria’s 12th man, so they had an obvious replacement to open the batting if NSW and Craig allowed a late change to the team.

“Go down to the other room and tell him what’s happened and that you want to change the side,” Loxton advised Harvey. “I’m sure he’ll do it.”

Harvey walked through the members’ bar, knocked on the home team’s door and politely asked the question.

“You can’t do it,” Craig said.

“Bugger you,” Harvey snapped back, the door slamming shut behind him.

Recalls Harvey: “I stalked back through the members’ bar and into our dressing room and said, ‘Come on, Lenny [Maddocks]. You and I are opening the batting’. It was only the second time I’d opened in firstclass cricket in my life.”

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Clockwise from above: The two legends head back onto hallowed turf; this famous photograph immortalised the moment the pair headed out onto the pitch for the last time as captain Richie Benaud (at rear) held the rest of the team back; Harvey in action.

Back in the NSW dressing-room, Craig was shaking his head about the audacity of Harvey’s request.

Both Davidson and Benaud noticed something was troubling him.

“What’s happened, Craigy?” Davidson asked.

“Harvey wants to change his team,” Craig said.

“And I told him he can’t.”

Davidson and Benaud looked at each other, bewildered. “You’re bloody joking,” they said.

Recalls Davidson: “We were standing right in this spot where we’re eating lunch now. We couldn’t believe it. We knew what would happen. He was going to carve us up. When Neil Harvey started to strut, you knew you were in trouble.”

Oh, Harvey strutted. He strutted out into the middle that morning and was still there deep into the second session, strutting up and down the wicket between deliveries as he punished Craig for refusing his request.

“We took the second new ball at 10 minutes past two o’clock that afternoon,” Davidson says. The rules of the day allowed a bowling team to take a second new ball when their opponents’ total reached 200. “One of my secrets was to bowl a perfect delivery with the first ball. I could always pitch my first ball in the right spot. On this day, I bowled the most perfect outswinger; started it on leg and middle stump, and this little bastard just stepped back and went, ‘Bang!’ It hit the fence in front of the Ladies Stand and bounced back about 10 yards into the field of play. I thought, ‘Oh God’.

By 5.05pm, he was on 209.”

Andrew Webster’s If These Walls Could Talk (Stoke Hill Press) was released on November 10, 2021. It is a celebration of the SCG focusing on 10 of the most significant moments at the ground over the past 60 years.

Alan Davidson passed away on October 30, 2021 (The All-Rounder Like No Other, p38)

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{ A L A N K E I T H D AV I D S O N , 1929 -2 021 }

T he all-rounder like no other ALAN “DAVO” DAVIDSON EMERGED FROM A HUMBLE CHILDHOOD TO BECOME A GREAT AMONG GREATS. RODNEY CAVALIER RECOUNTS THE LIFE OF A LEGEND AND A FRIEND

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F

inal day, Fourth Test, Manchester, 1961. The series at 1-1. England well on top. Australia started its second innings 177 runs behind, but was in the game because Bill Lawry — in his first series — had scored a fighting century to give the tourists a chance.

Lead was just on 150. Four wickets in hand. Far, far from enough.

The Australians had hopes for a good deal more runs to make England score quickly for a victory, not a skill the English players had demonstrated in the series. Chasing victory opens the door to defeat.

The opening overs demolished those hopes when we lost three wickets for two runs. England could taste the Ashes. A full day’s play was ahead. Weather was fine.

Conditions were not normal for Manchester.

The Ashes were at stake. So was the historical standing of Richie Benaud, Australia’s captain since 1958-59. Benaud had led Australia to victories in the Ashes of that summer and in series against Pakistan, India and the West Indies. Magnificent as those achievements were, Benaud knew all that had happened was going to be discounted if Australia did not win in England.

Benaud was well-versed in the history of the game, having been part of the Ashes squads that failed in 1953 and 1956. The 1948 side, led by D.G. Bradman, loomed large. The Invincibles were not remote legends to most of the 1961 players. Neil Harvey, vice-captain to Benaud, had been there in 1948. Most of the others were playing Sheffield Shield and Tests as the players in the 1961 side were making their first-class debuts. Bradman and the Invincibles cast a shadow over Australia in the 1950s, and domestic victories were not of themselves sufficient to lift the shadow of England. Success there would enable the generation of postwar Test cricketers to come into their own.

Nine wickets down. Australia was a long way from despair. The not-out batsman was Alan Keith Davidson, age 32, selected primarily as a quick but who was more than handy with the bat. By any reckoning, Davidson — lovingly known as Davo — was an all-rounder. Davidson and Benaud had first encountered one other as schoolboys in opposing sides, where the ability of each was obvious to the other. If anyone in Australian cricket understood the stakes it was Davidson. If anyone would find unknown reserves for his skipper and friend, it was Davidson.

And so cometh the hour.

The last man in was Graham McKenzie — just a kid, no reputation as a batsman — playing in only his third Test. The veteran met the kid before he reached the wicket. Davidson told him to take it easy, keep the ball out of his wicket, leave the scoring to him. But the kid

Above: In retirement, pictured with Neil Harvey at the SCG, Davidson remained a first-class administrator; as a bowler (main image), he was as adept with the ball as he was with the bat. Over the course of his career, he claimed 186 wickets in 44 Tests for an average of 20.53.

Pictures: If These Walls Could Talk/ Phil Hillyard

knew more about his abilities than anyone and decided to chance it.

McKenzie met the first ball on a good length with a square drive and sent it quickly to the boundary.

Davidson died several deaths. The stroke seemed to settle McKenzie.

Davidson then changed the compass of the morning, the day, the Test and the Ashes, setting about David Allen, destroyer of the Australian innings.

Listening on ABC radio was a boy of 12 in the Sydney suburb of Putney, then in his first year of high school. He was in a lather of worry, a condition that has become normalised (though no less distressing) whenever the Ashes appear in danger of being lost. Back then there was no frame of reference, no memory bank, no matrix for scaling life’s disappointments; just the darkness of a bedroom in Putney and a radio concealed beneath the blankets in a valiant attempt to deceive his father that he was asleep.

Darkness and dread to make sense of what shortwave was transmitting. Interference came from radio signals anywhere in Europe — steamers in the Bay of Bengal, anything, anywhere that was using shortwave. Too much sound at the ground occasioned crackling. In the previous overs, the crackling had meant a crowd roaring in delight at dismissals. The transmission would resume mid-sentence, with horror phrases such as “… a forlorn sight as another Australian returns to the pavilion.

England can almost taste the Ashes now”. Three of those proclamations by way of crackle and static. Now another.

The crackle took no less long to clear. Yet the clear signal revealed a different circumstance. Mid-sentence the broadcast became coherent: “… it’s gone so far that a relay is required to get the ball back”. Davidson had lofted the ball way beyond the boundary. The roar had overwhelmed the equipment. Thrice more in that over did the transmission become crackle. Davidson scored two sixes and two fours. He hit Allen out of the attack.

The decision to withdraw Allen showed poor judgment

by England captain Peter May; such hitting will not usually last long.

The 10th wicket added 98. In the passage of 60 years and several hundreds of Tests since, no play has so thrilled me as that glorious defiance of Davidson and McKenzie.

(I rank the stand of Mackay and Kline against the West Indies in 1960-61 as its equal for tension.)

Thanks to excellent commentary and the universal grammar of cricket, I saw every stroke with perfect clarity in that darkness enlivened by static.

The lead gave Australia a fighting chance that became victory when Benaud elected to bowl around the wicket.

A magnificent 76 by Ted Dexter meant a draw was not possible; Australia could deny England only by winning.

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{ A L A N K E I T H D AV I D S O N , 1929 -2 021 } Benaud spun Australia to an unlikely victory. Australia won the Test and the Ashes. Davidson finished the Test by sending a delivery that came between bat and pad of Brian Statham to hit the stumps. Never take the 10th wicket for granted when the tail can see the end of play.

Davidson didn’t. Davidson did not bounce Brian Statham.

Never ever did he bounce a tail-ender.

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lan Keith Davidson was born on June 14, 1929 in Lisarow on the NSW Central Coast, some 100 kilometres north of Sydney. The exact designation is a matter of friendly dispute: a reputable Ourimbah native who has represented Australia abroad notes that Davidson was born on the border of the two settlements, on the Ourimbah side.

Alan was the first of three children born to Keith and Hilda Aileen Davidson (née Clifton). One of his many blessings was growing up inside a vibrant cricket culture. His grandfather, Paddy Clifton, a timber cutter, recounted tales of the deeds of Victor Trumper. There is no finer off-field cricket education than stories about the finest cricketer in the history of the game.

