MELBOURNE: Former Australia seamer Max Walker has passed away at the age of 68 following a battle with cancer.
Walker, who represented Australia in 34 Tests, was a key member of the successful squads led by Ian and Greg Chappell. He was also a key figure in the introduction of World Series Cricket in the late 1970s, ESPNcricinfo reported.
His unique bowling action earned him the sobriquet ‘Tangles’, while he forged a strong career in the media following his playing days.
Paying tribute to Walker, James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive said, “Max was an outstanding cricketer who played an important role in the emergence of successful Australian cricket teams in the 1970s.”
“It was a golden era of Test Cricket under the captaincy of Ian and Greg Chappell, and Max's medium fast bowling and his unmistakeable bowling action were a feature of those teams, and then in the late 1970s when he joined World Series Cricket,” he continued. “The cricket world will be deeply saddened to hear of Max's sudden passing. As a cricketer, with ball or bat in hand, Max was always fiercely competitive. He was a genuine crowd favourite wherever he played - and nowhere more so than at his beloved MCG, where he had also played senior football prior to his Test debut.”