Rick Darling Cricketer
Warwick Maxwell "Rick" Darling (born 1 May 1957) is a former Australian Test cricketer. Darling is the great-nephew of Joe Darling, and learnt to play cricket at his family's home at Ramco on the Murray River. He played for the Salisbury district club in 1970–71, and started his first-class career in 1975–76 with South Australia, winning the Sheffield Shield that season. Darling was given his chance in the Australian Test team through the defection of several players to World Series Cricket, and made his debut as an opener against India in the summer of 1977–78 at Adelaide. Darling made 65 and 56 in his first Test, impressing fans with his fearless style. This performance was enough to earn him a spot on the following tour of the West Indies, where he was also a member of the one-day team. In the overall tour he performed well, making two centuries against spin-based attacks. However, the pace bowling of the West Indies national team found his technical weakness quickly, and he scored just 43 runs in his 6 Test innings on the tour. His tendency to play the cut and hook shots provided much entertainment, but also meant that he was inconsistent and error-prone. It has been said that the introduction of the batting helmet saved Darling's life several times, but also gave him extra confidence to play his favoured shots. Darling's early Test career was also characterised by his opening partnerships with Graeme Wood, the pair christened the "Kamikaze Kids" due to their often disastrous running between the wickets, which saw one of the pair dismissed run out in one innings of each of their four Tests together. A series of low scores in both forms of the game saw Darling pushed in and out of the team, before his finest Test innings of 91 against England at Sydney in the 4th Test of the 1978–79 series. It was the next match for which he is perhaps most famous though, as he was struck on the chest by a delivery that lifted viciously from fast bowler Bob Willis. The blow caused Darling's chewing gum to become lodged in his throat, and he collapsed on the pitch, not breathing. English spinner John Emburey was first on the scene, and thumped Darling on the chest, allowing him to breathe again. Umpire Max O'Connell then provided mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and Darling was taken off the field. He returned to the crease the following day, but could only make 15 runs as Australia fell to a crushing 205-run loss, which allowed England to retain The Ashes. Darling was described as one of the most nervous first-class cricketers, often biting his fingernails before he went out to bat. He was selected for Australia's tour of Pakistan in 1979, and despite making 75 and 79 in the second Test as an opener, he expressed his aversion to starting the innings to captain Kim Hughes, who agreed to drop him down the order during the following tour in India. Darling made his best scores of that series in the lower positions, but was still plagued by inconsistencies which gave him of an average of 19.75 for the tour. In the final Test, Darling was hit on the head attempting a hook shot from a Kapil Dev bouncer, and was carried off the field and forced to retire hurt with no score to his name. His head split open, Darling was taken to hospital, where, according to Bob Merriman, the doctors refused to stitch him up until he signed an autograph for them. The poor performances throughout the tour and the return of the World Series Cricket players meant that this would be his final Test series, although he continued playing in ODIs until 1981–82. Darling continued to play for South Australia until 1985–86, helping his state to the Sheffield Shield in 1981–82 with 726 runs - the season's top score for SA, and his omission from the Australian team to tour Pakistan in 1982 surprised several observers. Overall, he played 98 first-class games, finishing with a batting average of 35.83. Darling was renowned for being one of the country's best cover fieldsmen of his time.