Lisarow Public was a two-teacher school with 40 pupils, a number sufficient to field an XI. Davidson was a left-hand leg spinner. Like so many boys growing up outside Sydney with plenty of space, he refashioned the backyard to build his own pitch out of the side of a hill.

Backyard games were against himself.

At the same time in the small town of Jugiong in southern NSW, Richie Benaud, son of a schoolteacher, was using a disused classroom to hone his bowling.

Davidson was a natural athlete, a left-hand cricketer who played serious tennis and rugby league with his right hand and kicked with his right foot. He could kick well off either boot. For writing he used his right hand.

Matches against Ourimbah Public were of moment.

Ourimbah may contest bragging rights about place of birth; there is no dispute about schooling. Davidson graduated to Gosford High. He was good enough to be selected for a combined Northern High Schools XI that played a Sydney High Schools XI, which is when he and Benaud met. The Sydney XI also included Graeme Hole, a future Test player. I have heard Benaud outline Davidson’s schoolboy and junior cricket performances; they were staggering. A haul in 1947 of 37 wickets at a cost of 4.3 is indicative that A.K. Davidson was a cricketer out of the ordinary yet not good enough to gain selection for the Combined Country NSW XI. His first job was as a clerk with the Commonwealth Bank with a wage of £2,18s,6d per week. His memoir included that number. Davidson was conscious all his life of money and its purchasing power; conscious of how little he was earning.

He trialled at Gordon District Cricket Club. By then he was a left-arm quick with a rare ability to swing the ball both ways in the air and off the pitch. Northern Districts invited Davidson to join their first-grade side.

The club was Sydney’s most northern and the most

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“WE HAD COME 12,000 MILES FOR THIS DAY AND ALL THE OTHER MATCHES THAT LED UP TO IT HAD BEEN GRADUALLY OBLITERATED AS THIS GREAT GAME OF CRICKET UNWOUND TO ITS GRIPPING CONCLUSION.”

convenient for a Central Coast boy.

Competition was intense. State and Test players were turning out for their clubs on the weekends they did not have higher duties. An easy game was not on the program.

Consistently good performances brought a player to the attention of the state selectors. Davidson’s aim, shared with hundreds, was to play for NSW and Australia. Few went the distance.

For the match against the redoubtable St George side, Davidson was facing the Tiger himself, W.J. O’Reilly. St George included { R I C H I E B E N AU D, A TA L E O F Arthur Morris, world’s best opening T WO T ESTS (HODDE R A N D batsman, and Ray Lindwall, finest S T O U G H T O N , 19 6 2) } fast bowler in the world. Boarding the wrong train brought him to Hurstville Oval half an hour late. The Tiger was so confident of his bowlers that he declared the St George innings at 6-175 in search of an outright. Davidson survived Lindwall to find himself facing O’Reilly. He then committed the worst possible offence for a batsman facing the Tiger: he lashed out and connected. Next delivery, O’Reilly beat batsman and keeper to enable Davidson to scamper to the nonstriker’s end. Davidson then committed the second-worst offence by attempting to engage the Tiger in friendly conversation. “Listen son,” O’Reilly growled, “you’re out here to bat, not to talk.” One can be certain that a verbatim transcript would reveal copious lashings of salt in the O’Reilly reply.

A season’s performance of 40 wickets at 14 staked a claim on state selection. Davidson was top of grade averages and the youngest player to have been top performer. Another 31 wickets forced his way into the NSW side in 1949-50. Australia’s best were touring South Africa.

Davidson made his first-class debut against South Australia in Adelaide on December 16, 1949 in a NSW side notable for the absence of Test players. Benaud was another vying for advancement. Captain Ron James had played in the Shield before the war in which he served.

Veterans of that recent war dominated the state sides.

Davidson opened the bowing with Tom Brooks, a future Test umpire. Davidson broke the opening stand on his way to 4-32. South Australia’s second innings brought him back to earth. A figure of 0-90 was the worst hammering he had known.

His SCG debut was later that month, going into the new year against Queensland. He achieved a haul of six wickets for the match, followed by another six wickets in the return fixture against South Australia.

In the same crowded month of January 1950, Davidson registered his first five-for: 5-28 off 11 overs against Victoria. His batting had not delivered an innings of

note. NSW, with an interim captain and makeshift team, won the Shield decisively.

Davidson was selected for a tour of New Zealand, part of an Australian XI that mixed young players of promise with proven veterans. In a non-first-class game against Wairarapa, Davidson achieved 10 wickets in an innings and a score of 157.

Yet Davidson remained well outside Test contention. The settled XI had three outstanding quicks in Ray Lindwall, Keith Miller and Bill Johnston and several others outside the XI with Test credentials and better claims.

The 1950-51 season offered the opportunities of a touring England side; the return of Test players no less closed down opportunities. Lindwall and Miller returned to the colours of NSW. Morris resumed the captaincy.

Their joint return had an immediate impact on Davidson’s role in the side. In the first match of the season Morris used Davidson as fourth change bowler. He was far from impaired, instead always in the ranks to serve his team’s needs. Davidson returned 7-49 off 19.6 overs. Getting past 30 with the bat however was eluding him.

Davidson was getting wickets in just about every innings until MCC played NSW. He was 12th man against Victoria. In 1952-53 Davidson missed the early matches for NSW. He remained outside the Test selectors’ interest.

A good 1952-53 brought him into the 1953 Ashes squad. A season haul of 41 wickets (fifth best in

Davidson presents a NSW cap to a young Josh Hazlewood for his debut at the SCG on November 13, 2008. At 17, Hazlewood was the youngest bowler in NSW history.

Picture: Phil Hillyard

aggregate) plus the disposition of the selectors to send youth to England landed Davidson in the touring squad of 17 along with Benaud, Ron Archer, Ian Craig and Colin McDonald. The coming series commanded a vast following in both nations. It was five years since the Australians had toured, the first time in 23 years without Bradman. England gave itself a chance.

English conditions suited Davidson. He impressed sufficiently in the county and other games to be selected for the First Test. He scored a century against Somerset, his first in first-class cricket. He captured 50 first-class wickets for the tour at 20.96. In the Tests Davidson did not shine. Lindsay Hassett, Australian skipper, was playing him as late as fifth change. He played in all five Tests for only eight wickets. He was in the side for another reason — containment. Consider the following: 2-22 off 15 overs; 0-7 off five; 1-25 off 10.5; 0-13 off 14; 1-23 off 20.4; 2-36 off 29.3; 0-26 off 10. An innings of 76 was his only innings of note. We who knew only Davidson the spearhead cannot imagine him as a container.

When fit, Davidson became a fixture in the Australian XI. In the series to come he became strike bowler and spearhead of the Australian attack. Under the captaincy of Benaud, Davidson came into his own.

He was taking match-winning hauls at minimal cost.

Against England in 1958-59 there were 24 wickets at 19.0. Against the West Indies in 1960-61 he took 33 wickets in just four Tests at 18.54. Without Davidson in 1876

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{ A L A N K E I T H D AV I D S O N , 1929 -2 021 } the Fourth Test, Australia was floundering. After the 1961 Ashes tour, Wisden proclaimed Davidson as one of the five cricketers of the year.

One can employ statistics to make all sorts of claims.

One thesis that bespeaks much else is how different cricket was before 1914 compared with the game it became after 1918. Before 1914 only one batsman (who played five or more Tests) had an average above 50 — Jack Hobbs. The two greatest fast bowlers of all time belong to the 19th century — S.F. Barnes (189 wickets in 27 Tests at 16.43) and The Demon, Fred Spofforth (94 wickets in 18 Tests at 18.41).

Before 1914, 10 bowlers with at least 50 wickets achieved an average per wicket below 20; after 1918 just two — Bert Ironmonger and Frank Tyson.

Alan Davidson belongs in that company. He claimed 186 wickets in 44 Tests for an average per wicket of 20.53. The numbers place him 15th in the all-time records. What might he have achieved if Richie had not needed to call on Davidson time and again to stop the opposition’s progress.

Never for a sustained period did he have the benefit of hunting in pairs, better still threes. Ray Lindwall was coming to an end as Davidson was becoming the champion wicket-taker. Fine quicks of the calibre of Pat Crawford, Ian Meckiff, Gordon Rorke and Frank Misson did not endure (for no reason of their own making).

Graham McKenzie arrived as Davidson was winding down. Together they won the 1961 series — with bat, it transpired, as well as ball. (Reflect that, but for a tip from Frank Worrell, the chairman of selectors may not have placed McKenzie under scrutiny late in the season.)

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he Tied Test of 1960-61 was Davidson’s Test.

He became the first player in 502 Tests to take 10 wickets and score 100 runs. Break that down.

Bowling performances of 5-135 with Sobers rampant and 6-87. Innings of 44 and 80 batting at no.7. The Test appeared lost when Benaud joined Davidson at 6-92.

