Hookesy - Cricketer, character and coach

[Donny]

There's a thread in GD for general condolences and tributes for David Hookes.

For stories about the man, the batsman, the character that was Hookesy, here's the place.

Let's hear from you.

[Donny]

The 34-ball carnage

Shaun Graf was at the Adelaide Oval when David Hookes clattered a hundred off 34 balls – the fastest in Australian domestic cricket. This piece appeared in the October 2002 edition of Wisden Asia Cricket.

South Australia captain David Hookes was left frothing at the mouth after his opposite number, Graham Yallop, chose to extend the Victoria innings till the end of the second session on the fourth and final day. South Australia were left to score 272 runs in 30 overs.

Victoria's declaration was a token, the time remaining a formality – or so it seemed then – and the situation was perfect for spectators to exit early.

But there was one huge factor many failed to consider: Hookes's anger. He promoted himself as an opener (he normally played at No. 5) and took it out on us bowlers. We had already felt the impact of his bat when he hammered 137 in the first innings, scoring a century between lunch and tea.

Yallop's 151 in the second innings against Rodney Hogg and West Indies import Joel Garner was a blessing for Victoria, but the delayed declaration turned out to be a curse as it brought out the beast in Hookes.

When he was just 20 and still to make his foray into first-class cricket, Hookes had hit six sixes in an over in a match in London. And it was primarily his reputation as a plunderer that delayed Yallop's declaration here.

Hookesy opened the innings with Rick Darling and pulled the first ball from Peter King high over midwicket and onto the roof of the members' stand. The impact of leather against tin roof resounded around the ground. King, who got 5 for 88 in the first innings, went on to be battered out of the attack with figures of 2-0-38-0.

In the carnage of the opening overs bowled by Rod McCurdy and King, I distinctly remember fielding at deep backward point when a shot from Hookesy thundered to the boundary before I could get to the ball – and it was barely five yards away from me.

I remember Yallop coming over to me at the end of King's second over and telling me that I was next in the line of fire. He asked me the field of my choice and I thought it wise to pack the off side – which had a longer boundary – and bowl wide of the off stump. It was an excellent defensive ploy in theory, but after being taken apart for 18 runs in my first over, I had to do a hasty rethink.

I remember bowling almost a foot outside the off stump and Hookesy walking inside the line to hit past the unmanned fine leg for four. It was his day and anything he tried came off, including a couple of edges which went through slips. Just three bowlers bowled in the second innings and I thought it wouldn't have been a bad idea for Yallop to have effected a change of pace by bringing on Jim Higgs and the orthodox, slow left-arm spinner Peter Cox.

We were shell-shocked, no doubt, but we knew we only had to dismiss Hookesy to get right back into the game. As it turned out, we were only three wickets away from winning ourselves, as South Australia kept going for the runs and losing wickets in the process.

Such was the brilliance of Hookesy's calculated assault that when he got to his hundred, the free-stroking Rick Darling was only on seven! Hookesy's 50 had come in 17 minutes and his 100 in 43 minutes from 34 balls (17x4, 3x6). It is still the fastest authentic (read: in non-contrived circumstances) hundred in the history of first-class cricket. It was quite amazing.

There were some 400 spectators when the South Australian innings began; by the time the match ended there were about 4000. McCurdy was hit for 88 runs in 12 overs while I went for 67 in 10.

I was fortunate enough to be at the Melbourne Cricket Ground when Garry Sobers made 254 for the Rest of the World against Australia in 1971-72, but I have not seen a better innings, in the games that I have played, than Hooksey's 107.

The power and intelligence of that innings was unforgettable. There may have been some personal pain as a bowler, but there was also some great cricketing pleasure and we still talk about it when we meet.

Shaun Graf played 11 one-day internationals for Australia and was part of the Victoria team that was at the receiving end of David Hookes's onslaught. He spoke to H Natarajan.

[couragous cloke]

well i dont have many stories of hookesy. But he was one of my favourites. he was on Inside cricket, commentating on foxtel, the west indies series, the indian tour and all other aussie tours.

He was on 1278 sports today every night! he was just a great bloke... Ive met him before at my uncles cricket centre, he was a top bloke.

R.I.P

[Donny]

'An instant hero'

Wisden Cricinfo staff

Rod Marsh former Australia team-mate and current England Academy coach

In many ways, I wish I'd been there on Sunday night, and been able to step in. As a young man Hookesy was always very outspoken - he was known as the bumptious brat of Dulwich while playing club cricket in England. But it seems that all he was doing was defending a player's wife, who was being spoken to rudely by someone in the bar. He always stood up for his players, and you don't deserve to die for that.

