Norm O'Neill

Norman Clifford O'Neill OAM (19 February 1937 – 3 March 2008) was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-handed batsman known for his back foot strokeplay, O'Neill made his state debut aged 18, before progressing to Test selection aged 21 in late 1958. Early in his career, O'Neill was one of the foremost batsmen in the Australian team, scoring three Test centuries and topping the run scoring aggregates on a 1959–60 tour of the Indian subcontinent which helped Australia win its last Test and series on Pakistani soil for 39 years, as well as another series in India. His career peaked in 1960–61 when he scored 181 in the Tied Test against the West Indies, and at the end of the series, had a career average of 58.25. his performances on the 1961 tour of England saw him named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. Thereafter his form was less formidable, characterised by nervousness and fidgeting at the start of his innings. Persistent knee problems as well as a controversial media attack on the legality of West Indian bowler Charlie Griffith saw him dropped from the Australian team after 1965. O'Neill also bowled occasional leg spin and was regarded as one of the finest fielders of his era. He later became a cricket commentator and his son Mark O'Neill also played cricket at state level.

Early years

O'Neill was born in Carlton, New South Wales. He had no cricketing associations on his father's side of the family, but his maternal uncle, Ron Campion, played for the Glebe club in Sydney Grade Cricket. Campion trained for cricket near the O'Neill family home, at Bexley Oval. O’Neill accompanied his uncle to cricket from the age of seven and was given batting practice at the end of each session. At Bexley Primary school, O’Neill was denied a chance to play cricket as the school did not field a team. Moving on to Kogarah Intermediate High School, O'Neill played cricket in defiance of a teacher who recommended that he take up athletics. As a teenager, O’Neill idolised Keith Miller after his uncle took him to the Sydney Cricket Ground: O'Neill saw Miller play that day and was impressed with the way he hit the ball off the back foot.

Under his uncle's guidance, O'Neill joined the St. George club, in the Sydney Grade competition. He steadily moved up through the grades and broke into the first grade side at the age of 16. Sensing his potential, the club's selectors informed him that regardless of form, he would play the full season, which allowed him to be uninhibited in his batting. He made 108 in seven innings. The next season, he was out 12 times leg before wicket in 15 innings, and run out in the other three. O’Neill attributed his failures to over-aggressiveness and resolved to improve his patience.

In the second match of the new season, the 17 year old O’Neill made his first century. With all five state selectors onlooking, he made 28 in the next match and was called into the state squad.

Shield debut

O’Neill made his debut for New South Wales at the age of 18 against South Australia. His lack of contribution was highlighted against the backdrop of his team's crushing innings victory: O’Neill failed to score a run or take a wicket. New South Wales had South Australia 6/49 when Miller introduced O’Neill's occasional leg spin, presumably to ease the debutant's nerves bringing him into the game to dispel his nervousness. The home team struck 18 from three overs. O'Neill was listed to bat at number but when the top order had made a big start, Miller brought O'Neill up. He came in against the second new ball and was clean bowled. O'Neill was dropped later in the season, but had gained invaluable experience.

O'Neill steadily rose in the 1956–57 season. At the start of the season, with many players still on international duty on the tour to England, O'Neill was recalled made 63 not out and 60 against Queensland. This saw him retain his place when the Test players returned. He made a sequence of 60s against South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia, before making his first ton against South Australia. This earned him selection for a non-Test tour of New Zealand under Ian Craig. He made 102 not out in the only "Test" match that he played, heading the tour averages at 72.66. Despite this, he was overlooked for the 1957–58 tour of South Africa. It was regarded as one of most controversial decisions of the decade. O'Neill responded during the Sheffield Shield season weakened by the absence of the Test players, aggregating 1005 runs at 83.75 and took 26 wickets at 20.42 with his leg spinners, thus topping the national bowling and batting averages. This included a season ending run of 175 against Victoria, 74 and 48 against Queensland, 125 and 23* against South Australia and 233 against Victoria. His 233 was made in little over four hours. It was the first time that a New South Welshman (let alone a twenty-year-old) had scored 1,000 in a Shield season. Bradman and Bill Ponsford were the only others before him. At the time, his employers refused to make allowances for him to play sport, forcing him to begin work at six in the morning. He considered moving to South Australia because of this, but stayed after state officials intervened. These performances led Bill O'Reilly to compare him to Bradman and Jack Fingleton to lament his non-selection for the South African tour and its reflection on the plight of Australian cricket.

