Ian Meckiff

From a casual saunter of 16 paces, and with a left arm disconcertingly bent, Ian Meckiff bowled at great speed and amid unending controversy for almost eight first-class seasons, until umpire Colin Egar abruptly concluded his career at Brisbane in November 1963 during the first Test against South Africa by calling him for throwing four times in his only over. Supporters found the end sickening, critics considered justice finally done; Meckiff's action had been an object of odium since the 1958-59 Ashes series, when his 6 for 38 in the second Test at Melbourne had included Peter May, Colin Cowdrey and Tom Graveney. A tailender with a golfer's swing, his image is part of one of cricket's most famous tableaux: it is his bat groping for the line in Ron Lovitt's great photograph of the climax of the first tied Test, between Australia and West Indies at Brisbane in December 1960.
Gideon Haigh