Australia mourns death of former Test player Keith Stackpole
Former Test opener Keith Stackpole, a key member of the Australia teams captained by Bill Lawry and Ian Chappell in the 1960s-70s, died of a suspected heart attack on Tuesday at the age of 84.
Stackpole played 43 Tests and scored seven centuries from 1966-1974, forming one of Australia's top opening combinations with Victoria teammate Lawry.
An aggressive shot-maker with a love for hooking fast bowlers, Stackpole topped the runs list during Australia's successful tour of India in 1969 - the nation's last series win in the subcontinent until 2004.
He made a career-best 207 against England at the Gabba in 1970 and often proved a thorn in the side of Australia's Ashes rivals.
A handy leg-spin bowler, Stackpole played in the first-ever one-day international against England in 1971, taking 3-40 in the 40-over match to guide Australia to a five-wicket win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Named one of Wisden's 'Cricketers of the Year' in 1973, Stackpole, who scored 2807 runs at an average of 37.42, became a successful broadcaster after retiring from the game in 1974.
His death triggered tributes from former players and broadcasters on Wednesday.
"Very sad news indeed. Stacky was a fantastic cricketer but more so a great bloke and one hell of a cricket coach," former Australia test bowler Merv Hughes wrote on X.
Cricket Australia Chairman Mike Baird said Stackpole would be sorely missed.
"Keith was one of the great contributors to the game of cricket and his legacy will live long into the future," Baird said in a statement.
"Not only was he an outstanding player for Australia and Victoria, his work in the media, radio and TV commentary and as a mentor to many players who followed in his footsteps demonstrated his enduring passion and influence in the game."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Int'l Cricket Council
10 hours ago
- Int'l Cricket Council
Confident Smith relishing Lord's reunion
The Home of Cricket is where the heart is for Steve Smith, and the batting great believes Australia's excellent Lord's record puts them in a strong position for the ICC World Test Championship Final 2025. Australia defend their title against South Africa from Wednesday, and they could not have hand-picked a better venue outside of their home country. Traditionally, Australia have always thrived at Lord's. They have won two of their last three Test matches here and were unbeaten between 1934 and 2009 – a run of 18 Tests. Add to that, they have won seven of their last 10 ODIs since 2005. As you would expect for a player with 36 Test centuries and an average of 56.74, Smith has an excellent Lord's record as well. He scored a double-century in an Ashes Test 10 years ago, and 110 in 2023, helping him to 525 runs in total and an average of 58.33. Indeed, he is just 51 runs away from becoming the highest-scoring overseas player in Lord's history – an honour that currently belongs to his countryman Warren Bardsley, who last walked through the Long Room with pads on 99 years ago. So, it is no wonder Smith – relaxed and refreshed after a three-month break from cricket – is in a confident mood. 'We have been training really well, the last week or so,' he said. 'The batters feel like they are in a good place, now we will go out and play. We have very fond memories of the World Test Championship Final from down the road at The Oval. 'Coming here to Lord's, it's a place we have traditionally played good cricket so we are excited about the prospect of facing South Africa here. 'The Dukes ball is a bit different to what we have with our home and away games most of the time, but we are excited about this contest.' Breaking the habit of a lifetime, Smith has downed tools since the ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025, where Australia lost in the semi-finals to India. Even in his time off, he normally keeps a bat close at hand so he can practice in the mirror. But this time, he opted for a clean break and peppered his social media channels with updates of his life in New York City with wife Dani. At 36, Smith is refusing to look too far into the future and has previously conceded this may well be his last appearance at Lord's – with Australia not due to play here again until 2027. Still, with four Test hundreds in his last eight innings, he remains one of the best players in the world, and so it is no surprise that, when he picked up a bat again last week, things immediately clicked into place. And it is a good thing it did. South Africa boast one of the best bowling attacks in the world, led by Kagiso Rabada – second in the ICC Men's Test Bowling rankings – and Marco Jansen, and Smith admits he and his fellow batters will be under pressure. 'Us batters have our work cut out,' he said. 'They're a good side, they're here for a reason. South Africa have been a good cricket side for a long time. 'I have had a good break, had a couple of months off, and had a first hit the other day, and it has clicked into place. 'It is a nice place to bat, I have had some success. It takes time to get used to the slope, but you get value for shots, especially hitting down the hill. 'It can be nice to hit on. It can be tricky when it moves around, batting here is about playing what is in front of you. 'Spin will play a big part as the game goes on as well. It is dry, there has not been too much rain, it does look dry, and I think spin will come into it.' Smith has seen it all and won it all too. A world champion in all three formats, he admits Australia's 2023 World Test Championship success ranks as high as any other. 'It was right up there to win it,' he said. 'It was great to win a Test Champ final, and be back here to defend our crown. We have had a good team for four years now and we're desperate to defend it.' ENDS