Test debut

Identified as a future Test prospect, he was selected in an Australian XI for a match against the touring England cricket team at the start of the 1958–59 season. After making 104 in Perth and 84 for New South Wales against England, O'Neill was selected to make his Test debut in the five Test series against England, playing in all of the matches. The First Test in Brisbane was a low scoring match described by Australian captain Richie Benaud as producing "some of the slowest and worst cricket imaginable", O'Neill made 34 in Australia's first innings of 186 to help secure a lead of 52. He then top scored with an unbeaten 71 in the second, guiding Australia to an eight wicket victory. It enlivened a match best remembered for a depressingly slow innings by England's Trevor Bailey who scored 68 from 426 balls in seven and a half hours. He struck 77 in the rain curtailed drawn Third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground and followed this with 56 in the Fourth in Adelaide. Despite making a duck in the Fifth Test, he ended the series as the second highest runscorer with 282 at 56.40 as Australia took the series 4–0.

Career peak

The following season O'Neill was Australia's leading batsman during the 1959–60 tour to Pakistan and India, where he was a part of the last Australian team to win a Test on Pakistani soil for 39 years. After a quiet match in the First Test win in Dacca in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), O'Neill played a key role in the victory in the Second Test in Lahore that was to Australia's last in Pakistan until 1998. O'Neill made his maiden Test century of 134 in the first innings to put Australia in the lead. He then took his maiden Test wicket in Pakistan's second innings, that of Shujauddin. This left Australia chasing a target of 122 at a run a minute for the last two hours. The chase was on schedule with O'Neill partnering Neil Harvey when the Pakistanis began wasting time to prevent an Australian victory. This was implemented by swapping fielders very slowly when the left and right-handed combination of Harvey and O'Neill took a single. To counter this, Harvey deliberately backed away when a ball was aimed at the stumps and threw away his wicket by letting himself be bowled for 37. This allowed Benaud to come in and bat with O'Neill so that the two right-handed batsmen would give no opportunity to waste time by switching the field. Australia made the target with a few minutes to spare with O'Neill on 43. O'Neill didn't pass single figures in the final Test, but ended the series with 218 runs at 72.66.

On the five Test Indian series which followed, O'Neill started slowly, aggregating 60 runs in the first two Tests which were shared 1–1. He returned to form with 163 in a high-scoring draw at Brabourne Stadium in Bombay. After scoring 40 in an innings victory in the Fourth Test in Madras, Australia needed a draw in the Fifth Test in Calcutta with four players injured or ill, and Benaud with a dislocated spinning finger. O'Neill scored 113 to help a depleted team prevent India from squaring the series. He was Australia's leading scorer in the Tests, with 376 runs at 62.66. He also made his highest first class scored of 284 against an Indian President's XI in Ahmedabad. He was the top scorer for the whole tour, with 594 runs in eight matches at 66.

He returned to Australia and in the first Test of the 1960–61 series against the West Indies, he struck 181 at Brisbane in the tied Test, his highest Test score. He made 70 and 71 in the Third Test loss in Sydney, before making 65 in the second inning in the Fourth Test at Adelaide where Australia held on by one wicket for a draw. He contributed 48 in the second innings of the Fifth Test as Australia scraped home by two wickets to take the series 2–1. O'Neill ended the series with 522 runs at 52.20. He made two further centuries against the Caribbeans for his state. O'Neill gained attention during the summer for frequently losing his wicket by impulsively sweeping. This was attributed to the dominance of his bottom hand, which saw his bat swinging across the line of flight of the ball. Despite the criticism, he was at the peak of his international career, having made 1398 runs at 58.35 in his first 18 Tests.

Wisden Cricketer of the Year

O'Neill toured England in 1961, scoring 1981 runs at 60.03, narrowly missing becoming only the fourth post war player after Don Bradman, Neil Harvey and Bill Lawry to make 2000 runs in an Ashes tour. In the third match against Yorkshire, he scored a century marked by his the cover driving. He followed this with a 74 against Lancashire before a 124 against Glamorgan described by Wisden as the best of the season. He made 122 on his first appearance at Lord's, against the M.C.C, but after being carried from the ground in an earlier match, it appeared he would be sidelined for a substantial period. However he recovered to be selected for the First Test at Edgbaston, making 82. The " Battle of the Ridge" in the Second Test at Lord's, the home of cricket was an unhappy one for O'Neill. On an erratic pitch with a ridge, O'Neill made one and a duck. O'Neill failed to pass twenty in his next three innings. After rectifying a technical fault, he made 67 in the second innings of the Fourth Test at Old Trafford with the series at 1–1, helping Australia take a narrow victory to retain the Ashes. O'Neill made his first century against England in the final Test at The Oval with 117 as Australia drew the match to take the series. He scored 324 runs at 40.5 in the Tests and was subsequently named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 1962.

