Wayne Maxwell Clark (born 19 September 1953) is a former Australian
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
er who played in 10
Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (association football)
...
and two
One Day International
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
s between 1977 and 1979.
Playing career
Clark made his first class debut in 1974–75 and replaced Mick Malone for a game in 1975–76. However he was not a regular member of the West Australian team until 1976–77 when he took 25 wickets at 26.96.
In his first eight first class games he took 30 wickets at an average of 28. He was part of the WA attack who defeated Queensland in a Gillette Cup semi-final, defending 77.
International Career: 1977–78 vs India
Clark's efforts saw him receive an offer from
Kerry Packer
Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...
to be a part of
World Series Cricket
World Series Cricket (WSC) was a commercial professional cricket competition staged between 1977 and 1979 which was organised by Kerry Packer and his Australian television network, Nine Network. WSC ran in commercial competition to establishe ...
(WSC). He eventually turned it down. Clark's business adviser,
Mr Bert Hewitt, said a "sense of sporting patriotism and loyalty" was the overriding factor for this.
Clark took eight wickets in the first two games of the 1977–78 summer at 32.63 and was rewarded by selection in the Australian side against India for the first Test. The bowling attack consisted of Clark, Jeff Thomson,
Alan Hurst and
Tony Mann. Clark had an excellent game, taking 4–46 in the first innings (including the wickets of
Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Manohar Gavaskar (Marathi pronunciation: uniːl ɡaːʋəskəɾ ; born 10 July 1949), is an Indian cricket commentator and former cricketer who represented India and Bombay from 1971 to 1987. Gavaskar is acknowledged as one of the grea ...
and
Mohinder Amarnath
Mohinder Amarnath Bhardwaj (born 24 September 1950) is an Indian former cricketer,current cricket analyst and actor. He is the son of Lala Amarnath, (the first post-independence captain of India .) and Kailash Kumari. His brother Surinder Ama ...
) and 4–101 in the second (including Gavaskar again and
Dilip Vengsarkar
Dilip Balwant Vengsarkar (born 6 April 1956) is a former Indian cricketer and a cricket administrator. He was known as one of the foremost exponents of the drive. Along with Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath, he was a key player in the Indi ...
). His second innings knock of 12, including a 31 run partnership with Jeff Thomson, proved unexpectedly crucial as Australia won by 16 runs.
There were press reports about the legitimacy of Clark's action. "I don't know that all the fuss is about", said Indian captain
Bishen Bedi
Bishan Singh Bedi (; born 25 September 1946) is a former Indian cricketer who was primarily a slow left-arm orthodox bowler. He played Test cricket for India from 1966 to 1979 and formed part of the famous Indian spin quartet. He played a total ...
. "None of our officials or players have said they consider Clark throws the ball – it's something that has been blown up by the Press".
Clark had a strong second Test, taking 2–95 and 2–83 (Gavaskar in both innings) with useful scores with the bat of 15 and 5 not out – the latter was important as he and Thomson chased down the 12 runs to win with two wickets in hand. He kept his place for the next two tests.
In the third Test Clark took 4–73 and 4–96, but Australia's batting was not as strong an India won by 222 runs (Clark's second innings score of 33 was Australia's second highest). He took 2–66 in the fourth Test, but India won by an innings and 2 runs. He suffered a bad back injury that saw him miss a Shield game. He recovered to play a Gillette Game against NSW, taking 4–20 off 7.2 overs and winning the man of the match award.
Australia fought back to win the 5th test. It was a difficult game for Australia's bowlers as Thomson broke down early in India's first innings. Clark took 4–62 and 2–79.
Clark took 28 wickets for the series, which was still the record for the most wickets taken in a series without taking 5 wickets in an innings until overtaken by
Pat Cummins
Patrick James Cummins (born 8 May 1993) is an Australian international cricketer who captains the Australian cricket team in Test and ODI cricket. He is a fast bowler and right-handed batsman. He plays domestically for New South Wales.
Cummi ...
in the 2019 Ashes series in England.
''
Wisden
''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
'' later reported that Clark "bowled an excellent line and length, even though called upon to do a lot of work. He invariably broke through with the new ball and had a splendid record of dismissing Gavaskar, the principal danger to the Australians."
