The Centenary Test at Lord’s in 1980 was a rain-ruined let-down, but it was saved from total disaster by two innings by Kim Hughes. They were enough to make him a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1981.

The distinction of scoring the first hundred in Anglo-Australian Tests on English soil belonged, fittingly, to the legendary WG Grace. That of scoring the first in the second century of these games went to Graeme Wood with a fine 112, but it was Wood’s Western Australian team-mate, Kimberley John Hughes, to whom the Centenary Test of 1980 at Lord’s really belonged. In two innings of the highest quality, Hughes put his manifest talents on display on each of the five days of the game.

His 117 in the first innings was spread over the first three, sadly rain-hit days. He hurried to 47 late on the first day, advanced to 82 in the 75 minutes available on the second, and charged to 117 when play finally got under way on the third. This memorable century contained three sixes and 14 fours, all put together with an air of casual disregard for the importance of the occasion. As if such a smorgasbord of strokes was not sufficient for the connoisseur, he tickled the palate with a lot of new ones in the second innings with a breathtaking 84 in 114 minutes, which included two sixes and 10 fours.

Then, thankfully, the coin dropped. In the first Test against England in 1978/79 he scored a century – 129 runs in just under eight hours – and in doing so recognised the need at times to work very hard for runs. That innings cemented his place in the Australian side. When Graham Yallop, who had captained the Test side throughout the summer, injured himself in the days leading up to the second of two Tests against Pakistan in March 1979, there, before his home crowd in Perth, was Hughes, captain of Australia. There was a new enthusiasm about the Australians under Hughes. Against the odds, they beat Pakistan and Hughes was retained as skipper for the tour of India that followed.

Hughes played well in India, scoring a century first-up and following with scores of 86, 50, 40, 92, 64* and 80 among his innings in the remaining Tests. That was more like it. Back in Australia for the twin tours by West Indies and England in 1979/80, he showed great character in scoring 130* against West Indies in the first Test at Brisbane, celebrating with a 99 against England in Perth and then a 70 in the next Test against West Indies in Melbourne. All it needed was a sustained opportunity.

The true entertainers of the sporting arena are few and far between. In cricket, rigid coaching routines sometimes take their toll, stifling the glorious individuality that makes it worth paying twice the entrance fee to watch some players in action. Thank goodness nobody bent to curb the natural brilliance of Kim Hughes.

Des Hoare, a tearaway fast bowler for Western Australia who played one Test match, was captain of the side when Hughes made his debut in first-grade club cricket in Perth, immediately recognised a rare talent, and has closely watched Hughes’s progress ever since. “I have most admired him,” said Hoare, “because he has had the courage and ability not to become ordinary.” That sums it up.

Kim Hughes played in 70 Tests for Australia, scoring 4,415 runs at 37.41. He resigned the captaincy at a tearful press conference in 1981 and joined a rebel tour of South Africa