International decline

After this tour, his form began to decline, as he became prone to uncertain and fidgety starts to his innings which earned him the nickname "Nervous Norm". A persistent knee injury increasingly troubled him and was to end his career. The 1962–63 season saw England return to Australian soil for Australia's first Test in 18 months. O'Neill made 56 in the First Test draw in Brisbane but failed to pass 20 in the next two matches. He scored 100 in the drawn Fourth Test in Adelaide, which turned out to be his last Test century with fifteen Tests before the end of his career. With Alan Davidson injured during the match, O'Neill was required to bowl substantially, conceding 49 runs in what was his most expensive performance to date. He scored 73 in the Fifth Test in Sydney to finish the series with 310 runs at 34.44, substantially below his career average of 53.8 prior to the series. He also took two wickets, one in each of the Third and Fifth Tests. The following season in 1962–63 saw a slightly better performance against South Africa, when O'Neill scored half centuries in three of the first four Tests. He missed the Second Test due to injury and also took two wickets to end with 285 runs at 40.71 and three wickets at 32.33.

On the 1964 tour to England, O'Neill managed only 156 runs at 31.20 in five Tests without passing fifty and going wicketless. His 1964–65 tour of India was even worse, a far cry from his leading role in the previous tour to the subcontinent. After making 40 and 0 in the First Test in Madras, he was unable to bat either innings in the Second Test in Bombay and missed the remainder of the series. During the 1964–65 tour of the West Indies he garnered controversy by writing outspoken newspaper columns accusing opposition pace spearhead Charlie Griffith of chucking. He was often injured during the tour, but was at his most productive with the bat since the last series against he Caribbean team four years earlier. He made many starts, passing 20 in six of his seven innings, but was unable to convert them into big scores. His 51 and 74* in the Fourth Test at Bridgetown, Barbados, the last Test of his career was the only time he passed 50 for the series. He ended with 266 runs at 44.33. He managed a healthy return with the ball, taking nine of his 17 Test wickets in the series with an average of 25. This included his Test best of 4/41 with his leg spin in the Second Test in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Retirement

The following season, he was dropped for the team to tour South Africa, ending his Test career. He continued his Shield career, compiling 741 runs at 74.1 for the season, and was selected for an Australian second team to tour New Zealand. He retired upon his return. He left a reputation as a highly entertaining batsman who did not manage to fulfil his early promise. He scored 5419 runs at 52.61 for New South Wales and 3879 runs at 61.57 for St George in grade competition before transferring to Sutherland in the 1965–66 club. He scored 168 on his new club's first day in the competition. A cigarette salesman by trade, he became a commentator in retirement, and his son Mark O'Neill represented New South Wales and Western Australia in the 1980s.

O'Neill died at the age of 71 after a long battle with throat cancer.

Style

Standing six feet tall, O'Neill was compared to Don Bradman upon his entry into Test cricket. At his best, he was a dynamic stroke maker who was a crowd favourite for his ability to score at a high pace, in particular with his power off the back foot. He was noted for his nimble footwork which he used to negate spin bowling, which slowed in his later career as he put on weight. He often put too much emphasis on his right hand too much, allowing a large space his hands on the bat handle, and then turning his right shoulder too square towards the bowler. He was regarded as an excellent fieldsman at cover, possessing what Wisden described as a "dream throw" honed from a junior career as a baseballer.

Test match performance

		Batting				Bowling
Opposition	Matches	Runs	Average	High Score	100 / 50	Runs	Wickets	Average	Best (Inns)
England	19	1072	39.70	117	2/7	176	2	88.00	1/7
India	7	416	52.00	163	2/0	111	1	111.00	1/41
Pakistan	3	218	72.66	134	1/0	41	1	41.00	1/37
South Africa	4	285	40.71	88	0/3	97	3	32.33	1/2
West Indies	9	788	49.25	181	1/5	242	10	24.00	4/41
Overall	42	2779	45.55	181	6/15	667	17	39.23	4/41

Notes

References

• Benaud, Richie (1998). Anything But. Hodder & Stoughton.
• Fingleton, Jack (1958). Masters of Cricket: From Trumper to May. Heinemann.

External links

• Cricinfo article on Norm O'Neill

Obituaries

• Melbourne Herald Sun
• Sydney Morning Herald
• Fox Sports
• Cricinfo
• Lasting Tribute
• The Daily Telegraph, 5 March 2008
• The Times, 5 March 2008
• The Guardian, 7 March 2008
• The Independent, 13 March 2008