| For a decade opposition batsmen would see the face of David Boon,
inscrutable behind the bars of a helmet and that enormous moustache,
stonily weighing them up from short leg as they took guard. Many would
have had their confidence undermined. Any self-doubts would have
doubled, as whatever they knew about batting Boon clearly knew more and
they crumpled under his withering gaze. Yet Boon, the first Taswegian
player to make himself an Aussie regular, could so easily have been
consigned to the dustbin of history along with other Aussie failures of
the mid-1980s. He appeared with little distinction in the 1985 Ashes
series and took a long time to establish himself. Allan Border, though,
had clearly seen something in his eyes and, rather than demoting him,
moved him up the order, first as opening bat and then, with the
emergence of Mark Taylor, to the number three position he was to occupy
for many years. He made 123 against India at Adelaide in 1985-86, and
131 at Sydney in the same series. Next season he scored 122 in Madras as
a warm-up to the visit of Mike Gatting's England team, against whom he
scored 103 in Adelaide. In 1987-88 he made 143 against New Zealand in
Brisbane and 184 not out in the Bicentennial Test against England. Boon
was an integral part of Allan Border's 1987 World Cup winning team,
scoring 87 against New Zealand at Indore, 62 against India in Delhi, 65
against Pakistan in the semi-final and 75 against England in the final.
(Bob Harragan).
|
David Boon pictured on 8th. May 1983 playing for Australia. Photo Nigel French. © G.H.
Test Profile (Part 2) 1990-1996.
| David Boon probably reached the peak of his career in England in 1993
when he spent much of the series at the crease. He made 93 at Old
Trafford, followed by 164 not out at Lord's, 101 at Trent Bridge and 107
at Headingley. He had made 109 not out against West Indies at Sabina
Park, Jamaica, in 1991. Against New Zealand in 1993-94 he made 106 in
one of the few Tests played in front of his home crowd in Hobart. In the
same series he made 89 at Brisbane. In the home series against South
Africa that followed immediately he was disappointing, but he had his
revenge on Kepler Wessels team in the return series in South Africa that
followed straight on. He made 83 in Johannesburg and 96 in Cape Town.
Boon made 114 not out in Karachi in 1994-95 when Pakistan won the match
by one wicket. He was solid if unspectacular against Mike Atherton's
England team in the same season, and, feeling a crop of hungry young
Australian batsmen snapping at his heels, announced his retirement from
Test cricket after the home series against Pakistan. For the last three
seasons of his career he took on the challenge of captaining Durham,
newly promoted from amateur cricket to the English County Championship
and took them off the bottom rungs of the table for the first time in
1999. It was said that he smiled for the first time in his career when
they qualified for Division One. In the 1992 World Cup he made 100 in
the opening match against New Zealand, 98 against Zimbabwe in Hobart and
100 against West Indies in Melbourne. He kept wicket against India when
Ian Healy was injured. (Bob Harragan) |