Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Ian Craig


 * The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted 01:10, 15 April 2008.

Ian Craig
An article on the youngest person to represent and captain Australia in cricket. Ian Craig was a child prodigy who was compared to Don Bradman, regarded as the greatest batsman of all time. However, Craig fell ill and had to drop out of cricket for a year, and then retired early because of his work commitments. Hopefully, I have pre-empted the jargon problems that were identified in Featured article candidates/Ernie Toshack and Featured article candidates/Don Tallon, so there should be less gremlins that need to be ironed out.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 08:14, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

Comments
 * All the links check out with the link checker tool. Sources look good. Ealdgyth - Talk 13:05, 7 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Comment - looks good, but suffers a little from PEACOCK and "hagiographising". A quick glance revealed "media frenzy" and "child prodigy" both of which are unlikely in their strict senses as I cannot imagine the 1950s media behaving in a way that we'd describe today as a "frenzy" and he didn't really achieve anything at all while he was still a "child". Will you take another glance over with this in mind? Drop me a line when you're done and I'll do a review. --Dweller (talk) 11:13, 8 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Okey. Is teenage better? I do note that while I talked a lot about everyone praising his wonderful potential, I also listed out all of his bad results as well.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:30, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I'll take this on below. Striking. --Dweller (talk) 10:09, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Support—I must say that this is a cut above the standard of previous Australian sporting nominations. I haven't content-reviewed it, though.
 * "mid 1950s"—something is missing.
 * I presume you meant a hyphen. I have added one.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 02:09, 9 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "New South Wales"—repeated links? Why? Who cares about it?
 * Actually, the first link is to point out where he was born. The second is the NSW cricket team.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 02:09, 9 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Lead wouldn't want to be any longer.
 * Correct and I have no intentions to expand.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 02:09, 9 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "Matting wicket"—Can someone at least put a stub-definition at that linked article?
 * ''It probably doesn't require a stub on its own. I have linked it to cricket pitch where the concept is (briefly) discussed. -- Mattinbgn\talk 22:43, 8 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Who runs the "cricinfo" site (Ref 15 et al)? Tony   (talk)  13:48, 8 April 2008 (UTC)
 * If you're asking about ownership, Cricinfo is now owned by ESPN. There remains a close relationship with Wisden, who used to own it. --Dweller (talk) 14:01, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

Comments
 * Craig was the youngest player to score a fc double century at the time. Hassan Raza holds that record now, Craig is fourth or fifth, and is still the youngest Australian. The article goes a bit back and forth on the "is/was the youngest player/Australian"; if someone wants to make it uniform, please do. (Have no refs with me at the moment, but shouldn't be too difficult to find it).
 * Fixed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:30, 9 April 2008 (UTC)


 * universally regarded as the greatest batsman of all time Ahem :-)
 * Are you referring to some Indians who think SRT is the best?  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 02:09, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * No. The "universally" against usually/widely/generally discussion that we had about Bradman a few months back. Tintin 02:39, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Fixed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:30, 9 April 2008 (UTC)


 * out of a total of 416 runs for the loss of seven wickets (7/416) - why the score in both forms ?
 * We had an agreement with FAC to spell out the score in words the first time, before putting the notation in brackets for the non cricketers.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:30, 9 April 2008 (UTC)


 * He scored 63 of 81 runs in a partnership with Jimmy Burke  - Can't have. Burke made 27
 * Removed. Pollard wasn't paying attention evidently. Anyway, it can't hurt since outscoring Burke is considered to be pretty normal.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:30, 9 April 2008 (UTC)


 * However, Bradman was not playing first-class cricket at 17 and did not captain Australia until he was 28 - Awkward and possibly unnecessary line.
 * Fixed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:30, 9 April 2008 (UTC)


 * double-century earned the eye of Australian selectors - is "earned the eye" common usage ? I am more familiar with caught the eye
 * Fixed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:30, 9 April 2008 (UTC)


 * scoring 867 first-class runs at a batting average of 54.18 with six domestic half-centuries in addition to his double century.  CA says 7 50s; if the 53 in the Test is not considered as "domestic" neither should the 213
 * Fixed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:30, 9 April 2008 (UTC)


 * with a top score of 71  : 71-star
 * Damn book again.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:30, 9 April 2008 (UTC)


