our great sporting moments remembered - Melbourne Cricket Club

CLUB NEWSGIFFEN, HEALYENTER HALL OF FAMEThe Australian Cricket Hall of Fame welcomed another pair of outstanding cricketerswhen George Giffen and Ian Healy were inducted in 2008.GEORGEGIFFENGeorge Giffen’s phenomenal achievements often sawhim referred to as Australia’s W.G. Grace. Anall-rounder in the purest use of the term, he was the firstplayer in Test history to complete the double of 1000runs and 100 wickets.His soundly based batting, which featured powerfuldriving, never saw him listed below number six in theorder, while the infinite variety of his immaculatelycontrolled off-breaks formed an important componentof the attack.His exceptional stamina was the product of a Spartantraining regime, making him appear absolutely tireless oneven the most enervating day of an Australian summer.To quote Johnnie Moyes: “He was crafty, shrewd,persistent, and a superb stayer.”First noticed at 15 when invited to bowl in the nets toGrace’s visiting English team in 1874, Giffen played hisfirst Test in 1881/82 and a few months later made thefirst of his five tours of England (1882, 1884, 1886, 1893and 1896), achieving the double of 1000 runs and 100wickets on each of the last three.The pace dominance of Fred Spofforth, George Palmerand Tom Garrett initially limited Giffen’s bowlingopportunities and he gathered only 29 wickets in his first17 Tests. After their departure, however, he came intohis own to add a further 74 in the remaining 14 of hiscareer and finish with 103 at 27.09.Batting at number three for the majority of his 31Tests, Giffen made 1238 runs at 23.35, an excellentreturn on the uncovered wickets of his day. He was at hismost productive in the 1894/95 Ashes series, taking 34wickets at 24.12 and scoring 475 runs at 52.77, whichincluded a superb 161 at the SCG in the opening match.Some of Giffen’s performances for South Australia defybelief. For example, he combined a double century with12 or more wickets in a match against Victoria twice in acalendar year. Having made 237 and taken 5/89 and7/103 at the MCG in January 1891, he surpassed thatwith 271 and figures of 9/96 and 7/70 at the AdelaideOval the following November.No player anywhere in the world has ever approachedsuch feats, while his 11,758 runs at 29.54 and 1022wickets at 21.31 make him the only Australian to exceedthe 10,000 runs/1000 wickets double in first-class cricketfor state and country.IANHEALYAt the time of his retirement in 1999, Ian Healy wasthe most successful wicketkeeper in Test history,leaving other greats such as Rod Marsh, Alan Knott,Godfrey Evans and Wally Grout in his wake.Excellent footwork and extremely safe hands, allied toa mental toughness that yielded nothing to theopposition, underpinned his success. He was equally athome in taking pace and spin, a particular highlight beinghis outstanding partnership with Shane Warne.Moreover, he was a capable batsman, generally atnumber seven, who rarely failed to play a significantinnings when runs were most needed, this capacityunderlined by the fact that all of his four first-classhundreds were made in Tests.Healy was unexpectedly chosen as Australia’s onlykeeper for the 1988/89 tour of Pakistan after only sixappearances for Queensland.Although struggling at first, he nevertheless earned therespect of his peers for his work ethic, courage, teamfocus and the thoroughness of his preparation for amatch.Thereafter, he made few mistakes and became integralto an era of Australian dominance on the internationalstage, missing only one Test, through injury, in a 10-yearcareer. His flawless keeping to the spin of Warne and TimMay against England in 1993, which netted him 26victims, saw Wisden name Healy as one of its fiveCricketers of the Year.On his next tour there, in 1997, he dismissed 27 batsmen,only one short of the overall Test record set by Rod Marshin 1982/83. Two years later, he overtook Marsh’sAustralian and world record tally of 355 dismissals.Healy made his maiden hundred in England in 1993,an unbeaten 102 at Manchester.Among his many other useful Test innings were acareer-highest 161 not out against the West Indies atBrisbane in 1996/97 and 134 against England in 1998/99,also on his home turf at the Gabba, the latter helping toincrease Australia’s total from 5/178 to 485 all out.In 119 Tests Healy dismissed 395 batsmen (366 caughtand 29 stumped) and scored 4356 runs at 27.39. In onedayinternationals he dismissed 233 batsmen (194 caughtand 39 stumped) and made 1764 runs at 21.00, while inall first-class cricket his tallies were 767 dismissals (698caught and 69 stumped) and 8341 runs at 30.22.10 MCC NEWSJULY 2008