Geoff Lawson, who took 34 wickets in the 1982-83 Ashes series, including four hauls of five wickets.

Geoff Lawson

1982-1983 Ashes Series

Matches: 5

Wickets: 34

Average: 14.00

Best bowling: 6-47

Five-wicket hauls: 4

Ashes Tests

Matches: 21

Wickets: 97

Average: 28.48

Best bowling: 7-81

Five-wicket hauls: 7

Test Career

Matches: 46

Wickets: 180

Average: 30.56

Best bowling: 8-112

Five-wicket hauls: 11

Even when Ashes series victories were few and far between in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Australia had no trouble finding a young pace bowler capable of causing major problems and taking a lot of wickets.

First, there was Rodney Hogg, who emerged from obscurity to dominate the losing 1978-79 series in the absence of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, taking an amazing 41 wickets at 12.85 in the 1978-79 series. Three years later in England, Terry Alderman took 42 wickets.

Lawson only took 25 Test matches to reach the 100-wicket mark and finished his 46-Test career with 180 wickets – including 11 hauls of five wickets in an innings and two 10 wickets returns – at 30.56.

Interestingly, Lawson only played one more Test against England at home after his golden series of 1982-83, and failed to take a wicket. Conversely, he played 12 more Tests in England and took a tidy 51 wickets.