by Arunabha Sengupta
He loved fishing, dearly so. His autobiography has a picture of him and Richard Edwards posing with a Wahoo, one of Bill Lawry and Barry Brunskill with a catch of tuna, Tom Veivers with a 35lb Voondoo, and one just a close up photograph of South Africa’s famous tiger fish. There are also detailed descriptions of fishing in the Zambesi river and the analysis of the fishing abilities, techniques and accomplishments of various teammates. In 1968, when he ran out Alan Knott with a throw sent in with the flick of his wrist, he claimed that the wrist action was the result his flicking the fly during his recent spate of trout fishing.
He was the last amateur of Australian cricket, although he insisted that the definition was misleading. He was just keeping his options open.
But, he was definitely the first hipster of Australian cricket. He sported the Ned Kelly beard way before it became fashionable. He gave Slam Poetry readings and still paints watercolours. He rode vintage track bikes before they became vintage. He ran an antiques business. And with long sideburns and George Harrison looks, he was an instant hit with the ladies.
Yet, for all that, he could be the dourest of batsmen. Once in, he was perhaps the most difficult Australian batsman to dislodge. John Snow admitted, “I liked bowling to him the least. He was a nuisance batsman.” He had his reasons. After evading each Snow bouncer, Redpath would stare at the bowler and mouth “Get f@#%ed.” 4,737 runs at 43.40 is testimony to his tenacity and commitment. Greg Chappell once said that Ian Redpath would kill to get into the Australian team.
Off the field he was perhaps the most affable of cricketers. Yet, he had that burning pride, passion and intensity as one of the top batsmen of the country. In 1975, plagued ridiculously poor compensation, a of the Australian cricketers had threatened to go on a strike during an Ashes Test. ACB secretary Alan Barnes told The Australian, “There are 500,000 cricketers who would love to play for Australia for nothing.” Redpath had grabbed Barnes by the shirt and tie and had pinned him against the wall, saying, “You b***y idiot, of course 500,000 people would play for nothing, but how b****y good would they be?”
All-round great Keith Miller accompanied the Australian side to South Africa as journalist and criticised Bill Lawry’s ‘disgusting behaviour’. In his autobiography Redpath called Miller pious, pontifical, bleating and vituperative. Not many Australian cricketers could be so scathing about Miller, the demi-god. Redpath could.
Sadly, for someone who could kill to get in the Australian side, Redpath ended his career with plenty of cricket left in him. He declined the Ashes tour of 1976 when he decided that he could no longer afford to neglect his antique business in Geelong. They were not paid that much those days.
He returned briefly during the WSC but snapped his Achilles tendon. Kerry Packer insisted on paying him in full.
Ian Redpath was born on May 11, 1941.