His work earned him selection on the 1978 tour of the West Indies.
1977–78 West Indies Tour
Clark played in four tests against the West Indies.
In the first test he took 0–41. The second 2–77 with reports saying he "bowled gallantly without luck." The third he got 4–65 and 4–124, helping set up Australia's sole test victory.
In a game against Windward Islands, Clark took a career best 12–70.
The fourth test he got 3–65 and 2–62 but Australia collapsed in the second innings and lost the game. Clark was dogged by back trouble. He was rested for the game against Jamaica.
Clark was the centre of controversy during the tour when local umpire
Douglas Sang Hue publicly expressed his doubts about the legality of Clark and teammate
Bruce Yardley's bowling, although neither had ever been called for throwing before.
[Robinson, p. 195.] This statement and the no balling of Yardley for throwing in a tour match led to Sang Hue's appointment to umpire the 5th and final Test of the series to be withdrawn, which in turn led to anger from the West Indian public who believed Sang Hue was replaced at the Australian team's request.
He had taken 31 first class wickets at 23.35 for the tour and 15 wickets at 30.73 for the tests.
1978–79 Summer
England toured Australia for the 1978–79 summer. At the beginning of the season English captain
Mike Brearley
John Michael Brearley (born 28 April 1942) is a retired English first-class cricketer who captained Cambridge University, Middlesex, and England.
He captained the international side in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 18 and losing only 4. ...
said he expected Clark to be one of the players to give his team the most trouble. However Clark began the domestic season slowly and was replaced by Alan Hurst, Rodney Hogg and Geoff Dymock.
His form improved later in the summer taking 6–47 against South Australia, 5–54 against Victoria and 6–39 against Queensland. He managed to get back in the team for the first test against Pakistan when
Trevor Laughlin
Trevor John Laughlin (born 30 January 1951) is a former Australian cricketer who played in three Test cricket, Test matches and six One Day Internationals from 1978 to 1979.
In addition, Laughlin was also an Australian rules footballer who play ...
was injured.
Clark took 1–56 and 0–47 in an Australian defeat. He was dropped for the second test in favour of Laughlin. He took 35 first class wickets at 30.25 over the summer. He was overlooked for the 1979 World Cup and tour of India.
Later career
Clark was not selected for the WA team at the start of the 1979–80 summer.
However he forced his way back into the team and was part of Western Australia's Sheffield Shield winning sides in 1980–81 and 1983–84; he captained the side in some games. His best season was in 1982–83 when he took 31 wickets at 25.83.
Coaching career
Clark was the coach of the
Western Warriors
The Western Australian Men’s cricket team, formerly nicknamed the Western Warriors, represent the Australian state of Western Australia in Australian domestic cricket. The team is selected and supported by the Western Australian Cricket Asso ...
. In January 2007, it was announced that Clark would step down from his role as Western Australian coach, a role he has had for ten seasons over two stints. He has guided Western Australia to two
Pura Cups and 3
One Day Domestic championships in his tenure as coach.
He was also the coach of
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
from 2001 to 2002 where he led them to their first
County Championship
The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...
title for 33 years in 2001. The following season were relegated from division one but still managed to win the
C & G Trophy, a first Lord's final win since 1987. Yorkshire decided to restructure the coaching staff and Clark was offered the position of Bowling Coach for the 2003 season but declined and left the club at the end of 2002.
In 2010, Clark joined Perth radio station
91.3 SportFM
91.3 SportFM (ACMA callsign: 6WSM) is an Australian sport-formatted community radio station in Western Australia. Established in 2003, the station broadcasts in the , from studios in Hamilton Hill alongside Radio Fremantle.
History
The stati ...
's 'Sports Breakfast' team alongside Corbin Middlemas, as well as continuing his expert commentary for their Sheffield Shield broadcasts.
References
Sources
* Robinson, R. (1979) ''The Wildest Tests'', Cassell Australia: Sydney. .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Wayne
1953 births
Living people
Australia One Day International cricketers
Australia Test cricketers
Western Australia cricketers
Australian cricket coaches
Australian cricketers
Cricketers from Perth, Western Australia
Sportsmen from Western Australia