Ex-Test spinner John Gleeson passes away

Australian Test leg-spinner John Gleeson, has died in Tamworth, northern New South Wales, aged 78. 

Gleeson played 27 Tests between 1967 and 1972. The news of his passing was confirmed by Ian Chappell on the Nine Wide World of Sports Matador Cup coverage.

"He's sadly passed away in the Tamworth hospital, aged 78," Chappell confirmed.

"The folded finger-spinner they called him," he recalled of Gleeson. "He came from Tamworth, started out his cricket life as a wicketkeeper and he fiddled around flicking these balls …

"I think he started with a table tennis ball, and developed into a very fine finger spinner.

"I spoke to him the other day, he'd come to grips with his situation and his last words were to me, 'Don't fret, mate, I'm in good shape'.

Gleeson was the 242nd Australian to wear the Baggy Green and took 93 wickets, with a career average of 36.2. He had a top score of 45 in Test cricket.

He played 116 first-class matches and took 430 wickets at 24.95.

Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland said: "John captured the imagination of cricket fans everywhere as he bamboozled batsmen with his odd bowling grip, borrowed from another mystery Australian spinner, Jack Iverson."

"We were deeply saddened to hear of John's passing and are truly appreciative of his contribution to the game, which, beyond his distinguished playing career, included time as an administrator with World Series Cricket.

"John is one of a long list of Test cricketers to originate from country New South Wales. As a cricketer, he will be remembered as someone who played for his country at the highest level and, with his unique skills, had the ability to regularly dumbfound the best batsmen in any team.

"On behalf of everyone at Cricket Australia, I'd like to offer our condolences to John's wife Sandra, his immediate family, friends and all those in cricket who have crossed paths with John."

 

John William Gleeson (1938-2016)
 by Rodney Cavalier

John William Gleeson was born on 14 March, 1938, at Wiangaree (population 80), a village sustained by dairy cattle and timber cutting 14 kilometres north of Kyogle in northern NSW.

The Gleesons had moved there in 1926 as one of the work crew building the Kyogle-Brisbane railway line. John was the first of three sons born to Walter Gleeson and Jesse née Kemp. His parents, after Walter left the railways, ran the Wiangaree post office and telephone exchange.

John and his brothers became adept operators of making, receiving and transferring calls that connected the village to the outside world. He attended Wiangaree Public School, a two-teacher school with grades combined, then Kyogle Intermediate High.

He left school at 15 for a job as a telephone technician with the Postmaster-General's Department (PMG), remaining with the PMG until the end of its legislative existence, into its incorporation as Telecom and its emergence as Telstra.

John Gleeson returned to a job with the PMG at Tamworth. It is with Tamworth that he will be forever associated, where he found employment where he chose to live his life. He was at Tamworth when the end came on Friday.

At the age of 12, what young hopefuls see and read of big-time cricket tends to remain with them. Gleeson came upon an illustrated article in 1950 about Jack Iverson, dubbed the mystery spinner because England was finding him unplayable in the Ashes series taking place at the time. The middle finger was the clue. Gleeson possessed inordinately long fingers, what Nature ordered to emulate Iverson and make his own adjustments.

His experiments were private and personal. Spin bowling being the position most fraught in any side, John Gleeson was not chancing his selection on a skill not greatly valued by selectors. He concentrated on keeping wickets and being useful with the bat. His career was his first priority.

John did his PMG training in Sydney through 1956-58, using the opportunity to play lower grades for Western Suburbs as a wicket-keeper batsman without drawing attention. He was good enough to be selected by a northern NSW social cricket club that took their cricket seriously. The Emu Club, founded in 1946, had the resources to send sides overseas.

On one account it was during an Emu tour of Canada, exasperated that the bowlers could not dismiss the batsmen, Gleeson relinquished his pads.

John's brother Roy recalls it otherwise – John first bowled in a serious match in Melbourne in 1964 when he was playing with the Australian Postal Institute. The Institute captain, Tom Brooks, a former fast bowler in first class cricket, threw Gleeson the ball.

