Graham McKenzie Early years What was Graham KcKenzie's early years like? McKenzie grew up in a sporting family.
What type of sports did his family play?
What type of sports did Graham McKenzie's family play?
McKenzie grew up in a sporting family. His father, Eric McKenzie, was an opening batsman who played once for Western Australia, against the touring South African cricket team in 1931-32. His uncle, Douglas McKenzie, was a batsman who represented Western Australia on several occasions, scoring 88 in his last game against Lindsay Hassett's Services team in 1945-46. Douglas went on to become President of the Western Australian Cricket Association. Both Douglas and Eric also represented Western Australia in field hockey.  In his youth, McKenzie was an all rounder, batting right-handed and bowling off spin. Aged twelve, he gained selection for Western Australia in the 1953-54 under-14 interstate competition held at Adelaide, but the team withdrew after a polio epidemic in Western Australia. The next season, he captained the state when the competition was held in Perth, leading his team to the championship.  McKenzie attended John Curtin High School, where he performed well with both bat and ball in the school's first XI. At sixteen he was made his first grade debut for Claremont-Cottesloe as a batsman, but after unproductive performances was dropped to the second XI. The following year in 1958-59, he continued in second grade and took up fast bowling, taking 50 wickets at an average of 14.50 after his team had a pace bowling shortage. He was recalled to the First XI in 1959-60. He finished the season with 515 runs at an average of 39.46 and 49 wickets at an average of 11.21. His efforts were rewarded in when the state selectors handed him a debut for the penultimate match of the Sheffield Shield season against Victoria in Melbourne. He went wicketless and scored 22 and 41. He took his first wickets in the final match against South Australia at Perth with 3/69. At season's end, his captain Ken Meuleman advised McKenzie to concentrate on his fast bowling. CANNOTANSWER
His father, Eric McKenzie, was an opening batsman who played once for Western Australia,
Graham Douglas McKenzie (born 24 June 1941) – commonly known as "Garth", after the comic strip hero – is an Australian cricketer who played for Western Australia (1960–74), Leicestershire (1969–75), Transvaal (1979–80) and Australia (1961–71) and was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1965. He succeeded Alan Davidson as Australia's premier fast bowler and was in turn succeeded by Dennis Lillee, playing with both at either end of his career. McKenzie was particularly noted for his muscular physique (hence his nickname) and ability to take wickets on good batting tracks. His father Eric McKenzie and uncle Douglas McKenzie played cricket for Western Australia and Garth was chosen for the Ashes tour of England in 1961 aged only 19. He made his debut in the Second Test at Lord's, where his 5/37 (including the last three wickets in 12 balls) wrapped up the England innings to give Australia a 5 wicket victory.

Early years 
McKenzie grew up in a sporting family. His father, Eric McKenzie, was an opening batsman who played once for Western Australia, against the touring South African cricket team in 1931–32. His uncle, Douglas McKenzie, was a batsman who represented Western Australia on several occasions, scoring 88 in his last game against Lindsay Hassett's Services team in 1945–46. Douglas went on to become President of the Western Australian Cricket Association. Both Douglas and Eric also represented Western Australia in field hockey.

In his youth, McKenzie was an all rounder, batting right-handed and bowling off spin. Aged twelve, he gained selection for Western Australia in the 1953–54 under-14 interstate competition held at Adelaide, but the team withdrew after a polio epidemic in Western Australia. The next season, he captained the state when the competition was held in Perth, leading his team to the championship.

McKenzie attended John Curtin High School, where he performed well with both bat and ball in the school's first XI. At sixteen he was made his first grade debut for Claremont-Cottesloe as a batsman, but after unproductive performances was dropped to the second XI. The following year in 1958–59, he continued in second grade and took up fast bowling, taking 50 wickets at an average of 14.50 after his team had a pace bowling shortage. He was recalled to the First XI in 1959–60. He finished the season with 515 runs at an average of 39.46 and 49 wickets at an average of 11.21. His efforts were rewarded when the state selectors handed him a debut for the penultimate match of the Sheffield Shield season against Victoria in Melbourne. He went wicketless and scored 22 and 41. He took his first wickets in the final match against South Australia at Perth with 3/69. At season's end, his captain Ken Meuleman advised McKenzie to concentrate on his fast bowling.

