Bill Lawry

[6] He made his major breakthrough in the fifth match of the season when he hit 266 (after being dropped on 12) against New South Wales at Sydney in 1960–61, shortly before the Australian selectors chose the team for the 1961 Ashes tour.

[6] Lawry was sent to England as a backup opening batsman for the incumbent pair of Colin McDonald and Bob Simpson, who had performed well against the pace attack of the West Indies during the previous season and were expected to be retained for the Tests.

He compiled 101 runs between lunch and tea,[8] producing an array of powerful drives through the off side, while his hooking prompted Denis Compton to compare him to Don Bradman.

[6] Lawry followed up with 100 and 24 not out in a nine-wicket triumph against Cambridge University[8] and 104 on his first appearance at Lord's, against Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), who boasted several Test players in their ranks.

Continuing this form in the second innings, Lawry hit 84 and combined with Simpson (92*) to take Australia to 0/186, whereupon they declared and bowled the hosts out to win the match.

[6] In spite of his team's poor form, Lawry remained productive with the bat, particularly against the dominant New South Wales, whose many Test players swept them to a ninth successive Shield title.

"[15] Lawry proceeded to make 94 in the Fifth Test at The Oval, helping to secure a 197-run first innings lead and draw the match, retaining the Ashes 1–0.

He managed only 79 runs in five innings in the first three Tests as Australia trailed 2–0, as both he and Simpson struggled against the express pace of Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith on grounds with no sightscreens.

This proved to be rather risky, as the hosts were only 10 runs short of the target when time ran out, but in any case, the draw was enough to ensure an unassailable 2–0 series lead.

[6] His 166 in the First Test in Brisbane helped Australia, in the absence of the incapacitated and unavailable Simpson, to set a total of 6/443 declared and force England to follow on, but they managed to hold on for a draw.

[10] In all first-class matches, Lawry made 805 runs at 47.35, adding a second century for the season in a vain attempt to prevent a Victorian defeat at the hands of Western Australia.

[6] In his absence, Barry Jarman led the team and adopted ultra-defensive tactics at the orders of Lawry, playing for a draw that guaranteed Australia would retain the Ashes.

He responded with 205 in the Second Test at Melbourne, setting up a total of 510 after asking the tourists to bat first and forcing an innings victory to square the series.

With Australia needing 360 to win, the captain got them off to a good start but they fell away and the last pair had to survive 26 balls at the end to save the match, 21 runs adrift of the target.

[10] Lawry had expected a pace onslaught after Australia's last trip to the Caribbean had ended in defeat, but Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith had begun to slow down, taking their wickets at an average over 40.

The match was marred by a controversial umpiring decision on the fourth day when Srinivas Venkataraghavan was given out caught behind in the second innings after missing the ball by roughly a foot.

[35] The spectators lit fires and threw projectiles at the Australians after Lawry refused to adjourn the match, contrary to police advice that warned them to run for their lives.

In the second innings, Lawry became the sixth Australian to carry the bat in Tests, making an unbeaten 49 as Australia collapsed for 107 against the spin of Bishan Singh Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna.

[6] During the Fourth Test at Eden Gardens in Calcutta, a surge in the demand for tickets caused a last day stampede, which resulted in running battles between fans and police, leaving six dead and hundred injured.

In an attempt to waste time, Lawry pulled away from the wicket when a woman in a colourful sari walked into front of the sightscreen, leading to allegations that he had insulted Indian womanhood.

"[49] Following the tour, Lawry wrote a series of newspaper articles that criticised the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and their treatment of the Australian team.

[50] Initially, it appeared that the Australians were unaffected by the long campaign and change in conditions; they won their first two lead-in matches against their provincial sides by an innings and ten wickets respectively, Lawry scoring 86 against North Eastern Transvaal and 157 against Griqualand West, finishing unbeaten on both occasions.

Immediately after, ground staff ran onto the field and cut off all the grass, making it ideal for batting, thereby giving the South Africans the advantage.

The laws of cricket allowed for the wicket to be mown up to half an hour before the start of play, so Bacher had talked Lawry in tossing early so that he could change the pitch condition to advantage his team.

The proposed extra match fell through after a pay standoff led behind the scenes by Ian Chappell, later to spearhead the breakaway World Series Cricket (WSC), which offered players substantial remuneration.

[58] Lawry also had personal differences with Ian Chappell, Doug Walters, Ashley Mallett and Brian Taber, which reduced morale and led to a deterioration in Australia's performances on the field.

[61] The Australian selectors Don Bradman, Sam Loxton and Neil Harvey had delayed the announcement while they tried to locate Lawry at the end of the Sixth Test, but he had already left for his home in Melbourne and they were unable to find him.

He just kept that long, sharp nose religiously over the ball, accumulating at his own deliberate gait, and in particular tucking everything away off his pads whenever the English bowlers bowled there, as all too often they did.

He played with a very straight bat, combining well-organised defence with a somewhat limited range of strokes, marked by an efficiency of placement and an unusually heavy reliance on the hook shot.

John Snow wrote that 'He always had to be got out and even if you managed to knock all three stumps over he still stayed at the crease a moment looking round for some excuse to continue batting before reluctantly starting his walk back to the dressing room'.