Keith Stackpole

A red-faced, red-blooded batsman who followed his father into Victoria's Sheffield Shield team, Keith Stackpole was initially drafted by his country as an middle-order batsman who bowled legbreaks, but found his métier when co-opted as an opener by his captain Bill Lawry. Bowlers griped about his good fortune - and his highest Test score of 207 followed a narrow run-out squeak at 18 - but Stackpole belaboured the ball so brutally that he could count on his share of missed chances. Nettled by his failure to make the 1968 Ashes tour, he batted with poise and purpose as Ian Chappell's deputy in England in 1972, and headed the Test averages. Now hits hard as a radio commentator.
Gideon Haigh