Former Test spinner Bruce Yardley, one of the most unorthodox and enthusiastic players of his generation, has died after a long battle with cancer. He was 71.

Yardley died at Kununurra hospital this morning.

As ebullient as any player to represent Western Australian and his country, the irrepressible Yardley converted a stuttering start as an occasional State swing bowler into half a decade as the world’s most successful spinner.

Retaining his paceman’s long curving approach to the crease and delivering off-breaks in unorthodox fashion off his middle finger, Yardley claimed 126 wickets in 33 Tests, culminating in his golden summer in 1981-82 when he dismissed 51 Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand batsmen.

Camera Icon Bruce Yardley on his Wyalkatchem property in 2012. Credit: WA News

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It was a far cry from his sole Sheffield Shield match in the mid 1960s and modest appearances in the early 1970s before he employed a grip he had used in his junior baseball days to generate one of the greatest rebirths in first-class cricket history.

He would play 52 shield matches for WA spread over 25 years, his best season coming in 1980-81 when he claimed 40 wickets.

Yardley was also a fearless batsman who believed defence was significantly over-rated, never better demonstrated than at Bridgetown in 1977-78 when he lashed the mighty West Indies pace attack over gully for 74 in even time, while his catching at gully was world-class.

Lean and athletic throughout a first-class career, Yardley later coached Sri Lanka, becoming an influential mentor to another unorthodox off-spinner in Muttiah Muralitharan, before returning to his roots by taking the reins at his original club Midland-Guildford.