Australian spinner Lindsay Kline dies at 81

[HippoSucks]

Australian spinner Lindsay Kline dies at 81

Brydon Coverdale

Lindsay Kline 1934-2015

October 2, 2015

 

There are few bowlers who can claim to have taken a Test hat-trick; Lindsay Kline was one of only nine Australians to have done it. There are few No. 11 batsmen who can boast of surviving nearly two hours to salvage a thrilling draw; Kline did that against West Indies in Adelaide in 1961. But it is a measure of the excitement that Kline squeezed into a 13-Test career that neither of those was his most memorable moment.

Kline, who has died at the age of 81, will be best remembered as the man who faced the final ball of what is perhaps the most famous Test match of them all: the tie between Australia and West Indies at the Gabba in 1960. Arguably the most iconic photograph in Test history shows Kline running to the bowler's end, looking over his shoulder to see his partner Ian Meckiff being run out by a direct hit from Joe Solomon.

A left-arm wrist-spinner who claimed 34 Test wickets at 22.82, Kline was unlucky to have been pushing for a place when Richie Benaud was the country's dominant spinner, and captain. But despite his fine bowling record it is for his involvement in the tied Test that Kline will be best remembered. The last eight-ball over of the fifth day had started with Australia needing six to win and West Indies requiring three wickets.

 

 

Edited October 5, 2015 by HippoSucks

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[Malcolm Merlyn]

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