Gabba's unlikely heroes of '68 - How Cowper spun Aussies to victory despite best efforts of Indian enigma

Joining the team in the middle of the tour; the Hyderabad captain went straight in to action at the Gabba.

India started the third day on 6-169, and the home side was expecting to wrap up the first innings quickly. But, supported by the lower order, Jaisimha frustrated the home bowlers.

Bapu Nadkarni, at No.8, was no mug with the bat. In domestic cricket he enjoyed the tag of an all-rounder with Bombay, and in Tests, he averaged 25 with one century to his credit.

At the Gabba, Nadkarni (17) and Erapalli Prasanna (24) gave Jai valuable company. Jaisimha eventually became the joint top scorer for his side.

Interestingly, all three were dismissed by Cowper’s part-time off-spinners.

The specialist tweaker, John Gleeson was accurate, but failed to show the killer venom. So, it was the Victorian, with his gentle off breaks, who emerged as an unsung hero with the leather, finishing with 3-31.

Despite the bravery of the lower order, India still conceded a first innings lead of 100; and chasing a fourth-innings target of 395, they reached 5-191 early on the final morning.

At this stage, an Aussie victory looked a formality. But, veteran Chandu Brode joined Jaisimah at the wicket, and started a brave fightback. In the absence of Mckenzie, the Aussie pace attack was weakened, and Lawry mainly relied upon Gleeson and Cowper to complete the finishing.

And, it wasn’t easy, as the two Indian batters dug in. Both were fine players of spin, with Borde specially keen to use his feet. The pair defied the Aussie attack for almost three hours putting on a century stand. India had previously never won a Test outside their home soil – but the unthinkable seemed to be on the cards as India crossed the 300 mark.

Yet again, Cowper did the trick for his skipper. Redpath caught Borde for a well-made 63, an extremely important wicket. Back in October 1964, at the Brabourne Stadium in Bombay, Borde had shared an unbroken 32-run ninth-wicket stand with WK Prince Indrajitsinhji (belonging to the famous Jadeja family of Jamnagar) to ensure a nail-biting victory for India.

Back to the Gabba and India were 6-310, still in the hunt. But, Gleeson ran through the tail before Cowper dismissed Jai, for a brave 101 to complete the 39-run win.

This was, without doubt Jaisimha’s finest effort in the Test arena. Sadly, he would fail to build on his Gabba heroics. As for India; they would have to wait half a century before registering their first Test success in Brisbane.

Cowper’s 4-104 gave him his best Test match-bowling figures of 7-135. He also contributed 51 and 25 batting at No.3.

Australia would complete a 4-0 clean sweep by winning the SCG Test by 144 runs, and Cowper would produce a fabulous all-round show there.

Opening the innings, he scored a fine hundred in the second innings. On a turning track, the Aussie middle order collapsed against Bishan Bedi and Pras (not for the last time), but Cowper stood firm to score 165.

Then, he took 4-49, and with Bob Simpson taking a fifer, India was restricted to 197 all out.

This completed a memorable series for Cowper. He started the series scoring 92 and 108 at the Adelaide Oval and never looked back. Overall, he scored almost 500 runs at an impressive average of 69, and took 13 wickets at 18 apiece.

Sadly, he failed to show similar form during the Ashes tour of 1968. Still, he played his part in the Old Trafford success, taking 4-48 and 2-82.

He enjoyed a reputation as fine free flowing stroke-maker but he was also a more than a useful off-break bowler.

Overall he took 36 wickets at 31.63 in Tests. In general, an average of around 30 is considered good for the offies. To give some examples, Ashley Mallett averaged 29.84, Lance Gibbs 29.09, Pras 30.38. Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Prasanna’s rival in the Indian team averaged 36+ but still played more than 50 Tests.