He'll forever be famous for those five fours in the Centenary Test, but they were all genuine cricket shots, and make no mistake, he could play. When he was on the attack, he was very dangerous indeed. Perhaps he wasn't a great player of spin, but there have been a lot of blokes of lesser ability who've played a lot more Tests than Hookes. He made a lot of friends and had a very high profile in cricket. He will be sadly missed.


Dean Jones former Australian batsman

I came up against Hookesy on many occasions for Victoria, the most famous time was when he cracked a 34-ball hundred for South Australia after a poor declaration. He could be devastating at times, and was very moody with the bat, although he'd have been disappointed with his eventual Test record.

World Series Cricket might have set him back, but I think his footwork went after he'd been cleaned up by an Andy Roberts bouncer, and had his jaw broken in three places. But I'm just in shock - he'd only gone out to celebrate a win with his mates and their wives. You don't expect that sort of thing to happen in Australia. Life can be bloody shocking at times.


Tony Greig former England captain and opponent on Hookes' Test debut

I'm stunned. It's absolutely horrific news, and the sort of thing you fear might happen to your kids after a night out. But when it happens to your friends, the shock is every bit as bad. He became an instant hero to 70,000 cricket fans at Melbourne on his debut, when he showed England - and me in particular - just what a fighting batsman he could be. I remember fielding at silly point when the youngster arrived, and I tried to niggle him a bit, as you do. But he was unfazed, and hit me for five fours in a row.

I later got to know him through the work he did in cricket. He was a really nice guy who had a broad cross-section of interests.

Bob Merriman Cricket Victoria President and Cricket Australia chairman

David was one of those rare, gifted athletes and people who instantly captured attention, whether it was through his aggressive batting, inspiring captaincy, aggressive coaching or his forthright commentary. It is well known that David was an outstanding sportsman from the start and he demonstrated this at an early age for South Australia, who he eventually captained to a Sheffield Shield title, for Australia and also during the World Series Cricket era.

Darren Berry Victorian Bushrangers captain

David has been both a friend and mentor to us all and we are devastated at his passing. His impact on the group has been broad and under his leadership we have learnt much, not only about cricket but equally about life.

Wayne Clarke Western Australia coach

David was a tremendous person and I am deeply saddened by his untimely death. I played and coached against Hookesy and he was a tough-as-nails character that was still the first person into the rooms for a beer after the game. He was respected by all who met him for the way he played the game. He gave so much to the sport as a player and then as a coach, he will be sorely missed.

[Donny]

'Brash and full of bravado'

Greg Chappell, his captain in the Centenary Test of 1977, looks back at David Hookes the cricketer and recalls his creativity as a batsman and captain:

I was captain when David Hookes made his debut in the Centenary Test in 1977. He was a very talented cricketer, a positive and creative batsman. He always wanted to take the bowlers on and take the attack to the opposition. He made his mark in first-class cricket for South Australia by scoring five centuries in the 1976-77 season. That was capped off by his selection for the Centenary Test against England.

Both teams were bowled out quite cheaply. We made 138 and then rolled England over for 95. In the second innings David hit Tony Greig for five fours in one over. With that flourish he announced himself on the international scene and turned that game on its head. Up to that point the ball had dominated the bat. It was the youthful exuberance of David that made us realise that the wicket had actually improved since the first two days when we struggled.

He was quite a brash young man, full of confidence and bravado and became quite a mature cricketer later. Having said that, World Series Cricket probably came a bit too soon for him. He was perhaps a bit ill at ease at that level. He coped quite well till he had his jaw broken by Andy Roberts. It was at the Sydney Showground - we weren't allowed to play at the SCG in the first year of WSC. It was a pretty quick wicket and Hookes went to hook Roberts and was hit on the jaw. He was batting without a helmet and fractured his jaw and cheek, and his confidence left him.

I'm not sure he ever fully recovered from that. It really pegged his international career back a bit.

When we went to England in 1977 he did well. He made a couple of good fifties in the Test series. As one of the tyros in the team he did well enough to come out of the tour with his reputation enhanced. Remember, as a team we struggled on that tour of England and lost 3-0. World Series Cricket was announced midway through and David was involved in that.