 * His tour started poorly, with food poisoning putting him out of action until after the Second Test He played four matches in May and four in June.
 * Damn book again.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:30, 9 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Craig came out to bat at 2/55 in the second innings on a sticky wicket  I doubt if this is true. FoW wasn't followed exactly as Colin Macdonald retired early in the innings.
 * Damn book again. It was 1/28 for the scorecard when HArvey was out and Craig came in at 4. McD resumed at 55 when Burke was out.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:30, 9 April 2008 (UTC)


 * He battled for 270 minutes in compiling 38 - CA has 259
 * Changed it to "more than four hours" to keep everyone happy.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:30, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

That's all for now Tintin 14:42, 8 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Comments by Dweller

Another impressive piece of work by the unpronouncable one. Some comments:
 * Doesn't seem right to include same achievement twice in Lead, as with the three "youngest player" achievements (NB on its repetition, the first of those, the double hundred, implies he's the youngest ever whether Aussie or not. Is that (still) right?)
 * ''Chnaged to "holds the record for" to make it more obvious


 * "the youngest player to tour England" - youngest Aussie? youngest any nationality? Still valid?
 * Book was unclear, so I changed to Aus to be sure. Not sure if it still is valid, so "was" keeps us safe. I suspect it is valid. I can't remember any other young players, unless there was a really young guy who sat on the bench for ages (don't think so).  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:47, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "he was unable to perform on English surfaces" know what you mean, but cricket newbies will take it literally
 * Done.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:47, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "Craig regained his place for the final two Tests of the series and retained" was retained? retained it?
 * Pruned anyway.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:47, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Too much detail in Lead on a few points but notably on how he came to be appointed captain (and subsequent events in that parag too). Keep the detail for the body text
 * Cut off two sentences.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:47, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "youngest captain in Test history" - still?
 * No, that's why I used "is" in the first sentence for Australian records. For the worldwide cpatains, I said "was". I explicitly note in the main body that he has since been passed. I think it would be unwiedly in the lead with brackets.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "Aged just 22 years and 149 days, Craig was the youngest captain in Test history and led a team derided as the worst to have left its shores." - presumably "its" refers to Australia, rather than them being derided as the worst ever touring team to leave any country?
 * Fixed. Australian.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "less than twenty" - 20? MOSNUM - please check the whole article.
 * Lead allows 0 words for the life of the man from age of 26 to 72. That's a serious flaw. Allowing for the fact that it was far less notable (!) surely at least a sentence can be spared for it?
 * Fixed. duh.... Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * infobox: reference height. Is that the usual designation for a middle order batsman? Not seen it before in an infobox
 * Some people like Phanto have put specialist opener, so this seems fine. reffed height  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Ok the height is in teh main body. Adding a ref note to the numerical height calculator breaks the template.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:22, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "striking 91 against South Australia in his only innings of the season" 1st class innings I'd guess
 * The story of the 213 is told choppily as a sequence of stats. Can you try to flow it a little?
 * Tweaked. hopefully better.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "Bradman was not playing first-class cricket at 17 and did not captain Australia until he was 28" the second half is incongruous to this stage of the story - you could introduce it later if you like, but I actually suspect it's anachronistic anyway. I think the contemporary Bradman comparisons were more when he was a rising star, not once he was in the Test side... but not flourishing.
 * Yeah, in hindsight mentioned Bradman's FC and Test debut age is more relevant.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Wikilink selectors
 * Done.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "At the age of 17 years and 239 days, he became the youngest ever Australian to play Test cricket." - cite
 * Fixed. Moved up from the main body directly next to the statement.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "under heavy public expectations", "Craig seemed a boy among men" all unreferenced/not direct quotes and therefore sound like OR
 * Fixed the first one. The second, I changed to was. Technically, he was < 18 and all the others were > 18.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * suggestion: you can wikilink "Bradmanesque" to Donald Bradman
 * Fixed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "The youngest player ever to be sent to England" as above - presumably Australian
 * Changed to Aus, since the book was not all that explicit.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:47, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "some media likening it" - subject of "it" is "Craig"
 * Fixed to "his arrival".  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "Bradman had scored world record of 974 runs" needs fixing
 * Fixed. zzz monkey was asleep so it seems... or blind  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "Craig failed to adapt to the English pitch conditions and his confidence plummeted." contains two claims, both of which definitely need citing and preferably put as direct quotes IMHO
 * Fixed. Teh first one is pretty generic by everyone, so I moved teh cite up from further down the para. The confidence thing ditto, especially with the QE2 comment.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Just to say I love the exchange with Her Maj. A witty man, clearly.
 * "Upon his return to Australia, Craig was unable to replicate his feats in the previous summer" multiple problems. There's a grammar glitch and confusion over northern/southern hemispher summers, made worse by the fact that he'd just endured a rotten (English) summer
 * Done.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:47, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "twentieth" 20th - and some context would be good. 20th might not sound bad if you don't know that only five or six specialist batsmen will be selected, and few overseas players (if any) would have been involved, so his team-mates and about 15 rivals for his place would have done better!
 * Done. Since we already mentioned First XI earlier in the text, people can understand that 20 > 11 so he won't be 1st choice player based on stats.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Do we know why he chose to drop out of cricket for a degree? It's pretty unusual behaviour for a top player. Also, how did he manage to get a degree in just one year, and that on top of doing national service in the same period! (how long was he on nat service - and what did he do?)
