137 Facts About Lindsay Hassett

Arthur Lindsay Hassett was an Australian cricketer who played for Victoria and the Australian national team.

Lindsay Hassett's sporting career at school singled him out as a precocious talent, but he took a number of seasons to secure a regular place in first-class cricket and initially struggled to make large scores.

Lindsay Hassett's leadership was intrinsic to the success of the team, which toured and helped to re-establish the game in England, India and Australia in the aftermath of the war.

At the advanced age of 32, Lindsay Hassett began his Test cricket career in earnest and became a more sedate, cautious player who often frustrated spectators with his slow scoring.

Lindsay Hassett then succeeded the retired Bradman as Australian captain in 1949 and presided over a successful team that gradually aged and declined.

In 24 Test matches as captain, Lindsay Hassett oversaw 14 wins and suffered defeat only four times, but it was the last of the four losses that blighted his record.

The youngest of nine children, Lindsay Hassett was born on 28 August 1913 in Newtown, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria's second-largest city.

Lindsay Hassett's father Edward was a real estate agent who served as the secretary of the Geelong Permanent Building Society and was a keen club cricketer.

The Hassett boys played three-a-side cricket matches in the backyard where Lindsay imitated his idol, the Test batsman Bill Ponsford.

Lindsay Hassett was overlooked for the entirety of the next two seasons.

Lindsay Hassett allayed doubt about his selection when he began the tour with innings of 43,146,148 and 220 not out, against Worcestershire, Oxford University, Leicestershire and Cambridge University respectively as Australia won their first four matches by an innings.

Lindsay Hassett added 57 and 98 in the next two matches against the Marylebone Cricket Club and Hampshire, and despite failing to pass 30 in the next four innings, he was selected to make his Test debut at Nottingham in the first match of the series.

Lindsay Hassett had an ignominious debut, scoring one and two in a high-scoring draw in which almost 1,500 runs were scored for the loss of only 24 wickets on a "batting paradise".

Lindsay Hassett maintained his county form between Tests, adding 118 against Lancashire before scoring his only half-century in the Tests, adding 56 and 42 at Lord's in the drawn Second Test.

The Third Test was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain, and Lindsay Hassett prepared for what would be the decisive Fourth Test by scoring 94 and 127 in consecutive matches against Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.

Lindsay Hassett calmly hit 33 runs from 36 balls, to guide the tourists to a five-wicket victory, much to the relief of his captain Don Bradman, who was so nervous about the outcome that he could not watch the play.

The innings earned Lindsay Hassett a reputation of being calm under pressure, and Bradman later wrote that Lindsay Hassett was a "masterful player" in a crisis.

Lindsay Hassett made 42 and 10 in the record-breaking match, and added a pair of half-centuries against Sussex thereafter.

Lindsay Hassett, adding together the runs he made and the runs he saved, was one of the most useful men on the side.

Lindsay Hassett appeared to make his strokes very late and, although adopting almost a two-eyed stance, had, so far as could be seen, no technical faults.

Lindsay Hassett made 211 not out and 102 in two matches against South Australia, whose attack was led by Clarrie Grimmett, the world record holder for the most career Test wickets.

Lindsay Hassett scored centuries in both matches against Queensland and another against Western Australia.

O'Reilly conceded that Lindsay Hassett played his bowling better than any other batsman.

Lindsay Hassett's method was predicated on counter-attacking: whenever O'Reilly bowled his famed wrong 'un, he could read this delivery in its flight and he advanced down the pitch to hit the ball over the fielders on the leg side.

Batting for the Rest of Australia, Lindsay Hassett almost repeated his feat by making 136 and 75, but this was not enough to stop NSW, who demonstrated their strength with another victory.

Lindsay Hassett had scored five half-centuries in the five preceding matches of the season, including three in four innings against Grimmett's South Australia, and ended the Australian summer with 897 runs at 74.75.

Lindsay Hassett lost his wicket to O'Reilly in a first-class match only three times.

Lindsay Hassett was offered a commission as an officer, but declined.

Lindsay Hassett maintained his connection to cricket by captaining an AIF team against service teams from other Empire countries serving in the region, playing matches in Egypt and Palestine.

Lindsay Hassett married during his brief return to Melbourne in May 1942, before his unit was deployed to Port Moresby in New Guinea to fight against Imperial Japan.