It was tough cricket for a couple of years for David and it didn't go well that he was hit by Roberts. It took him a long time to get over that, if indeed he ever did. He did come back few weeks later and was immediately bounced. He then hooked Roberts for a boundary, but was batting with a helmet from then on.

David's first-class career went well - he is the highest run-getter in the Sheffield Shield for South Australia, and also led them to victory one season. But more than that, it was his innovative ideas and captaincy that made a difference. I remember a game when South Australia were chasing a stiff target, one that looked out of reach. David was batting with the tail and devised a method where he would deliberately run a few runs short. The field was set back to give him a single. He told the other guy, I can't quite remember who it was, "Every time I run a single, you run two". That way he was getting one run but keeping the strike. That law was subsequently changed.

He was always thinking outside the square. He was a creative thinker and it was no surprise that he made a good career in the media doing radio and television work after he was done with playing cricket. He was in the prime of his life, and it's a tragedy that he had to lose his life over almost nothing. That's one of the hardest things to understand.

[Donny]

'A dopey, hairy-backed sheila'

Australian Associated Press

David Hookes was never afraid to speak his mind. Here is a selection of his more quotable quotes:


"[Helen Cohen Alon is] some dopey, hairy-backed sheila trying to dob him in across the other side of the world."
August 2003, describing the woman who alleged that Warne harassed her by telephone

"When they give out the baggy blue cap in New South Wales, they give you a baggy green cap in a brown paper bag as well to save making two presentations."
October 2003, questioning the Australian call-up of NSW player Simon Katich

"It's just a matter of the people in charge of the cricket team being as honest as they can with the players and ensuring the players know exactly where everyone stands."
April 2002, after being appointed coach of Victoria

"I know national selectors are independent and autonomous of their own states, but if you're seeing the same player week in week out, it's far easier to push his story."
September 2002, on using his profile to push the case of Victorian players for higher honours

"I would have thought Steve Waugh's century [in Sharjah] has cost Mark Waugh his career."
October 2002, on the make-up of the Australian side. He was right

"People in glass houses shouldn't walk around in the nude - we provided a poor pitch for Queensland."
November 2002, on the state of pitches in Australian domestic cricket

"Curators don't have to be Picasso. I'm sure people wouldn't care if they were watching a match on TV and saw another wicket being prepared on the block."
January 2003, again on pitches

"I have no reason to think he's a drug cheat. But if it is just naivety and stupidity, then I'm not sure whether you should get the mandatory two-year ban. But at what stage do you suddenly penalise someone for being stupid to set the example?"
February 2003, defending Shane Warne

"Steve Waugh should send them in to bat, bowl them out before lunch, bat until tea and declare, then send them back in and roll them again before stumps. It could be all over and done with in a day. The reality is that Bangladesh doesn't deserve to be in Test cricket and they certainly shouldn't be given any favours out on the field."
July 2003, before the maiden Test between Australia and Bangladesh

"That ... I had abused my privileged position ... with the Victorian cricket team and my access to their offices to grab an internal memo and then read it out on radio is totally absurd."
July 2003, over allegations from Australian Rules football club Richmond that Hookes had made public a damaging internal memo

"It's just a bizarre decision - not the decision [to appoint] Ricky Ponting, I think Ponting will be a genius captain, one of the best we've had."
November 2003, questioning Cricket Australia's decision to nominate Ponting as Test captain-elect well before the Sri Lankan tour

"Ganguly came to me and said 'It's our first day on the tour, we should just bat.' So once he went well past that and his tailenders didn't bat properly, I thought 'Bugger it' - we were pretty annoyed. They didn't learn to play cricket ... it was a staggering approach."
November 2003, on India's tactics in a tour match against Victoria

[Donny]

Cricket body plans Hookes tribute

The Australian

THE South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) will consider an appropriate tribute to honour former state captain David Hookes.

SACA chief executive Michael Deare said international matches scheduled for Adelaide later this month would proceed as planned and talks would be held with Cricket Australia about a tribute to Hookes.

"I'm sure something will happen, particularly on the Australia Day match when Australia are playing Zimbabwe," he told ABC radio.

Mr Deare said Hookes was a delightful man who had a great passion for cricket.

"We all see him as a very famous and outstanding cricketer," he said.









Mr Deare said no decision had yet been made on whether or not to proceed with the Pura Cup game between South Australia and Victoria scheduled in Melbourne later this week.

