Neil Adcock was one of the first in a long line of great South African pace bowlers. After his death in 2013, his impact was assessed in his Wisden obituary.
Until Neil Adcock joined forces with Peter Heine in a menacing double act in the mid-1950s, South Africa had never enjoyed the benefits of a great fast-bowling partnership. Even in an era overflowing with world-class pace bowlers, Adcock and Heine stood out, leaving a trail of bruised and traumatised batsmen in their wake. Undisguised aggression and a regular supply of bouncers were key weapons, although Adcock did become an affable figure at close of play.
The hostility was most memorably demonstrated on two occasions. Against New Zealand at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park in 1953/54, Adcock put Bert Sutcliffe and Lawrie Miller in hospital, and bowled Murray Chapple and Matt Poore off their chests. Then, at Port Elizabeth in 1957/58, he and Heine launched a ferocious assault as Australia pursued just 68 to win. Trevor Goddard, fielding in the gully, remembered: “I stood two steps further back than normal. Then, after the first ball, I went back two more.” Goddard recalled Colin McDonald turning to him when he was dismissed by Adcock for four: “Tell this bastard I’ve got a family at home.” McDonald later called it “virtual bodyline”.
Adcock was the first South African fast bowler to take 100 Test wickets, and enjoyed an annus mirabilis in England in 1960, when he showed unflagging stamina over a five-month tour to take 26 wickets at 22 in the Tests, and 108 overall at just 14. He was named one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year.
Adcock played in just two more Tests, against New Zealand in 1961-62, and ended his international career with 104 wickets at 21 in 26 matches. A year later he played his final game for Natal, whom he had joined from Transvaal in 1960, finishing with an overall record of 405 wickets at 17. In retirement he worked as a travel agent, became a radio commentator and spent some years in Australia, where he coached New South Wales. “Off the field I found him great fun,” Benaud recalled. “On the field he was as fast as Fred Trueman and Brian Statham, but not as fast as Frank Tyson. Nor was anyone else.”
His significance at home was enormous. “He was the first genuinely great South African fast bowler,” said Ali Bacher. “A new era started from that moment because we began to develop our own fast bowlers, and he was one of the best this country has produced.”
Adcock, Neil Amwin, Treharne, died on January 6, 2013, aged 81.