What is not in doubt is that Gleeson's bowling mystified everyone on the field. It was not a long step from there to imagine what he might achieve with hard practice.

He invested the effort in achieving in the nets and on the field of play the sort of perfection that occupied his mind.

Jack Chegwyn's XI brought high level cricket to country NSW, teams of first class and recently retired Test cricketers provided matches for the best locals that they were unlikely to receive in regional competition.

In Gunnedah in 1965-66 Gleeson was in the local side as a spinner, not easily definable, facing a Chegwyn XI that included Richie Benaud. Gleeson took wickets but bowling to Benaud was a life's ambition.

The encounter came to pass on the last ball of the over when Benaud came on strike. Each Gleeson delivery was an intellectual conception of every possibility in the spinner's art, an internal debate oft decided only as he was rolling his arm over.

His expression gave nothing away, fingers and wrist seemingly the same whatever came out. Gleeson bowled to Benaud an off-break with a leg-break action. Benaud was baffled and beaten comprehensively. Benaud knew he was in the presence of a future Test player.

Chegwyn's tours doubled as scouting exercises for the Sydney clubs. Word of Gleeson was abroad. Benaud took a pastoral interest in Gleeson, hopeful that the next great spinner was emerging.

Concerned pre-eminently about Gleeson's welfare off the field, he steered Gleeson to the Balmain Club because of his regard for its long-term secretary, Fred Bennett, who would be among, many honours, a future Chairman of the Australian Cricket Board.

Gleeson prospered at Balmain, and selection for NSW was the next step. He made his debut for NSW in the Sheffield Shield on the state's western tour of 1966-67.

Image Id: 8E0E23204D31439986BF5C6457880F11 Image Caption: Gleeson bowls in 1972 // Getty

The NSW side was captained by Brian Booth, a former Test captain. They were a team in transition, and with five former Test cricketers in the twilight of fine careers, selectors were willing to experiment.

What was true of NSW was true of Australia. Ferocious winds blew across the WACA on the day that Gleeson first wore the baggy blue. Gleeson batted at No. 8 for not much. He delivered 23 overs in two innings for one wicket.

In the next match, against South Australia, Gleeson was 12th man. Non-selection in the XI was not a judgement on his performance, selectors wanted to give all in the squad time on the field. Being dropped for Adelaide was just about the luckiest break any cricketer could receive.

Sir Donald Bradman had maintained a close interest in NSW cricket since his move to Adelaide in the 1930s. NSW sides through the 1940s and 1950s were guests for supper at his home.

So Booth was not surprised that the boy from Bowral should ask him on arrival who was going to be 12th man. Johnny Gleeson was the reply. "Well, that's the first mistake you've made in this game."

During the NSW innings, Bradman issued an invitation to Gleeson to come down to the nets. Australia's selectors had an intelligence network that encompassed cricket at all levels. Benaud's assessment, among others, had reached the ears of Bradman, then Chairman of Selectors.

In the nets, standing in front of the wicket without a bat or pads, Bradman was intending to know what a batsman was going to experience, Bradman asked Gleeson to show him what he had. Not far past his 58th birthday, the Don backed himself to step out of the way if required. Bradman needed all of his skills. Gleeson had Bradman bamboozled.

Not a lot of balls were bowled – one struck the master – sufficient for Bradman to know Gleeson was the goods.

"Thanks John," Bradman declared. "By the end of the season I think you'll be playing for Australia."

Gleeson was selected in a Second XI tour of New Zealand at season's end.

Ahead that season were a formidable number of eight-ball overs. He could tie up an end, captains tended to use him for that purpose. In closing down one end he was forfeiting sting and the prospect of a ball that snared a wicket.

It was otherwise when conditions suited. His first matches on the Sydney Cricket Ground coincided with a pitch construction that made play difficult, conditions perfect for Gleeson. He took his first five-for in winning a match. Selectors note bowlers who hammer home the advantage of unreasonable circumstance.

In December 1967 Gleeson made his Test debut against India. Bob Simpson was captain. Gleeson played in all four Tests, bowling well down the order in an attack that relied on pace to do most damage. In the Third Test he offered a signature performance – 0-20 off 15 overs, 3-50 off 21. Gleeson took the last three wickets in a narrow Australian victory of 39 runs.

