Former Australian cricketer Eric Freeman has passed away at the age of 76.<\/p>\n
The first player in Test history to get off the mark on debut with a six, Freeman died on Monday after a brief illness.<\/p>\n
An all-rounder, Freeman played 11 Tests for Australia between 1968-1970 and was also a top Australian Rules player, turning out for Port Adelaide in 115 SANFL matches. He was the leading goalkicker in the 1967 season with 81 goals.<\/p>\n
Juggling his cricket and AFL careers meant he missed most of the 1968 SANFL season while he was in England with the Australian side, but that didn't stop him appearing for the club in the semi-final the week after returning home.<\/p>\n
"Probably one of the most remarkable things came at the end of that 1968 Ashes tour," Freeman's teammate Ian Chappell told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n
"We were in England for just over four months, and he got home and Port Adelaide picked him for the semi-final the next week against Sturt.<\/p>\n
"It was quite amazing that they picked him, given he hadn't played a game all year and he'd been in England playing cricket.<\/p>\n
"He was great all-round athlete, very strong.<\/p>\n
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"As a fast bowler he had a really strong shoulder action, which took advantage of his build."<\/p>\n
Freeman's finest moment in first-class cricket came for South Australia against NSW at the SCG in 1971.<\/p>\n
Chappell had declared on the final morning, setting NSW 320 to win.<\/p>\n
"Eric had a hamstring problem," Chappell recalled.<\/p>\n
"My declaration was based on Ashley Mallett bowling a lot of overs. In the first over, Mallett dived to his left at mid-on and somehow or other, in something only Mallett could manage, in diving to his left he managed to sprig his spinning finger on his right hand.<\/p>\n
"I tried to bowl him but it didn't work, so here's 'Fritz' with this dodgy hamstring, bowling off an even shorter run than normal, but he just got quicker and quicker.<\/p>\n
"He just had this mentality where once he had a little bit of success he performed better and better."<\/p>\n
Freeman finished with 8-64, his best ever first-class figures, and 13 wickets for the match.<\/p>\n
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"He was a very positive guy," Chappell said.<\/p>\n
"His biggest problem in cricket, especially when he was batting, was at the Adelaide Oval. There was this bloke who'd come to every Shield match and as soon as 'Fritz' walked out to bat this guy would yell out, 'Carn the Pies' and suddenly 'Fritz' would imagine he was playing in the football grand final with 60,000 people roaring.<\/p>\n
"He couldn't help himself. He could bat but he was a big hitter and tended to get carried away a bit.<\/p>\n
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"His highest Test score was 76 against the West Indies in Sydney and he plonked one into the second level of the Member's Stand.<\/p>\n
"He was a No.7 at best in Test cricket but he used to get carried away a bit too much."<\/p>\n
Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings said Freeman was an extraordinary talent.<\/p>\n
"Eric will forever be remembered as one of the greatest athletes South Australia has ever produced," Eddings said.<\/p>\n
"He was an all-rounder in every sense of the word \u2013 powerful with both bat and ball in cricket and a prodigious goal-kicker with the Magpies in the winter months. \u00a0 <\/p>\n
"He remained a popular member of the cricket family after his retirement as a player with commentary roles on the ABC and junior development positions with West Torrens.<\/p>\n
Freeman's 11 Tests yielded 345 runs at an average of 19.16, and 34 wickets at 33.17. After he retired he became a long-time commentator for ABC radio and also stayed involved with cricket through coaching.<\/p>\n
"Whenever I caught up with 'Fritzy' after we'd retired, his optimism shone through," Chappell recalled.<\/p>\n
"He could always see a bright light at the end of even the darkest tunnel."<\/p>\n
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