In 1945, with the cessation of hostilities in Europe, Lindsay Hassett was selected to lead the Australian Services cricket team on a tour of England.

Lindsay Hassett enjoyed greater success on the Services tour of India, although the Australians had little to celebrate as a team.

East Zone batsman Denis Compton told the rioters to talk to Lindsay Hassett, saying that the Australian skipper controlled proceedings.

Lindsay Hassett made 53 in the first match in Mumbai, and although the Australians took a 192-run first innings lead, the hosts managed to hold on for a draw.

Lindsay Hassett top-scored with 143 in Australia's 339, but the hosts took a first innings lead of 186 to set up a six-wicket win.

Lindsay Hassett ended with 235 runs at 47.00 in the three international matches, but did not taste victory in any of his seven matches on Indian soil.

Lindsay Hassett's team was saved by the clock against Queensland when the time ran out with the hosts four runs short of their target, but their fortunes were reversed in the final match when Tasmania hung on with only one wicket in hand to salvage a draw.

Lindsay Hassett ended the Australian summer with 312 runs at 39.00, including three fifties.

Lindsay Hassett's aggregate was only 13 behind that of all rounder Keith Miller.

Lindsay Hassett scored 351 runs at 70.20 for the whole tour.

Lindsay Hassett then scored 114 and 36 not out against South Australia in his last match before the beginning of the Ashes series.

Lindsay Hassett made 128, his maiden Test century, and shared a 276-run partnership with Bradman, the cornerstone of Australia's match-winning score of 645.

Lindsay Hassett later joked that one of his brothers had his wedding on the day, and was waiting for the batting to finish before starting the ceremony, but could wait no more and proceeded, only to come back after the marriage had been completed to find that just one run had been scored in the intervening period and that his brother was still only on 97.

Lindsay Hassett made 34 as Australia won the Second Test by an innings, and the Third Test was his first Test on his home ground at the MCG.

Lindsay Hassett made only 12 and 9 as England held on for a draw with three wickets in hand.

Lindsay Hassett finished the series with 332 runs at 47.43 and had difficulty against the leg spinner Doug Wright, who dismissed him five times in seven innings.

Lindsay Hassett had added 126 for Victoria against Wally Hammond's Englishmen just a week earlier.

In two matches for Victoria between the Third and Fourth Tests, Lindsay Hassett hit 200 against Queensland and 190 against NSW; in both innings he scored at a rate of almost 50 runs per hour.

Lindsay Hassett was highly productive throughout the whole season, ending with 1,213 runs at 71.35.

Lindsay Hassett was rested from the Fifth and final Test as Australia sought to try out new players such as Sam Loxton ahead of the tour of England.

Lindsay Hassett remained in strong form for Victoria, scoring 118 and 204 against South Australia and Queensland respectively, but his state were unable to retain their title, losing three and winning two matches when Hassett was available.

Lindsay Hassett ended the season with 893 runs at 68.69.

Ten years after his first tour of England, Lindsay Hassett was included in the 1948 team as Bradman's deputy.

Lindsay Hassett was one of three on-tour selectors along with Bradman and Arthur Morris.

Under Lindsay Hassett's watch, Australia won seven matches, five of these by an innings, while both draws were rain-affected fixtures in which more than half the playing time was lost.

Lindsay Hassett had two close encounters as captain, both on damp pitches before the First Test when Australia's unbeaten record was challenged.

Former Australian Test batsman Jack Fingleton said that Lindsay Hassett "might have made an initial mistake in not having the pitch rolled because whenever there was rain about in England the heavy roller seemed to knock any nonsense [erratic bounce and sideways movement] out of the pitch".

Australia batted first and Lindsay Hassett made 51 in an innings win.

Lindsay Hassett almost holed out early when he edged a ball just wide of the wicket-keeper.

Lindsay Hassett added 53 in the two hours of the morning session to reach lunch at 94.

Lindsay Hassett then accelerated, adding a further 37 runs in 49 minutes, before being bowled by Bedser, having struck 20 fours and a six.

The First Test set the tone for the series, and ahead of the next Test, Lindsay Hassett top scored with 127 and took five catches in an innings win over Northamptonshire.

Lindsay Hassett scored 47 and a duck in the Second Test at Lord's, having been dropped three times in the first innings as Australia went on to a 409-run win.

