Ray Lindwall - Early Years

Early Years

Lindwall was born at Mascot, Sydney, New South Wales, the fourth of five children. He had one younger sister, two older sisters and an older brother. The grandson of Swedish and Irish immigrants, Lindwall had a difficult childhood with his mother Catherine dying of pneumonia when he was seven. His father Arthur had a job at the Water and Sewerage Board, but the children were aware that their father could not financially support them beyond school-leaving age.

At the age of 11, Lindwall and his elder brother Jack were spectators at the Sydney Cricket Ground on the second day of the First Test of the 1932–33 Ashes series. The series saw the usage of the notorious Bodyline tactics by England's pace battery led by Harold Larwood under the captaincy of Douglas Jardine. Larwood, a small man like Lindwall, was less than six feet and intimidated opposition batsmen with express pace bowling, aiming short pitched bouncers at their upper body. Larwood also had a smooth, rhythmic run-up and a classical side-on action, something for which Lindwall became famous. The match was also remembered for Stan McCabe's much-celebrated 187 not out, aggressively resisting the Bodyline tactics as Australia fell to a heavy ten wicket defeat.

The Lindwall brothers returned to their home in Hurstville, where Ray henceforth attempted to emulate Larwood. He wanted to replicate the physical threat posed by Larwood to batsmen, as well as the dynamic batting of McCabe. Lindwall attempted to copy Larwood's action in his routine street cricket matches, before terrorising his classmates at primary school. Lindwall said that "he was the most famous fast bowler in the world and I naturally wanted to copy him". Lindwall's formal cricket education began the following year when he commenced his secondary schooling at Marist Brothers Kogarah. The school had teachers that had a habit of scouting around for athletic boys who could bring sporting honour to the institution. The headmaster, Brother Aidan O'Keefe, was a competent player and invested time into training Lindwall. O'Keefe taught Lindwall batting repertoire while also encouraging him to remain aggressive. He taught Lindwall to add accuracy and variation to his raw speed. By the age of 13, Lindwall was leading the under-15 school team, opening both the batting and bowling. Aged 14, Lindwall played in two distinct Saturday competitions – in the morning against schoolboys and with adults in the afternoon in a B-grade competition with Carlton Waratahs. On one outing, he scored 219 and an unbeaten 110 in two different matches on the same day.

Lindwall's physique had matured by the time he was 15, and he was also successful at athletics and swimming. Aware that he needed a good education with his family in poverty during the Great Depression, Lindwall lifted himself for his final year of junior high school and won a half-scholarship to Marist Brothers Darlinghurst for 1937 and 1938. However, Lindwall's focus on rugby league and cricket saw him fail his Leaving Certificate in his final year.