Rick McCosker

One of Australian cricket stars before the World Series came into being, Rick McCosker was a fine opening batsman who had plenty of spunk about himself. He had a solid all-round game and was particularly strong on the leg-side. Apart from having a fine array of shots, McCosker had a primitive openers' quality - temperament. A native of northern New South Wales, it was his decision to shift to Sydney that helped him spike his cricketing fortunes. A former bank employee, Rick soon found out that breaking into the State team was no piece of cake. Hours of hard work and preparation coupled with some good fortune finally led to him getting a breakthrough opportunity and he never really looked back since then. A phenomenal run of form that included four successive First-class tons saw him earn an Australia call up for the Ashes series in 1974-75. Rick had a moderately successful debut series and his composure impressed all those who saw him bat.

Rick cemented his spot over the coming years, having great success especially in Ashes contests. It appeared as if Rick was primed for representing Australia over a really long period of time but that wasn't to be. The World Series caravan lured him and once he retured from that, he was never the same player. It must also be said that the struggles started slightly before the WSC move, ironically during the Ashes tour in 1977. Nevertheless, he was a strong performer for Australia during his brief career. His spot was often under the scanner post WSC with plenty of competition for spots during that period. His form started dipping drastically and found himself out of the side though he did play a couple of ODIs in 1981. After a few more seasons with New South Wales as captain, he retired after a successful career. One of the most memorable moments about Rick is his gutsy knock against England after being felled by a Bob Willis bouncer that broke his jaw.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan