When Fredericks tore apart Lillee, Thomson and others to score an epic 169 in 145 balls

Andy Roberts (left), Clive Lloyd (centre) and Roy Fredericks (right) are all smiles after masterminding West Indies thumping win over Australian in the 1975-76 Perth Test © Getty Images

H Natarajan recalls Roy Fredericks’s epic 169 off 145 balls on fiery Perth on December 13, 1975 against Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Gary Gilmour and Max Walker – an innings widely acknowledged as among the greatest-ever aggressive knocks in Test history.

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History will vouch that the likes of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Colin Croft and Malcolm Marshall put the fear of God in even the atheists. The pace and skill they brought to their art of fast bowling made batting the most unpleasant job in all sports.

But on this December day in 1975, it was the West Indies batsmen who were quaking in their cricketing shoes. The Aussies, like the rest of the world, had heard rumours that there was marked reluctance in the West Indies camp to open the innings against the hostile pace of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, especially on the fiery track of Perth.

It was only after No 11 Lance Gibbs volunteered to open the innings that Bernard Julien – who batted most of his career at Nos. 7 or 8 — stepped in to do the job. Julien came in place of Gordon Greenidge — dropped after a pair in the first Test at Brisbane — to open the innings with Roy Fredericks.

Fredericks – brimming with the confidence after scoring a hundred against Western Australia on this very venue prior to the second Test — showed his teammates what can be achieved with positive intent and self-belief by playing an innings that Lindsay Hassett described while commentating on Australian Broadcasting Corporation as the finest he had seen in Australia. That was high praise coming from a man who has seen Don Bradman at his pomp as part of the Australian “Invincibles” team.

West Indies began their reply 90 minutes before lunch on Day Two, after Australia were all out for 329. Fredericks’s intent was clear when he hooked the very second ball of the innings, bowled by Dennis Lillee for six. It was reminiscent to what he did against the same bowler at Lord’s in the first over of the 1975 World Cup final, though he clipped his wicket on his follow through.

A tsunami off runs came as the short-statured – just five feet six inches — Fredricks launched a sensational attack against the most dreaded pace attack in international cricket, pounding the Aussie headhunters with cuts, hooks and drives of incredible power and precision. The heat and intensity of the strokes only increased the temperature at the WACA, already scorching under the blazing sun. To cap it, the “Fremantle Doctor” — the famous Western Australian sea breeze which reaches speeds of over 40 knots at times, blew across the ground to make life hell for the Aussies.

In carnage of epic proportions, Fredericks plundered 81 in the short period before lunch — West Indies 130 for 1 in just 14 (8-ball) overs — and 88 in the middle session.

“Strangely, we were actually enjoying his innings,” Ashley Mallet, the Australian off-spinner who played in that Test, told me while talking about the innings for an article I did for Wisden. “It wasn’t technically faultless nor was it played under adversity, but it was undoubtedly brilliant and truly audacious. It should rank among the best innings played against Australia,” Mallet opined.

Fredericks’s 169 came off just 145 balls with 27 fours and one six. His hundred, which had come off 71 balls, with one six and 18 fours, was the second-fastest at that time, after Australian JM Gregory’s effort in 67 balls against South Africa at Johannesburg in 1921-22.

In an innings where Clive Lloyd also joined the party to score 149, the bowling analysis of the Aussies bowlers were in complete shambles: Lillee 2 for 123 off 20 overs, Thomson 3 for 128 off 17 overs, Gary Gilmour 2 for 103 off 14 overs, Max Walker 2 for 99 from 17 overs and Mallett none for 103 off 26 overs. It was on this day that Thomson bowled to Fredericks what remained cricket’s fastest-recorded delivery for years at 99.68mph. Thomson’s first 3 overs for 33 runs provide ample testimony to Fredericks’s savagery that historic day.

When Fredericks was out first ball after tea, the Australian team joined the rest of the humanity at WACA in applauding what remains one of the finest-ever attacking innings against quality and sustained pace attack in a Test match.

Fredericks won the battle at Perth, but Australia won the war — and how! Thanks largely to Fredericks, West Indies won that match by an innings and 87 runs. But that was the only Test they won in the series in which they were annihilated 5-1, in which the Lillee-Thomson combine took 56 wickets.

Brief scores:

Australia 329 (Ian Chappell 156, Gary Gilmour 45; Andy Roberts 2-65, Michael Holding 4-88, Bernard Julien 2-51) and 169 (Greg Chappell 43, Rodney Marsh 39; Andy Roberts 7-54; Bernard Julien 3-32) lost to West Indies 585 (Roy Fredericks 169, Alvin Kallicharran 57, Clive Lloyd 149, Deryck Murray 63; Dennis Lillee 2-123, Jeff Thomson 3-128, Gary Gilmour 2-103, Max Walker 2-99) by an innings and 87 runs.

(H Natarajan, formerly All India Deputy Sports Editor of the Indian Express and Senior Editor with Cricinfo/Wisden, is the Executive Editor of CricketCountry.com. A prolific writer, he has written for many of the biggest newspapers, magazines and websites all over the world. A great believer in the power of social media, he can be followed on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/H.Natarajan and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/hnatarajan)