An era came to an end with the passing away of Bill Johnston, the left-arm pacer from Don Bradman’s 1948 team of “Invincibles”.
The former pacer from Victoria, who grabbed 27 wickets in the 1948 Ashes tour which Australia won 4-0, died in Sydney at the of 85.
With his death, the number of surviving members of the legendary side came down to five and they are Arthur Morris, Neil Harvey, Sam Loxton, Ron Hamence and Bill Brown.
Brown, who shares his name with Johnston, was all praise for his deceased teammate and described the pacer as a giant-hearted man.
He said
Bill was one of the most likeable blokes in cricket, a lovely fellow with a great sense of humour. He probably didn’t see as much of the new ball as he may have liked.
He had the ability to handle it, there’s no question about that, but (Ray) Lindwall and (Keith) Miller were our number one and number two shock bowlers, and poor old Bill used to get what was left over.
Cricket Australia chairman Creagh O’Connor also paid a rich tribute to Johnston, describing him as invincible on the field during and a gentleman off the field.
In his career span from 1947-1955, Johnston played 40 Tests and claimed 160 wickets before quitting the game because of knee problems. He was also named among Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year in 1949.
Photo: BBC
