Vale: Max Walker (1948-2016)

Cricket Australia has today paid tribute to Australian Cricketer Max Walker AM, who died following a battle with cancer.

Born on 12th September 1948 in Hobart, Walker made his debut for Australia in 1972 against Pakistan at the MCG. Walker played 34 Tests for Australia between 1972 and 1977 claiming 138 wickets, including six five-wicket hauls, at an average of 27.47. He produced career-best figures of 8-143 in the sixth Test of the 1974-75 Ashes Series.

Walker played 135 First Class games, 70 of those for Victoria, claiming 499 wickets with 21 five-wicket hauls, at an average of 26.47.

Paying tribute to Walker, Cricket Australia Chief Executive James Sutherland stated “Max was an outstanding cricketer who played an important role in the emergence of successful Australian cricket teams in the 1970s.

“It was a golden era of Test Cricket under the captaincy of Ian and Greg Chappell, and Max's medium fast bowling and his unmistakeable bowling action were a feature of those teams, and then in the late 1970s when he joined World Series Cricket.

“The cricket world will be deeply saddened to hear of Max’s sudden passing. As a cricketer, with ball or bat in hand, Max was always fiercely competitive. He was a genuine crowd favourite wherever he played - and nowhere more so than at his beloved MCG, where he had also played senior football prior to his Test debut.”

Beyond his playing days, Max continued his involvement in the game through television, as a commentator and anchor on Nine's Wide World of Sports. Among many other pursuits, he was also a prolific author and a popular conference and after-dinner speaker.

Sutherland concluded “on behalf of everyone at Cricket Australia our deepest sympathies go out to Max’s family, friends and all those in cricket who had the pleasure of dealing with him.

“He was a great character, with a big smile and positive approach to life. He will be sadly missed.”

The life of Max Walker by Rodney Cavalier

After completing school in Hobart he moved to Melbourne in 1967 to undertake an architecture degree. Good in all sports Max saw his future in Australian Football. Enrolled at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, he turned out for the Melbourne Club. Training through the winter at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, summer provided cricket nets and solid practice at the same place. Finding his rhythm as a right-hand fast medium and useful bat, Max played grade for Melbourne Cricket Club. He had the measure of the batsmen.

Life was at full stretch. Graduating in architecture was his priority, his future career and livelihood. Football might provide useful earnings on the side for a decade. Cricket was his third string in a crowded life.

Football might have claimed Walker if he had not taken such pleasure in cricket and the company of cricketers. Pre-eminently a team man, devoted always to the wider cause, skippers knew they could rely on him when a game was poised. Underlying discipline mixed with good humour endeared him to all.

Although the position of his arms and upper body made him look like he was entangled in himself, his balance at the moment of delivery and control was outstanding. His nickname of “Tangles”, unlike so many cricket nicknames, required no explanation.

In February 1969 he made his first class debut for Victoria in the last game of the season in a match against Queensland at the Gabba, filling a vacancy occasioned by the absence of five Victorians on Test duty.

Opening the bowling with Alan (Froggy) Thomson he put in a solid performance with figures of 2-38 and 3-56. He was 13 not out when Victoria succumbed. His place in the side was not secure. Froggy and Alan Connolly were ranked ahead of him. Graham Watson, all-rounder, made Max’s fast medium seem surplus to requirements.

He was not selected for the season following and did not return until December 1970. Defeat in the Ashes of 1970-71 revealed deficiencies in the quick department. Dennis Lillee was just emerging. Throughout 1971-72 as the World XI toured, Walker had become a regular in the Victorian side. He was taking wickets in most innings, though not a five wicket haul. With the bat he was bagging a lot of ducks broken by scores in the 20s.

In 1972/73 Max moved out of the ruck. Over the season he captured 39 wickets at 21.38. At the Gabba in the first game he at last captured his five-for. Consistently good performances persuaded the selectors to experiment with Walker and Gary Gilmour in the Combined XI, a Test selection trial, against the touring Pakistan. His performance was again solid.

A solid performer was who the selectors were looking for. Selectors thought they had their stars: after the Ashes in England 1972 Australia believed that Lillee and Bob Massie were ensconced as the anvil of the fast attack for a generation. It did not work out that way.

Max Walker made his Test debut in the Second Test v Pakistan along with Jeff Thomson, lightning quick from NSW.

Walker was first change bowler after Lillee and Thomson. Again solid, nothing special, but five wickets in the match was sufficient to keep Walker in the side, a choice that was obvious after Thomson fell well short with no wickets and 110 runs as his return.

A comfortable victory and a series win might have caused Australia to drop a cog for the Third Test. Pakistan had the game won when it came onto the SCG for its second innings and just 158 to make. Walker was again first change. Pakistan was not permitted to settle in its run chase. Massie and Lillee took the first wickets, thereafter it was Walker in a superb spell who took 6-15. Australia was home by 52 runs.

The touring squad for the West Indies had been announced ahead of the Test. Walker had played in the knowledge the selectors had confidence in him. Selected as back up for the two champions, Walker became commander of the frontline. Massie lost form irredeemably and was to fade from cricket. Lillee sustained a crippling injury.

Australia was fine because it had Max Walker and Ian Chappell’s belief in Walker and Walker’s dutiful giving of all. Walker was magnificent. He was both spearhead of the Australian attack and its mainstay. 26 wickets fell to him at an average of only 12.73. Australia won the series without losing a Test. The bond between the Australian skipper and the unlikely hero was unbreakable.

The 1974/75 Ashes is remembered for the dangers posed to the English batsmen by the venom of Lillee and the bolts unleashed by Thomson with his sling action. The scoreline conceals how competitive England was until going under. Necessarily overshadowed in popular memory by the performances of Lillee and Thomson, in all six Tests Walker proved he was more than a bit player.

In the first England innings he took 4 wickets. (Lillee 2, Thomson 3.) He broke resistance with the wickets of Tony Greig and Alan Knott. He was solid, his characteristic since grade days when astute eyes saw a player who could go all the way. With the bat he achieved an average of 44.2 built around a string of not outs, no score below 17. Innings after innings proved crucial in the context of the final outcome.

In the sixth Test, with Thomson absent and Lillee injured early, the burden of the attack fell to Walker. The Ashes lost, England had their vengeance. They led by 355 with only four wickets in the their first and only innings when Walker broke through. In a superb spell, he surfed the over-confidence of the incoming to take 5-17 to finish the innings. His 8-143 was his best performance in first class and Test cricket.

England in 1975 and 1977 were not outstanding though he had his moments. When cricket endured its schism because of World Series, Walker was a certainty in any squad selected by Ian Chappell. In the internationals he was cast as 12th man. Rather than be idle, the architect who played two sports at the highest levels, took a camera to the matches and shot rolls of film by the score, including the riots in the West Indies.

His Test career was behind him. His moustache, prominent nose and infectious smile were a caricaturist’s delight. Show business beckoned. He was a natural, achieving success through wit and intelligence. Walker backed up a natural presence on stage with the ability to tell yarns built around sentences that ended.

Television is objectively cruel to features and voice but the cameras liked Max. He had become a celebrity with a commanding presence that made him a host of sports magazine programs when that format dominated television. He was not going to depend on his once status in cricket for his livelihood.

His way with words extended to writing. Three volumes of cricket memoirs flowed. He made a fortune by telling jokes and funny stories in books bearing titles like How to hypnotise chooks and How to kiss a crocodile.

People who had not seen Max play cricket were an ever growing part of his fan base. The darling of Bay 13 at the old MCG had become the speaker of choice at events far distant to cricket.