5 Ashes heroes who committed suicide in later life

Jack Iverson

These days, every year or two we see new mystery spinners being introduced to the highest level of cricket. This breed was not that common in the olden days. There were a few in the 1950s and 1960s but most of them didn't do enough to be a part of cricket's history. There were exceptions, though. One of them created mayhem in the Ashes series of 1950-51.

Jack Iverson was a 2nd XI fast bowler during his college days. Once those days were over, he concentrated on managing his father's business. Then war intervened, and he was sent to the Middle East.

He feigned illness, took leave and came back home, only to be sent to Queensland for more war duties. There, during idle hours, he used to flick the ping-pong ball with his long middle-finger.

He carried out the same experiment with a tennis ball and both results were amazing. He got the ball turning and, more importantly, lifting viciously from a length. But when he tried doing the same with a cricket ball it didn't work out well. The war ended and he once again went back to managing his father's business.

One fine day he and his wife were strolling through the park where they found some blind cricketers playing the game. That changed Iverson- he was startled by the dedication of those blind men. It made him take cricket seriously once again. He went back to subdistrict cricket and experiemented with the 'flick of the finger' deliveries. They worked brilliantly and, in the next few months, his rise as a 31-year old cricketer was meteoric.

He was called to play for Australia in the 1950-51 Ashes. He bamboozled all English batsmen and single-handedly made the series Australia's.

He faded away soon, though. His bag of tricks didn't work for too long and he didn't have the confidence to work on his bowling any further. Moreover, age was not on his side either as he was approaching his forties. The rise and fall both were spectacular- two long tails with a high peak in middle is what the Iverson cricket career-graph looks like.

Iverson initially led a peaceful life after moving away from cricket but work pressure got the better of him in the 1960s. He suffered from a mild stroke and needed psychiatric help. Post that difficult period, he was recovering well, but the death of his parents pushed him back to dark days once again. He never recovered.

On an afternoon in October 1973, his wife was vacuuming the house while Jack strolled to the garden. He had already downed quite a few glasses of alcohol and didn't waste any time in killing himself with a Remington .22 rifle.

A strange life in many ways. Cricket will always remember him for his bowling grip and his exploits in the one Ashes series he played in.

Recommended reading: Mystery Spinner: The Story of Jack Iverson by Gideon Haigh