"It’s pointless asking Frank to talk about his performance. He plays it down as if it was nothing, but as man standing behind the stumps I can tell you that he bowled faster than anybody I had ever seen. It’s an exaggeration to say we had close fielders. The ball was coming off the bat so quickly that we all had to stand back at least five yards deeper than usual," was the candid observation by England wicket-keeper Godfrey Evans soon after Frank Tyson spearheaded his team to a comprehensive 128 run victory over Australia in the Melbourne Test of the 1954-55 Ashes series . Evans was right because Tyson himself had praised Brian Statham (2 for 83 and 3 for 45 at Sydney and 5 for 60 and 2 for 38 at Melbourne) saying: "To me it felt like having Menuhin playing second fiddle to me lead."
After his peerless fast bowling demonstration; taking 4 for 45 and 6 for 83 at Sydney and thereafter 2 for 68 and 7 for 27 at Melbourne and an overall 28 wickets 20.82, Tyson earned the sobriquet ‘Typhoon’. It was in the SCG Test that Tyson was felled by a Ray Lindwall delivery created an egg-size bump on his head. It was his fast bowling wherewithal described as “demon-like” by commentators, humility as a coach and mentor and furthermore his ability to teach and impart the knowledge of cricket that was recalled by speakers at Sachin Bajaj-Global Cricket Academy’s ‘Remembering Frank’ event at the C.K.Nayudu Hall, Cricket Club of India on Monday evening. Tyson, 85, died in Queensland on September 27.
Those who got to know him in the first half of the 1990s in Bombay, during the course of the BCA-Mafatlal Bowling Scheme, held him in awe and admiration and were happy to get acquainted with him because he was Typhoon Tyson.
Nari Contractor, sent by the Mafatlal Group on a coach-scouting mission in England in 1990 was impressed upon by famous England Test player and coach Keith Andrew to employ Tyson as the coach for the bowling scheme said: “He was a good coach and a gentleman. But the highest tribute I can pay is you have to know him to know how good he was. The first thing he told me was that he did not want anybody who has played first-class cricket. “I want young, raw boys”, he told me. He also said he would not like any interference. Choosing Frank as the head coach of the BCA-Mafatlal bowling scheme was one of the happiest decisions I have ever made in my life for cricket.”
Former Australian fast bowler, Jeff Thomson, who is in the city as head coach of the The MCA - IDBI Fedral Life Insurance Bowling Foundation, hoped to make an impact as much as a Tyson did. “I knew Frank a bit, he was before my time. His impact was huge. What he did was immense, and that is why people gathered here in large number are remembering him. He was a really a good bloke, a very good teacher; he came to Bombay not knowing what to do, but believed in the guys here. That’s what coaching is all about; not changing people’s style but passing on the knowledge. Coaches make you realise you could beat anybody.”
Chairman of the MCA senior selection committee, Milind Rege said: Frank took 76 wickets for England, but he took 2000 wickets for Mumbai through bowlers like Abey Kuruvilla, Nilesh Kulkarni, Paras Mhambrey, Sairaj Bahutule and others. Tyson believed in making cricketers good players. He used to say ‘give everybody a chance, allow people to develop and don’t go just by the results’.”
Prof. Ratnakar Shetty, General Manager, Game Development, BCCI, said he has seen only two coaches who could make players understand; Vasant Amladi and Frank Tyson. “He created a pool of bowlers for Mumbai cricket for ten years. The BCCI also employed him to impart knowledge to the coaches at the National Cricket Academy.’’
“Tyson was good in man-management,” said Makarand Waingankar, who was associated with the bowling scheme. Vignesh Shahane, who was one of the trainees under Tyson and at present the CEO, IDBI Federal-Life Insurance, announced two scholarships in memory of Tyson. “It will be Rs. 2 lakh each for in the boy’s in the age group 17-19 and Thomson will select these two boys.”
