by Abhishek Mukherjee
Jack Iverson, born 27 July 1915, is probably the only Test cricketer whose grip is more famous than his face. Even Cricinfo used that grip as his profile picture.
The grip of no other mystery spinner – from Bosanquet to Narine and beyond – has achieved such cult status. So much so that Prime Minister Roberts Menzies once requested him to demonstrate his grip.
In fact, when he first faced John Gleeson (who often used the same grip), Barry Rothwell told his NSW teammate Richie Benaud: "This bloke's bowling Iversons."
How did it work? "If my thumb was pointed to the left or offside as I let the ball go, the result would be leg-break. If it pointed to the right or leg-side the result would be a wrong 'un. If it pointed directly at the batsmen, it would be a top-spinner."
It was not just about the grip either. He played only one series (at 35), the 1950-51 Ashes that Australia won 4-1. He picked up 21 wickets at 15.23 apiece, and vanished. He played only 34 First-Class matches in all (156 wickets at 19.22).
The cult status probably had to do with his meteoric rise and fall. He came, saw, conquered, and left, just like that.
Add to that the fact he could not bat (3 Test runs from 7 innings). His First-Class average is much better because he was out only 19 times in 46 innings. On the field he sometimes kicked the ball towards the nearest teammate.
It is not every day that you come across a mystery spinner, a walking wicket, and a kicking fielder, all in one package.
Iverson used to be a 2nd XI seam bowler. He picked up that spin grip while experimenting with a ping-pong ball at Port Moresby, where Iverson was posted during World War 2.
The inspiration to take cricket to the next level came when he came across a group of blind cricketers during a stroll in the park with his wife.
Nobody understood the value of Iverson better than Hassett, his captain at Victoria and Australia. So protective was Hassett about his secret weapon that he did not allow him to bowl at NSW cricketers like Morris and Miller in the nets. He even took Miller away from the slips during the Test matches.
But Morris and Miller picked him up well in domestic cricket. He played for only three more seasons, the last of which was entirely in India for a Commonwealth XI in 1953-54 as a like-for-like replacement for Ramadhin.
There he did unusual things, including dismissing Ghulam Ahmed with an underarm ball in an unofficial Test match, testing the local tailors with 6'2 frame, and buying two hundred clay figures.
Despite the initial stability, post-retirement life wasn't kind to him. He lost both parents. Then came atherosclerosis. Then depression.
The trigger was probably an occasion where he was told that he wouldn't receive commission for a sale.
On 16 October 1973 he shot himself.