 * Done. Conscription in Australia says that 140 days are required for military training and then they are in the reserve. So it would have only cost him 140 days and not more than a year. I clarfied that the book says he did a diploma. I don't know what it specifically means but Diplomas in Australia usually take 12-18 months.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "spin twins" is lovely cricket jargon but will mystify newbies who'll wonder why twins have different surnames
 * Fixed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "single-handedly routed the Australians" is hyperbole and POV. If the other 10 hadn't batted and fielded, I doubt he'd have done too well.
 * Done.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "Australia were levelled for 84" never heard that expression before, though it's clear what it means. Is it common Australian usage?
 * Changed. Levelled can mean demolished in a literal sense and has been used to mean bowled out for a low score.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "defiant" used twice to describe the same innings
 * Fixed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "he failed to pass 40 on any of his five innings" in any of his...
 * Snoozing monkey. fixed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * wikilink subcontinent
 * Fixed. Already did I think.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "The 1956–57 season marked the start of a renewal phase in Australian cricket." says who?
 * Errm everyone. I'll get another book.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * wikilink Invincibles
 * Fixed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Why are 5 cites needed for a fairly ordinary sentence?
 * No one article mentions Johnson and Miller together, so I needed separate pages. Also, the three conseuctive Ashes losses and the 18 month gap between Tests for rebuilding isn't mentioned in one sentence.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "The leading contenders" refers not to the team but for the captaincy
 * Fixed. Very attentive.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "It was seen as a bold move" - cite
 * Fixed. Cited a pile. It's a pretty generic thing, so I'll cite lots and lots of books rather than quotefarming.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "Craig was seen as being...." - cite, better yet, quote
 * Fixed. Cited a pile. It was pretty generic, so I'll stick more cites Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "responsibility" - can the second usage in the same short parag be tweaked?
 * Changed to workload.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * ...and can the team manager get a name, poor fellow!
 * "who at the time has only managed" had
 * Fixed. Blind monkey again.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "in his first Test as the lead spinner" comma
 * Fixed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "as his team won its first Test with a decisive innings margin" in England we'd normally say "by" (only we're usually talking about losing by a decisive innings margin, lol)
 * Fixed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "his first half-century since his Test debut" better would be "his first Test half-century since his debut" as pedantically the former is incorrect
 * Fixed. Very good attention to detail.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * NB have you wikilinked century and half-century on their first occurrences?
 * Yes.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:47, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Graph is too small to be really useful and would be better in with the stats IMHO
 * Fixed. Inflated and moved.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "Craig declared that he was not ready for Test cricket" a return to
 * Fixed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "relinquished the Test captaincy to Benaud" I doubt it. I assume he relinquished it and then the selectors chose Benaud
 * Fixed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "The events of the season meant that Craig faced an uphill battle to regain his place in the national team." presumably that refers to the events described in the last sentence of prev parag, in which case it's in the wrong place
 * I've reworded but I don't think so. The new para is talking about his attempted comeback, so the first sentence explains why the odds are stacked against him.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "Australian Second team" lower case s? wikilink second team?
 * Linked to Australia A cricket team, which is the modern equivalent I guess. I added a sentence in Aus A about the olden day 2nd XI tours.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * subcontinent wikilinked here, when it should have been earlier instead, as mentioned
 * Fixed. I'm sure it was wikilnked the first time and undid it this time.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * 59.16 isn't a steady season - it sounds outstanding. How did it compare with his rivals' averages?
 * Used stronger adjective.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:47, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "New South Wales had a streak of nine consecutive Shield titles in this period" rofl - nine titles in 2 years! That's good, even for Aussies!
 * Fixed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "Harvey moved to Sydney due to his employment, and the period saw the emergence of Test batsmen Norm O'Neill, Brian Booth and Bob Simpson, with the latter two later becoming Australian captains." multiple problems. Harvey moving house will be meaningless to most readers without context. Is the list of others to do with Australia or NSW? Sentence also implies Booth and Simpson were contemporaneous captains of their country at the time that Benaud was. The Aussie equivalent of the summer of four captains?
 * Tweaked. Pointed out that NN, BB and BS were emerging state players who were on their way upwards towards Tests, and that they threatened Craig's spot in the team. Same for Harvey except he was already in the TEst team. rmvd the Captaincy as it isnt relevant to batsmanship.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "Despite this, he captained" last subject is Harvey.
 * Done.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "Despite this, he captained New South Wales and Australia in 48 matches, winning 28 and losing only two." despite what? the emergence of NSW players? Why combine NSW and Australia in the one stat?
 * Reworded to rm Despite. I left NSW and Australia because this was his total FC captaincy stats. Nvm, reworded to say all FC matches.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * BLP demands careful citation of all the sentences in the "Later years" section. I'm especially concerned about the marriage linked to his cricket failures - please check that's cited accurately
 * Fixed. Teagged.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "Later years" seems the wrong heading as some info is about his youth
 * Fixed. changed to "After cricket"  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Article kind of peters out without a "today, he..." kind of comment
 * Fixed. Pointed out that he was the managing director of Boots until he retired from work completely.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 03:18, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * If he didn't bowl in Test cricket, the right hand side of the stats box seems pointless
 * True, but I'm trying to keep them uniform across the article. Like the infobox. We don't chop off the bowling half of the infobox when the guy never bowls - we leave spaces.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Many of these cricket bios include a style/personality section
 * I know. I couldn't find a full bio of Craig, only a short one in the captains book and the profiles book. It seems that his style didn't gain anybody's attention. Wisden COTY and obits normally discuss style a lot, but Craig was never COTY and he hasn't died yet. So I'm a bit thin. I'll continue looking.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 06:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

