Australia vs West Indies, Brisbane,1960: It's a tie!

Australian batsman Norman O’Neill crouches to avoid a fast ball from West Indies bowler Wesley Hall during the second innings of the first test at Brisbane, 9th December 1960.

You normally do not associate the word “tie” with Test matches. Every cricket fan across the globe has witnessed so many One-Dayers that have ended with teams stuck on the same score, but with five-day games, the results would either be a draw, a win or a loss.

So when the West Indies side toured Australia in 1960, no one, not even the players themselves, expected a tied game to start off the series.

They were wrong.

Australian captain Richie Benaud was known to be a thinking cricketer – good with tactics and executing strategies. In a warm-up game against the visitors, the leg-spinning all-rounder asked fast bowler Alan Davidson to send down easy deliveries to opener Cammie Smith, in the hope that skipper Frank Worrell would select him ahead of the more dangerous Joe Solomon.

While Cammie did well with the bat in that game, the move backfired on Benaud as both Smith and Solomon ended up playing, while the Aussie captain nearly missed the match due to a severe bout of tonsillitis. Adding to the captain’s cup of woes, his counterpart Worrell won the toss and elected to bat first, so he had to get on to the field with his players.

Despite his ill health, Benaud managed to lead from the front. The Aussie bowling plan was simple: they bowled around the off stump, forcing the Caribbean journeymen to take wild swings and end up giving catches at slip or behind the wicket. The move paid off as seven batsmen were dismissed on the first day.

Interestingly, Cammie Smith was the first to go, caught behind off Davidson for 7. Conrad Hunte and Rohan Kanhai followed shortly after, with the scorecard reading 65/3. The Windies counter-attacked later in the day, with Gary Sobers scoring a masterful 132, and adding 174 with Worrell, who made 65. Although Australia fought back with late wickets, Joe Solomon and wicket-keeper Gerry Alexander took the score to 359, with Solomon dismissed for 65 at the end of the first day, leaving the day’s honours evenly split.

The next morning, West Indies took their score to 453, with Alexander and fast bowler Wes Hall scoring half centuries. Alan Davidson (5/135) was the pick of the bowlers, supported ably by Lindsay Kline (3/52).

Conditions at Brisbane were excellent for batting, however, and Australia’s openers raised 84 for the first wicket before Sobers removed Colin McDonald for 57. Neil Harvey then added 54 with Bob Simpson for the second wicket before being bowled by left-arm spinner Alf Valentine.

Australia finished on 505 in their first innings, courtesy a magnificent 181 from Norm O’Neill, which many considered to be a fitting riposte to Sobers’ knock in WI’s first essay. Simpson made 92 while the lower order also contributed to Australia’s lead with Davidson scoring 44 and Ken “Slasher” Mackay chipped in with 35. For the visitors, Wes Hall was the most successful bowler with 4/140.

The Australian and West Indian cricketers that played in the first ever tied Test match at The Gabba in 1960 return for a reunion and pose for a team picture

The tide turned in favour of the Australians when Davidson, in an inspired spell of fast bowling, grabbed 6/87 in WI’s second innings. It was a memorable display, made more so by the fact that he played with a broken finger on his bowling hand.

Rival skipper Worrell stood tall among the ruins with another 65-run knock, while Rohan Kanhai (54) and Joe Solomon (47) also contributed to the eventual total of 284, setting the home team a target of 233 to win in the remaining sessions of the fifth day’s play.

However, Australia ran into deep trouble in their second innings, with Wes Hall breathing fire as he wreaked havoc on the top order. Simpson and Harvey fell cheaply, McDonald was castled by Worrell, and O’Neill and Les Favell were also removed by the charged-up Hall to leave Australia reeling at 57/5.

Off-spinner Sonny Ramadhin then winkled out “Slasher” Mackay to make it 92/6, leaving only Davidson, Benaud and the tail to score the remaining runs and steer their side to victory. And what followed was an exemplary display of Test cricket at the highest level.

Benaud and Davidson forged a fighting, counter-attacking partnership for the seventh wicket, adding 134 runs largely by running hard between the wickets and punishing loose balls. The score reached 226 when Davidson was run-out by a direct hit from Solomon after Benaud called him for a risky single.

Wicket-keeper Wally Grout joined the captain at the crease, leaving the home side to score six runs from the last eight-ball over of the day, bowled by Hall. Grout was struck on the thigh first up, but hobbled through for a single.

Benaud was out the next ball, a wild hook shot producing a thick edge to the keeper. Ian Meckiff came in, blocked the first ball, and ran for a bye off the next, leaving Grout on strike. He sent the next delivery into the air, but the catch was dropped due to a misjudgment from both Hall and fielder Rohan Kanhai.

The WI fielding came alive when Conrad Hunte ran out Grout after the batsmen stole two runs and crossed for the winning run, despite Grout’s valiant dive.

Last man Lindsay Kline played the ball to the leg side, but Joe Solomon sprang after it and threw down the stumps from 12 metres out, running out Meckiff and ending the game in a tie. This marked the first instance of a Test match with both teams ending on equal scores.

What the game produced was cricket of the highest quality. The two sides played four more Tests, with Australia winning the last one to take the series 2-1.

Throughout the sojourn, the West Indies won the hearts of many Australian supporters, both by the way they played and also the way they carried themselves – relaxed, jovial and happy. At the end of the tour, Conrad Hunte brought tears to many in the audience when he said: “This tour of Australia has not only brought cricket out of the darkness into the light, but also, I hope, international amity“.

And for the first time ever, a ticker-tape parade was accorded to the visitors as they departed the country that had come to admire them immensely. In the context of the game, however, the first tied Test will go down in history as one of the most fiercely-contested games ever played.