Ian Davis with his regular playing partner Peter Senior.
FACING 150kmh thunderbolts from a battery of West Indies fast bowlers in the late-1970s didn’t give Ian Davis, aka Wiz, much time to think about taking up the gentler game of golf.
It was pre-helmet days and the stylish opening batsman was too busy fending off bouncers making sure his head remained firmly on his shoulders.
But today golf occupies much of the space in his head as he works on ways to improve his golf game.
A late entrant to the game after retiring from cricket, perhaps prematurely, at the age of 28, Davis wishes he had discovered it earlier in life.
“I only started to play golf when I was about 30 and that was after I had retired from cricket,” said Davis, who played 15 Tests including the famous 1977 Centenary Test against England.
Davis and wife Libby happily settled on the Gold Coast.
Today, Davis, who plays off a nine handicap at Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast, is making up for lost time by playing up to three times a week alongside good friend Peter Senior.
“I have been up here (Gold Coast) with my wife Libby for eight years and love it. I was at Macquarie Links and Liverpool Golf Club before that,” the 71-year-old said. “I play golf with Peter (Senior) every Wednesday and Saturday and he continues to play terrifically well. He’s a freak.
“I’m hoping to learn something from him. Peter always gives me advice and says I should try to be a better putter.
“He tells me to slow down my putting, but I just get up and go ‘bang’ because I’m an impulsive person.
“I was even like that with cricket. I didn’t try to hit the first ball for six, but I was always aggressive.”
A country kid from Shoalhaven in NSW, Davis was a talented all-round sports fanatic who played elite-level rugby league and tennis, before gravitating to cricket where he found fame.
In junior cricket he once averaged 315 and was dismissed only once in the season.
“I was 20 when I first played for Australia against New Zealand in 1973-74,” he recalled.
Later, Davis joined Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket (WSC) and was, with David Hookes, the youngest members of the squad to sign up along with the Chappells, Denis Lillee, Doug Walters, Jeff Thomson, Max Walker et al.
“Hooksey and I were the youngest players to sign, and we took a risk that could have destroyed our careers,” Davis said.
“We were 23 and banned from playing Test cricket for a few years, but looking back we were better off in monetary terms because back them we were paid $50 a day to play Tests.
“With World Series Cricket I got $22,500 each year for three years even though we only played two. Packer even paid a fourth lot of $22,500 as a thank you for making myself available for first-class cricket again from 1979.”
Davis plays a straight drive during his cricketing days.
At that time, Australia took on the powerful West Indies, England and a World XI. His best score came against the World XI when he made a valuable 84.
Davis says facing the world’s fastest bowlers was, at times, scary but dealing with Kerry Packer too was frightening.
“The Australian Cricket Board spoke to me, David Hookes and Mick Malone and wanted us to break our contracts with WSC,” Davis said. “Packer found out about it and gave us a serve in England. He told us no one breaks a contract with Kerry Packer.
“He was full-on and I felt he was looking at me the whole time and I felt like sliding down my chair. I got a bit of a shock how strong Kerry could be. It was scary and it was a battle I was going to lose. That took a few years off my life,” Wiz laughed.
Still, facing the likes of West Indians Andy Roberts, Joel Garner, Michael Holding, Colin Croft and Wayne Daniel, England’s John Snow and Lillee and Thompson in pre-helmet days, was daunting.
“They all bowled over 150kmh, but Thommo was the quickest and deadliest,” Davis said. “We faced Thommo in a Shield game in 1976 when he was at his peak.
“It began to drizzle and he was frighteningly quick. I was scared stiff and I never had been more grateful to be caught in the gully.”
In retirement, Davis went on to help develop protective gear including helmets.
I asked Ian how his moniker Wiz or Wizard came about.
“On my first trip away with NSW, Doug Walters and Brian Taber gave me the nickname after the comic-strip Wizard of Id,” he revealed. “My initials are ID and they called me Wiz and it’s pretty well what I answer to every day.
“I was even recognised in New Zealand by a stranger who walked past me and said, “Hey Wiz, how’s it going?’ which was weird because I didn’t know the person.”
One of the highlights of his career was being selected for the Centenary Test against England where he scored a valuable 68 runs in the second innings to help Australia defeat the Poms.
“It was my first time against England and it meant a lot to make 68 when it really counted,” he said. “I was surprised how quick Bob Willis was. I’d seen him bowl but had never faced him previously.”
Davis rates his 105 against Pakistan in 1976 as his best Test innings.
A montage of Ian Davis photos.
“I went from 94 to 100 with a six, which sailed over the Victor Richardson Gates,” he said.
Davis feels he retired from cricket far too early. He was 28 when he decided to walk, perhaps a little disillusioned with politics in cricket circles after WSC.
Still, cricket’s loss was golf’s gain.
After hanging up the bat, Davis went to work for Dunlop Slazenger, where he rose to become general manager, and it was where he fell in love with golf.
It was also where he met with Don Bradman to help develop a range of Bradman bats.
Today, Davis spends much of his time playing golf and working on honing his new craft.
When he was a little younger, Davis, through hard work, managed to reduce his handicap to three and proudly boasts a best score of one-under par at Liverpool GC. His one and only hole-in-one was achieved at Macquarie Links many moons ago.
“I drive the ball well and my iron play is good, but my weakness is chipping and putting,” he revealed.
And his dream fourball playing partners?
“My dream fourball partners would be Peter Senior, because he is a fantastic bloke, Freddie Couples, who has a lovely swing, and Steve Stricker.
“As much as I take my golf seriously and try to do well, I also like to have fun. Peter Senior is a guy who I thought would be really serious, but he is a lot of fun … and a funny bloke.”
Let’s hope Davis’s golfing group doesn’t get up to some of the antics his fellow cricketers did when he was in his prime.
Wiz takes up the story.
“We once played on a wicket at Mt Smart (New Zealand) that was covered with coir matting,” he said. “I was next man in and had to go to the toilet, which is hard to do when you’ve got all your gear on.
“Next minute, Mick Malone stuck a heap of penny bungers under the door and my pants and pads were all burnt. The boys loved it.
“In those days, our warm down was a couple of beers – not an ice bath like today.
“But I love and enjoy my golf. I’ve had thousands of golf lessons, tried every club in the world and I work very hard on having a good technique.”
Off the fairways, Davis does some work with Cutter and Buck (apparel) and also arranges entertainment for Sanctuary Cove.
“I do maybe four or five shows at the golf club every year,” Davis said.
“I have had Normie Rowe there and a few bands like The Eagles Tribute Band and an Elvis impersonator – that sort of thing.”
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