EXCLUSIVE
It was a different era: the Prime Minister held a world record for skulling a meter of beer, Paul Hogan graced the silver screen in Crocodile Dundee and Kylie Minogue was well on her way to world stardom.
But nothing better summed up Australia’s swaggering confidence and effortless composure in the 1980s than a single moment of play during the World Series Cup final against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on February 8, 1987.
The late summer sun beat down on the players as the camera panned to the crowd, capturing a woman in a barely-there leopard print bikini, bravely waving a sign that read ‘Go Aussies Go’ amid a sea of Union Jack-waving Poms – more on her later.
Cut to Australian bowler Simon O’Donnell, who was preparing at medium pace to deliver another ball to England’s talismanic and helmetless all-rounder, Ian ‘Beefy’ Botham.
O’Donnell bowled hard but Botham hit beautifully, the satisfying blow of willow on leather sending the crowd into a brief hush.
And then the traveling fans roared again as the the ball flew straight across the court halfway and soared high into the clear blue sky towards the member’s pavilion.
But quietly waiting in the second row for his chance to restore Australian pride, with the mullet blowing in the gentle breeze and a Peter Stuyvesant cigarette dangling from his mouth, stood Channel 9 cameraman Tony Fox.
Barely blinking behind his oversized aviator glasses, he rose from his seat to pluck the crashing ball out of the air with an instantly iconic two-handed catch over his left shoulder.
Waiting quietly in the second row for his chance to restore Australian pride, mullet billowing in the gentle breeze and a Peter Stuyvesant cigarette dangling from his mouth, stood Channel 9 cameraman Tony Fox (pictured)
Now the man responsible for the ‘coolest crowd catch ever’ has broken his silence for the first time in an interview with Daily Mail Australia (photo: Tony Fox)
Without missing a beat, he eased the ball back into the court before casually sitting back down, taking a deep drag on his cigarette and quietly accepting the crowd’s admiration with a sly grin.
To add to the icy calm, he then blew a dragon-like exhale from both nostrils as a passing colleague patted him on the shoulder.
The commentators knew exactly what they had just seen.
‘A great catch from the Channel 9 cameraman down there! Cool as a cucumber,” one gushed.
“Well, those six seem to have upset Simon O’Donnell, but not so for Tony Fox, who is basically just sitting there with bad luck.
“Normally he’s our commentary box cameraman. I took it as cool as a cucumber, just with the cigarette still in my mouth – back down and take a drag.’
It was a brilliant moment that immediately earned Tony compliments from his friends and colleagues.
But in that simpler, pre-digital age, it was quickly forgotten.
It was a different era: the Prime Minister held a world record for skulling a meter of beer (pictured, Bob Hawke with a beer in hand), Paul Hogan graced the silver screen in Crocodile Dundee and Kylie Minogue (below) was sitting comfortably on her place. road to world stardom
But nothing better summed up Australia’s swaggering confidence and effortless composure in the 1980s than a single moment of play during the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup final against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on February 8, 1987.
That was until a few years ago, when the clip resurfaced online and took on a viral afterlife as fans marveled at Tony’s cool attitude and window into another era.
Now, the man responsible for the ‘coolest crowd catch ever’ has broken his silence for the first time.
‘It’s crazy. I’m really, really ashamed of it, to be honest. I have people coming up to me all the time,” Tony told Daily Mail Australia.
“There was a time when my wife and her daughters were thinking about making T-shirts because it would get ridiculously out of hand if people knew about it.”
Nearly 40 years later, Tony, now 66 and living in Frankston in Melbourne’s south-east, relived the moment he achieved his fifteen seconds of fame.
In his late 20s, he worked as a studio cameraman for Channel 9’s coverage, which was presented by legendary cricketer and commentator Richie Benaud.
But while playing there was nothing to do, being an avid cricketer himself, he often sat in the stands and watched.
“I sat in the MCG booth in the sun behind one of the other cameramen, Michael Keogh,” Tony recalled.
The late summer sun beat down on the players as the camera panned to the crowd, capturing a woman in a barely-there leopard print bikini, bravely waving a sign that read ‘Go Aussies Go’ amid a sea of Union Jack-waving Poms (the woman, Tony’s roommate at the time, is in the photo)
Without missing a beat, Tony eased the ball back into the court before casually sitting back down, taking a deep drag on his cigarette and quietly accepting the crowd’s admiration with a sly grin.
‘I had just been lit, back when you were still allowed to smoke in the members pavilion of the MCG.
‘When I saw the ball hit, I was actually more worried that Michael would get hit, because the ball was coming straight at him and I wanted to push him aside.
‘But it kept coming straight towards me and I didn’t have to move: the seat I got out of was the seat I sat down on again.
“I played pretty good cricket in my day, so a catch like that was no stranger to me.
“It actually came very naturally and instinct took over, I think.”
Tony was nicknamed ‘Buckets’ by former Australian cricket captain Ian Chappell after his iconic catch
Tony, who played a decent level of suburban cricket in Victoria before his job took over, immediately received rave reviews – and even an invitation to join a cricket team.
‘The audience loved it. There were a couple of guys a few rows away from me who were actually from a cricket club,” he said.
‘They asked if I wanted to play for them, which was quite difficult given my job. So I had to say thank you, but no thanks.
“Once I sat down, it hit me. “Oh my God. What have I done?” I knew I was going to be on camera and my internal reaction was, “Oh, no.” But anyway, it is what it is.
“Bizarrely, the lady in the bikini at the start of the clip was my roommate in Richmond at the time.”
Tony received a hero’s welcome when he returned to the studio.
“Richie (Benaud) got a good laugh out of it because he was obviously hosting and Ian Chappell nicknamed me ‘Buckets’ for a while,” he added.
Tony built a long and successful career at Channel 9 before working on others such as the Derryn Hinch show, the Fox Footy channel and for Racing Victoria, and his moment of glory was quickly forgotten.
That was until a few years ago, when he worked the Australian Open.
‘One of the techs came up to me, showed me the video and asked if it was me. And that was the first time I saw it,” he explained.
“That same guy said there are women who want your phone number on Reddit, and I asked, “What is Reddit?”
‘I hadn’t thought about it for 25 years. But it comes back and it comes back and it comes back…
To further enhance the atmosphere of icy calm, he then blew a dragon-like exhalation from both nostrils as a passing colleague patted him on the shoulder.
Tony, who quit smoking a decade ago, beat throat cancer last year and is still working, with plans to retire next year, along with his wife of 20 years, Sal
The clip now has a cult following online and has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on social media.
“I’m still pretty sure this is the coolest thing any human being has ever seen,” one fan wrote.
Tony has a more modest opinion.
‘If people can laugh about it, then that’s fine. But for me personally, it’s a bit embarrassing,” he said.
“A lot of people have compared me to Kevin Bacon…which makes me feel sorry for Kevin Bacon.”
Tony has been invited to discuss his epic catch on Channel Seven’s sports show The Front Bar every year for the past three years, but has always politely declined, even when Ian Botham was on the programme.
“The funny thing is, in the intervening years I’ve done a lot of work with Simon O’Donnell, who bowled the ball,” Tony said.
‘He worked at Channel 9 for a while and was a regular at the races.
“I think he knows I caught him, but I’m not wild enough to tell him, because he got beat up that day.”
Tony, who quit smoking a decade ago, beat throat cancer last year and is still working, with plans to retire next year, along with his wife of 20 years, Sal.
Is she sufficiently impressed by his viral moment of fame?
Tony laughed, “I guess if she had known beforehand, she wouldn’t have had anything to do with me!”