Performance made him a certain selection for the Ashes tour of 1968. The arrival of Bill Lawry as captain redefined Gleeson as a stock bowler expected to contain. In a series interrupted by rain, Gleeson's workload was formidable.

Analysis of runs conceded per over portrays a bowler difficult to play, one who compelled batsmen to be defensive but, in that defensiveness, they were denying the bowler their wicket.

In the First Test 36.3 overs yielded 65 runs and three wickets. Thereafter in the Tests Gleeson delivered 27 overs and collected 1-43; 46 overs 2-84; 36 overs 1-94 and 68 overs 4-131. Reliance on his middle finger to impart spin was especially tiring. Each spell was long.

Whatever his exhaustion, Gleeson enjoyed what London had to offer. Having to be back in Tamworth after grade games had earned Gleeson the nickname of Cho for "cricket hours only". Although regarded as a very good team man in every team he played with, carousing after hours in company was not his preference. Shortly after stumps, showered and dressed, Gleeson bid his mates adieu to embark upon an evening on his own.

His nocturnal doings remain a mystery all these decades later. He kept the secret in the face of enquiries. Rumour, unverified and unverifiable, betrayed awe and admiration for the escapades of a healthy young man.

Other spinners of quality emerged throughout his career. Each of Ashley Mallett, Terry Jenner and Kerry O'Keeffe vied for Test selection. Rivals for selection, some of them unfriendly with each other, none were unfriendly with Gleeson. He was not a jealous person. Sharing knowledge was his preference.

Image Id: E7D256DECA0440F7AA23EC63B98BB29A Image Caption: Gleeson (bottom right) on the 1968 Ashes tour // Getty

The major problem for a spin bowler in that era – and most eras in Australian cricket – is the disposition of the captain to using spinners except as last resort, when the wicket is worn and taking turn. Australian skippers relied on speed. By the time spin was introduced, the batsmen were set. In the era of Lillee-Massie-Thomson-Walker, an entire opposition innings could pass without a spinner being called on.

The long tour of India in late 1969, followed by South Africa in early 1970, brought out heroics in all the Australians, in no one more than John Gleeson. Five Tests in India had sapped the Australians. Hotels and general conditions became the stuff of legend. A 3-1 series victory was not sustenance for wearied bodies with a tour of South Africa immediately following.

South Africa had assembled a side that was capable of greatness. In Graeme Pollock and Barry Richards, South Africa had two of the finest batsmen in the history of cricket. The South Africans were without weakness in any aspect of the game. Winning the toss in four Tests out of four and batting, South Africa proceeded to grind the Australians under.

Over the course of the four Tests Gleeson bowled 2038 deliveries in long sessions to yield 740 runs, an impressive return against rampant batsmen for a bowler employed only after the quicks had given their best. In those numbers was a respect for what Gleeson could do with a ball that turned upon landing.

Australia suffered a 4-0 drubbing. The only reason Australia escaped what would remain the only 5-0 whitewash in its history is that only four Tests were scheduled. The Australian team refused a contract to play a fifth Test because of the risible money on offer.

Gleeson was a leader of the revolt. When more money was found, Gleeson did not budge. Lawry took the view all the players had to be on board or the fifth would not be played.

Such a summer abroad takes a toll on all of a player's faculties. The rest of the world seemed to be improving. Australia was on a slide, its next generation of great players had not emerged. Was spin any more likely to have a fair chance with selectors and captains?

An England squad arrived in 1970 under the captaincy of Ray Illingworth. England had won the Ashes in Australia only once since the War in six previous encounters. This English side was well balanced. Illingworth was Yorkshire through and through. Bill Lawry's steady tactics were facing a final test.

In domestic matches, including a NSW game against MCC, Gleeson was taking wickets in the course of a lot of overs. The first Test in Brisbane demanded 42 overs from Gleeson to yield two wickets. The second and the fourth were much the same to capture eight wickets. Employed this way, Gleeson was not a match-winner. Nor was any other bowler.

