Born Subiaco WA
14 April 1947
Unassuming, almost unathletic, Bob Massie was, on occasions, close to a genius as a fast-medium swing bowler.
He wrote himself into cricket history at Lord’s in June 1972 when he bamboozled England’s batsmen to claim eight wickets in each innings of the second Test.
This performance, which materially helped to win the game – a victory which heralded a major resurgence by the Australian team – was even more remarkable because it was achieved in Massie’s first Test appearance.
It is true that he played in three representative matches against a World XI back home in 1972-72, taking 11 wickets at 27.27 but in the space of 361 deliveries at Lord’s he decimated an England batting line-up that included players of the calibre of Geoff Boycott and John Edrich.
Making full use of helpful conditions, Massie swung the ball prodigiously both ways, allowing only rare moments of comfort for the batsmen. His match return of 16-137 was by far the best on debut in Test history.
On this day, Massie was virtually unplayable with a wristy delivery, which imparted heavy underspin on the ball and produced lethal late movement through the air.
Sadly, Massie’s brilliant career ended almost as quickly as it had begun. He played in the remaining three Tests of the series in England, then made just two more Test appearances the following Australian summer before fading from the international scene.
His 30 wickets at 20.87 from those six Tests may indicate that he should have had more opportunities, but in all truth he had lost his ability to swing the ball with control and with it had gone his devastating weaponry.