Steve Smith’s awkward presentation juggle of the ball that should have been firmly attached to the Frank Worrell Trophy was not just an apt metaphor for the parlous state of Australia v West Indies Test cricket.
It was also the end of yet another misadventure in the story of what must be sport’s most accident-prone trophy – once lost, then replaced, eventually recovered and now afflicted by mishaps at seemingly every turn.
Encased in a box and padlocked tight, the trophy had arrived in Perth after its journey across Australia two weeks ago with a couple of nasty surprises in store for its custodians.
Captains Pat Cummins holds the ball in place atop the Frank Worrell trophy.Credit:Getty Images
The key for the padlock was lost, meaning that after a frantic search, the ground staff at the WACA Ground, where the two teams trained, had to use bolt cutters to open it up.
Once the padlock was removed, the case opened and the trophy taken out, the ball that adorned the trophy flipped off and remained in the case.
When the captains Pat Cummins and Kraigg Brathwaite appeared for their customary pre-series photo call with the trophy, the ball was held gingerly in place by Australia’s skipper.
Next, the trophy was put back in its box and shipped back across the country for repairs, being required to return to the stage for the end of the series in Adelaide.
Unable to find the right jeweller or trophy-maker in a timely fashion, Cricket Australia staff resorted to trying to re-attach the ball to the trophy themselves, hoping that it had set well enough to make another flight back to South Australia.
Initially, things seemed to have gone well. But in Smith’s hands, the ball and the trophy separated once more, leaving older observers to recall the trophy’s previous great accident: its disappearance for nearly a decade.
Brought home to the Caribbean by West Indian legend and team manager Wes Hall after the 1984-85 tour of Australia, the trophy somehow ended up misplaced in his mother’s garage.
It sat there while a replica was made for the 1988-89 series in Australia, and was lifted by Viv Richards then and again in the West Indies in 1991, before Richie Richardson kept possession of it by one solitary run in Australia 30 years ago.
Eventually, the trophy was found, just in time for the 1995 series and Mark Taylor to be the first Australian captain to take possession of it since Greg Chappell in 1975-76.
All that had changed was the original ball, thrown by Joe Solomon to run out Ian Meckiff and secure the first ever tied Test match in Brisbane in 1960. It was replaced by a new Kookaburra after the original had also lost its moorings.
Before COVID-19, Cricket Australia had approved plans for the set-up of a past player network, a historical archive and an office relocation that would have displayed such trophies more publicly and prominently.
The misadventures of the Frank Worrell Trophy provide a timely reminder that the project, respecting and valuing the game’s history and treasures, is overdue a fresh appraisal.
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