9 mystery spinners through the ages

3. Jack Iverson

Jack Iverson was known for his unusual grip

A fast bowler when at school, Jack Iverson took no part in cricket for twelve years afterwards and then came into the reckoning after developing a strange way of spinning the ball.

Gripping the ball between his thumb and middle finger, he was able to bowl a wide variety of deliveries, including off-breaks, leg-breaks, and googlies, without any remarkable change of action.

He first made headlines in cricket in 1949-50 when he took 46 wickets for Victoria at an average of 16.12. In the following autumn against W. A. Brown’s team in New Zealand, he snapped up 75 wickets in total and in the next Australian season, he was chosen for his country to play against England in the Ashes.

The Ashes turned out to be a juggernaut for him as he bewildered the English batsmen with his bagful of tricks. He took 21 wickets at an astounding average of 15.73 in that series and made his name instantly. However, during the fourth Test at Adelaide he suffered an ankle injury when he trod on the ball and after that he played only one game in each of the next two seasons.

Then he left the gentleman’s game forever and faded into obscurity.