International career 
The 1960–61 season began with McKenzie's third first-class match, against the West Indies. He did not bowl in the first innings but took 4/41 in the second to seal a 94 run win, prompting West Indies captain Frank Worrell to predict a bright future.

Further strong performances during the Shield season saw him selected at age 19 for the 1961 Ashes tour under Richie Benaud. Following an injury to Benaud, Australia replaced him with a third seamer, allowing McKenzie to make his debut in the Second Test at Lord's during the "Battle of the Ridge". In his first innings, he made 34 on his twentieth birthday batting at number 10 on a difficult pitch. The last two wickets added 102 and Australia gained a lead of 134. In England's second innings, McKenzie captured the prized wickets of Ted Dexter and Peter May, and took the last three wickets in twelve balls to give 5/37 on debut. Australia went on to win by five wickets. After losing the Third Test at Headingley, Australia won the fourth Test at Old Trafford with McKenzie again making a valuable contribution with the bat. With a lead of only 177 with nine wickets down in the second innings, McKenzie joined Alan Davidson. He held his end for 32 runs while Davidson's powerful hitting saw 98 added for Australia's highest tenth wicket partnership on English soil. This allowed Benaud to bowl Australia to victory on the final day. The youngest member of the touring party, McKenzie was one of eight bowlers to take at least fifty wickets.

When Dexter's Englishmen toured Australia in 1962–63, McKenzie was promoted to share the new ball with Davidson. Playing in all five Tests, he did not trouble the batsmen to the same extent as his partner, taking 20 wickets for 30.95. He was noted for his ability to contain the opposition by bowling long spells. Davidson retired at the end of the series and McKenzie became the pace spearhead when South Africa toured in 1963–64. He was Australia's leading bowler with 16 wickets at 43.06. In the Third Test in Sydney, he hit his highest Test score of 76.

Five-wicket hauls

In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement, and as of August 2014 only 23 bowlers have taken at least 20 five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers.

1964 saw McKenzie make his second Ashes tour of England. He led the attack as Australia retained the Ashes. His 29 wickets in five Tests equalled the highest obtained for Australia in England by Clarrie Grimmett in 1930. He took 21 wickets when Australia visited India and Pakistan on the return journey to Australia. Another seven wickets in a one-off Test against Pakistan in Melbourne in December established a new record for the number of Test wickets in the space of one year; from 11 December 1963 to 8 December 1964 he took 73 wickets in fifteen Tests. This surpassed Maurice Tate's 65 wickets in 1924–25. In this period, he became the youngest bowler to reach 100 wickets, at the age of 23 and 162 days, 139 days younger than A.L. Valentine. He was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1965, the first Western Australian born recipient.

He toured South Africa in 1966–67 and in 1967–68 was dropped for the final two Tests after taking his only ten wicket match haul against India.

In 1968, McKenzie became a full-time cricketer, believing that it would offer him the best chance of financial security. At the time the Australian Cricket Board regarded its players as amateurs and paid them accordingly. McKenzie joined Leicestershire, captained until 1968 by the Western Australian skipper and former England Test stalwart Tony Lock. He took over four hundred wickets for the county and was instrumental in its four One Day Cricket trophies in the early 1970s and winning their first County Championship in 1975.

In 1968-69 he took 30 wickets (25.26) against the visiting West Indies and at 27 became the youngest man to take 200 Test wickets, a record since beaten. Another 21 wickets (21.00) came on the Indian tour of 1968–69, but when the Australian team proceeded to South Africa his form slumped (1/333 in four Tests) and they were whitewashed. It led to suspicions that he had contracted hepatitis. He played in the first four Tests of the 1970-71 Ashes series against England, taking 4/66 in the Second Test at Perth, the first played at the WACA Ground and 2–22 in the first ever One Day International at Melbourne. In the Fourth Test at Sydney McKenzie retired hurt after being hit in the face by a bouncer from John Snow as the England fast bowler took 7–40 in England's 299 run victory. He recovered sufficiently to break Geoff Boycott's forearm in a tour match just before the vital Seventh Test, but was not recalled and was left stranded on 246 Test wickets, two short of Richie Benaud's Australian record. He was only 29 years old.

