team would win the Ashes 6–0 and was "bewildered" when his "flippant" prediction was reported straight-faced by the media and taken seriously by the English players. Despite a century in Australia's second innings of the first Test, the team was beaten by seven wickets in the series opener. A further loss in the second Test was followed by what was to be Yallop's only victory as a Test captain in the third match at the MCG. Two more losses followed, and Australia played the final Test of the summer with the Ashes already lost. At the SCG Australia were dismissed for 198, of which Yallop scored 121; the next highest score was 16 and Yallop later said this was his greatest Test match innings. England made 308 for their first innings; Australia collapsed for 141 and with England needing only 34 runs for victory, Yallop elected to open the bowling in England's second innings with the old ball, to the consternation of England's captain Mike Brearley. Yallop won the man of the match award but Australia had lost the series 5–1. In his account of the series, The Ashes Retained, Brearley wrote that the English players nicknamed Yallop "Banzai" because of his tendency to adopt suicidally attacking fields at all times, when on occasion a more defensive approach may have prevented the England team's free scoring. Despite the series loss to England, Yallop led Australia against Pakistan in March 1978, again losing the first Test of the two-match series. He injured his calf in a club match, leading Richmond to victory in a district semi final, which forced him to miss the second Test match. Australia finally reversed their losing streak, with Kim Hughes captaining the side, prompting the selectors to drop Yallop as captain in favour of Hughes. Lambs To the Slaughter At the end of the summer, a book came out under Yallop's name about his season's experiences, entitled Lambs To The Slaughter. On page one he commented that: "I should be bitter, but I am not. Disappointed, yes, because after so many heartbreaks this was a rather ruthless end. I was the fall guy, the player who carried the ACB flag all summer against all the odds." Chapter headings included "Sacked", "The First Killing", "Skinned Alive", and "Slaughtered". The book had been, however, written by a ghost writer and it transpired that Yallop had not read it