5 Australian players who were unlucky to have not played more for their country

#2 Bob Massie

Bob Massie leads the team off the field after his stupendous performance

Until Bob Massie’s debut against England at Lord’s back in 1972 there had never been a more spectacular Test debut in cricket history. Massie’s swing bowling proved to be unplayable in the 2nd Test at Lord’s of the 1972 Ashes and he ended up picking up 8 wickets in each innings, to finish with figures of 16 for 137 in the game. It was the greatest debut for a bowler in Test history until India’s Narendra Hirwani picked up 16 for 136 against the West Indies in 1987.

Anybody would expect a player who makes such a debut to go on to play plenty of Test matches and end up as one of the significant players in his country’s history. However, that was not to be for Massie. He played only 5 more Test matches for his country and picked up 15 more wickets, as concerns mounted about his ability to regain his skills following an illness. He retired from all forms of cricket in 1974.