DID RICK DARLING DIE?
Two and a half years ago Rick Darling required a quadruple bypass – an issue apparently not attributable to the day Bob Willis struck him in the chest with a brutal in-swinger during the 1979 Ashes. At the time, onlookers thought the opening batter was dead.
The following is an edited extract from Australian Cricket magazine, January 1980. By Gordon Schwartz
Big Bob Willis was the enemy on a fateful January day in 1979 when Darling was hit below the heart by a vicious in-swinger from the England pace bowler.
The Australian opener dropped and did not move. Umpire Max O'Connell thought Darling had stopped breathing momentarily. Fearing that the young batsman was clinically dead, England slow bowler John Emburey administered a sharp blow above the heart.
This caused Darling to cry out and gasp for air. SA Cricket Association physiotherapist Michael Mason, who had raced to the centre of Adelaide Oval, cleared Darling's airway.
He pulled back his tongue which had fallen towards the back of his mouth and removed chewing gum which was creating another obstacle.
In deep shock, Darling did not re- respond to any stimulus for some time.
The 25,000 Test crowd was stunned as the fair-haired batsman was carried from the ground. Ambulancemen gave him oxygen and treated him for an hour before taking him to hospital for pre-cautionary X-rays.
These did not reveal serious damage. The next day Darling resumed batting with a thigh pad taped across the bruised area. He added 15 runs,
including a six and a four, before being caught on the fence when hooking lan Botham.
England officials reacted to the incident by banning their players from chewing gum while batting. Darling didn't go that far.
"I still chew out there in the middle," he said. "It helps overcome my nervousness and perhaps makes me concentrate a bit more."