Robert ‘‘Dutchy’’ Holland’s star SCG turn stands the test of time

At  the age of 38, when most cricketers have long since pulled up stumps, a Lake Macquarie City Council surveyor  inspired a Test victory that was celebrated across the length and breadth of Australia.

  On the 30th anniversary of Robert ‘‘Dutchy’’ Holland’s iconic performance against the West Indies at the SCG, it is hard to recall a more remarkable boilover from the men wearing the baggy green caps.

The Windies, at the time, were the most formidable team of their generation and had been virtually unchallenged during a decade-long reign of terror.

In back-to-back series against an Australian outfit weakened by the retirements of Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh, Clive Lloyd’s ruthless troops had won six of nine Tests and dominated the other three.

In the process, they had steamrolled the careers of a host of shell-shocked players, most notably the former Australian skipper Kim Hughes.

The Sir Frank Worrell Trophy had been retained long before the two teams arrived in Sydney for the fifth and final Test of the 1984-85 series, and if few people gave the Aussies a chance, Holland was not devoid of belief.

The greying leg-spinner had already played in two Tests in the series, becoming the oldest Australian debutant in more than 50years.

With four wickets for 270 runs in the losses at the Gabba and Adelaide Oval, Holland had taken his share of punishment, but he was experienced enough to be optimistic about his prospects on home turf.  

‘‘NSW had played the West Indies before the Test series started in Sydney, on a turning wicket,’’ Holland  told the Newcastle Herald.

‘‘NSW won outright. Murray Bennett got most of the wickets in that match, including Viv Richards twice.

‘‘Greg Matthews got a few and I got a few. So we were thinking, ‘Wait until we get back to Sydney and we’ll see how we go’.’’

Winning the toss and batting on December 30, 1984, Australia produced their most competitive score of the series, 471, thanks largely to a defiant 173 from opener Kepler Wessels.

After two early wickets from teenager Craig McDermott, along with Geoff Lawson one of only two pacemen in Australia’s XI, the Kookaburra was tossed to Holland and Bennett, a left-arm orthodox spinner making his debut.

Within a couple of hours, the visitors had been bundled out for 163, and Holland had the immaculate figures of 6-54 from 22 overs.

Three decades on, ‘‘Dutchy’’ can remember each dismissal in graphic detail: Desmond Haynes caught at slip, Larry Gomes caught at short cover, Viv Richards caught at slip, Clive Lloyd caught at bat-pad, Malcolm Marshall stumped and Joel Garner caught behind.

 ‘‘Viv was a pretty special wicket,’’ Holland said.

‘‘Greg Ritchie was hit in the face by Courtney Walsh when he was batting and retired hurt. The next day when we went out to field, he wasn’t very well at all, but he insisted on fielding. Viv lofted one off my bowling high up to mid-off, straight to ‘Fat Cat’.

‘‘He’s dropped it, and I thought, ‘Bloody hell. Viv’s just scored 200 in Melbourne and now we’ll never get him out’.

‘‘But a little while later I bowled one short of a length and it turned, and I think Viv was planning to whip it through mid-wicket.

‘‘But when it turned he made a last-minute attempt to defend it and he nicked it to slip.

‘‘So that was a good wicket.’’

 Holland was by no means done. After skipper Allan Border advised the West Indies to follow on, he wasted little time in swinging his new weapon back into the attack.

Holland recalls bowling early on day four to opener Gordon Greenidge, whom he described as a ‘‘savage cutter’’. 

‘‘I bowled a quicker, straighter ball to him and he tried to cut it and missed,’’ Holland said.

‘‘Knocked his off stump out of the ground. That got us rolling again.’’

He followed up with the scalps of wicketkeeper Jeff Dujon and tailenders Michael Holding and Courtney Walsh to finish with 4-90 from 33 overs, as Australia won by an innings and 55 runs.

After his 10-wicket haul, Holland became an overnight celebrity and he and Bennett were chauffeur-driven to two TV studios the following morning for live interviews.

‘‘We were picked up at about 5.30am, extremely early after a heavy night of celebrations,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s fair to say Murray and I were a bit bleary-eyed.’’

Media commitments completed, and with a day off after the Test’s early finish, Holland then accompanied wife Caroline and their three children for an outing to Taronga Zoo, where he received ‘‘nil’’ requests for his  autograph.

It was a different story when he returned to work a couple of days later.

‘‘The first day or two back at work, I didn’t do very much,’’ he said. ‘‘Absolutely everybody wanted to talk about it.’’

His heroics at the SCG, however, counted for little upon his return to first grade with Southern Lakes.

‘‘We played Lambton-New Lambton, who had a couple of 18-year-old batsmen, and I couldn’t get a wicket,’’ he said.

‘‘These young blokes were running down the wicket and whacking me all over the place.’’

Holland proceeded to play in a further eight Tests during  the next two years, spinning Australia to victories with a ‘‘five-for’’ against England at Lord’s in 1985 and a 10-wicket bag against New Zealand at the SCG five months later.

In total he wore the baggy green 11 times, taking 34 wickets at 39.76, and gained a reputation as one of the game’s true gentlemen.

The late bloomer’s Test career was well worth the wait.

‘‘The West Indies were a very strong team and had an excellent leader in Clive Lloyd,’’ Holland said.

‘‘We’ve had good teams, too. Mark Taylor’s teams and Steve Waugh’s teams ... I’d say some of our Australian teams were close to them.

‘‘But they had that special thing with the four fast bowlers.’’

Holland continued to play for Southern Lakes long after his Test days were over, dropping down through the grades to mentor the club’s up-and-comers. 

Last season he made a rare appearance in fourth grade, playing alongside his son, Craig, and 14-year-old grandson Tom.

He remains a regular on the Golden Oldies circuit, trains in the nets at least once a week, and is looking forward to a tournament in Cape Town with the Newcastle Cavaliers later this year. As for that famous Test at the SCG, was it really three decades ago?

 ‘‘It does seem like a long time ago, but I’m really surprised that 30 years has come up,’’ Holland said. ‘‘It’s slipped away, somehow, and we’ve lost 30 years.’’

Holland’s memories, of course, will last a lifetime. His performance against the West Indies at the SCG is eternally etched in Test cricket’s  folklore, and deservedly so.