With controlled hitting, astute placement and stolen singles, the pair added 134 to take Australia within seven runs of victory.

Davidson, never afraid to retell the past as his own, blamed Benaud for running him out. The need for daring singles had passed. Each had their eye in.

Davidson reckoned he could have finished the match with boundaries. Instead, Benaud called him for a run with the risk too high. Joe Solomon intercepted the ball and Davidson was gone. The final over featured three dismissals and a dropped catch. Scores level. No one was quite sure of the result.

After-match celebrations between the two sides at the Gabba were the most powerful Davidson ever experienced. The players drank heartily without getting drunk, exchanged stories of the five days past, relished the company of everyone in the room. Time stood still. “I sometimes wonder how the evening could have ended,” Davidson reflected. “It was a long, long

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“I SOMETIMES WONDER HOW THE EVENING COULD HAVE ENDED, IT WAS A LONG, LONG MOMENT OF HAPPINESS UNRESTRAINED.”

moment of happiness unrestrained.”

In assessing the greatest allrounders, Alan Davidson is among them. In two of the greatest Tests Australia has played – the Tied Test of 1960 and Manchester 1961 – Davidson was central to the outcomes. Without Davo, Australia was a significantly reduced force, a truth that the selectors had to be computing as 1962-63 unfolded.

He retired as a Test cricketer { D AV D I S O N R E F L E C T I N G after the Fifth Test of 1962-63, a AFTER THE TIED TEST OF most unhappy series for all. I was 19 6 0 - 61 } one of maybe 100 sitting on the Hill as the game ambled to a close.

It is rare for a Sydney crowd to be booing Australia. That afternoon they did. Davidson had the satisfaction of knowing that Australia’s only win in a 1-1 drawn series was built on his 5-25 at the SCG in the Third Test.

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etirement from the field of play freed him to pursue a career in cricket administration. All of it honorary with minor expenses. In his memoir, Fifteen Paces, Davidson noted that cricket will not keep you in later years. He had moved from his job with the bank to a long innings with Rothmans National Sports Foundation, a major sponsor of cricket until legislation prevented all tobacco advertising.

He could and did recite the pittance then paid top players. For a tour of England the players received a weekly payment of £25 taxable. Shield players were paid £3/10/- per day out of which they had to pay for dry cleaning and fares to the ground. He once rattled off for me his total earnings from cricket in pounds, shillings and pence. The number was something above £14,000.

Davidson could be resentful of the huge sums paid modern players not within cooee of his ability.

He served a term of 33 years as President of the NSW Cricket Association and 20 years as an member-elected Trustee of the Sydney Cricket Ground.

When the elected position was restored after falling into abeyance for 38 years, Davidson was considered a certainty to win the ballot.

As NSW Cricket president, he saw it as his duty to get out and about to encourage the game by whatever means his presence might achieve. He travelled the state to attend club and district meetings. For finals in city and country games, you could count on him being present to hand over the trophies and make a speech. In one year alone he attended 240 cricket functions. He relished all obligations as part of a job. The Alan Davidson Shield, named in his honour, is played for by schools in NSW. He was host of lunches and afternoon teas for NSW Shield games, for Tests in Sydney and one-dayers. He was a gracious, attentive host. It is safe to assert that Alan Davidson presided over more lunches and afternoon teas

than any person in the long history of the Sydney Cricket Ground. Consider all the Tests and other games played over four and five days in 33 years. Davo was always there.

After he ceased to be the NSW Cricket president, he exercised his right as a former Trustee to attend Trustee lunches and events. His presence brought joy. Davidson was never shy about talking of the past and no less shy in highlighting his role in great times past.

I was greatly excited to receive an invitation to be a guest of the NSW Cricket Association for lunch during the Fifth Test of 1986-87. My first ever from anyone.

Not knowing anything of the private Alan Davidson, I brought up my rich memories of listening to the 1961 partnership with Garth McKenzie. What was that like?

Cue the orchestra, clear all commercial breaks. Davo was unbound. I was spellbound. With calm authority, he described each of the six deliveries of David Allen 25 and a half years earlier, described the ball coming out of

On December 12, 1962, Davidson scratched out 40 from 104 balls against England at the MCG. England won the Test by seven wickets but Australia went onto win the next Test in Sydney, retaining the Ashes in a drawn series.

Picture: News Ltd

Allen’s hand, where the field was placed, his feet moving into position, the lusty measured swing, culminating with his finger pointing to where on the SCG the hits landed at Old Trafford.

Character flaw it may be but I could not hear the story too often. The same with Lindsay Kline’s account of the fight for a draw in Adelaide 1961. It is anchored forever in my memory alongside tales of blood and thunder by Gough Whitlam, Neville Wran and Jack Ferguson. So much did I enjoy the story of Manchester that I set up its retelling by asking Davo the question. I was as hooked the 20th time as the first. For those hearing afresh, especially my contemporaries who lived the potential nightmare in bed in 1961, the experience was sublime.

Davidson loved telling stories and he loved to act them out. He used index finger and middle finger on his left hand to enact a ball in flight and its course upon landing.

His body swayed as he related facing a dangerous delivery. His only prop was a round bread roll. He could hold it and fondle it, reveal his grip and demonstrate the arc of delivery. One lunch Bob Radford, wag and longterm secretary of the association, substituted torpedo rolls unnoticed by Davidson. When the moment came, and the moment always came, that Davo needed a roll to demonstrate a delivery, he handled the roll and dropped it in one action. Onlookers doubled over.

Ask him what was the best delivery he ever saw or the best ball he ever bowled and Davidson was in his element.

The answer was the same. One did not make the mistake, as one friend did, of recalling Sobers cover-driving him for six. That was Ian Meckiff, he reminded the errant.

His assessments of past players were fixed. Best batsman in the other side: Len Hutton. Best Australian batsman (excluding Bradman): Neil Harvey. Best wicket keeper: Don Tallon (“he never dived, he didn’t need to”).

Best captain: Richie Benaud.

To most questions, he began with “I’m glad you asked that”. Anyone at his table was glad of the asking and more glad for the answering. Davo put as much into his answers as he put into the field of play and administration.

In 1950 Davo met Betty McKinley, a bank customer who worked in a pharmacy nearby. They became engaged in 1951 and married in 1952. They moved into a home in Strathfield the same year and remained there for all of his days. They were blessed with two sons, Neil (named after Neil Harvey) and Ian. Alan Keith Davidson died on October 30, 2021 in Sydney. His family was by his side.

Note on sources I found Fifteen Paces by Alan Davidson invaluable. For sharing their knowledge of Davidson so generously I acknowledge and thank Ronald Cardwell, Shaun Mulholland, Warwick Franks and Geoff Armstrong. Cricket is fortunate to possess such living archives. I am indebted most of all to Alan Davidson for admitting me to his friendship and unleashing his memories in 1987 and for many days every year since 1996 until illness claimed him.

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{ N O R M P R O VA N , 1932–2 021 }

On the shoulders of a

giant

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{ N O R M P R O VA N , 1932–2 021 }

AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE SAYS GOODBYE TO ITS ULTIMATE STATESMAN, A TOWERING FIGURE WHOSE IMPRINT ON THE GAME CANNOT BE OVERSTATED WORDS: GEOFF ARMSTRONG

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ustralian sport lost one of its true legends with the passing of Norm Provan on October 13, 2021, at age 88.

Provan was a giant of rugby league, a gentleman who through his exploits on the field and demeanour off it came to embody all that is good about the game he loved.

His death came more than 70 years after the local St George Call newspaper in early March 1950 reported succinctly on a trial against North Sydney: “N. Provan, front-row forward, is a bright prospect. Never away from the ball, he displayed pleasing form.”

The teenage Norm Provan was a lanky, raw-boned forward. He was born on December 18, 1932, one of eight Provan children raised on a small “soldier settlement” block at Urana, near Lockhart in the Riverina. From there, the Provan family moved to Wagga Wagga, then the Sydney suburbs of North Bondi and Willoughby, and finally to Kirrawee, in the Sutherland Shire. He became a St George fan during the club’s premiership year of 1949, telling author Norman Tasker in 2013: “I can still see big forwards like Jack Munn, Charlie Banks and Jack ‘Dutchy’ Holland ripping in. There is no doubt it was that team that inspired me to be a Saint”.

Provan established himself in first grade in 1951, as a second-rower, and would remain there for 15 seasons. His first man-of-the-match award came in his sixth game, against Balmain at Leichhardt, when Frank McMillan, the former Kangaroo captain who was judging the game for the Sunday Herald, commented: “A force throughout the match; opened up play from rucks; hard to pull down in several bursts; defence good. Promising young player, with size, strength, and determination”.

