Don Tallon
Donald Tallon was an Australian cricketer who played 21 Test matches as a wicket-keeper between 1946 and 1953. He was widely regarded by his contemporaries as Australia's finest ever wicket-keeper and one of the best in Test history, with an understated style, an ability to anticipate the flight, length and spin of the ball and an efficient stumping technique. Tallon toured England as part of Don Bradman's Invincibles of 1948 and was recognised as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1949 for his performances during that season. During his Test career, Tallon made 58 dismissals comprising 50 catches and 8 stumpings.
His early cricket was played in Bundaberg where he was selected to represent Queensland Country against the England cricket team during the infamous Bodyline tour. Aged 17, he made his first-class cricket debut for Queensland against Victoria in December 1933. By the 1935-36 season, Tallon was an established player and he topped the Queensland batting averages for the season, however he was a surprise non-inclusion for the 1938 Australian team to tour England. Following the Second World War and the retirement or unavailability of other candidates, he was finally given an opportunity to play Test cricket, making his debut against New Zealand in 1946 aged 30.
Following the Invincibles tour, poor health dogged Tallon, causing him to miss the 1949-50 tour of South Africa. He recovered his spot for the Ashes series in 1950-51, catching well but failing with the bat. Tallon missed selection for the 1951-52 Test season but recovered his spot for the 1953 Australian team to tour England. He played in the first Test before being replaced by Gil Langley, this time permanently. He retired from first-class cricket in 1953 and returned to Bundaberg, assisting his brother in running a corner store. He died in Bundaberg aged 68.
Early years
Tallon was born on 17 February 1916 in the Queensland coastal sugar and rum town of Bundaberg, north of Brisbane. He learned to play cricket on a backyard wicket with his three brothers and father Les, an iron moulder at the Bundaberg foundry, who played as a slow bowler in the local cricket competition. Often the matches would stretch past the daylight hours, and the brothers would play inside the house after moving the furniture to create some open space. Tallon was formally trained as a wicket-keeper at North Bundaberg State School where he and his brothers were coached by Tom O'Shea, a teacher and former Sheffield Shield wicket-keeper. He became the primary school's wicket-keeper at the age of seven, playing with and against boys aged 11 and 12. He learned to keep to the leg spin of his brother Bill, who also went on to represent Queensland. Tallon later said of his decision to become a wicket-keeper, "You are never out of the game, and that suits me fine". He was captain of his school team at the age of 11 and rose to become captain of Queensland Schoolboys aged 13. He played in Bundaberg's A grade adult team at 14, and came to the attention of state selectors when Bundaberg played a team captained by Test player Alan Kippax in 1931.The following season, he played in the Country trials in Brisbane. He was selected for the Queensland Colts in 1932-33 and represented Queensland Country against Douglas Jardine's England cricket team during the Bodyline tour. In England's innings of 376, Tallon conceded only five byes and stumped Herbert Sutcliffe, regarded as one of the finest batsmen in Test history. He did not get a chance to display his batting prowess as the Bodyline spearhead Harold Larwood rattled him with a series of deliveries aimed at the throat, before bowling him for two. Tallon's fast and efficient skills behind the stumps further caught the eye of cricket officials in early 1933 at the Country Week Carnivals. Tallon distinguished himself with his tidy keeping to the express pace bowling of Eddie Gilbert, whose suspect action and indigenous heritage were later the subject of controversy.
First-class debut
He made his first-class debut for Queensland at 17 against Victoria in December 1933, having never previously attended a first-class match as a spectator. He conceded only six byes and took a catch in an innings of 542 in a tidy performance, and made 17 and three in an innings defeat, but was dropped after the match. Queensland officials had ruled that it was not advisable to take such a young player on away trips to Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales. Tallon reclaimed his position when Queensland returned for their home games and from then on was the first-choice wicket-keeper for the state. He played in only one other first-class match for the 1933-34 season, scoring 13 and taking a catch and a stumping in an eight-wicket win over South Australia.In his second first-class match in the 1934-35 season, and his fourth overall, he confirmed his batting ability with 58 and 86 against the South Australian bowling attack led by Clarrie Grimmett, the world's leading leg spinner at the time, but was unable to prevent an eight-wicket defeat. Tallon played in five matches for the season, and Queensland lost four and won none. He took four catches, made two stumpings and scored 216 runs at 24.00 in innings, although he did score four ducks.
Towards the end of 1934, Tallon moved to Brisbane, where he worked as a storeman for a car company. In 1935-36, Tallon was Queensland's top batsman in terms of both runs and batting average, scoring 569 runs at an average of 51.72. He started well with 58 in a drawn match against New South Wales, and then scored 45 and made six dismissals in an innings as Queensland fell to an innings defeat against the Marylebone Cricket Club, including five stumpings. He then made four dismissals in an innings in the next match against Victoria.
Tallon was prominent in the next match against South Australia in Adelaide. The hosts included Australia captain Don Bradman in their ranks, making a comeback from illness. The match was mainly noted for Bradman's 233 but Tallon impressed him by taking two particularly difficult catches, one of which dismissed the Australian captain himself. Bradman also praised Tallon for conceding only seven byes in a total of 642, particularly his ability to take balls passing down the leg side. Tallon then scored 88 in Queensland's reply. Bradman opined that he had a "clean-hitting crisp style... attacking, positive, and with a technique to rival most first-class batsmen". Despite this, Queensland fell to defeat by an innings and 226 runs. He followed this with 51 in a defeat to New South Wales. The highlight of Tallon's season was his highest first-class score of 193, against Victoria in Brisbane, in the last fixture of the season, a match in which he also took five catches in an innings. Tallon's innings played a large part in the hosts' saving of the match after conceding a lead of 252 on the first innings. As he continued his consistent form with both bat and gloves, he came into strong consideration for Test selection. While Tallon was performing strongly in Australia, the national team were in South Africa and defeated their hosts 4-0. Nevertheless, it was another unsuccessful season for Queensland; Tallon did not experience a win and suffered losses in three of his six matches.
