SYDNEY, March 3: Norm O’Neill, one of the great Australian Test batsmen of the 1960s, died early on Monday at the age of 71, Cricket Australia said.

O’Neill played 42 Tests from 1958 to 1965, scoring 2,779 runs at an average of 45.55, including six Test centuries. He died after a long battle with throat cancer.

He was an aggressive right-hander but gained the nickname “Nervous Norm” for his reputation of being an uncertain starter in his innings.

O’Neill, who toured England twice with Australia in 1961 and 1964, was also a handy leg-spin bowler and captured 17 wickets at 39.24 with a Test best of 4-41 against the West Indies at Port-of-Spain in 1965.

Cricket Australia chairman Creagh O’Connor said O’Neill was a great sportsman and an entertaining cricketer.

“I had the good fortune to see his last Test century, an even 100 against England in the fourth Test of the 1962-63 series, and remember him as the type of player who, at his best, won the hearts of the public through the way he played,” O’Connor said in a statement.

“He was great to watch when he was batting but he was also a magnificent fielder in the covers.”

Former Test and state team-mate Alan Davidson said O’Neill was an exhilarating batsman.

“He’d play attacking shots off balls that other people could only think of defending,” Davidson, a great left-arm swing bowler, said.

“He had wonderful skill and technique. His shots off the back foot down the ground off fast bowlers – you can’t really describe how good they were.

“He had a charisma, yet at the same time he was the most modest, humble bloke you could ever run into.”

O’Neill debuted for New South Wales at 18 and was 21 when he played his first Test for Australia.

A Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1962, his many international highlights included an innings of 181 in the famous December 1960 tied Test against the West Indies in Brisbane.

O’Neill played 70 first-class matches for New South Wales between 1955-56 and 1966-67 scoring 5,419 runs at an average of 52.61.

He is survived by his wife Gwen and son Mark, who played 76 first-class matches for NSW and Western Australia and is currently national batting coach in New Zealand.—AFP