In his 60 Tests McKenzie took 5 wickets in an innings 16 times, and 10 in a match three times.  McKenzie only played one One Day International, the first ODI against England in 1971, in which he took 2/22.

Pace spearhead 
1964 saw McKenzie make his second Ashes tour of England. He led the attack as Australia retained the Ashes. His 29 wickets in five Tests equalled the highest obtained for Australia in England by Clarrie Grimmett in 1930. He took 21 wickets when Australia visited India and Pakistan on the return journey to Australia. Another seven wickets in a one-off Test against Pakistan in Melbourne in December established a new record for the number of Test wickets in the space of one year; from 11 December 1963 to 8 December 1964 he took 73 wickets in fifteen Tests. This surpassed Maurice Tate's 65 wickets in 1924–25. In this period, he became the youngest bowler to reach 100 wickets, at the age of 23 and 162 days, 139 days younger than A.L. Valentine. He was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1965, the first Western Australian born recipient.

McKenzie had an unproductive tour of the West Indies in 1964–65 and had mixed fortunes in the 1965–66 Ashes series. He was not selected for the First Test, but took 5/134 in England's mammoth 558 the Second Test at Melbourne. He did little in the Third Test, which Australia lost by an innings, and was one of the five men dropped for the Fourth Test. Fortunately Peter Allan was injured and McKenzie was brought back into the team.  The Adelaide Oval was notoriously flat, but McKenzie was an expert on getting batsmen out on dull wickets and used the humid atmosphere and fresh pitch to bowl Bob Barber for a duck and have John Edrich caught by the ever-reliable Simpson at slip.  McKenzie took 6/48 to have England out for 241 and Australia won by an innings.  He took 3/17 in the second innings in the Fifth Test to finish with 16 wickets (29.18), the chief wicket taker along with Neil Hawke who took 16 wickets (26.18). Thereafter McKenzie became one of the most consistent opening bowlers in the world.

He toured South Africa in 1966–67 and in 1967–68 was dropped for the final two Tests after taking his only ten wicket match haul against India. This was speculated to be due to fears that his dominance over the Indian batsmen was diminishing public interest in the series.

In 1968, McKenzie became a full-time cricketer, believing that it would offer him the best chance of financial security. At the time the Australian Cricket Board regarded its players as amateurs and paid them accordingly. McKenzie joined Leicestershire, captained until 1968 by the Western Australian skipper and former England Test stalwart Tony Lock. He took over four hundred wickets for the county and was instrumental in its four One Day Cricket trophies in the early 1970s and winning their first County Championship in 1975.

In 1968–69 he took 30 wickets (25.26) against the visiting West Indies and at 27 became the youngest man to take 200 Test wickets, a record since beaten. Another 21 wickets (21.00) came on the Indian tour of 1968–69, but when the Australian team proceeded to South Africa his form slumped (1/333 in four Tests) and they were whitewashed. It led to suspicions that he had contracted hepatitis. He played in the first four Tests of the 1970–71 Ashes series against England, taking 4/66 in the Second Test at Perth, the first played at the WACA Ground and 2–22 in the first ever One Day International at Melbourne. In the Fourth Test at Sydney McKenzie retired hurt after being hit in the face by a bouncer from John Snow as the England fast bowler took 7–40 in England's 299 run victory. He recovered sufficiently to break Geoff Boycott's forearm in a tour match just before the vital Seventh Test, but was not recalled and was left stranded on 246 Test wickets, two short of Richie Benaud's Australian record. He was only 29 years old.

He continued to play for Western Australia until 1974. He came out of retirement in 1977 to play in Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket. After that, he moved his family to South Africa to play in domestic Limited Overs cricket, before returning to Western Australia.

He has the record for taking the most dismissals, hit wicket (4), in Test match history.

In 2010, McKenzie was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.

