Legendary Australian Test opener Keith Stackpole died aged 84 on Wednesday. (Cricket Australia)Former Australia opener Keith Stackpole who played 43 Tests for Australia, scoring seven centuries, died at 84. Stackpole’s career mirrored that of Steve Smith as he first broke into the Test team as a leg-spinner before moving up the order as an opener, where he even scored a double century in an Ashes contest.
Out of the 43 Tests he played, Stackpole opened in 33 of it and being the aggressive partner to the more assured Bill Lawry. He finished his Test career in 1974 with 2,807 runs, a top score of 207 amongst seven centuries, and an average of 37.42. Because of his aggressive game he was straightaway drafted into Australia’s one-day side and featured in the first four ODIs played in 1971 and 1972. He would play two more ODIs before moving to the commentary box for ABC, Channel 9 and Seven.
“Stacky was a great team man,” former teammate Doug Walters told News Corp. “He was also great to watch. The first ball could go out of the ground. He had a particularly good hook shot. He had shots everywhere. He will be missed.”
During the 1972 Ashes tour, Stackpole was vice-captain under Chappell, and topped the run-scorers list with 485 opening the batting. “”He was a terrific help to me in a lot of ways people don’t see … things that you couldn’t necessarily do as a captain, he would just quietly do them,” Chappell was quoted as saying by Nine.
“He would never ask, but I was very happy to know if something needed to be done, Stacky was there to do it. I remember we were playing at Trent Bridge in the third Test against England in 1972. We had two slips … Stacky quietly said to me, ‘I think we need a third slip here’. I thought about it, I put a third slip in, and three or four balls later, third slip got a catch. Things like that the vice captain was doing, and people wouldn’t notice.”
“Stacky was a strong, strong person – not just with us cricketers, but with his family. He’ll be missed badly,” Chappell said.
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