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Goddard: SA lose another 1970 hero

Cape Town – South African cricket has lost a fourth member of the 1969/70 squad of cricketing “untouchables” who clean-swept Australia 4-0 in a Test series on our soil, with the passing of Trevor Goddard.

Durban-born Goddard, 85, reportedly died on Friday.

The all-rounder played the last of his 41 Tests in the third of that famous series, where Ali Bacher’s host side clinched the spoils by winning by 307 runs at the Wanderers for an unassailable lead.

Goddard was 38 by then and understandably past his prime, but it said much about his overall class as a cricketer – his excellent technique was a feature of his batting, almost always at the top of the order – that he was still able to be a fine competitor at the highest level.

Also a tight, probing left-arm seamer, Goddard was part of a Test side under Bacher’s command notable for its massive luxury of four all-rounders at one stage – himself, plus Eddie Barlow, Tiger Lance and Mike Procter.

Both Barlow (2005) and Lance (2010) have died, whilst the other deceased member of the 1969/70 squad is wicketkeeper Denis Lindsay (2005).

Goddard scored 2,516 Test runs at an average of 34.46; he only registered one century (112 against England at the Wanderers in January 1965) but he made scores in the 90s three times – 99 against England at The Oval, 93 against the Aussies at Sydney and 90 against the same foes at Johannesburg.

Having made his Test debut at Trent Bridge in 1955, he also bagged 123 career scalps at 26.22, with a best single-innings analysis of 6/53 against Australia at Johannesburg in December 1966.

Goddard was once hailed by Sir Donald Bradman for his “qualities of sincerity and integrity”.

One of the first cricketers on social media to lament his passing was former Proteas left-arm spinner Paul Harris, who tweeted (@paulharris12): “RIP Trevor Goddard. Fantastic ex-cricketer and even better human.”

Goddard became a lay preacher and performed missionary work after leaving a post with the then University of Natal in 1977.

*Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing

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