Norman “Sticks” Provan stood 6’4” (193cm) and weighed 15 stone (95kg) in his pomp, but his command of the game and influence at St George went well beyond his physique. Saints did not miss the finals in his 15 years of first grade and won the grand final in each of his last 10. He set standards for discipline and fitness that inspired his teammates, and was captain-coach in his final four seasons in the red V, from 1962 until 1965, overseeing the arrival at the club of Billy Smith and Graeme Langlands. The final image of him as a player is of a colossus striding through the mass of fans that had invaded the field after the Dragons’ 12–8 win over Souths in front of a Sydney Cricket Ground record crowd of 78,056. At international level, Provan formed one of Australia’s most revered back-row partnerships with Kel O’Shea, and was a star

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Norm Provan and Arthur Summons have been immortalised, with the ProvanSummons trophy handed to the winning NRL team every year. The bronze replicates rugby league’s most famous photograph, taken of the pair taken after the muddy 1963 grand final.

of Australia’s triumphs in the 1954 Ashes series and the 1957 World Cup, but it was his efforts for St George that forged the legend. In March 1963, he was the first active player to be made a life member of the club.

His representative career had started when he was chosen for “Probables” to play “Possibles” in a major selection trial after just eight first-grade matches. The Daily Telegraph called him “the find of the season”. In 1952, as St George won seven games straight to charge into the semi-finals, the Sunday Herald judges rated him the “best forward in Sydney”. Horrie Maher in the St George Call commented, “Winning three major awards in his last four appearances, this tan virile player who neither drinks nor smokes has set an outstanding example for the others to follow”. In 1954, after a thrilling 15-14 semi-final win over Norths, Maher wrote, “Norm Provan was, as usual, in grand form”. The Herald judged him the footballer of the year. Provan played his 100th club game in 1955 and was rated by Truth’s Jim Mathers as the best forward in the 1956 grand final, when St George were forced to play with a five-man pack after centre Merv Lees was injured.

Press reports capture how Provan was consistently superb in St George’s grand-final victories, especially in the early years of the 11-year winning streak when he was at the absolute peak of his powers. The Sunday Telegraph’s George Crawford wrote of 1956: “Provan played like a demon. He tore his way through rucks, while his cover defence in the absence of a lock was unforgettable”. Jim Mathers in 1957: “Big Norm Provan gate-crashed through the rucks like a bulldozer”. The Sun-Herald’s Tom Goodman on the same game: “Lanky second-rower Norm Provan was magnificent yesterday, whether hurling himself into tackles or breaking through and, once in the open, setting off with loping strides”. Acclaimed sports writer Jack Pollard: “Thirty seconds after half time, big St George second-rower Norman Provan clutched the ball to his muscular chest and started to run down the centre of the SCG. The 1957 Sydney rugby league premiership was decided then. Provan palmed off Manly-Warringah defenders, stepped out of the arms of men who fanned at his legs, and ran deep into Manly’s half. He had done the same earlier in the season to the cream of league talent from Britain, France and New Zealand. This time he high-stepped it past Manly fullback Ron Willey with that characteristic hippy run and slipped the ball to Brian Clay, who scored under the posts”.

In 1958, Goodman wrote: “Norm Provan followed up his splendid display in the final with another match-winning performance”. Former international Ross McKinnon told Truth readers: “Norm Provan was the hero, as apart from his two tries he was a tower of strength in cover defence”. A year later, Crawford reckoned that “the Provan brothers [Peter and Norman] and winger Ed Lumsden were the stars of the match”.

Peter Provan was a fine lock forward who played for St George from 1955 to 1960, including the 1958 and

1959 grand finals, before transferring to Balmain, where he earned an Australian cap in 1963 and captained the Tigers to the premiership in 1969. Two other brothers, Ian and Don, appeared in the lower grades.

Norm Provan played his 206th grade game in August 1961, breaking Len Kelly’s club record. He was knocked out late in the first half of the 1962 grand final against Wests, prop Billy Wilson was sent off immediately after half time, but the captain-coach came back to inspire his men to a famous win. A year later, when many thought he was again the grand final’s best player, photographer John O’Gready snapped the now-legendary image of the mud-clad Provan and Magpies captain Arthur Summons that became known as The Gladiators and inspired the NRL’s premiership trophy. He threatened to retire more than once, but always “did a Melba” until he finally called it quits in 1965. His second last game was a 47–7 thrashing of North Sydney in the major semifinal, after which Rugby League News reported: “Big Norm on Saturday was all over the field and appeared to be in every movement. He handled in at least six try movements as well as scoring one himself. St George officials cannot recall a better display”.

Johnny Raper rated Provan “the greatest rugby league player I played with or against”. Respected league writer Ian Heads wrote: “Provan was born to lead.

His honesty, ambition, will to win, courage, dignity, modesty, pride in achievement, loyalty and fair play fitted him perfectly for the task”. Ray Norman, once a Test player and one of the great students of rugby league, said: “There are a few players who have been really outstanding in this great game. They have had something which has lifted them above other very good

Provan was named an Immortal in 2018, prompting St George fans to wonder why the acknowledgement had taken so long.

Picture: Phil Hillyard Previous page: Young fans swarm around Provan at the SCG after he led St George to their 10th successive title against South Sydney in 1965.

Picture: News Ltd

players. Harold Horder was one, Frank Burge was really great and so was Duncan Thompson. Herb Narvo was a magnificent footballer too, because he was never caught in possession when he could pass. Norm Provan, with his long raking strides and intelligent, powerful football, ranks with the best forwards we have had”.

Ray Norman made those comments in 1958. At that point, Norm Provan was only halfway through his extraordinary, unrivalled playing career. Following his retirement — after 283 games, 256 first-grade premiership appearances (78 as captain), those 10 straight premierships, 18 Tests and 25 games for NSW — he was a non-playing coach at St George in 1968, and later at Parramatta and Cronulla, taking the Eels from the wooden spoon to the semi-finals in 1975 and the Sharks to the grand final three years later. Away from football, he was a highly successful businessman, managing electrical stores in the St George district and the Sutherland shire, and then running a caravan park in Cairns in far-north Queensland, the Oasis Resort at Caloundra on the Queensland Sunshine Coast, and a cattle farm at Kuranda, near Cairns. For league followers across the country, he became the code’s ultimate statesman, universally loved and respected, and loudly cheered whenever he joined Arthur Summons to present the premiership trophy on grand final day. His induction as a rugby league Immortal in 2018 was widely acclaimed. The only wonder for Dragons fans young and old was why it had taken so long.

Geoff Armstrong is the author of Spirit of the Red V: A Century of Dragons Rugby League (Volume 1: 1921-1967), published by Stoke Hill Press.

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WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH …

INJURIES PLAGUED THE ROOSTERS’ HOPES OF A PREMIERSHIP IN 2021. BUT THE CLUB’S YOUNGER STARS HAVE THE TRICOLOURS POISED TO CHALLENGE FOR THE 2022 FLAG. COACH TRENT ROBINSON TALKS TO RYAN SELVAGE

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Q& &A How difficult were the 2020 and 2021 seasons and all the challenges that were presented to the club and to the players, both on and off the field?

It means so much to us to play at the SCG and in the Moore Park precinct.

So the past two years were very difficult for us, and the challenges have been twofold. We’ve had to transition, moving away from home the past two seasons as a result of Covid-19, and also transitioning our team from possessing a lot of quality senior players. I’m really proud of the way we handled both the 2020 and 2021 seasons. We were really good at controlling what we could control. Our players did us proud with the way they held our club culture together.

You were forced to deal with the retirement of co-captains Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend and the season-ending injuries to Luke Keary and Brett Morris. How proud were you seeing the Roosters’ young crop of talent step up when they were asked to do so?

I can’t speak highly enough of those men. Players like Adam Keighran, Lachlan Lam, Drew Hutchison, Fletcher Baker, Naufahu Whyte and Tuku Hau Tapuha. We talk about their roles, whatever that may be.

They all signed on to the style of play that we want to play at the Roosters, and the ethic that we want to play with. Nothing took precedence over the team values and that was so important for them to do that if we wanted to stick it out and have a solid foundation for our future.

The injury toll the Roosters faced in 2021 saw most of those players you’ve mentioned play a lot more NRL games than they were perhaps expecting.

Is it fair to say they are all now ahead of the curve on their development?

It is fair to say that. Some of those names would’ve gone into the last pre-season with the mindset that

they would have been happy to have played just one NRL game. If we didn’t have those injuries or if those senior players had continued to play, they may have never gotten their chance. We’ve got young guys coming into this pre-season that are wanting to make a difference in first grade. They want to play every game. The shift that they’ve had in playing those games in 2021 now means that for four months of the pre-season, they’re driven towards higher goals.

