debut against England in 1975. "No one said much to me before my first Test," he recalled. "You were an Australian, you'd got there because you could play, and you were expected to man up." He scored 37, taking part in an opening stand of 80 with Rick McCosker, helping Australia win by an innings. Australia had struggled to find a consistent opening combination under Ian Chappell and so Turner's debut was considered promising. However Turner performed less well in the next match, making 9 and 21. 105 runs in eight first class innings saw him dropped for the third test in favour of Gary Gilmour. A score of 118 against Essex saw him back for the 4th test, making 2 and 8. "I underestimated the toughness of an Ashes battle," said Turner. "It was a lot more intense than I imagined, and I failed to distinguish myself with the bat." 1975-76 vs West Indies Turner began the 1975-76 summer well, making 106 and 66 for NSW against the West Indies. He was picked in the Australian side for the first test and made 81 and 26. Turner then scored 23 and 0, 21 and 7 and 53 and 15. In the fifth test Turner made 26 and 136, his debut century. "I wasn't nervous after I reach ed 80 and just put my head down to make sure of the century," he said. "It was a bit of a relief to get the ... 100 because I could then get back to scoring more runs". In the 6th test Turner made 30 and 21. "That Australian team was very committed to each other and to the cause," he recalled. "There were no divisions." He made 46 in a one-day game against the West Indies. 1976-77 Turner was selected against Pakistan. He scored 33 and 48 in the first game, a game memorable for Turner's collision with Jeff Thomson, which put the latter out of action that summer. Turner made 82 and 5 for the second test and 0 and 11 for the third. Turner was picked on the New Zealand tour. He was going to delay his departure to be with his wife when their son was born. However Turner changed his mind. He later said "There's always the danger that if I arrive late, somebody will get 100 and take my test position." Against New Zealand he made