Int'l Cricket Council
15 hours ago
- Int'l Cricket Council
Matthew Hayden: An imperious and imposing giant
Feared by opponents, but ultimately respected for his brute force, strokeplay and patience, Matthew Hayden's esteemed international career, including over 15,000 runs and two ICC Men's Cricket World Cup victories has been marked with an induction into the ICC Hall of Fame. Spanning 16 years and flourishing in all three formats with his aggression and superior shot-making, Hayden proved to be dominant all over the world. Hayden felt privileged to have been honoured with a place in the Hall of Fame. "The ICC Hall of Fame includes many of my heroes of yesteryear as well as contemporaries whom I admired and enjoyed competing against. Each of these players gave something to the game in their own way. It is incredible to be recognized along with them." Patience and power win the day as feet found in international game After prolific summers in domestic cricket, Hayden slid into the Australian ODI team in 1993, eventually given a Baggy Green in March 1994 on a tour of South Africa, raced in to replace an injured Mark Taylor. It would take two and a half years for a chance to represent the Test team again, making his first Test century in his third Test, against the West Indies in Adelaide. A run of Tests in 1997 followed, though Hayden had to wait three years for a return. Loading up again on first-class runs, Hayden won a competitive race to claim an Australian opening role, and despite one or two blips, he cashed in when given the chance. Setting himself apart from his contemporaries, Hayden flourished in slow, spin heavy conditions where other foreigners floundered: India. For all his force down the ground, Hayden swept with aplomb. He made 549 runs, the most by an Australian in a three-Test series. 2001 proved to be an annus mirabilis for Hayden, who went on to pass Bob Simpson's record for most Test runs by an Australian in a calendar year as he scored 1391 runs at an average of 63.22 across 14 Test matches. New Zealand and South Africa felt his wrath, the latter doubly so having hosted a Test series straight after the Australian home summer. The period would prove to be just a taste of what was to come, as imposing and larger than life than he had already shown to be. A five-year purple patch and shining alongside his best mate Few can boast 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year. Matthew Hayden is the only player to have done this for five years, and that too in successive years. Alongside best mate and opening partner Justin Langer, Hayden was almost unstoppable. After the tour of South Africa in early 2002, Hayden showed his wares in UAE against Pakistan, and proved a nightmare for England in the 2002/2003 Ashes series, with two centuries, one of them in Brisbane and another in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG as he scored 496 runs at an impressive average of 62 across the five-match Test series. Wedged in between his prolific Test stretch, Hayden played a role in Australia's successful 2003 Cricket World Cup campaign, having stood in a top-three batting ranking in both formats, and teaming up with limited-overs opening partner Adam Gilchrist. Matthew Hayden during his record knock of 380 against Zimbabwe in 2003 // Getty Images Centuries followed in the West Indies on a Test tour of 2003, though the outlying innings of the year was his 10-hour stay at the crease at the WACA, plundering 380 (437) against Zimbabwe, breaking Brian Lara's Test record of 375. Lara went on to reclaim the record months later, though the effort from Hayden remains the second-highest Test score, and the highest by a player opening the batting. Twin centuries in Sri Lanka followed, moving him to an even 20 in his first 55 Test matches. In the five years of such prolific run-scoring in Test cricket, Hayden smashed 6366 runs at 59.49, making 24 hundreds and 21 fifties in 119 innings. And to make the success sweeter, Hayden achieved so much of his batting success with Langer at the other end. The pair scored 5655 runs together in opening partnership at an average of 51.88, with only Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes more prolific as a pair (6482). Matthew Hayden: Powerful, imposing, intimidating! Matthew Hayden's flamboyant batting that struck fear in the hearts of bowlers. On his birthday, relive the best of his World Cup performances. Doubling the World Cup dose, adapting to T20 cricket and continuing Test charge Almost hidden by Hayden's power and force was his ability to play all around the wicket, with an arsenal of shots to match world-class players across generations. Walking at bowlers in his pomp, striding and driving, Hayden was also a fine player of cross-bat shots, sweeping on length, negating top class spin bowling. As centuries against England at The Oval and the ICC World XI on home soil in late-2005 sparked a second wind in the Test arena, Hayden remained a batting bully in white-ball cricket. His 181* in an ODI against New Zealand in Hamilton in early 2007 meant Hayden at one point held the highest individual scores in both Test and ODI formats for his country. The knock was a precursor for the World Cup held soon after, where he became just the second player to surpass 600 runs in a single tournament - 659 at 