Stan McCabe

Did You Know?

• On the 1934 tour of England, McCabe scored 2,078 runs at 69.28 including eight centuries, more than any of his teammates.
• In the 1935–36 South African tour, McCabe headed the Test batting figures with 420 runs at 84.00.

Early years

McCabe's paternal grandparents settled in Grenfell, New South Wales in the 1850s. His grandfather Edward James McCabe was an Irish policeman who immigrated to Australia and served in the Victorian Police before moving to Grenfell after reports of a gold rush. Edward's wife Catherine was ambushed by bushrangers during her relocation to the town with her children three weeks later, but was unharmed. Her obituary described her as one of the greatest pioneer women of the Australian bush. McCabe, one of 37 grandchildren, was the son of local barber William "Bill" and the third of four brothers. The siblings played local cricket with rudimentary equipment, such as a lump of wood for a bat and cork wrapped in socks for a ball, and settled differences with boxing bouts. They took primary education at a Catholic convent staffed by nuns.

International debut

McCabe made the 1930 tour of England with Bill Woodfull's Australian side, the youngest ever to leave Australia. Only four players had been to England before, earning the squad the nickname "Woodfull's kindergarten." Before departure, McCabe scored his first first-class century, 103 against Tasmania, in a warm-up match. His selection owed partly to his medium-pace bowling, as Australia was short of fast bowlers.

That season he had taken 17 wickets at 30.82, including a best of 5/36 against Queensland. Once in England, McCabe struggled badly for four weeks. Across six matches he managed just 51 runs at 7.28 and bowled only 18 overs without taking a wicket. After one dismissal, he came off the field and said he planned to retire.

Teammate Clarrie Grimmett advised him to use a fuller bat face, and McCabe took the tip. His form turned in the next match against Oxford University, where he made 91 and took 1/5 in an innings win. He followed with 65 against Hampshire. Against Cambridge University, the last match before the First Test, McCabe scored 96 before being run out and took 4/25 and 4/60, his best match bowling figures, as Australia won by an innings.

Bodyline

Stan McCabe’s arrival as a Test cricketer came during the 1932–33 Australian season, infamous for England’s Bodyline tactics. Before the series began, he made 43, 67, and 19 in two tour games against the English side. In the First Test at Sydney, England captain Douglas Jardine set his Bodyline field—seven men on the leg side, five close in and two on the boundary. McCabe walked to the crease with Australia at 3 for 82, having lost Bill Woodfull, Bill Ponsford, and Jack Fingleton.

Donald Bradman was absent due to illness. McCabe told his parents, watching him play Test cricket for the only time, not to leap the fence if he was hit. Facing Harold Larwood, the main Bodyline bowler, he hooked his first ball for four. After Alan Kippax fell at 87, McCabe and Vic Richardson added 129 runs.

Richardson then departed, and McCabe ended the day unbeaten on 127, with the team at 6 for 290. His innings featured risky cuts and hooks at short balls aimed near his face, and he shrugged off the body blows that struck his teammates. His aggressive batting forced Jardine to drop Bodyline. Jardine took Larwood off and brought in Gubby Allen, an amateur who refused to bowl Bodyline.

McCabe hit three fours in a row from Allen’s normal fast bowling. Jardine tried to set a Bodyline field again, but Allen declined, leaving Jardine to turn to spinners Hedley Verity and Wally Hammond. The crowd roared its approval. McCabe later called it an impulsive, senseless gamble that somehow succeeded.

International farewell

Stan McCabe’s final Ashes tour with Australia came in 1938, where he once again served as vice-captain. In the second match of the tour, he made 110 against Oxford University, helping Australia win by an innings. His half-century against Essex, the last game before the Tests, was his only other fifty in the first nine matches; over that stretch he totaled 301 runs at an average of 37.62. He also took 4 for 50 in an innings victory over Northamptonshire. McCabe’s poor form with the bat worried the Australians, especially since the other batsmen had been scoring well.

His most celebrated innings of the tour came in the First Test at Trent Bridge. England declared at 8 for 658 late on the second day, after McCabe had bowled 21 wicketless overs. He came to the crease when Bradman fell at 2 for 111, joining Bill Brown. After two unsuccessful appeals against the light, McCabe ended the day on 19 not out, having batted 35 minutes as Australia reached 3 for 138. Brown had been dismissed for 48. McCabe had hit three boundaries—two cuts and an on drive—and survived a spell from fast bowler Ken Farnes without a sightscreen, alongside nightwatchman Frank Ward.

The next morning, England’s bowlers kept taking wickets. Ward fell in the third over, and debutant Lindsay Hassett followed soon after, leaving Australia at 5 for 150. McCabe, who had already struck two boundaries that morning, was joined by Jack Badcock. He reached his fifty in 90 minutes, hitting Sinfield for four and three from a leg glance and late cut, then drove Hammond for consecutive fours. Badcock was out at 6 for 194, having contributed just 9 of the 43 runs in their partnership. With all the specialist batsmen gone, McCabe batted with wicketkeeper Ben Barnett, attacking with powerful drives and hooks. Hammond brought back Farnes, but McCabe hit three fours in one over and hooked him for six, forcing the captain to remove his fast bowler.