South Australian off-spinner Ashley Mallett was at his peak as a foil to
Lillee and Thomson
in a 1974-75 Ashes series, not only through his
ability to pick up significant wickets against
batsmen geared to playing
pace, but also through his support as a magnificent catche
r in the
gully. He even made a mark with the bat on his debut in the Oval Test of
1968,
making 43 not out on his first appearance on the international
field and helping Australia
to add 87 for the last three wickets. It was
his last significant contribution with the bat.
At first he was only
chosen as a second spinner to John Gleeson, and played intermittent
Tests against West Indies in 1968-69 and England in 1970-71. In the
former series he was
replaced by the seam bowling of his State teammate
Eric Freeman after one match.
He played throughout the Indian tour of
1969-70, taking 6-64 in Delhi and 5-93 and 5-53 in Madras.
He had six
wickets at Sydney in a 1970-1 Ashes series. In 1972 Mallett took 5-114
at Headingley
in Underwood's match and five wickets in Australia's win
at the Oval. At Adelaide in 1972-3 he
took 8-59 against Pakistan. a
1974-75 series saw 4-60 in Melbourne, 4-21 in Sydney and five
wickets in
Adelaide. He toured England again in 1975, taking 3-127 at Lord's and
3-50 at Headingley.
He came out of retirement to play in World Series
Cricket, and played two more Tests, against
]West Indies and England, in
1979-80. He was part of Australia's team in the first World Cup of 1975,
when they were beaten finalists. (Bob Harragan).
Ashley Mallett died on 29th Ocrober 2021 aged 76.
A journalist by trade, he wrote two volumes of reminiscences, and published biographies of
Victor Trumper and his paterfamilias Grimmett.
Quietly spoken and bookish, Mallett was ironically nicknamed "Rowdy" by his teammates