Bill Lawry - Whitewashed By South Africa

Whitewashed By South Africa

It was in South Africa in 1969–70 that his batting, and with it his captaincy, began to falter. The unfortunate experiences he and his men endured in India prior to visiting South Africa, those incidents there and on and off the field, began to affect his outlook, converted it, I feel, into what might be called an inlook...He had to survive investigation of his leadership by the Australian Board of Control in the light of adverse reports from the authorities of both India and South Africa. I believe Bill Lawry had developed a sizable chip on his shoulder before the summer of 1970–71.

Richard Whitington

Lawry's men left directly for South Africa. Already tired, they confronted fast and bouncy pitches in contrast to low, slow and dusty spinning pitches in India. Upon arrival, Lawry declared Ian Chappell to be the best batsman in the world, something that would come back to haunt him. For his part, the Australian commentator Alan McGilvray said that when they arrived in Johannesburg, the Australians "looked haggard. Their eyes seemed to be standing out of their heads and some of them looked positively yellow." The Australians played their first match of the tour within a week of leaving the subcontinent. Prior to this first match, most of the team were seen sleeping on the benches at the ground half an hour before play was due to start. Initially, it appeared that the Australians were unaffected by the long campaign and change in conditions; they won their two first two lead-in matches against their provincial sides by an innings and ten wickets respectively, Lawry scoring 86 against North Eastern Transvaal and 157 against Griqualand West, finishing unbeaten on both occasions. They drew the third match against Eastern Province, Lawry again unbeaten twice on 9 and 43.

After two weeks of preparation, the tour went awry for the Australians. They fell to a 170-run loss in the First Test in Cape Town, with Lawry giving finger gestures to the crowd and continuously arguing with the umpires. The Australian skipper managed only 2 in the first innings as the hosts took a 218-run lead that set up the match. Lawry scored 83 in the second innings, which was to be the highest Australian score for the series, an indication of his team's lack of batting form. At the end of match, angered by officiating that he considered to be unacceptable, Lawry refused to accept a presentation by the two umpires. The series moved on to Kingsmead at Durban. Host captain Ali Bacher outwitted Lawry by persuading the Australian skipper to toss long before the start of play. Bacher won the toss and decided—against conventional wisdom—to bat first on a green pitch that would normally offer assistance to the bowlers. Immediately after, ground staff ran onto the field and cut off all the grass, making in ideal for batting, thereby giving the South Africans the advantage. Knowing the rules in greater detail, Bacher had tricked Lawry. The laws of cricket allowed for the wicket to be mown up to half an hour before the start of play, so Bacher had talked Lawry in tossing early so that he could change the pitch condition to advantage his team. South Africa amassed 9/622 declared and Australia fell to its first innings defeat in four years, folding for 157 and 336. Lawry could not see off the hosts' opening bowlers, falling for 15 and 14, as South Africa took a 2–0 lead. The last two Tests brought no respite, as South Africa registered two large victories by 307 and 323 runs respectively. Lawry only managed 79 runs in the last two Tests, and passed 20 only once. Bacher's side, which was regarded as one of the finest in Test history, had inflicted what remains the heaviest Test series defeat in Australian cricket history. Lawry's men did not win any of the three matches against provincial sides after the start of the Tests, meaning that they went eight matches without victory.

In the four Tests, sixteen catches were dropped, with around 60 dropped in a total of 12 first-class matches, while the tired pace spearhead Graham McKenzie took 1/333 and was thought to be suffering from hepatitis. Behind the scenes, the South African Cricket Board approached the Australian Cricket Board attempting to organise a Fifth Test. The players were unreceptive to this after spending five months overseas in what was then an amateur sport. The proposed extra match fell through after a pay standoff led behind the scenes by Ian Chappell, later to spearhead the breakaway World Series Cricket (WSC), which offered players substantial remuneration. The dispute was the genesis of WSC, and on the team's return to Australia, Lawry sent the Board a letter expressing player grievances. According to Chappell, "That was the end of Lawry as captain of Australia. Then it was just a matter of finding any excuse to get rid of him." Lawry was largely ineffective, with 193 runs at 24.13 with only one half century in the First Test. Apart from media criticism of the team's performances, Lawry was also slated for refusing to make a speech at the end of the series and refusing a gift from an umpire at the end of the Fourth Test. Lawry also had personal differences with Ian Chappell, Doug Walters, Ashley Mallett and Brian Taber, which reduced morale and led to a deterioration in Australia's performances on the field.