not out) against South Australia. In 1975 Yallop again played league cricket in England, scoring more than 3,000 runs for North Birmingham. Test cricketer After starting the 1975–76 season slowly, Yallop scored two half-centuries against South Australia and made scores of 108 and 95 against New South Wales. As a result he was called into the Australian side for the fourth Test match against the touring West Indies at the Sydney Cricket Ground, replacing Rick McCosker who had made 20 runs in six innings in the first three Tests of the series. Yallop was surprised at the call up, but said that it was "a great thrill and I'm determined to make the most of my chance". The dropping of McCosker was not popular with Australian captain Greg Chappell and other members of the side, and Yallop was put in to bat at number three, McCosker's usual place in the batting order. In his memoirs Yallop wrote that he had "no doubts that certain members of that team wanted me to fail and therefore prove that the selectors had erred. Normally, a new batsman could expect to be cradled into the side and be 'hidden' down the order until he gets the feel of the test atmosphere." He scored 16 and then 16 not out on debut, and was retained in the side for the fifth Test at Adelaide, scoring 47 and 43 and featuring in century partnerships in each innings, with Ian Redpath and Alan Turner. McCosker returned to the side for the sixth test at the MCG, batting at number three, but Yallop kept his place; batting down the order at number six he made 57 in the first innings and did not bat in the second. He had averaged 44 runs per innings in the three Tests. Following the retirement of Ian Chappell and Redpath, Yallop had a chance to consolidate his place in the Australian team in 1976–77. Chappell wrote at the start of the summer that he felt the batsman "had a head start" over his rivals "with a couple of steady Test performances last year, but he still has a lot of work ahead and will have to spread his run scoring around Australian grounds a little more consistently than in the past." However he again started the summer slowly and with Doug Walters returning from injury Yallop lost his place in the side