Ian Craig with Neil Harvey in South Africa. Photo from the book Apartheid: A Point to Cover
by Arunabha Sengupta
Ian Craig, at 17, was hailed as the ‘new Bradman’. A mantle that would prove to be a yoke around any neck, especially one that young.
Dick Whittington, never quite restrained when holding forth about his favourites, wrote: “The promise of Craig must have been as beautiful and promising as the sight of the stars over Bethlehem to the wise men. Here at last was a young man who could change the horizon of the cricket world and cause cricket lovers to flock to watch him as they flocked, like so many children from Hamelin town, after Bradman.”
When he was not selected for the third Test at Sydney against South Africa in 1952-53, the spectators on the infamous Hill were not amused with the captain. “You beat Craig in only one thing, Hassett, and that’s years,” they hollered.
During the following Test at Adelaide a 20,000-strong crowd gathered early and most of them asked whether Craig was going to play. Much to their disappointment they were informed that he would be the 12th man.
Craig finally made his debut in the final Test at Melbourne. He drove the fourth ball he faced beautifully to the cover boundary. The youngster made 53.
Thereafter, however, it was no fairy tale. By the time Craig reached England in 1953, his batting had undergone a degree of scrutiny that had been reserved for Bradman. He managed just 429 runs at 16.50 in the tour matches and did not play any Test.
In London, a steak dinner was hosted for the team by the cricket-mad Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies. Craig found some solace in the lines Menzies had penned for him, comparing his failures to the early days of Stan McCabe:
“The infant Craig reclining in shade
Takes comfort from the history of McCabe.”
Cut to 1957–58. Ian Craig was now the new Australian captain, having jumped the queue according to many a teammate and pressman. The boy wonder, measured against Bradman, the closest physical manifestation of the infinite, had thus far not really blazed the turf, or even set it simmering. Six Tests had brought him 255 runs at 23.18. That 53 on debut had remained his only half-century.
While batting in the first Test, Alan Davidson struggled with his eye. A piece of hot coal had lodged there on Christmas eve, and on Christmas Day the eye had to be operated. Now, as Peter Heine charged at him, his eye watered. Signalling to the dressing room, he lay on his back. Craig came running out and administered eye drops.
He was doing far more than his job as a captain. For his living, Craig sold pharmaceutical drugs for Boots behind the counter, on a dusk-to-dawn shift, at London’s Piccadilly Circus. He was an expert in first aid. There was loud applause as he returned.
But when Craig batted 109 minutes for 17 in the second innings, refusing to attempt a steep chase, he was roundly booed.
By the time the fifth Test came about, Craig had run up scores of of 14, 17, 0, 52, 0, 3 in the series. He offered to drop himself and play Les Favell. Peter Burge thought it was a good idea, but Harvey didn’t. He had not been too happy at being passed for captaincy, but now he told Burge, “I’ve been playing Tests for ten years and I know that there’s never been an Australian captain dropped on tour in cricket history. As far as I’m concerned it won’t happen this time.” So Craig played.
He made just 17. Endean caught him off a stinging on-drive at silly mid-on.
Australia won the series 3-0. The captain received the customary congratulatory telegram from Menzies.
However, that was it for Craig as far as Test cricket was concerned. He contracted hepatitis and missed most of the action for the next season. When Peter May’s men visited in 1958-59, a duck against Western Australia and then another for New South Wales against the Englishmen sealed his fate.
Captain at 22. Last Test at 22. Retirement from First-Class cricket at 26.
358 runs at 19.88 from 11 Tests, 2 half centuries. That 53 remained his best. Not really Bradman.
Ian Craig was born on 12 June 1935.