Ontario v Australia at Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club - 25 May 1975
Patrick Pisani | June 18, 2025
Some people think the next two games of the Australian visit to Toronto were anti-climactic. That view is not accurate at all. For the players on the Ontario Team on Sunday, and then the Toronto Cricket Skating & Curling Club Team on Monday, these were the greatest of opportunities, a chance of a lifetime, days to remember always.
The preamble to second game, after Eastern Canada ‘s dramatic victory over the Australian national team on Saturday, was imbued with tension.
Ontario Cricket Team vs Australia 1975
Back row, Roy Crawford (exec), Harold Ross, I. Khan, Roy McCatty, Patrick Pisani, F. Davda, David James (umpire), “Raj” Rajballie (exec), Jim Siew (exec)
Front row, Vic Walker, Mel Kuru, Glenroy Sealy, Cecil Marshall, Steve Hull, Len Hindrichsen, Brian Mauricette
The Ontario players witnessed what happened the day before and dreamed that they also could come up with a miraculous performance. The Aussies spent the whole night after the defeat dreaming about the possible impact of losing two games in a row to Canadian players. They knew that if that was the result people would be talking about it even 50 years later!
Many of the Ontario players, privately, expressed that their lineup was equal to the Eastern Canada lineup. Most of them had played for Canada and each player was a top performer in Ontario leagues.
In the second game, the Australians batted first. Umpires David James and Harris Lawson directed the Ontario team to take the field on that hot sunny day. The local fans had a rare of treat watching professional cricketers live.
Rick McCosker and Ian Chappell, who had scored 1 and 2, respectively the day before performed much better on this day. McCosker scored 33 and was out when the total was 81 for two. Ian Chappell played the captain’s innings steering his team towards a large total. He was the top scorer with 76 runs which included many crowd-pleasing boundaries through the covers.
When the Aussie skipper was dismissed, Richie Robinson kept the pace going with some aggressive strokes in his innings of 61. When he was the tenth wicket to fall after 53 overs, the Ontario Team was facing a very tall order of 279 runs.
Richie Robinson 61 and Alan Hurst 2* … Australia 276 all out
In the field, Canadian captain Cecil Marshall and I. Khan each picked up three wickets, and Len Hinrichsen made three catches.
Dennis Lillee and Max Walker were not playing, and they were replaced by the equally menacing Jeff Thomson and Garry Gilmour.
Thomson generated extraordinary speed by delivering the ball through a very long arc passage of his arm. No one could match Thommo for raw, lethal pace.
The lefty Gilmour generated his world-class speed through pure muscular force. (Just weeks later, he excelled in English conditions when Australia toured England. He took 6 for 14 in the World Cup semi-final against England, then and 5 for 48 in the final against West Indies in spectacular performances. He played only 2 World Cup games. No other bowler took more wickets than his 11 even though they played 5 games!)
The great veteran of Ontario cricket Vic Walker opened the batting against the formidable pacemen. Of course these were the days before helmets. Walker had 20 runs when a sharp rising bouncer from powerful Gilmour got the best of him. He had to retire hurt with an upper body injury.
Gilmour had already dismissed Davda in his first over with an unplayable ball that toppled centre stump. Glenroy Sealy, an experienced all-rounder, scored an attractive 27 runs before he was trapped LBW by a rapid yorker from Thomson. Canada passed 89 runs with three wickets down.
At that juncture, captain Ian Chappell, made the decisive move that hammered home the Australian victory. He called for Mallet. As it turned out, the magic that led to Ontario’s downfall was in the hands of Ashley Mallet, who was at the height of his distinguished Test career. “Rowdy’s” sharp biting off-breaks proved too much to manage for the bottom half of the Ontario batting order. He took four wickets for 13 runs in seven overs.
Wicketkeeper Robinson stumped Hinrichsen and Khan in the same over.
Steve Hull, an orthodox and stylish right hand number 6 batsman, was left unbeaten with the Ontario high score of 36 not out. Hull displayed the capability of facing a barrage of Thomson, Hurst and Gilmour and the skill to manage the spin of Mallet. However, Hull lost his remaining partners, all five of them, in quick succession. Unfortunately for Steve, he watched the last five of his teammates disappear adding only six runs to the final total of 117 and not being able to fight through for a draw.
The large crowd having witnessed another very interesting day’s play were all thrilled to have seen the great Australian Test Team playing in Toronto immediately before the Aussies went to England to compete in the first World Cup of Cricket.
Ontario: Sealy, Pisani, McCatty, Ross, Walker, Marshall, Davda, Mauricette, Hull
Sidenote: I was fortunate to have been chosen 12th man for that game. Due to an injury in the 10th over to an Ontario player, I took the field under the hot sun for the rest of the innings, attempting to stop some Ian Chappell cover drive missiles, and sprinting after some of Richie Robinson ‘s well played sweep shots. I loved it.
In the previous seven weeks in April and May, I had been doing my “Walkabout”. I flew to Phoenix, Arizona, USA and took a bus into Mexico and south to Puerto Vallarta. After several weeks there, I spent several weeks hitchhiking from Guadalajara to Vancouver at distance of 4,444 kilometres. While in Vancouver I saw the Australian Test Team play their game on Thursday May 22nd at the picturesque Brockton Point Cricket Ground in Stanley Park.
In the Aussie victory, Gilmour scored 77 including 7 sixes. He then took 4 wickets for 5 runs. Thomson entertained the spectators with a hat-trick. Australia won 257 for 6 declared to Vancouver’s 104.
Then I caught the flight home to Toronto to prepare myself to play that Australian squad on Sunday and Monday. As you’ll see in the photographs, in all of my travels I could not find a barber shop!
By Patrick Pisani
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