Otherwise, good stuff. Sorry to be so pedantic, but you know what a stickler I am! It's a bit of a sad story, isn't it. Seems peculiarly English in a way. --Dweller (talk) 11:05, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Support - I'm content that this article represents our highest standards. Another excellent piece of work by Blnguyen. --Dweller (talk) 10:10, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Support Well written and comprehensive. -- Mattinbgn\talk 12:13, 10 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Comments from
 * Last line of the lead is rather past tense. I had to recheck he was still alive...
 * Tweaked.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 09:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "involvment" typo.
 * Fxed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 09:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Role in infobox needs initial capital S.
 * Fxed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 09:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Will selectors (sport) have an article ever? I'd make a stub if you believe it should do.
 * Order citations numerically - there are a couple of [4][3] in there. And a [14][10]
 * Fxed. Teh additions changed the auto-ordering.... Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 09:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "slashed a ball" bit peacock.
 * Fxed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 09:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Is 173cm really considered "short" these (or moreover in those) days?
 * Yeah, at least for non-Asian cricketers. Justin Langer is 179cm and is considered short for a sportsperson.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 09:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "1957–58 season" has anomalous linking.
 * Fxed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 09:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)


 * "had a moderate season" moderately successful?
 * Fxed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 09:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)


 * I don't see any blue dots on the graph per the caption.
 * Fxed. He was never not out.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 09:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Caroll[2][3] is immediately followed by a full stop and [2][3]. The latter is fine, the former should go.
 * I don't see what this is referring to.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 09:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

Minor points, otherwise excellent. Let me know when you've remedied these. The Rambling Man (talk) 16:00, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

Oppose At this stage, I am focusing on content, but I also think the article needs a ce as it has had a number of alterations since its initial FAC nom, which has caused problems.

“Youngest ever Aus capt” section:

The analysis of the way Craig came to the captaincy is not right. He was appointed NSW captain in 56-7 (which isn’t mentioned in the text), while Harvey led Victoria; they were the only contenders for the job. At this time, the Board chose the captain, not the selectors. The Board was comprised of delegates from each state (NSW 3, Vic 3, SA 3, Qld 2, WA 1, Tas 1: total 13) who always voted en bloc. Therefore, NSW and Vic needed another 4 votes from other states to get their man up. NSWCA wouldn’t appoint Craig and then have their delegates support Benaud for capt at Board level. Lindwall was stand-in Qld capt for Ron Archer, who was considered as a potential Aus capt until injury wrecked his career. Besides, Lindwall was considered to be finished and he was a fast bowler, not captaincy material in Aus cricket history. It was a tribute to Lindwall that he was able to modify his style and later to return to Test cricket, some suspect to provide “purity of bowling action” during the controversial 58-9 Ashes series. But the text reads as if he was dropped for good after the SA tour.