Pre-war non-selection
During the 1930s, Queensland was a weak cricketing state, having only been admitted to the Sheffield Shield in 1926-27, and the national selectors tended to choose Australia teams composed entirely of New South Welshmen, Victorians and South Australians. New South Wales' Bert Oldfield was the incumbent wicket-keeper and had no plans to retire, while Victoria's Ben Barnett had been the reserve keeper on the 1934 tour of England. South Australia's Charlie Walker was also talked of as a possible Test player.Tallon was scrutinised as a Test candidate when England toured for the 1936-37 Ashes series. He was selected in Bradman's XI for a one-off match against Victor Richardson's XI at the start of the season. It was a testimonial for Richardson and such matches were used as Test trials for the top players in Australia. Tallon took three catches but was unable to capitalise with the bat. He made three and was unbeaten without scoring in the second innings as Bradman's men reached their target. In the next match against New South Wales, Tallon took four catches and scored 100 to bring his team back into contention after conceding a 190-run lead. However, New South Wales scraped home to win by one wicket. It continued a winless streak for Tallon in Queensland colours that had lasted for over two and a half years. Tallon had a final chance to push for selection in two matches for an Australian XI and Queensland respectively, against Gubby Allen's Englishmen before the Tests. He made a total of seven dismissals but scored only 49 runs in three innings.
When the Test team was announced, Tallon was overlooked as the selectors persisted with Oldfield. Tallon remained consistent for Queensland, making 22 dismissals in total for the season. With the bat, he once again topped his state's averages, scoring 434 runs at 36.16. He scored 101 against South Australia and 96 against Victoria, but both matches were lost. Queensland defeat New South Wales to record their first win in three years, but the remaining five Sheffield Shield matches were all lost.
The 1937-38 season was purely domestic, with no international matches, but it was an opportunity for all players to push for selection in the squad for the 1938 Ashes tour. It was another disappointing season for Queensland, who were again winless; they lost three matches, hung on for a draw, eight wickets down in another, and the other two fixtures were washed out before the second innings. Tallon scored 204 runs at 22.66 without managing a half-century and made 17 dismissals.
Tallon's non-selection for the 1938 Ashes touring party surprised commentators. In selection deliberations, Bradman had lobbied for Tallon and Walker, asserting that Oldfield was past his best. The other two selectors, Chappie Dwyer from New South Wales and Bill Johnson from Victoria, outvoted Bradman. They selected Barnett, because of his previous tour to England, and Walker. Tallon's omission was overshadowed by that of Grimmett, regarded alongside Bill O'Reilly as the world's leading legspinner. No official reason was given for Tallon's non-selection. A leak revealed that the reason for his omission was that he was not familiar with the bowling of Australia's three spinners: O'Reilly, Chuck Fleetwood-Smith and Frank Ward. Another was Tallon's preference in standing back to medium pacers. In reality, Tallon stood back and stood up to the stumps depending on the situation. While the medium pacers were swinging the ball, he would stand back to avoid the risk of missing an edge. When the ball was old, he would stand up to the stumps when a medium pacer was operating and effect many stumpings with his fast reflexes.
During the series, Barnett made two notable errors. With Australia leading the series 1-0 going into the Fifth Test at The Oval, Barnett dropped Len Hutton and Maurice Leyland when both were on 40. Leyland went on to post 187 while Hutton set a Test world record of 364. In effect, England were gifted an extra 461 runs as they set a world record score of 7/903. Bradman injured himself during the marathon innings in a rare stint at the bowling crease after the specialist bowlers had failed to break the Englishmen. With opener Jack Fingleton also injured, Australia were down to nine men and fell to the heaviest defeat in Test history and the series was drawn.
Tallon responded during the 1938-39 season by equalling two world records. The season started poorly for Queensland, not winning any of their first three matches. Tallon made eight dismissals in the opening match of the Sheffield Shield campaign against New South Wales, but the visitors hung on for a draw with one wicket in hand. After two consecutive losses, Tallon set the first of his world records. Against New South Wales in Sydney, he dismissed 12 batsmen, six in each innings, a feat performed only once before, in 1868 by Surrey's Ted Pooley. Tallon's dozen included three stumpings and he was at the crease when Queensland hit the winning runs to complete their first victory in two years. After nine innings during the season without passing 36, Tallon returned to form with the bat, scoring 115 against South Australia, but was unable to take the field in the second innings due to injury as the match ended in a ten-wicket defeat. In the final match of the season, Tallon became the fourth keeper to make seven dismissals in an innings, in a match against Victoria. He did not concede a bye in the innings of 348, and scored 44 as Queensland completed an innings win. Tallon finished the season with 34 dismissals in six matches, setting a new Australian season record. He took more than five dismissals in an innings in four of the ten innings in which he kept wicket. Observers noted Tallon to be more motivated than ever; his catching and stumping style became more animated, and his appealing reached new levels of sound. He passed 100 first-class dismissals during the season, achieved in just 32 matches—the fastest Australian to reach the mark. Tallon ended the season with 305 runs at 30.50.