Roosters fans can’t wait to see Luke Keary back into the lineup after his injury early in 2021. What can we expect to see from him when he returns?

Luke Keary is a great player and a great leader for us. He’s one of a few players that have a lot of experience and we do really value that. Having Keary back to training, and getting him back in the team is key for us in 2022. Anybody who has seen Keary play well knows how much he’s dominated and what he’s capable of. I feel like the development of the “spine” players around Keary will only help our team when he returns.

Are we looking at a “new era” for the Roosters in 2022?

There’s a natural development into the “next phase”. We’ve got a nice blend of youth but there’s also some of those guys who had played plenty of footy with the players who’ve now retired or left the club. Players such as James Tedesco, Luke Keary and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves will carry our younger guys into the next stage of their development.

You always speak so highly of playing at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

What does it mean to you and the team to get back to playing home matches at the SCG again?

Yes, it’s huge. It truly is the home of sport. And in our world, it’s always been our home. There’s that understanding that the ground is a big part of our history, and we represent that area. To get back there and to make it our home again, it’s really important to us. We’re pretty excited to get back in there and play those big games on our turf.

Construction of the Sydney Football Stadium edges closer towards completion, and in that, the Roosters new Centre of Excellence will be the best facility the team has had in its 114-year history. Is the club the strongest it has ever been?

Yeah, and we’ve worked hard for it. We’ve done it in the right order.

We’ve understood where our home is, and we haven’t left it. We’ve stuck solid to our area and our roots.

The footy has done the talking and we’ve built the club around that.

We’ve continued to grow, and now it culminates with the new stadium at the end of 2022. We’ll move back in there and make that our headquarters. I’m really proud of the way Nick Politis and the board have guided us through this period.

Finally, do you have a message for our SCG members, Roosters members and fans, and anyone coming to the precinct to watch the team play in 2022?

I think we all understand that the social aspect of our lives is so important. We’ve been reminded of that during the past two years of our lives.

The best way to do that is to get back out there to the SCG, to stand and applaud and to see it with your own eyes.

The Roosters see you and the Roosters hear you. We can’t wait to see you all soon.

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GAME CHANGERS DUMPLINGS, STEAK-FRITES AND SASHIMI. THE NEW MERIVALE MENUS FOR THE SCG ARE ELITE-LEVEL OFFERINGS ... HANDS UP WHO’S HEADING TO THE CHEESEBURGER SPRING ROLL STAND? WORDS: ELIZABETH MERYMENT

Chefs, from left, Ben Greeno, Vincenzo Biondini, Dan Hong, Jordan Toft and Danielle Alvarez will be key drivers for culinary change at the SCG and SFS. Picture: Phil Hillyard

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he best live sport and entertainment on the field, and now the best of Merivale’s impressive culinary stable in the stands. The Justin Hemmes-helmed hospitality giant will transform the stadium eating and drinking experience at the Sydney Cricket Ground from this summer, and at the Sydney Football Stadium when it opens in 2022.

This isn’t just great food for a stadium; this is world-class food that happens to be served in a stadium setting.

Key Merivale’s high-street brands now have outlets at the Moore Park precinct, including Queen Chow dumplings and noodles, Vinnie’s Pizza, Jimmy’s Falafel, El Loco’s Mexican-inspired hot dogs, The Chicken Shop and Vinnie’s Gelato.

Several of the SCG’s original venues have also enjoyed a refit as part of the partnership, with their designs a nod to some of the stars of Merivale’s restaurant collection.

Discover The Pavilion group of outlets inspired by Coogee Pavilion; Bistro 1886, a Felix-esque bistro in the Members Pavilion; Smokehouse, a sports bar for casual fans serving craft beer and Papi Chulo smoked dishes; and a Dan Hong (of Mr Wong/Ms G’s fame) cheeseburger spring roll stand.

There’s also the option of paninis and salad bowls, coffee and drinks across new Merivale concessions including The Kiosk, The Bar, The Sports Bar, The Craft Bar, The Cocktail Bar and The Coffee Shop.

Merivale promises there will be options at all price points, as well as SCG and SFS staples — hot chips, hot dogs, meat pies, water and Coca-Cola — at regular prices.

Here, we have an exclusive chat with some of Merivale’s top chefs about what they will be cooking, and eating, at the SCG this summer.

CHEF

Dan Hong What will your stadium venues be called?

Queen Chow and El Loco What cuisine are you offering?

All the Asian offerings such as dumplings, dim sum and noodles.

Tell us your top stadium dish or dishes?

Cheeseburger spring rolls made famous at my restaurant Ms G’s. Also I didn’t create dim sum but I thought it would be awesome to have prawn har gow, chicken dim sims and steamed pork buns at a cricket stadium. Also my famous Mexican-inspired hotdog will be available at El Loco.

Can you go into a bit more depth about some of the dishes?

I wanted to do food that you would not normally get in a stadium, not only in Australia but in the world.

So something like dim sum and dumplings is a great idea. I reckon we will be the first to ever do it. Also where there was once a single pie stand in one of the general areas of the stadium, we are replacing it with a cheeseburger spring roll stand. I reckon it will go nuts!

Whose dish are you planning on eating at the SCG this summer?

Probably a Jimmy’s chicken roll or one of Vinnie’s Detroit-style pizza slices.

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CHEF

Vincenzo (Vinnie) Biondini What will your stadium venues be called?

Vinnie’s Pizza and Vinnie’s Gelato.

What cuisine are you offering?

Italian.

Tell us your top stadium dish or dishes?

Pizza by the slice, Italian artisan gelato and a porchetta roll.

Can you go into a bit more depth about some of the dishes?

It is pizza like you have never had before: crunchy on the bottom and cloud-like, light and fluffy on the top... it will be served in rectangular slices, cut in four, easy to share or to have on your own. The idea comes from my childhood trips to the Italian bakers before school and then to my late teens, when I’d go to the baker at 4am after clubbing. It was the Italian version of the Aussie kebab shop! This will be an epic journey. As for the gelato, it is all natural and every single flavour has been through a massive development process.

What do you usually eat at the stadium?

I usually have to settle for chips and a pie.

Whose dish are you planning on eating at the SCG this summer?

You will find me at Smokehouse, a sports bar for the casual fan serving craft beer and Papi Chulo smoked dishes, feasting on barbecue pork ribs and smoked brisket.

CHEF

Nathan Johnson What will your stadium venues be called?

Bistro 1886, a French-style bistro modelled on our Felix concept in the city with an added carvery section.

What cuisine are you offering?

It will be classic French-style bistro food. We have based the offering on our most popular dishes at Felix; our greatest hits.

Tell us your top stadium dish or dishes?

We’re bringing all the Felix classics — niçoise salad, oysters, steak frites, creme brulée — plus we’ll be adding a carvery station where we will have prime beef ribs, carvery rolls or maybe roast ham, depending on seasonality.

Can you go into a bit more depth about some of the dishes?

I worked closely with Mike Flood, the Felix head chef, on the menu and dishes. We wanted to come up with an offer of quality and tradition that could match up to the tradition of excellence that has graced the playing field of the SCG for so long.

What do you usually eat at the stadium?

I would usually eat before going to the stadium but now with so many options in the stadium I’d incorporate this into my game day experience.

I’d now arrive a bit early and enjoy some quality food, wine and Merivale hospitality before the game.

Whose dish are you planning on eating at the SCG this summer?

I am really looking forward to Ben Greeno’s chicken burger. It’s outrageously good, but when I bring my kids to watch the Swans next season they will be after Dan Hong’s cheeseburger spring rolls or Vinnie’s Pizza for sure.

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CHEF

Jordan Toft What will your stadium venues be called?

The Pavilion and Pavilion Outlets.

What cuisine are you offering?

Coastal pub cuisine.

Tell us your top stadium dish or dishes?

Everything from fish and chips, rock oysters and fresh sashimi to juicy burgers, fresh salads, steak and fries.

Can you go into a bit more depth about some of the dishes?

The menu is reminiscent of our Coogee Pavilion.

We’ve taken inspiration from the different sections of its menu and created outlets including Pavilion Seafood, Pavilion Salads, Pavilion Burgers along with a sit-down restaurant in the Noble Stand for you to enjoy plated staples of chilled prawns, steak frites with “Pavilion” butter and even a parmesanthyme-crusted schnitzel with slaw. We’ve also added a Jimmy’s Falafel outlet serving crisp falafel rolled with hummus, parsley, pickles and tahini and a shawarma spiced chicken wrap. Even the secret late-night edition is hitting the grill.

What do you usually eat at the stadium?

In the past I’ve gone with a pie and maybe a bucket of warm fries. Hopefully this changes the landscape for choice and delivers options more in line with what’s available outside the gates. There’s nothing wrong with a great pie, but grabbing a fresh falafel wrap on the go, a vibrant salad bowl or taking five to smash a few dumplings sounds good to me.

