Graham Yallop - Australia - Batsman

A hardworking batsman blessed with a sound technique, Graham Yallop was among those cricketers who got opportunities due to the depletion of the Australian team by the Packer series. The plethora of star cricketers leaving for that meant that the resources were scarce and the national team had to end up picking random players to fill the squad. Strange as it may sound, Yallop also came to the fore in a similar way although he did prove himself on a tough tour to the West Indies, holding his own against a fearsome pace attack. With the senior men all gone to the Packer series, Yallop soon found himself as captain of the team after a mere eight Tests. With a side massively short of experience, an Ashes hammering followed as England reclaimed the urn with a dominating performance.

After the World Series Cricket phase ended, the star cricketers returned to play for Australia which meant that the likes of Yallop had to make way. He had moderately good numbers but they weren't big enough to keep the veterans out of the playing XI. He still made the odd appearance as a fringe player whenever required before the rebel tour of South Africa put a full stop to his international career. Before that, he did have some good moments, especially the 1983 World Cup where he scored a fair amount of runs. A back injury also resurfaced at times to halt his career. Despite his middling international career, Yallop was a key man for Victoria though, playing a crucial part in their title victories. He also holds the unique record of being the first batsman to wear a full helmet in a Test match.

Yallop's career did have its fair share of eventful controversies, particularly in the national setup. His initial selection in itself didn't amuse the likes of Ian Chappell who were strong in their support for McCosker. Yallop did write in his memoirs as to how coldly he had been welcomed to the national team. There was a visible disharmony in the side. Yallop later on got shielded by Kim Hughes during the latter's captaincy stint but even this relationship soured as time went on. Yallop's career was sprinkled with oodles of misfortune although there were times when he was also at fault. Disciplinary issues persisted too, as is evident from the 1989 incident when he got punished for doing alcohol deals at his cricket center. He had a much better ODI career and generally feasted on spin bowling, unlike most Australian batsmen at that time. Against genuine pace, he did have weaknesses that got exploited later on.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan