Researching Bruce Yardley

Known to his teammates as 'Roo', Yardley was an off-spin bowler who began as a fast-medium pace seamer. In his late 20s Yardley switched to off-spin and had success at club and then state level. His technique was slightly unusual in that he bowled at near medium pace, spinning the ball off his middle finger rather than the index finger like conventional off-spinners. A handy number-eight batsman who scored four Test half-centuries his batting was often characterised by a "Yardley yahoo" over the top of slips which opposition teams sometimes attempted to counter by using a fly slip. Yardley was an exceptional fielder in the gully region taking 31 catches in his 33 Tests including a number of spectacular efforts. He was also the recipient of some fine fielding being the bowler when John Dyson took his catch of the century to dismiss West Indian Sylvester Clarke.

In the early 1980s Yardley was Australia's first-choice spinner; during this period he took most of his 126 Test wickets, including a Test-best of 7/98 against the West Indies at Sydney in 1981/82. It was for this and other eye-catching performances that he was named the 1981/1982 Benson and Hedges International Cricketer of the Year, winning a new sports car.

However he had to purchase this car from his fellow players from that year. The car was put into the team's prize pool with other prizes which included cash which at the end of the year was divided depending on how much you played.

Despite his fine all-round cricket game he was rarely considered for One Day Internationals and in 1981 he was controversially left out of the Ashes squad which toured England (Stuart MacGill, Yardley and fellow West Australian Bruce Reid are the only three bowlers to take 100 wickets for Australia without playing a Test there). Yardley participated in Australia's first tour of Sri Lanka in 1983 and took seven wickets, including a five-wicket haul, in what proved to be his final Test.

After retiring from competitive cricket Yardley remained involved in the sport as a coach and media commentator. In 1997 he was appointed coach of the Sri Lankan national team. A long-time admirer and supporter of Sri Lankan record breaking off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan it was Yardley who encouraged Murali to add the doosra to his arsenal. He was always adamant that Murali was not a chucker.

Yardley spent several years as Regional Cricket Officer for the Western Australian Cricket Association which involved responsibility for promoting cricket and increasing participation in the South West region through school visits/programs and cricket carnivals. He was a regular cricket commentator on TV and radio.