Whose dish are you planning on eating at the SCG this summer?

Nathan Johnson’s Bistro 1886 will bring just enough well-deserved ceremony to a deserving institution.

Taking lunch with the cricketers sounds pretty exciting to me!

CHEF

Ben Greeno What will your stadium venues be called?

The Chicken Shop.

What cuisine are you offering?

Chicken — I’m the chicken king of Paddington, after all! — and the salad bowls available in The Kiosk.

Tell us your top stadium dish or dishes?

Crispy chicken wings. Lots of development went into them, non-stop tests on how long they crisp for and can we glaze them, and so on.

Can you go into a bit more depth about some of the dishes?

During lockdown we started offering fried chicken at The Paddington and wanted to convert that into something quick and smashable while watching a game.

What do you usually eat at the stadium?

I don’t normally eat at the stadium, now I would.

Whose dish are you planning on eating at the SCG this summer?

Danielle Alvarez’s cheesy chicken roll. She really knows how to nail stadium food.

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RECIPE DA N I ELLE A LVA R E Z { E X E C U T I V E C H E F, M E R I VA L E ’ S F R E D ’ S , PA D D I N G T O N }

Citrus with Meyer lemon dressing & shaved fennel Look for different kinds of citrus and use everything from cumquats and grapefruits to oranges. Although we use Meyer lemons in the dressing, avoid lemons and limes in the salad as they’re often too tart.

INGREDIENTS 1 red-fleshed navel orange

DRESSING

1 blood orange

30g diced shallot

1 grapefruit

1 whole Meyer lemon, cut into tiny dice, seeds removed and juice from the lemon core squeezed over the lemon dice

1 navel orange 1 tangelo 3 cumquats 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced on a mandolin

METHOD Using a sharp knife, carefully cut the very tops and bottoms from the citrus and lay them flat on your chopping board. Cut from top to bottom, following the natural curve of the citrus, to remove all the white pith, but do it slowly and carefully so you end up with nice round clean citrus. Do this for everything except the cumquats, which you eat whole, skin and all. Slice all the citrus, aside from cumquats, about 8mm thick.

If your citrus is particularly large, it’s best to cut that into segments. There shouldn’t be too many seeds in anything in the

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1 teaspoon salt 40ml extra virgin olive oil

winter, but if there are, or it’s late in the season, just gently pick them out. Try to slice the citrus close to serving time.

To make your dressing, mix the shallot and diced Meyer lemon and juice with the salt, then set aside to macerate for 15 minutes. Whisk in the olive oil and set aside. This should be made the day you want to serve it.

To assemble, first cover the bottom of the plate with the citrus, fanning the rest out on top so you see all the colours. Sprinkle the top with the sliced fennel and a good pinch of salt, then drizzle the dressing over the top of everything.

Serve immediately.

Mom’s flan with poached cherries This recipe comes from my Mom. It will always be a flavour of home that I cherish: simple ingredients, prepared with a bit of love and patience.

INGREDIENTS

S E R V E S 8-10

150g caster sugar

POACHED CHERRIES

1 x 375ml tin evaporated milk

100g caster sugar

1 x 355ml tin sweetened condensed milk

2 strips lemon peel

120ml full-cream milk

400g sour or sweet fresh cherries

2 eggs, plus 5 egg yolks

1 vanilla bean, split

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

METHOD Preheat the oven to 150°C and boil a full kettle of water.

Melt the sugar in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat until it turns a dark amber colour.

Use a wooden spoon to mix it once it starts caramelising to ensure that it all melts evenly.

Immediately pour the caramel into the base of a non-stick loaf tin. Whisk together the remaining ingredients and a pinch of salt in a bowl, then pour the custard through a fine mesh sieve directly onto the caramel. Cover the tin with aluminium foil and place it inside a larger baking dish. Place the dish in the oven, then pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the side of the loaf tin.

Bake for 80 minutes. At this point, check the texture: it should still be

quite wobbly, but not liquid. If it is still liquid in the centre, continue cooking for another 15-20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the water bath. Once cooled, refrigerate, still covered, overnight.

To make the poached cherries, combine the sugar, lemon peel, vanilla bean, 200ml of water and a pinch of salt in a saucepan and bring to a simmer on the stove. Pit your cherries using a cherry pitter, or push them out using a metal straw.

Add the cherries to the pot and simmer until they are soft but not bursting, about five minutes. Set aside until ready to serve.

To unmould, cut around the sides of the custard and invert onto a flat plate. Cut slices and serve with or without the poached cherries.

Note, you can leave the cherries unpitted, just be sure to warn your guests.

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RECIPE

Slow-roasted lamb shoulder with white beans & harissa A whole slow-roasted lamb shoulder is a beautiful way to prepare lamb for a few people. When cooked for a few hours in a low oven, the meat becomes meltingly tender and can easily be pulled apart with two forks. The romesco is a purée of charred red peppers, crushed nuts, breadcrumbs and roasted and raw garlic. It’s a delicious, smoky, sweet and savoury accompaniment to lamb, but it also works very well with grilled fish, squid or even chicken.

Soak your beans overnight first and cook them gently so that they remain intact and don’t burst open while cooking. If they do burst, do not despair; they will still be delicious. But under no circumstances should you drain the beans until you are ready to serve them.

Instead, allow them to cool in their cooking liquid. Don’t worry; they won’t overcook.

INGREDIENTS

SE RV E S 6

1 X 2.25-2.5kg lamb shoulder, on the bone 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra to serve Juice of 1 lemon ½ bunch thyme, leaves picked BEANS

ROMESCO

300g dried white beans, such as cannellini or flageolet

900g-1kg red bullhorn peppers (or any sweet red pepper/capsicum variety)

1 onion, peeled and halved

1 garlic bulb plus 1 garlic clove

2 carrots, peeled and halved

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons olive oil

60g hazelnuts, toasted

2 tablespoons salt

60g almonds, toasted

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon mild smoked paprika

½ bunch thyme

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar 60g breadcrumbs, toasted (see below)

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METHOD The beans can be made a day or two ahead. Soak them in cold water overnight and cover the beans with more water than you think they need. They will double in size during the soaking process, and if some stick out of the water, they will not soak evenly and will therefore cook unevenly. The following day, drain them and place them in a large saucepan with 1.5 litres (6 cups) cold water and the remaining ingredients (tie the herbs together so they are easy to remove later on). Bring the water up to a simmer and skim off any brown foam that floats to the top.

Simmer until they are completely creamy and tender. This could take anywhere between one and two hours depending on the size of the beans. Add a bit more water during the cooking process if it seems like it is evaporating too quickly. Allow to cool in the liquid, then reheat, still in the liquid, to serve.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. To make your romesco, char the peppers completely over a stovetop flame or outside on a grill. It’s important that they are blackened so that the skins come off easily. Place them in a bowl and cover with a lid so they steam and cool. Once cooled, peel them, removing any seeds or stem that are still attached. Add to a blender and blitz to a paste. You don’t want a superfine paste, but something with a bit of texture to it.

To roast your garlic, cut the top quarter off, place it on a piece of aluminium foil and pour over one tablespoon oil and a sprinkle of salt. Wrap it up tightly in the foil then bake in the oven for 45 minutes until it is soft and beginning to turn golden.

Set aside to cool.

Place your toasted nuts in a mortar and pestle and crush finely, stopping before they turn to a paste. In a bowl, combine the crushed nuts with the pepper purée, squeeze the soft garlic out of its skin and add it along with any of its roasting oil, the smoked paprika, remaining olive oil and vinegars, and grate in the raw clove of garlic. Add the breadcrumbs just before plating

up so that they don’t go soggy.

The night before you want to cook your lamb, season it liberally with salt and pepper and refrigerate, uncovered, overnight.

The next day, remove it from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Pour the olive oil and lemon juice over the lamb and rub it with the thyme leaves.

Place it on a tray and roast for six to seven hours until very tender.

The meat should fall off the bone. If the shoulder needs extra caramelisation, increase the heat to 220°C for the last 20 minutes of cooking to brown the outside.

Rest the meat for 20 minutes on a serving platter so that its juices will mingle with the beans.

Spoon the hot beans around the lamb and drizzle with some good olive oil and a final seasoning of salt and pepper. Serve with the romesco sauce.

BREADCRUMBS Breadcrumbs … ah, breadcrumbs.

The joy! The usefulness! That delicious crunch! But also … the frustration. When I first started leading a kitchen, making breadcrumbs was the job that people got wrong the most. It was also the job that made me realise I had better start being extremely clear on every detail if I wanted the result I was looking for. There are just so many ways to make breadcrumbs. None are really wrong per se, but without using my method I watched people do the most interesting things: leave the crust on, take the crust off, dry out before processing into crumbs or process while fresh, toast dry, toast with oil, toast in a low oven, toast in a hot oven, or even on the stove.