 * Mentioned the state cpataincy and culled the Lindwall and Benaud thing, which seems pretty suspicious of Perry in mentioning I guess. I removed Benaud as well since it would be the case that Harvey >> Benaud so the average person would think Harvey straightaway anyway. At the time that Lindwall was dropped, it did appear as though he was gone for good - with youngsters like Meckiff and Drennan and Gaunt being called in. Lindwall only came back after Meckiff injured himself.  Blnguyen   ( bananabucket '') 09:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

So it was a straight choice between Craig and Harvey. Famously, Harvey spoke to the team to pledge his support, which was considered a major factor in the tour successes. In his latest book, Bob Simpson (who was on the tour) has written that Craig wanted to drop himself during the SA series, but was outvoted by Harvey and Peter Burge. Although Craig’s batting figures were poor, he was voted one of five SA cricketers of the year, so to say Australia played with ten men is just nonsense (no, I’m not related to Mike Brearley). Craig was expected to lead Aus in 58-9, but his health let him down, Harvey was disappointing when leading an Aus XI v MCC early in the tour, and thus the legend of Benaud began. Bill O’Reilly (1985): “Benaud was not likely ever to be considered to fill [Ian] Johnson’s place – that fact was public property in 1956.” Bob Simpson wrote of Benaud’s aloofness and unpopularity with other players until his appointment as capt, when he made a remarkable change.


 * Dropped the ten men thing, it's nn and we can tell from the raw stats. I don't think it's necessary to mention the theories about why Benaud then skipped over Harvey's head.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 09:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Added RSA award.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 08:44, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Craig began his comeback with a Commonwealth XI in South Africa in 59 (not mentioned). He captained NSW whenever Benaud was absent and re-invented himself as an opener (not mentioned). In his last two seasons, he opened with Simpson for NSW and scored 1339 runs at 46.17, hardly the figures of man struggling for a place in the team, besides which he was opening and not in competition with Booth, Harvey and O’Neill. He finished his career with a century in his last first class match for an International XI in India (not mentioned). His teammates commented on his matured style but he took the path of many Aus cricketers of his generation and chose his professional career over playing on (eg. Bob Cowper, Ian McLachlan and Paul Sheahan). Some chose to play for a long time (eg Harvey) at cost to their working lives, hence the WSC schism of 1977.
 * Adjusted the thing about middle order, and added new technique against fast bowling and teammaters' praise.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 08:44, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

General points:
 * Craig spent the winter of 1957 in London gaining work experience before travelling straight to SA to meet the team (not mentioned). The team manager suffered a heart attack prior to the tour, not during as written, so Craig assumed managership for the first fortnight of the tour.
 * Fxed and mentioned.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 09:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Craig made a good start to the tour in two warm-up matches against Rhodesia, scoring a century – confusing.
 * Fxed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 09:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)


 * His capt stats are actually played 48, won 27, drawn 18, lost 2, tied 1
 * Fxed.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 09:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Craig was appointed OAM in 1997, a year after his retirement from the SCG trust.


 * Robinson offers an excellent analysis of Craig’s style and technique in On Top Down Under.
 * Added now that I noticed the book.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket '') 09:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)


 * youth-oriented regeneration plan, please give good cites for this or delete it as IMO, no such thing existed.
 * Made less peacocky by explicitly disccusing age.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 08:44, 14 April 2008 (UTC)


 * The lead is too long & detailed.
 * pruned.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 08:44, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Phanto282 (talk) 06:27, 11 April 2008 (UTC)


 * I found Robinson yesterday and was still doing it up. What books did this come from? btw, I didn't make up these stats, they were in the books that I used. But some of hte other stuff is in the Robinson book.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 06:42, 11 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Support I read the article through a few times with my pen in hand as per usual but didn't written down a single thing! An excellent and engaging article. I really liked the pace of the prose, it made reading the pleasure it should be. A well-written, comprehensive contribution to Wikipedia's cricket canon. Well done. Graham Colm Talk 17:51, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Notes: what is the source for the data in the graph at "Test match performance"? Something is off in the punctuation here:
 * Upon first being appointed in 1968 to replace Stan McCabe, Craig was the youngest trustee of the SCG.[49] ever Craig retired as the managing director of Boots' Australian subsidiaries.[4] Sandy Georgia  (Talk) 21:52, 14 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Fixed for both.  Blnguyen  ( bananabucket ) 01:44, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.