WITH former Ramsbottom pro Murray Bennett expected in the country later this month, we spoke to the man who called Acre Bottom home in 1984.

Murray Bennett had been hit flush on the instep by a yorker from Hartley Alleyne in a match against arch-rivals, Haslingden. A few days later, he was hobbling along the main street of Ramsbottom.

He said: “And there’s this old bloke in the bus shelter- he must have been about 80-odd years of age. “And, I hear him call across the road, ‘It’ll teach you to use your bat, lad!’”

No sympathy, just a wry northern observation. The 51-year-old chuckles to this day. By then, at least his wife had joined him from Sydney.

He added: “They’ve all gone up to Jane and said, ‘Thank goodness you’ve arrived – we can’t understand a word he’s talking about!’”

So, apparently, he could neither walk the walk, nor talk the talk. But, there are few who have a bad word about Bennett at Acre Bottom. In 1984, the New South Wales all-rounder was an instant hit in the middle and at the bar.

He had played two seasons of Sheffield Shield and been 12th man for Australia against Pakistan when he decided to broaden his horizons. He and Jane took leave without pay from the education department, and were housed in an old stone cottage overlooking the ground.

He said: “The problem I had was that the walk into the lounge room was only about 4ft 10in high. So, if I wasn’t looking, I reckon I hit my head on that about 20 times during the season.”

Bumping into Church professional, Brendan McArdle, in the opening match was far more benign.

“Brendan and I became instant friends and spent most of the summer in and out of each other’s pockets,” he said. “We used to see each other each week, played a bit of tennis. He dragged me off to some of the soccer, and introduced me to that.”

But, this didn’t divert Bennett from the job in hand. He made 700 runs at more than 40, and topped the League bowling averages, taking 79 wickets with his left-arm orthodox deliveries.

He recalled: “With the conditions being so dry, what I found was that most of the wickets turned quite a bit. “So, with the ball turning, and the wickets grabbing a little bit, they really had a bit of trouble with my style of bowling.”

But, he didn’t do it on his own. Bennett is full of praise for skipper and swing bowler Brian Fielding, batsmen Ian Bell and Mick Rogers and a man who took 58 wickets.

“Steve Monkhouse was an exceptional bowler,” Bennett said. “He was a big, tall, left-hand opening bowler, quite quick by comparison to the other amateurs in the Lancashire League.”

Bennett also coached the juniors and took fielding drills at practice. Ramsbottom finished an unlucky third, and their pro was offered terms despite leaving early to make his one-day international debut in the Ranji Trophy in India.

But, on return, he broke into the Australian Test team, taking five wickets in an innings defeat of the all-conquering West Indies, and was picked for higher duties in the Old Dart.

He played the last Test of the 1985 Ashes tour, but was overlooked thereafter as knee surgery and shoulder tendinitis took their toll.

Bennett, who captained his state four times, retired in 1988 after 67 matches of first-class cricket which garnered 157 wickets. Two years later, he became a NSW selector, and then assistant coach to Steve Rixon.

He is a director of an insurance broking firm run by former New South Wales captain, Warren Saunders. Murray and Jane have two daughters, Sally (21) and Jacqueline (15), and 19-year-old son, Sam, who plays golf off four.

The Bennetts will be back at Acre Bottom on October 25 to visit their old stamping ground.

Bennett added: “Jane and I fondly look back on that period as probably six months of the best years of our life. “I actually think it was very important to our marital life because what happened was that we experienced all these new things together.”