Australia vs West Indies, Brisbane,1960: It's a tie!

Australian batsman Norman O’Neill crouches to avoid a fast ball from West Indies bowler Wesley Hall during the second innings of the first test at Brisbane, 9th December 1960.

You normally do not associate the word “tie” with Test matches. Every cricket fan across the globe has witnessed so many One-Dayers that have ended with teams stuck on the same score, but with five-day games, the results would either be a draw, a win or a loss.

So when the West Indies side toured Australia in 1960, no one, not even the players themselves, expected a tied game to start off the series.

They were wrong.

Australian captain Richie Benaud was known to be a thinking cricketer – good with tactics and executing strategies. In a warm-up game against the visitors, the leg-spinning all-rounder asked fast bowler Alan Davidson to send down easy deliveries to opener Cammie Smith, in the hope that skipper Frank Worrell would select him ahead of the more dangerous Joe Solomon.

While Cammie did well with the bat in that game, the move backfired on Benaud as both Smith and Solomon ended up playing, while the Aussie captain nearly missed the match due to a severe bout of tonsillitis. Adding to the captain’s cup of woes, his counterpart Worrell won the toss and elected to bat first, so he had to get on to the field with his players.

Despite his ill health, Benaud managed to lead from the front. The Aussie bowling plan was simple: they bowled around the off stump, forcing the Caribbean journeymen to take wild swings and end up giving catches at slip or behind the wicket. The move paid off as seven batsmen were dismissed on the first day.

Interestingly, Cammie Smith was the first to go, caught behind off Davidson for 7. Conrad Hunte and Rohan Kanhai followed shortly after, with the scorecard reading 65/3. The Windies counter-attacked later in the day, with Gary Sobers scoring a masterful 132, and adding 174 with Worrell, who made 65. Although Australia fought back with late wickets, Joe Solomon and wicket-keeper Gerry Alexander took the score to 359, with Solomon dismissed for 65 at the end of the first day, leaving the day’s honours evenly split.

The next morning, West Indies took their score to 453, with Alexander and fast bowler Wes Hall scoring half centuries. Alan Davidson (5/135) was the pick of the bowlers, supported ably by Lindsay Kline (3/52).

Conditions at Brisbane were excellent for batting, however, and Australia’s openers raised 84 for the first wicket before Sobers removed Colin McDonald for 57. Neil Harvey then added 54 with Bob Simpson for the second wicket before being bowled by left-arm spinner Alf Valentine.

Australia finished on 505 in their first innings, courtesy a magnificent 181 from Norm O’Neill, which many considered to be a fitting riposte to Sobers’ knock in WI’s first essay. Simpson made 92 while the lower order also contributed to Australia’s lead with Davidson scoring 44 and Ken “Slasher” Mackay chipped in with 35. For the visitors, Wes Hall was the most successful bowler with 4/140.