A Barbados surprise: Beau Casson remembers his only Test for Australia

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Between Shane Warne's retirement in 2007 and the emergence of Nathan Lyon in 2011, Australia went through nine frontline spinners trying to fill the void. If you include the likes of Marcus North and Steven Smith, who were occasionally the main options, then it's into double figures. One of the specialists tried was left-arm wristspinner Beau Casson.

Casson, who was ultimately forced to retire at 28 in 2011 due to a heart condition he managed throughout his career, sits in the one-Test wonder club. He made his lone outing in Barbados - where the current side begin their series this week - on the 2008 tour after Stuart MacGill announced his retirement during the second Test.

In the revolving door of spinners in the post-Warne era, Casson earned his call-up on the back of the 2007-08 Sheffield Shield season, where he claimed 29 wickets at 35.13 and scored 485 runs at 60.62 for title-winners New South Wales, after moving from Western Australian in 2006 and overcoming shoulder reconstruction surgery.

"History says that selectors usually reward really good Shield finals and performances," Casson says. "But until it actually comes, you probably think it's a little bit of a dream. I was hopeful, but there's certainly no certainty about it, that was for sure.

MacGill struggled in the first Test, in Jamaica but still picked up four wickets in a 95-run victory. Things got worse in Antigua, and before the end of the match he had decided he was done. It all but guaranteed Casson would play the final match, at the Kensington Oval.

"It was a pretty touching moment," Casson says of when he found out about MacGill's decision. "He announced it to me as he came off to try and do a bit of a fitness test to see if he could get himself up, and said, 'I'm going to be pulling the pin.' Then all of a sudden you're in shock.

"You're a bit saddened for someone that you've idolised as a cricketer for a long period of time. Then it dawns - well, I've got a chance to play in this next Test match."

As it happened, players' partners and families were due to join for the Barbados Test so Casson's girlfriend, now wife, Sally arrived as his career highlight loomed. His selection was rubber-stamped the day before the game when coach Tim Nielsen and captain Ricky Ponting gave him the news. Casson recalls being emotional but not overawed, although a short while later he needed some reassurance from Andrew Symonds.

Beau Casson is surrounded by his team-mates as he receives his first Test cap Chris McGrath / © Getty Images

"Going into the net session you feel like you're on cloud nine," he says. "It was a bit of an out-of-body experience for me, where I went and bowled a pile of rubbish. Andrew Symonds was very, very kind and he gave me a lot of time and said, mate, you've bowled really well, you've been picked for a reason. Don't let it get in the way of what you're good at, what you do."

By match-day morning a few nerves had arrived. H was presented his cap by Ponting, but Australia batted first so he wasn't immediately into the action. Casson came to the crease late on the opening day and survived until rain ended play early but was lbw to Fidel Edwards early on day two. A short while later Australia were bowled out for 251.

Five overs into West Indies' innings, Casson made his first impact, holding a stinging catch at mid-off to remove Chris Gayle. "Looking back at it, that was the biggest highlight, personally, being able to take a catch," he recalls. "I suppose the emotions you get when you've got people that you've idolised as a player jumping all over you, it made me feel pretty entrenched and part of the group, which was wonderful."

It was not until the 34th over that he was called upon by Ponting for his primary role. "You've been doing it your whole life. But the very first ball, I'm just hoping this hits the wicket somewhere in the direction I want the ball to go," Casson says.

The delivery was short and pulled through midwicket by Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who took him on. Casson was given a seven-over spell either side of tea, the last of them costing 18. He was not used again in the innings as West Indies collapsed from 168 for 4 to 216 all out.

Beau Casson celebrates his first Test wicket, that of Xavier Marshall Emmanuel Dunand / © AFP/Getty Images

Centuries from Phil Jaques and Simon Katich built a huge lead and West Indies were eventually set 475. This time Casson dropped Gayle a life at mid-off, a much simpler chance than in the first innings. Then Ramnaresh Sarwan and Xavier Marshall took them to 159 for 1 before Sarwan fell to Michael Clarke.

By now Casson was settling into a lengthy spell but after 11 overs, remained wicketless. Then, as Marshall looked to work him to the leg side, he got an inside edge into his pad and was brilliantly caught by Jaques at short leg.

"He took my first catch, a one-hander, at midwicket for New South Wales and then he takes a one-hander for my first catch for Australia," Casson says. "He told me that I owe him a beer. Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin were saying, no matter what happens, no one can ever take that away from you."

But West Indies weren't backing down and Casson found himself in a contest with Dwayne Bravo that, for a while, was only going one way. "He had me on toast there," Casson says. "Quite remarkable, some of the shots really."

Down near the boundary was a familiar face. Australia spinner Kerry O'Keeffe, who Casson had worked with in his junior days, was in Barbados with a tour group. "He sort of just looked over at me and was sort of mimicking bowling legspin, but with his infectious laugh. He looked over at me with his big chuckle and said, 'Keep throwing them up, young fella.'"

Beau Casson bowls AFP

Then, on 69, with West Indies 303 for 3 in what would have been a record chase, Bravo propped forward and pushed a firm catch to silly point, where Jaques helped Casson out again.

"Ricky came and we had a bit of a chat around what sort of field we wanted, and said, let's try and apply a little bit of pressure before the break. It must have hit a pebble and lobbed up nicely, which is wonderful."

That broke the back of West Indies' innings. An over later Chanderpaul fell to Stuart Clark and the rest followed. Casson claimed one more, Sulieman Benn skying into the covers, to finish with 3 for 86.

Mike Hussey was in charge of the team song. "To feel part of that, it's seeing the emotion, seeing how much it meant for so many people within that group," Casson says. "And you make some very close friends and bonds during those periods of time. So that was very memorable."

But there would be no second Test for Casson. Australia toured India later that year, where the selectors opted for Jason Krejza, and initially, Bryce McGain before he was replaced by Cameron White. Casson wasn't helped by picking up a groin injury on an A tour to India that preceded the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and then breaking a finger back in Australia. He finished the 2008-09 Shield season with seven wickets at 85.

David Fitzgerald, Adam Voges, Justin Michael, Beau Casson, Christina Matthews and Kade Harvey of the Perth Scorchers attend the BBL draft Graham Denholm / © Getty Images

"Naturally you're always disappointed, but you know, that's life and that's the way it rolls," he says. "And you've got to roll with selection because it's going to happen unless you're dominating and getting a hundred every innings, or fifers.

"I probably looked to do too much in too little time and that's something, as a coach, I think holds me in a good position. It's not a revolution, it's an evolution. You've got to keep evolving the game, and I think that was probably something in hindsight I could have done a little bit better."

After the 2008-09 season, Casson would only play three more first-class matches, the last being early in the 2011-12 summer. His condition, Tetralogy of Fallot, which impedes the heart's ability to regulate its rate after physical exertion, was becoming harder to manage. He had been taken ill during a grade game in 2010 but made a return to Shield cricket late in the 2010-11 season after surgery. Early the following summer he was in the side to play South Australia in Adelaide but fell ill on the opening day. After further tests and medical advice, he opted to retire.

He has since gone on to become a highly regarded coach and mentor and has been back in Western Australia since 2019, helping forge the outstanding run of success in state and BBL cricket while also working closely with Cameron Green and Alana King.

There will always be the memories of Barbados. "They're the feelings you certainly miss when you're old, bald and grey, that you don't get any more from not being a player," he says. "Very fond memories."

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