The SquizLog

Hookesy, you were a Hero

The news that David Hookes had passed away shocked me and left a ball of sorrow in my throat.

I heard the announcement when I switched on the radio last night on the way home from Gosford railway station. My reaction surprised me. After all, I was hardly a personal acquaintance of David Hookes. But to me he was "Hookesy" like he was to many other cricket fans. He was the sort of bloke in the public arena that it was easy to imagine as one of your mates, even if there was a film camera and television screen separating you from the man himself.

As all cricket fans would know, David Hookes burst onto the international cricket scene in the Centenary Test against England at the MCG in 1977. His batting accomplishments during the 1976-77 season for South Australia had demanded Test selection for his country. In the Sheffield Shield, Hookes had scored four centuries in consecutive innings. In Australian first class cricket history, only Sir Donald Bradman has bettered this feat. And Hookes had made those runs for South Australia in a dominating style, taking the bowling by the scruff of the neck and dispatching it to all parts of the ground.

So, when he played in his Test debut, Hookes had already captured the cricketing public's imagination.

During Australia's second innings came the over that was to become part of cricket folklore and establish Hookesy as a hero forever. For those not acquainted with this tale, the bowler was Tony Greig, born and raised in South Africa and, at the time of the Centenary Test, captain of England. Greig was, and still is, an abrasive character. I think it is fair to say that he was not well liked by Australian cricket fans. Hookes, the dashing, left handed 21-year-old, proceeded to peel of five consecutive boundaries, each four bringing cheers of delight from the crowd. Norman May, the ABC commentator - this was before the Packer crisis when ABC television still broadcast the cricket, was getting caught up in the emotion too.

Unfortunately David Hookes never went on to the heights that his fans hoped he would. He played 23 Tests for Australia, scoring just one century. But that over in the Centenary Test and the swashbuckling, flamboyant style with which he played the game, earned him a special place in the hearts of countless cricket fans.

When Hookes burst onto the scene I was an impressionable 16-year-old, playing Green Shield for Northern District in Sydney and still dreaming of higher honours. Players like Greg Chappell and Dennis Lillee were my heroes and Hookesy became one too.

In more recent years I have observed Hookes in his role as commentator and compere on Fox Sports. Indeed, soon after pay TV became the only way of watching Test matches from the West Indies, I signed up. And there was David Hookes fronting the commentary. I found his style a breath of fresh air compared to the formula that Channel Nine had dished up for years.

Hookes must have been doing something right as a coach too. All of a sudden, this season Victoria have surged to a commanding lead in the domestic four-day competition. It cannot have been a coincidence that it has been Hookes' second season as coach of the team.

Above all I think it was the style of David Hookes that endeared him to people. Whether it was in his playing days, when he once scored a first-class hundred from just 34 balls, or more recently as a commentator, he was a provocative character. Only last week my son and I were watching Inside Cricket on Fox Sports and Hookesy persisted in asking Allan Border (cricketing great and now Australian selector), "So, is Shane Warne going to Sri Lanka?" Of course, AB was not in a position to answer in the affirmative, but it didn't stop Hookesy from having a go.

Thanks for the memories, Hooksey. You were a hero!

Posted to Australia, Cricket, People, Personal by Keith Pitty