The possibilities were endless and therefore I experienced a lot of dry, uneven, chewy and not perfect breadcrumbs. Here is my favourite way to produce a crunchy but delicate, oily breadcrumb that makes the perfect pasta topping.

Firstly, the type of bread you select is important; you want a loaf with some integrity and a good amount of crumb compared to crust, like a sourdough or miche or Italian loaf. A baguette or

sandwich bread would not work with this method.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Take a loaf of at least one-dayold bread — a few days older is also fine, just as long as it hasn’t gone completely hard. Using a serrated knife, carefully cut off all the crusts and discard them. Tear the bread into chunks, place in a food processor and process until everything is completely crumbly.

Transfer those crumbs to a mixing bowl and pour a lot of extra virgin olive oil on them. How much?

Again, this depends on how much crumb you have but, as a starting ratio, I would say for every 200g of crumbs, 75ml olive oil should suffice. Season the crumbs with a good pinch of salt and lay them on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Spread them out so they are snug, but in a pretty flat layer.

Bake, checking and mixing them every five minutes, until they are done (this is the most annoying part of this process, but I promise they are worth it). You don’t have to do it as much in the beginning, but once they start to colour, you need to be near the oven. A metal spatula is a good tool for mixing up the crumbs as they toast. If you don’t take the time to do this you will end up with a ring of burned crumbs around the edges and wet, soggy crumbs in the centre. When they are golden brown all over, you can remove the tray from the oven and allow the crumbs to cool on the tray, remembering though that they will keep deepening in colour for a few minutes after you remove them.

Once cooled, store in an airtight container and they will keep for up to one week in your cupboard.

Edited extract from Always Add Lemon by Danielle Alvarez, photography by Benito Martin (Hardie Grant, $50) Danielle Alvarez is the executive chef at Fred’s; 380 Oxford St, Paddington; merivale.com/venues/freds

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Ben Greeno and Danielle Alvarez at Merviale’s Hotel Centennial.

Q& &A

BEN GREENO The executive chef — and Englishman — works across Merivale’s The Paddington, Fred’s and Hotel Centennial. This summer he is also creating dishes at the Sydney Cricket Ground Firstly Ben, as an Englishman, how are you feeling about the upcoming Ashes series? Nervous or confident? Be honest.

I’m not very confident in an England win, but you never know, stranger things have happened.

Are you a cricketing man or is soccer more your bag?

Soccer is definitely the go-to in our house with the kids playing every Saturday. Sunday mornings are nice and relaxed and we watch the highlights from the English premiership together.

Are you a regular at the SCG? Have you had any memorable experiences there?

I’ve actually only visited a couple of times. Working in Paddington, when the games are on, that’s when we are busiest, with roast chickens [The Paddington’s most acclaimed dish] flying out all over the place. I did get to see the Swans get beaten

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by Collingwood a few years ago which was a fun night for me, being neutral. Visiting the stadium as lockdown was lifted and being able to get a tour and sit in the dressing room that you know some of the world’s best have sat in was pretty memorable.

Tell us a bit about what you’re planning on bringing into the SCG this summer.

A lot of fun and a new level of standard for stadium food. I’m lucky to work with so many excellent chefs on a day-to-day business and all of us working together on this project was very inspiring. You’re going to see little bits from a lot of our venues and brands.

Your restaurants in Paddington and Woollahra are building big reputations among diners. Everyone has a good word to say about them.

What have you been doing at

Who’s dish are you most looking forward to eating when you head to the Ashes this summer?

Danielle Alvarez, in a little break from the normal, has made a cheesy chicken roll which is cooked on the griddle with honey and mustard. It is outstanding.

I can’t wait to eat that.

The Paddington, Fred’s and Hotel Centennial lately to change things up?

At The Paddington, we’ve lightened things up a little, added more vegetable-focused dishes and started working with a few different suppliers such as Feather and Bone for some of our meat. Fred’s has done a great redesign of the menu and added in a little snack section for starting off the meal with a glass of Champagne, and there’s now a beautiful illustration of where our produce comes from. At the Centennial in the past 12 months we really focused on elevating the whole experience. It’s a lot more than just a local pub these days. Of course we have excellent steak frites, but also whole ducks to share and whole roasted fish in vine leaves. It really leans into a Provençal vibe. We have three different semi private spaces for and the apartment upstairs for groups of up to 40 is an incredible space.

You went from leading a fine diner to bistros and are now about to embark on a huge stage at the SCG. Is this a trajectory you could have foreseen?

That’s been one of the great things with joining Merivale — exposure to so many different ways of operating — and it’s a constant learning process. I’d never have thought I’d be involved in a stadium, but I also never thought I’d be making 2000 chocolate mousses a week in a production kitchen with the world in lockdown.

What do you see as some of the challenges of presenting excellent food but in a stadium context?

The biggest challenge is consistently delivering the same great product on a much bigger scale. That’s why we’ve spent so much time working on this and have an incredible team ready to execute. The executive-chef group spent a good chunk of lockdown working on getting everything right. We ate a lot of chicken wings.

TOAST OF THE TOWN It’s not just the food stepping up its game at the Sydney Cricket Ground; Merivale is also rolling in the drinks cart. Please raise your glasses

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raft beer, kombucha and even cocktailsin-cans are on the list as Merivale brings its vast entertainment experience to the stadiums of Moore Park as part of the new food and drink partnership.

The man in charge of overseeing the change is Merivale’s incredibly approachable and talented group general manager (beverage), Franck Moreau MS. Moreau has a formidable reputation in the hospitality industry and is known for his Midas touch. He has brought personable drinks lists and great value into Merivale’s high-turnover businesses, and sophisticated wine and cocktail lists into its fine dining rooms.

French-born Moreau may well have wine in his blood, but he nevertheless has an innate understanding of the Australian palate. He is looking to offer SCG and the new Sydney Football Stadium (SFS) patrons greater choices and higher-quality lists in order to appeal to a broad range of customer.

So what can guests expect of a

Merivale-designed drinks list at the two venues?

“We want to bring better diversity to the beverage program, from craft beer, kombucha, seltzer, better-quality wine and Champagne to cocktails and mocktails,” Moreau tells 1876. “We are working towards one day having our own brands of cocktails and wines in cans for the SFS. And for big games and events we are looking to implement some fun activations.”

Customers have high expectations of a Merivale beverage experience, Moreau says, and those expectations need to be met by the hospitality giant’s Moore Park plans.

“I think people are seeking a more extensive range of products and a great experience at the stadiums,” he says. “We will spend some time with the trainee team, working on efficiency for speed of service, product knowledge, and high-quality drinks.

“We will also have some pre-match cocktails in members areas and some cocktails on tap in a few bars around the SCG. We are developing a few different cocktails with reduced alcohol levels; we will have some wine

Merviale’s Franck Moreau believes patrons need greater choice when it comes to drinking options, including better cocktails and a wider variety of beers.

spritz, strawberry spritz, espresso martini and the popular ‘porn-star martini’ available, to name a few.”

Moreau believes there needs to be some fluidity within the drinks program, with each event having a slightly different flavour and requiring a variable menu.

“You have to cater for each different game or non-match event,” he says. “The demographic of customers will change, so we have to be agile. The experience needs to be different between The Ashes and a Swans game, different again for Mardi Gras or a concert.

We will work with our team to have broad selections for more conservative customers to the younger generations.”

Finally, Moreau says the group is working on five different bars for the different areas around the stadiums.

“There will be some premium bar offerings in some members areas with a larger range of beers, spirits and wines. Then there will be high-volume bars with a smaller selection but fast speed of service, then there will be the craft-beer bars and the cans bars. Then sport bars and cocktails/spritz bars.”

We’ll say cheers to that.

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GYM SESSION

JADA WHYMAN GUEST TRAINER WORDS: JORDAN LAING

PICTURES: GREGG PORTEOUS

FOAM ROLLER: CALVES Place the foam roller under your calf muscle and then cross your other foot over the top at the ankle. Use the top leg to weigh down the underneath calf onto the roller. Repeat and then swap legs.

2 SETS x 12 REPS 60

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ydney FC A-League Women’s goalkeeper, Jada Whyman, is a star on the rise. At 22, she has already earned a place in the Matildas squad, has represented her country at the Under-17 Asian Championships, and made her W-League debut for the Western Sydney Wanderers as a teenager.

Whyman, a proud Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta woman, grew up in Wagga Wagga and was naturally talented at sport, but it’s her commitment to her beloved football that has set her up for stardom. A key part of her success is the time she spends on improving her strength, stability and conditioning in the gym — a place she has spent countless hours while rehabbing knee and shoulder injuries.

