Mick Malone (cricketer)

Michael Francis Malone (born 9 October 1950) is a former Australian cricketer who played in one Test match and ten One Day Internationals between 1977 and 1982. Malone played one Test prior to joining World Series Cricket. In English county cricket he had a period with Lancashire. He was also an Australian rules football full-forward and played in 104 WANFL games for Subiaco.

First-class career

1974–75: Debut for Western Australia

Malone made his first-class debut for Western Australia on 21 February 1975, against Victoria in the Sheffield Shield. He took five wickets in the match, getting Bob Baldry twice.

In his second appearance, against New South Wales he took seven wickets in the match, including that of Test star batsman and Blues captain Doug Walters. Western Australia won the Sheffield Shield that year, Malone playing in the vital final two matches of the season.

1975–76

In his second season of Shield cricket (1975–76) Malone took 28 wickets at an average of just 18.75, including two five-wicket hauls. Only Australian test players Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Ashley Mallett and Alan Hurst took more wickets, although Malone's average was superior to them all.

He won man of the match in a Gillette Cup game where he took 2-37 and scored 33 in an 88-run partnership with John Inverarity that helped WA in the game.

1976–77

The 1976–77 Sheffield Shield season was Malone's most productive. He finished as the competition's leading wicket taker with an amazing 40 wickets in just eight matches at an average of just 16.12, with four five-wicket innings. West Australia won the Shield and the Gillette Cup that season. Malone was voted the second-best Shield player of the season.

In a Shield game against Victoria, Malone took part in a 41-run partnership with Dennis Lillee that helped WA to a narrow in.

He won another man of a match game for the Gilette Cup final, when his innings of 47 not out (batting at nine), including a 51-run partnership with Craig Serjeant, took WA to a victory with five balls to go. "It was a superb performance", said captain Rod Marsh. "Above and beyond the call of duty.He's done that for us to win three games against Victoria, once in the Gillette Cup last year, in a recent Shield match and now". He later took 6–33 against Victoria in a Shield game.

1977 Ashes

After such a strong season, Malone had to be included in the Australia touring party to England in 1977. It was felt Malone would battle for the third paceman spot with Len Pascoe and Geoff Dymock, to support Jeff Thomson and Max Walker.

Malone took a wicket with his first ball in England, a one-day game. News broke early in the tour that most of the Australian squad had signed to play World Series Cricket including Malone.

At the beginning of the tour, Malone was picked for two One-Day Internationals. England won both games easily, Malone taking two wickets in the first match and going wicketless in the second. In the Tests, the selectors preferred Pascoe as the third paceman. Pascoe bowled well but fell injured for the fifth Test, and Malone took his place.

Malone's Test would be his only one. At the Kennington Oval, he had what he called his "golden moment", taking five for 63 in England's first innings with his medium-fast high action and then scoring 46 as a tailender. The match was drawn, but Australia had lost the series 3–0.

The press in Australia and England blamed the hype surrounding Kerry Packer and his proposed World Series Cricket for tension within the Australian side (Malone had already signed a contract), leading to the poor performances. Malone disagrees, "The press said we were a divided side", says Malone, "but that was not the case. There were 13 of the 17 players who had signed for Packer and we all knew each other and got on, Packer and non-Packer players. The reason we lost was because we were outplayed by a better side and because Geoff Boycott was sensational."

1977–78 and 1978–79: World Series Cricket

Malone was a peripheral figure in World Series Cricket, appearing in just one Supertest in 1979 against the West Indies at VFL Park, Melbourne. He took three wickets in the match (Clive Lloyd, Richard Austin and Viv Richards) and scored seven runs. The match was drawn.

He featured more in the limited-overs matches. In the 1977–78 International Cup he took four wickets in four matches.

The Country Cup tours provided Malone with more match time. In the 1977–78 Country Cup he played eight times, taking 25 wickets at an average of just 20.76. His economy rate for that tour was a very impressive 2.78 runs per over. Malone took 3 for 62 in the 75-over Country Cup Final that the Australians lost to the World XI at Manuka Oval, Canberra. He also took 5–35 in a game against the World XI in Hamilton.

In the 1978–79 season, Malone played eight matches of the tour to New Zealand (against the World XI) taking 14 wickets (average 13.14), with best figures of 4 for 9 in 10 overs at Cooks Gardens, Wanganui (50-over match). Malone hoped this form would see him selected more often for the Australian XI in the lucrative Supertests and International Cup. He did play 11 matches in the International Cup taking 10 wickets. Three of those matches were in the best of four final against the West Indies. Australia lost the winner-takes-all series 3–1.

Malone ended World Series Cricket on the tour to the West Indies, playing in six limited-overs matches. He took 6 wickets at an average of 27.50. The West Indies won the series 8–2. Australia lost every game that Malone played in.

Malone later said some players from his club Scarborough "didn't support me" about World Series Cricket. "I couldn't understand that". But Malone said "I've got no regrets whatsoever in any way regarding joining World Series Cricket. Not one single regret... the security in World Series Cricket was magnificent".

1979: Lancashire

In 1979, Malone moved to England to play as professional with Haslingden Cricket Club in the Lancashire League. Dennis Lillee had played for Haslingden in 1971. Other pros in the league at the time included Pakistan's Mudassar Nazar (Burnley), Nasim-ul-Ghani

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