"You never knew with Ian Chappell what was going to happen until it happened," said Gary Gilmour, in an interview with The Age, much later after his name got embalmed in pages of history.
It was unexpected, to say the least, or else, who would have expected the water boy of the previous matches to leave the royal Brits gasping for water, that too, in their own backyard.
Throughout the World cup, Gilmour had been warming the benches, swatting flies and minding his mane. It was sheer serendipity that Gary (or Gus as he is fondly called) got included in the playing eleven for the semi-final against England.
More surprising was the fact that he was called in to replace Ashley Mallet, the only specialist spinner in that Aussie side of flame-throwers.
But this event, however fortuitous, wasn’t much of a cosmetic makeover for the game.
Even without Gilmour, cricket would have remained the same. Pretty much like the apple from the tree: had it not fallen before Newton, we surely wouldn’t have been walking upside down.
Still both are much cherished historical incidents. While the former remains naked to literary and scientific mutilation, the latter stays safe in attics of those who were present at the Headingley stadium on June 18, 1975.
That field at Headingley would have been any swing bowler’s dream. The sun pampered by the cotton cloud; the pitch, a patch of luscious lush green- what more could a 2 match old bowler ask for?
"They kept shouldering arms and the ball swung back in and did the rest," Gus recalls. "I wanted to bowl and bowl. I didn't want my overs to run out."
He was trusted to open the attack with Deniss Lillee, ahead of the more popular Jeff Thomson. Chappell had intended bowling him from the Kirkstall Lane End, but Lillee wanted to come downhill. So the junior bowler, as customs suggest, had to switch to the other end.
His uninterrupted 12 overs from that same end with figures of 6/14, spares me from elaborating further. While, five batsmen fell for his in-swingers, Tony Greig was the only one to edge an away-swinger to an air-borne Rod Marsh.
England’s innings ended, but that wasn’t a full-stop on the day’s affairs. If his six wickets were a session of stormy love-making, the much-pampered leather, soon, parted loyalty and, almost tragically, had run into the arms of the opposition.
England, folded up for a paltry 93, came back with reinstated vigor in the form of Chris Old, Geoff Arnold and John Snow. It was coin’s flipside, and the Kangaroos were reeling at 39/6 when Gilmour came in to join Doug Walters.
Credit for heroics must partly go to his fly swatting exercises while sitting idle. He swung the blade left, swung it right, made the more-experienced Walters stand audience, and then put a full-stop on England’s Cup dreams.
Gus had smashed a run-a-ball 28 adding to his 6 wicket glory.
"It was one of those days," he says, "that happen once or twice in your lifetime."
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