Lindsay Hassett then struck 139 against Surrey, his second century against the county in as many matches.

Lindsay Hassett made 38 as Australia scored 221 in reply to 363.

In England's second innings, Lindsay Hassett twice dropped Cyril Washbrook in the same position from the same shot.

Lindsay Hassett was not required as Australia batted for 61 overs to ensure a draw.

Lindsay Hassett had a new role as the teams headed to Headingley for the Fourth Test.

Lindsay Hassett would improvise and open with Morris, as regular opener Sid Barnes was injured.

Lindsay Hassett struggled to make an impact in the unfamiliar role, scoring 13 and 17.

Lindsay Hassett scored two fifties in the lead-up to the Fifth Test, where he returned to his customary role with the return of Barnes.

Lindsay Hassett took a diving catch in the first innings and scored 37 in an innings win.

Lindsay Hassett then made 103 against Somerset and 151 against the South of England.

Lindsay Hassett ended the first-class matches with 1,563 runs at 74.22 and seven centuries.

Lindsay Hassett had the third highest aggregate behind Bradman and Morris and the second highest average.

Lindsay Hassett scored 35 and 102 and the match ended with the scores tied.

Lindsay Hassett continued his liking for the Queensland attack, scoring 104 and 205 in Victoria's two matches against their northern opponents for the year.

Victoria did not do so well as a team, winning two and losing one of the six matches in which Lindsay Hassett played, as New South Wales took the title.

The summer finished with Lindsay Hassett captaining a team against an eleven led by Morris.

Lindsay Hassett scored 73 and 159 and top-scored in both innings; Morris 66 and 12.

However, Lindsay Hassett's effort was not enough to stop an eight-wicket defeat after Morris's men took a 377-run first innings lead.

Lindsay Hassett then scored 57 and enforced the follow on in an eight-wicket win in the Second Test.

Lindsay Hassett's winning run looked at an end when Australia was exposed to a sticky wicket in the Third Test.

The next day, Lindsay Hassett had to waste time to keep South Africa batting on the poor surface so that Australia's batsmen would not be exposed to the worst conditions.

Lindsay Hassett then told his bowlers to perform badly so that the hosts would not realise how difficult the pitch was and declare so that Australia would have to face the sticky wicket.

The tourists made only 75, but then dismissed the hosts for 99, Lindsay Hassett using defensive tactics to slow the scoring and keep South Africa batting as the pitch slowly improved.

Lindsay Hassett then "reached peak form" in the final Test at Port Elizabeth.

Lindsay Hassett top-scored with 167 as the match unfolded in a similar manner to the First Test, with a similar result.

Lindsay Hassett had his players participate in cultural activities such as dancing and singing with indigenous tribesmen, and reached out to the local children, interspersing his presentations with self-deprecating jibes.

Lindsay Hassett himself had only managed eight and three for the match.

Lindsay Hassett returned to his normal form away from the sticky wicket, scoring 127 and 28 not out against Queensland between Tests.

The tourists took a first innings lead and Lindsay Hassett made 48 in Australia's second innings of 197.

Lindsay Hassett was the second-highest run-scorer of the series, hitting 366 runs at 40.67.

Lindsay Hassett ended the first-class season with 1,423 runs at 64.68, including four centuries and five fifties, topping the run-scoring aggregates.

Lindsay Hassett played in seven shield matches without defeat, winning five to help Victoria to another title.

Lindsay Hassett went into the First Test at Brisbane without playing a first-class match for the season due to the scheduling.

Lindsay Hassett was out for only six in the first innings, as Australia eked out a 10-run lead.

Lindsay Hassett had been dismissed by Ramadhin both times, bowled and lbw, unable to pick which way the ball was spinning.

Between Tests, Lindsay Hassett had an opportunity to rectify this problem when Victoria hosted the Caribbean tourists, but Ramadhin prevailed again, dismissing him for 12 in his only innings.

Lindsay Hassett's century was part of a 235-run partnership with Keith Miller, an Australian Test record for any wicket against the West Indies.

Between Tests, Lindsay Hassett's Victorians faced New South Wales in consecutive matches.

Lindsay Hassett scored 92 in the first encounter, a high-scoring draw, and his team had the upper hand in the latter, forcing their opponents to hold on with only three wickets remaining.