References

External links
 

1941 births
Australian cricketers
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductees
Australia One Day International cricketers
Australia Test cricketers
Cricketers from Western Australia
Cricketers who have taken five wickets on Test debut
Gauteng cricketers
International Cavaliers cricketers
Leicestershire cricketers
Living people
People educated at John Curtin College of the Arts
Cricketers from Perth, Western Australia
Western Australia cricketers
Western Australian Sports Star of the Year winners
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
World Series Cricket players
Shelby Aldwin Whitfield (April 13, 1935 – February 5, 2013) was a play-by-play sports announcer, author and sports director for ABC Radio.

Early life and career
Whitfield was born in Frost, Texas. He attended the University of Texas, where he announced games and did play-by-play coverage for the Plainview Ponies, a minor league team based in Plainview, Texas. He joined the Army in 1955 and became the sports director of American Forces Network within two years.

Washington Senators announcing career
Whitfield was a play-by-play announcer for the Washington Senators in 1969 and 1970.

Kiss It Goodbye
After Senators owner Robert E. Short moved the team to Texas after the 1971 season, to become the Texas Rangers, Whitfield wrote a book called Kiss It Goodbye, which was highly critical of the franchise and its management. The book helped prompt the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the ethics of sports broadcasting.

Post-Senators career
Following his tenure with the Senators, Whitfield worked for WWDC, hosting the talk show "Sports Roundtable."

In 1974, he joined Associated Press Radio, where he served as the sports director for seven years. Following his tenure there, he joined ABC Radio as its sports director in 1981. In that role, he oversaw coverage of multiple notable sporting events, including the Olympics.

In 1991, he collaborated with sports journalist and announcer Howard Cosell on a book called What's Wrong With Sports.

He retired in 1997. He died in Jackson, New Jersey at the age of 77 from complications from diabetes.

References

1935 births
2013 deaths
American male non-fiction writers
American radio sports announcers
American television sports announcers
Deaths from diabetes
Major League Baseball broadcasters
People from Navarro County, Texas
United States Army personnel
University of Texas alumni
Washington Senators (1961–1971) announcers
Writers from Texas Bryan Hall (born August 19, 1934) nicknamed "Hallsy", is a Canadian radio and television personality and retired radio play-by-play broadcaster for the Edmonton Eskimos on 630 CHED in Edmonton, Alberta.

Career
Hall was born on August 19, 1934 in Toronto, Ontario. His father was a lawyer, who died when Hall was 9, and his mother a nurse. Hall got his first broadcasting job at the age of 19, after moving to Edmonton, at CKUA where he did news, a jazz show, and sports. At the suggestion of a columnist for the Edmonton Journal, Hall also took up a vacant sportscaster job at CHED, which he held from 1955 to 1962. In 1962, Hall moved to Toronto to take up a job covering sports with CHUM, but quickly moved back to Edmonton 3 years later, this time, back to CJCA, where he did play-by-play for the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos with the network from 1965 to 1993. During his time with CJCA, he also pioneered the first open-line sports talk radio show in Edmonton. In the decade of the 70s, Hall worked as a racetrack announcer at Edmonton Northlands Park calling over 10,000 thoroughbred races. When CJCA ceased broadcasting operations in 1993, Hall moved back to CHED to take up the position of sports director - continuing to do play-by-play of Edmonton Eskimos games until 2009.
After 45 years of play-by-play for Edmonton Eskimos games, Hall retired in 2009. During his play-by-play career, he also did play-by-play for the Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oil Kings, and Edmonton Flyers. The media centre, The Bryan Hall Media Centre, in Commonwealth Stadium was named after Hall when he retired in 2009. Though retired from doing play-by-play, Hall, in his 65th year of broadcasting, currently does 14 daily shows in the morning on CHED, I News and Global Television.  Hall is also known for doing radio advertisements on CHED for local Christenson Developments, Crosstown Motors, and Lay-z-boy Furniture He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1989, and the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

Broadcasting positions
CKUA - 1953–55
CHED - 1955–62
CHUM - 1962–65
CJCA - 1965–93
CHED - 1993–current

References

External links

1934 births
Living people
Alberta Sports Hall of Fame inductees
Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees
Canadian Football League announcers
Canadian radio sportscasters
Edmonton Elks personnel
Edmonton Oilers announcers
Sportspeople from Toronto
World Hockey Association broadcasters