Geff Noblet

Geff Noblet, thin and upright, seemed nearly to touch the clouds when he bowled. He was 6ft 3in, nothing these days, but dwarfed almost all his Australian team-mates and once dismissed the great West Indian Frank Worrell for a king pair in a tour match in Adelaide. Competition for places in Australia's best XIs after the war was so intense, however, that he remained an understudy for almost his entire career. His most memorable moment came as Australia's 12th man in Melbourne in 1951-52 when he ran for Arthur Morris in both innings after he injured his thigh while fielding. While Morris made only 6 and 12, Noblet said so supercharged was the atmosphere and so high was his excitement that he could not remember his feet touching the ground. While he may have been fourth in line behind Australia's celebrated postwar trio of Ray Lindwall, Keith Miller and Bill Johnston, he toured South Africa in 1949-50 and at Port Elizabeth, having replaced Lindwall in the final international, his first-innings haul of 3 for 21 helped trigger a South African follow-on. Team-mates said he was the unluckiest to miss selection for the tour to England in 1953, the final fast bowling place being given to the Queensland teenager Ron Archer on promise rather than performance. "They announced the [touring] team one night after play [in the fifth Test]," Archer said. "I looked across at Nobby and knew how hurt he was - not that he ever complained. He was a far better bowler than I at that stage." While Noblet lacked the genuine hostility of Lindwall and Miller, his height and whippy action enabled him to extract bounce from the deadest of wickets and from a run-up of only seven strides. The opportunity to play under the captaincy of Don Bradman was a key factor, he said, in his improvement. Either he bowled an impeccable off-stump line or the Don would throw the ball to someone else. In 2003 Noblet received an Order of Australia Medal for his services to cricket. He was predeceased by his wife, Betty, and is survived by two daughters, Susan and Elizabeth.
Ken Piesse September 2006