Lindsay Hassett missed the next Test with a strained muscle; this led to a bureaucratic restriction that hindered his deputy Morris.

Lindsay Hassett's team was set a second innings target of 260 runs to win.

Lindsay Hassett made 102 but found little support from the other batsmen.

Ahead of the final Test of the series, Lindsay Hassett's Victorians suffered a four-wicket defeat in their second match of the season against the West Indies, Lindsay Hassett scoring 56 and 43.

Lindsay Hassett ended the season with a dominant 229 against South Australia, setting up an innings win, dwarfing the 222 and 166 made by his opponents combined.

Lindsay Hassett began the season with two consecutive Sheffield Shield losses before the Tests, although he did manage 91 against South Australia before facing South Africa.

Lindsay Hassett scored 123 in the return match later in the season and Victoria recorded two wins under his watch, against Queensland.

Australia won the opening game of the rubber in an unexpectedly close match in Brisbane by 96 runs, Lindsay Hassett making 55 and 17.

Australia recovered momentum by convincingly winning the Third Test by an innings, but Lindsay Hassett's form had been mediocre in all three encounters, totalling 76 runs in five innings.

Lindsay Hassett scored 40 runs in a total of 520 that gave Australia apparent command of the match.

Lindsay Hassett bowled the final over and the tourists' Roy McLean took three fours from the first five balls to reach their target and square the series.

Lindsay Hassett ended the Tests with 309 runs at 38.63 and the entire season with 779 runs at 38.95, a substantially lower return compared to previous Australian summers.

Lindsay Hassett made it known that the tour of England in 1953 would be his farewell to the game.

The more experienced members of the team from Lindsay Hassett's generation were World War II veterans, and were happy to be alive and tended to enjoy drinking and partying, while the younger members tended to be teetotallers.

Lindsay Hassett struggled in two warm-up matches against Tasmania before the Australians left for England, and despite winning both fixtures, it was not to be a happy tour on the field.

Lindsay Hassett struggled in the opening first-class matches in England, passing 40 only once in six innings.

Lindsay Hassett made 37 as his team compiled 266 and took a 99-run first innings lead.

Lindsay Hassett made only four, but Australia had made 111 in 75 minutes and were on schedule for a win.

Lindsay Hassett warmed up with consecutive half-centuries against Surrey and Warwickshire.

England then took a 31-run lead and Lindsay Hassett was out for only 10 in the second innings as Australia fell for only 162, as the local spinners Jim Laker and Tony Lock cut down the Australians on a turning surface.

Lindsay Hassett was in fine form after the Tests, scoring 148 against Somerset, 65 against Kent, 106 against South, and 74 and 25 against TN Pearce's XI in the remaining first-class matches in England.

Lindsay Hassett made one final first-class appearance upon returning to Australia, in a testimonial match against Morris's XI.

Lindsay Hassett made 126 in the first innings, his final century, but could manage only three in the second as his team went down by 121 runs.

The diminutive Lindsay Hassett was an elegant middle-order batsman, known for his wide range of strokes, timing, quick footwork and strong wrists.

Lindsay Hassett had a poker face, and this benefited him as a captain, as even his teammates sometimes found it hard to discern his mood or thinking.

Lindsay Hassett was a very occasional right-arm medium pace bowler, averaging one over per first-class match.

Lindsay Hassett took 18 wickets in 216 matches, and never took more than two in a single innings.

Lindsay Hassett never took a wicket at Test level and bowled fewer than 19 overs.

Lindsay Hassett remained jovial during his speeches even after Australia suffered defeats.

Lindsay Hassett then rang the bell and told the startled householder that he "just thought we'd pop in".

The owner happened to recognise Lindsay Hassett and received the cricketers.

Lindsay Hassett was known for his disapproval of some of the aspects of the modern evolution of cricket, particularly the more aggressive player conduct that contrasted with the more sedate and gentlemanly style of his era.

Lindsay Hassett served on the executive committee of the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria, along with fellow former South Melbourne, Victorian and Test cricketer Laurie Nash.

Lindsay Hassett ran for election as South Melbourne's delegate to the VCA in December 1953, but was defeated.

In 1942, Lindsay Hassett married Tessie Davis, a Geelong accountant, and they had two daughters.