73.22. He made three centuries before the Super Eights section of the event, with his hundred against South Africa coming off just 66 balls. A key cog in Australia's successful World Cup defence, he was unsurprisingly named in the ICC ODI Team of the Year for his exploits. Matthew Hayden bludgeons a ton against New Zealand | CWC 2007 Before a swansong in Test whites, Hayden took part in the inaugural T20 World Cup, adapting to the new format with ease. He topped the tournament run-tally with 265, and bowed out with an average of over 50 and a strike rate of 143.92 in the T20I format. Hayden had one final flurry in the Test arena, making centuries in three consecutive Tests against India in their visit in the 2007/2008 Test season, helping him pass Bradman's total of 29 hundreds. Hayden waved goodbye with an even 30 to his name, as one of just four Australians to reach the mark. Also a presence in the field too as a fine slips fielder, Hayden was at the forefront of Australia's all-conquering success. As rivals tried to dethrone the green and gold in a golden era, they all too often fell at the first hurdle, as Hayden broke the back of bowling attacks in all conditions and climates. ICC - Hall of FameNewsMen's NewsMatthew Hayden
Khaleej Times
17 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
'Flawed' Test Championship reveals world cricket's underlying problems
Reigning champions Australia face South Africa in the World Test Championship final at Lord's starting on Wednesday amid a chorus of criticism over the competition's format. Wisden, cricket's 'bible', was scathing in its assessment, with editor Lawrence Booth writing in this year's edition that the WTC is a "shambles masquerading as a showpiece". Meanwhile, former England captain Michael Atherton said "everyone knows the WTC in its present guise is flawed". One fundamental problem is that political tensions mean India and Pakistan, two of cricket's leading nations, have not played a Test against each other since 2007. The nine-nation WTC is further skewed because the teams are not being required to face each other or to play the same number of matches, unlike most sports leagues. Countries are free to decide how many Tests they would like to play in the two-year qualifying cycle -- something Booth wants doubled to four years, with the top nine in the rankings all playing each other, home and away, over series that last at least three Tests. Positions are calculated on the percentage of available points won by teams. South Africa have played just 12 Tests in the current cycle -- all of them two-match series -- compared to England's 22 -- and have not played either England or Australia. South Africa also sent a third-string side to New Zealand in early 2024, and lost. They kept their best players at home to appear in a domestic T20 competition. That was a financial sign of the times, as is Cricket South Africa not scheduling any home Tests for 2025/26. South Africa reeled off six straight wins to book their place in this year's final, only for former England captain Michael Vaughan to say they had got there "on the back of beating pretty much nobody". But Proteas coach Shukri Conrad objected that South Africa had beaten teams who had beaten the 'Big Three' of India, Australia and England. "One of the nobodies we beat won a Test match in Australia -- West Indies beat Australia in a Test match. They are not nobody," insisted Conrad. "New Zealand beat India: three-zip in India. New Zealand is not a nobody. "Sri Lanka won Test matches (against England and New Zealand).I don't buy this thing about us beating nobody." Victory in the final would be a boost to South Africa following years of hurt in ICC white-ball tournaments, with Conrad saying after qualification was secured. "I'm never going to apologise for getting into the final. "It's the biggest thing in this team's existence. It's the biggest thing for South African cricket at the moment." One of those involved in devising the points system, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP: "It's difficult to come up with a solution where everyone is happy given the barriers to an 'orthodox' table that exist, such as the India-Pakistan situation. "Commercial considerations will also mean the 'Big Three' will want to play each other in five-Test series." He added this was just as much a choice as England incurring the over-rate penalties that hampered their chances -- they've yet to reach a WTC final despite the first three editions all taking place on home soil -- with skipper Ben Stokes almost disdainful in his assessment of an "utterly confusing" format. Yet, New Zealand's win in the inaugural 2021 World Test Championship final was welcomed as a long overdue global triumph for a popular side. Australia's failure to qualify for that match was labelled a "big missed opportunity" by skipper Pat Cummins, who made amends with victory at in an Oval final two years ago. That India were beaten finalists in both the 2021 and 2023 WTC finals indicated there was still a place for the five-day game in world cricket's economic powerhouse, for all T20 events such as the Indian Premier League are the financial driving force. Indeed former India captain and batting star Virat Kohli, speaking after securing his long-awaited first IPL title following Royal Challengers Bengaluru's triumph in last Tuesday's final, said: "If you want to earn respect in world cricket all over, take up Test cricket and give your heart and soul to it." But the awkward question for cricket chiefs is whether the WTC is helping or hindering that aim.
