John Inverarity
Robert John Inverarity MBE (born 31 January 1944) is a former Australian cricketer who played six Test matches.
[1] A right-handed batsman and left-arm orthodox spin bowler in his playing career, Inverarity was also one of the enduring captains in the Australian Sheffield Shield during the late 1970s and early 1980s, captaining both Western Australia and South Australia.
[3] As a state player, he captained Western Australia to Sheffield Shield glory four times in five years.
When his teaching career took him to Adelaide his new team of South Australia went on to win the Shield in 1981–82.
Batting at the Adelaide Oval he was involved in one of the most unusual "dismissals" in cricket history.
After being clean-bowled for a duck by Greg Chappell – the ball deviating in mid-air – he was recalled to bat by umpire Colin Egar who signalled dead-ball, literally; the ball had deflected off a now-deceased unlucky local sparrow.
[4] After retiring from cricket in 1985 (aged 41) he continued teaching, before going into coaching on the English county scene with Kent and Warwickshire.
In 2011, Inverarity was named as the new full-time chairman of selectors for Cricket Australia, beating a high-profile field including Geoff Lawson, Tom Moody, Rod Marsh and chair Trevor Hohns.
[6] He was also appointed as a member of the University Senate by the Governor Ken Michael.
[11] In England Inverarity impressed batting nearly four hours in a tour game against Leicestershire to make 67.
In 1968–69 Inverarity player the first test against the West Indies but was then dropped in favour of Doug Walters.
[20] Inverarity was not picked on the Australian team to tour India and South Africa in 1969–70.
[21] Inverarity toured New Zealand in early 1970 with an Australian XI that included Greg Chappell and Dennis Lillee.
[25] In 1970–71 Inverarity scored 810 runs at 54.00 and took 9 wickets at 39.8, but was unable to force his way into the test team.
[26] In December 1971 he and John Benaud were picked in the Australian side to play the World XI, replacing Ian Redpath and Bruce Francis.
[30] Inverarity was selected on the 1972 ashes, although Keith Stackpole was preferred as vice captain.
[37] There was some talk that Inverarity might be recalled to the Australian team to captain, but this subsided when Bob Simpson elected to return to test cricket.
However he was overlooked; Graham Yallop led Australia to a 5–1 defeat against England.
[38] World Series Cricket players returned to state sides in the summer of 1979–80.
In 1980–81, a summer where he was increasingly unavailable due to work commitments, he scored 321 runs at 26.75 and took three wickets.
[39] In 1981–82 Inverarity served as vice captain to David Hookes in South Australia.
During this summer there was some press speculation that Inverarity could be recalled to the national side to captain Australia in the wake of the resignation of Kim Hughes.
It was a reward for application and bowling persistently, patiently, and for the batsmen it was about enduring the difficult periods and making hay when things got better.