Would Lawry play safe in each session, relying on possession of the Ashes, daring England to go for it? A sequence of draws had become the norm in Ashes series in the 1960s. The four previous series had yielded seven results and 13 draws. One drawn series after another kept the Ashes in Australia, the pre-eminent consideration.

In this series, extended into seven Tests, being behind and needing to win the last Test, the selectors dropped the Australian skipper. Gleeson was a casualty of Lawry's departure.

Gleeson was too good not to remain a possibility. Against a World XI, touring Australia instead of the banished South Africa, Gleeson was not called to the colours. Mallett, Jenner and O'Keeffe performed the spin duties. His performance for NSW was outstanding with wickets in all but one innings. Against Queensland at the SCG, Gleeson took a 10-wicket haul.

Selection for a second Ashes series was expected. How Ian Chappell might deploy him was a secondary consideration as, all of a sudden, the Australians possessed a strike bowler in Dennis Lillee who was the best Australia had seen since the Demon Spofforth in the 19th century. David Colley was a fine bowler at the other end. Each of Greg Chappell, Doug Walters, Graham Watson and John Inverarity were more than useful bowlers.

Unregarded as a batsman, in the second innings of the first Test, Gleeson added 104 runs for the ninth wicket with Rodney Marsh, the only resistance of note in the match. Imperturbable with a bat in hand and inclined to go for it, he provoked bowlers to try and sort him out. He pondered what was courage given he was scarcely equipped to handle deliveries aimed at his body and head compared to players in the side for their batting.

A finger spinner like Gleeson was all but surplus to requirements when Bob Massie made his debut at Lord's with 16 wickets to break the ancient record held by Spofforth since 1882, in the Test that gave birth to the Ashes. Gleeson was the sixth used of seven bowlers in the first Test, the fifth of five in the second. None of that mattered with Lillee and Massie rampant. The stock bowler was being used sparingly, strictly for containment.

No wickets in the third Test (36 overs for 71 runs) and an in-form Mallett saw Gleeson dropped for the rest of the series. Mallett consolidated his position. Gleeson was 34, Mallett 27. The selectors were intending to build a new team around a new captain. There would be no comeback for Gleeson.

Gleeson played for NSW throughout the 1972-73 domestic season without conspicuous success. His first-class career came to an end at the SCG against Victoria on January 2, 1973, his 116th first-class match. He had taken 430 wickets at an average of only 24.95, a very good performance in the modern era, especially when one reflects he played in so many matches where the wickets enabled the batsmen to plunder. No part of his armoury had included sledging the batsman.

Image Id: 2BC54300323942088EA5D1E53A470BC3 Image Caption: Gleeson at training in early 1970 // Getty

He returned to Tamworth, continued his work with telephones until his retirement and a good pension. He returned to work as a cameraman covering TAB meetings for Sky Sports.

A good host, his pleasure was reminiscence and reflection. In the company of fellow practitioners of spin, he could talk for long hours. Asked who was the best batsman he ever faced, his answer without hesitation was Barry Richards.

"My margin of error with respect to length was significantly less than anyone else," Gleeson told Bruce Francis, a former colleague in the NSW and Australian sides. "With Barry, if I don't pitch the ball in a box six inches by six, he will hammer me. Other good players have a box of 15 by 15, you pitch it there and you contain them."

Tamworth was his oyster. Cricket and the PMG had been his world. They remained his world. One Wednesday each month he met the blokes from the PMG at the local bowls club. On another Wednesday he spent time with old cricketers.

His capacity for telling stories was much valued. A kid from a nearby village had reached the heights in Sydney and at Lord's, and lots of other places too. In Tamworth he was happiest and most fulfilled.

In recent years Balmain Cricket Club merged its interests with the Sydney Cricket Trust to form the Sydney Cricket Club. Gleeson attended functions of the new entity. Players in all grades this morning observed a minute's silence in memory of John.

John William Gleeson is survived by his wife Sandra, two sons and two daughters.

The author acknowledges the invaluable assistance of Bruce Francis, Brian Booth and Ronald Cardwell.