Wisden overview
Wally Grout entitled his autobiography My Country's Keeper, expressing his pride in the office he assumed at the age of 30 and held for almost a decade. Mobile, sometimes acrobatic, and a perceptive judge of batsmen's weaknesses, his presence was for many years talismanic: Australia did not lose a series during his tenure. Grout claimed a record six catches in an innings on Test debut, and in February 1960 scooped a first-class record eight in an innings for Queensland against Western Australia. He was also a batsman good enough to score a Test half-century as an emergency opener batsman, and a humorist with a touch of Australian comedian Lennie Lower. Asked by an Englishman if he'd attended a public school, he replied: "Eton. And drinkin'." He ignored doctor's warnings about his weak heart and kept on playing until he was 39 - and died from a heart attack less than three years later. Gideon Haigh

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