In a separate statement SACA president Ian McLachlan said the death of Hookes represented one of the saddest days for both South Australian and Australian cricket.

"David was an incredibly vibrant South Australian and as a former state captain he is one of South Australia's favourite cricketing sons," Mr McLachlan said.

"Not only was he a fabulous batsman, but he also was highly successful in so many facets of his life, whether as a coach or through his work in the media.

"Our thoughts and deepest sympathy go out to his family at this incredibly tragic time."

[Donny]

Bushrangers to bat for Hookes

By Michael Horan - Fox

AS one, Victoria's cricketers committed yesterday to get back into action and continue to play cricket the David Hookes way.

In an emotional united stand, the entire state squad, support staff and management presented themselves before a large media battery to declare themselves ready to carry on the way Hookes would have wished.

After a day of counselling and a private meeting on Wednesday, the playing group and coaching staff resolved to resume training at the MCG today and with complete unity get back on the park and pursue the goals the coach set for them.

"The bottom line is we know what Hookesy would have wanted," said captain Darren Berry.

"Everybody knows that, the entire squad that is here today along with the support staff and we all know how he would have liked it to be.

"In the back of our minds we can all hear David Hookes saying, 'Get on with it boys'."

Both the ING Cup and Pura Cup team will fly to Adelaide on Tuesday morning to attend Hookes' funeral at Adelaide Oval.

The Bushrangers will then play an ING Cup match against South Australia the following Friday.

Then two days later they play their Pura Cup match against the Redbacks in under what will be enormously difficult circumstances for both sides.

"As a playing group everyone has stuck tight. It has been very difficult, but we've had a couple of sessions together and we will continue to do that," Berry said.

"The bottom line is it's our job to play cricket and that's what we'll continue to do.

"We've started that process, Greg Shipperd has put a plan in place, it started this morning and we move forward."

Shipperd, who has worked closely with Hookes since their tenure as the state's senior coaching began together at the start of last season, will get the players back at the MCG today to confront the rooms and places that were the last many of them saw their coach alive.

Shipperd himself has no illusions about the void he must fill, but saw collective commitment as the way to move forward.

"They're obviously an impossible pair of shoes to fill," he said.

"But I'm really confident of the path that David has been taking us down. I know the players are particularly keen to get behind each other and really continue down that path.

"I know the players are committed to rallying behind that particular cause.

"We'll use the emotion of this incident to galvanise the direction we're taking.

"We'll go back to the MCG tomorrow - it's important we get back in the environment we last came from with David. We'll put that aside and map out a new schedule that hopefully will allow the players to settle back in before the funeral coming up on Tuesday."

Cricket Victoria will provide whatever support is required to get the squad through this period.

This will include ongoing counselling for any players - particularly those present at the incident - who might need more help to recover from the trauma.

[Donny]

I did it for Hooksey: Lee

Fox

BRETT LEE says he did it for David Hookes when he smashed the match-winning runs in last night's one-day international with India at the SCG.

Lee dedicated the win to the former Test cricketer and Victorian coach, who died on Monday from injuries received during an assault outside a Melbourne hotel.

"The guys really wanted to do it for Hookes," Lee told Sydney radio 2UE.

"It's been a tragic week not only for his family but the whole cricketing world.

"It's been a terrible thing what has happened and the guys really felt yesterday, there was a fair bit of emotion out there, and we really wanted to walk away with a win.

"I think deep down somebody was watching and helping us last night when we were out there for those last couple of balls."

Lee, whose place in the team was in doubt after he was smashed for 83 runs by India in Brisbane earlier in the week, avenged himself by scoring a vital 12 runs off nine balls, including a massive six which left Australia needing one run from the last two balls.

Lee said he steeled himself for the task after fellow batsman Andy Bichel told him to back himself.

"The ball came and I shut my eyes and swung as hard as I could and the ball sailed over the fence – happy days," he said.

[Donny]

South Australia and Victoria to play for Hookes Trophy

Wisden Cricinfo staff

Future first-class matches between South Australia and Victoria will be contested for the David Hookes Memorial Trophy, in a mark of recognition for Hookes.

Hookes, who was 48, made his name as a dashing batsman for South Australia, and was making a success of his stint as Victoria's coach when he died after an incident in a Melbourne street last week.

The trophy, which was ratified by the two state governments and the respective cricket associations, will feature a bat and gloves left at the crease - Hookes used to do this if he was not out at the lunch or tea intervals when he was batting.