And while training hard and preparing well is key to Whyman’s success, off the pitch she is busy inspiring the next generation of indigenous Australians to thrive. She is an ambassador for John Moriarty Football, an organisation dedicated to helping young indigenous players achieve success in sport. Whyman is also a volunteer youth worker for Glebe Youth Service, and an outreach counsellor supporting young indigenous people in remote Australia for mental health nonprofit organisation Headspace.

So how does Whyman build up strength, speed and agility to help her thwart the fiercest of attacking threats on goal? Here she runs through a series of exercises that keeps her at the top of her game.

DUMBBELL LUNGES Stand approximately 60 centimetres in front of a bench, bag or sturdy chair, and place the top of your left foot on the bench. Slowly lower into a lunge and then repeat on the other leg.

3 SETS x 10 REPS

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STABILITY HIP DRIVE Lie with your back flat on the floor and both feet on a stability ball, legs bent at a 90-degree angle. Slowly extend one leg to a straight position, then the other.

Pause, then slowly lower your hips back to the ground.

FLOOR TO KNEE DEADLIFT Bend at your hips and knees and grab the bar with overhand grip, your hands about shoulder-width apart. Keeping your back straight, pull your torso back and up, thrust your hips forwards, and bring the bar a few inches above your knees.

3 SETS x 5 REPS

3 SETS x 10 REPS

OVERHEAD DUMBBELL PRESS Exhale as you raise the weights above the head in a controlled motion. Pause briefly at the top of the motion, inhale and return the dumbbells to your side.

3 SETS x 8 REPS

ROWER This is one of the best pieces of equipment for a full-body workout. Jump on the machine and row for as long or as little as you like.

OVERHEAD STICK LUNGES Begin with your feet positioned shoulder-width apart again and knees slightly bent. Inhale as you raise bar above your head and exhale as you take a comfortable step forward into a deep lunge position.

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BOX JUMP Stand with the box one short step in front of you and your feet shoulder-width apart.

Bend your knees slightly and drop down, bringing your arms out behind you. Use the momentum from your quarter squat to propel you upward as you jump onto the box, landing softly.

3 SETS x 5 REPS

BALL THROW SIT-UPS Perfect for goal-keeping training, but also a great core and strength exercise. Lay down with your back flat against the ground and knees bent. Sit up using your abs and throw the ball to your training partner or against a wall.

2-3 SETS x 12 REPS

DUMBBELL IRON CROSS Stand with your feet slightly wider than your shoulders, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Raise your arms out to the sides to shoulder level, creating a cross with your body. Hold the position for a few seconds, then slowly return to start position.

3 SETS x 10 REPS 1876

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{ E X P E R I E N C E M E R I VA L E A T T H E S C G }

A night full of flavour Celebrities, media personalities, sports stars and representatives from both Merivale and Venues NSW came together on December 2 for Experience Merivale at the SCG, a night to taste the restaurant group’s new culinary offerings for the Moore Park precinct.

Hosted by Venues NSW chairman Tony Shepherd and CEO Kerrie Mather, with Merivale CEO Justin Hemmes as special guest, the evening showcased the expertise of Merivale’s leading chefs. Dan Hong and his right-hand man Eric Koh were there offering dumplings, Jordan Toft served fresh Sydney rock oysters and sashimi, and Vinnie Biondini delivered thick, fluffy wedges of pizza. Cocktails were enjoyed as celebrities including Ed Kavalee, Dave Hughes, Erin Molan and Deborah Knight rubbed shoulders in the Members Pavilion with heavy-hitters including NSW Minister for Sport Natalie Ward, Swans CEO Tom Harley, Sydney FC coach Steve Corica, member-elected trustee Dave Gilbert and Venues NSW board member Sally Loane. 1876 contributors Peter Lalor, Phil Hillyard and Neil Breen were at the event as were a number of media figures including The Australian’s John Lehmann, The Sydney Morning Herald’s Scott Bolles, KIIS FM’s Brooklyn Ross and John Nicholson, the Seven Network’s Michelle Bishop and Sam Lane and Sky News’s Jim Callinan.

Wallabies legend Lloyd Walker gave a memorable Welcome To Country before the fine fare emerged from the SCG kitchens.

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{ J A N U A R Y 1, 19 9 6 }

WHERE I WAS WHEN …

Australia were facing an ignominious New Year’s Day defeat when a determined Michael Bevan strode to the crease, recalls Neil Breen

T

here wasn’t much going on on January 1, 1996. I was living in my bachelor house in East Brisbane, a stone’s throw from the Gabba.

My rundown, postwar weatherboard house was a clubhouse of sorts — a place where my mates were always welcome and where everyone gathered at any old random time. Which was frequent.

After the excesses of New Year’s Eve, I didn’t need to send out invitations.

My house was open for business for an afternoon barbecue and a few games of snooker on the full-sized table graciously left behind in a purpose-built shed by the lovely 90-year-old man I bought the house off a few years earlier.

But, the main attraction that day was the day-nighter at the SCG between Australia and the West Indies.

Over those heady summers, a call of “Warne’s bowling” from upstairs would see snooker cues dropped and everyone run to crowd around my old-school NEC TV. Of course, Warne delivered that day as well, with two wickets in his first over. But he would not be the star attraction of the next seven hours.

Rain interrupted play for a while, always a disappointment while we lay around with hangovers. Down to the pool room for a bit.

Eventually play was reduced to a 43 over match, and the mighty West Indies scrounged out 172 thanks to a 93no by Carl Hooper. Very gettable. You beauty.

Slater, Taylor and Ponting were gone in quick succession. Our old Brisbane schoolmate Stuart Law was gone soon after. Michael Bevan came in at 4-32. No need to panic. Yet. Mark Waugh went, then Shane Lee. 6-38. Honestly, how useless were they? They were chasing an easy 173 for victory. Our NYE recovery plans were in tatters as a few wandered back down to the pool room to talk about how good Eddie Charlton was.

Ian Healy was hanging around. The lounge-room faithful started to talk rubbish, saying we could still win.

Then, it happened.

At 6-61, Bevan spooned one almost straight back to the smooth-moving spinner Roger Harper, a master fieldsman who preyed the infield, the outfield — all fields

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Michael Bevan raises his arms in jubilation after a famous innings.

Picture: News Ltd

— like a cat. He purred to his right, grabbed it and hit the deck, claiming the catch. Even threw it in the air.

Bevan stood his ground. Despite Harper’s celebration, Bevan was convinced Harper had dropped it. The cry went up from the lounge room: “Boys, you better get up here.

Bevan won’t walk after being caught”. And Bevan was right. Harper clearly dropped it and the third umpire ruled not out.

The third umpire had no choice; he would have heard our protests 1000km away. You could sense it was on from that point.

Healy went — 7-74 — then Paul “Pistol” Reiffel walked out. Bevan was picking off ones and twos. Then he started picking off lots and lots of ones and twos and a few boundaries here and there.

“Reiffel just has to hang around and not do anything stupid.” That was said in my lounge room over and over. And it was said in every lounge room in the nation.

Reiffel did hang around ... and Bevan kept picking up the ones and twos.

“Order some pizzas ... this is happening.

The run-rate’s doable.”

Reiffel went for 34 and, when Warne was run-out for 3 in a mad scramble for the last few runs, Glenn McGrath, possibly our worst ever number 11, walked out. Three balls to go, five to win. Harper, the villain, was bowling.

Bevan, against all odds, had made it into the 70s.

By then, the whole country was watching. This was in the years when the sport choices on TV were limited and Pay TV was a fledgling operation. Bevan’s heroics had no rival. He had our attention. They were great days.

McGrath just had to get off strike. Somehow, he did.

Maybe bat, most likely pad. Who cared. Two balls, four runs. Bevan played the second last ball straight back to Harper. “What’s he doing?” came the shouts. Crusts of Domino’s were thrown.

Last ball. Harper runs in. Bevan opens the shoulders.

Straight back over the umpire. Four. “It’s a four! You’re *&%#ing kidding.” He stood there. Smiled and raised his arms. What a legend. Grown men were dog-piling each other in front of the NEC. 78 from 88 balls, and Bevan goes down in Australian cricketing folklore. I wasn’t there. But, like the rest of the country, I was there.

A NEW ER A IN V EN U E HOSPITA LIT Y AWAITS.

SC A N H ER E FOR YOU R FIRST LOOK AT PR EMI U M SPACES AT T H E N EW SY DN EY FOOT BA L L STA DI U M

“T he Ashes provide cricket its circadian rhythm. Y ou win at home, you lose away.

Career-defining performances are made ... Lose at home and there is hell to pay” { P E T E R L A L O R , P A G E 16 }