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Keith Stackpole, who followed his father into the Victorian side in
1959-60, was first chosen for Australia as a leg-spinning all-rounder,
but was turned into a belligerent opening batsman with a liking for
forcing strokes off the back foot. In the 1972 Ashes series, which
marked the beginning of an era of Aussie dominance under the captaincy
of Ian Chappell, he scored 485 Test runs at an average of 53.88. He made
his debut against England at Adelaide in 1965-66, batting at number
eight because of a nightwatchman, scoring 43 and taking 2-33. He toured
South Africa in 1966-67 under Bobby Simpson, scoring 134 in Cape Town
but otherwise failing to impress.
He bowled regularly but with little
success. Not until the West Indies were in Australia in 1968-69 did he
return to the side, and was promoted to opening batsman in the third
Test, making three fifties in four innings. In India in 1969 he made 103
in Bombay, and his 71 in Durban was the highlight of the dismal
Australian performance in South Africa which followed. His Test place
was under threat at the start of a 1970-71 Ashes series, but the 207 he
made at Brisbane cemented it, although there was controversy as he
appeared to have been easily run out at 18.
He made 87 and 136 at
Adelaide. In England in 1972 his best score was his 114 at Trent Bridge.
He made 44 and 142 in Jamaica in 1972-73, and 122 at Melbourne against
New Zealand in 1973-74 before an early retirement. In the unofficial
series against the Rest of the World of 1971-72 he made 135 at Brisbane
and 104 and 95 in Sydney. Stackpole played in the first ODIs between
England and Australia, scoring 52 at Lord's and 67 at Edgbaston in 1972.
(Bob Harragan)
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