Post-WSC
At the end of 1979 the WSC split ended, and Yallop lost his place in the test team (Hughes, Border and Hogg were the only "establishment" players to keep their spots).
He did play a one day international, making 11 against the West Indies.[48]
1980 Tour of Pakistan
He regained his place for the 1980 tour of Pakistan. He was promoted to opener for the first test and made 12 and 16[49][50]. In the second test the scored 172[51] and 3 and 34 in the third.[52]
1980 Centenary Test
Yallop kept his spot in the side for the 1980 Centenary Test at Lords but he only made 2.[53] He made 0 in the first ODI.[54]
Yallop was not picked for Australia over the 1980-81 summer. He had began the domestic season slowly and did not find form until the middle of the summer.[55] However he was picked on the 1981 tour of England.
1981 Ashes
He made 52 in the first ODI,[56] 63 in the second[57] and 48 in the third.[58]
His test scores were 13 and 6,[59] 1 and 3,[60] 58 and 0,[61] 30 and 30[62] 0 and 114[63] and 26 and 35.[64]
Much was made of Yallop's susceptibility to fast bowling because of an unusual incident on the 1981 tour of England. Skipper Kim Hughes shepherded him from Bob Willis's bowling, even though Yallop never asked him to. Commentating on the match, Richie Benaud called Hughes's actions "as curious a captaincy decision as I have ever seen".[22]
1981-82
Yallop was kept in the Australia side for the first test against Pakistan making 20 and 38.[65] However he injured his back and did not play for Australia for the rest of the summer.[66]
1982-83
Yallop had a golden run of form in the Sheffield Shield in 1982–83, beating Bill Ponsford's record for the most runs in a season. This earned him selection on the 1983 tour of Sri Lanka.[67]
1983 Sri Lanka Tour
He began playing Sri Lanka in a one off test in 1983 making 98.[68] In the ODis he made 39[69],[70] 59,[71] 51[72] and 60 not out.[73]
1983 World Cup
Yallop had a strong World Cup. He made 2,[74] 29,[75] 66 not out,[76] 20,[77] 52 not out[78] and 18.[79]
1983-84 vs Pakistan
He had an outstanding season at home against Pakistan, averaging 92.33 in 5 tests.[80] His scores were 141,[81] 33,[82] 68 and 14,[83] 268[84] and 30.[85]
He missed the tour of the West Indies at the end of that summer due to injury in a one day game where he made 13.[86][87] Dean Jones took his place.[88]
1984 Tour of India
Yallop toured India with the Australians in 1984. He made 22,[89] 32[90] and 42.[91]
1984-85
Yallop worked on his knee through 1984.[92] He was picked in the first test against the Wet Indies. In scoring 2 and 1, he looked very uncomfortable.[93] He had a leg injury ad a knee operation which took him out of a lot of the season. A century against NSW reminded everyone of his ability[94] [95] but he was not picked in the side to tour England in 1985.
Rebel South African Tours
Yallop finished his major cricket career in South Africa as a member of the rebel Australian team led by Kim Hughes.[96]
"A number of us were given the word that the selectors didn't see us as having any future as Test players," said Yallop. "We were told - quietly, of course - that our futures weren't exactly rosy. So when the approach came, we were interested."[97]
Yallop's first summer in South Africa was not successful. Captain Kim Hughes publicly criticsed Yallop's contribution over the summer, saying "Yallop's unavailability has cost us dearly on tour. Had Yallop been fit and in the right frame of mind ... you've got to want to play. As vice-captain you've got a huge responsibility. People such as [Mick] Taylor, who had no reputations, have made one for themselves, while Yallop, who had all the reputation, has not really done anything."[98]
Yallop resigned from the vice captaincy for the second summer and performed a lot better.
Later Career
After two seasons in South Africa without major success, Yallop returned to the relative obscurity of district cricket in Melbourne, playing for the South Melbourne and Ringwood clubs.
Yallop says he and his fellow rebel tourists were "shunned by the Victorian Cricket Association... We knew the VCA wouldn't pick us. It was disappointing, we could've given a lot to the game at that stage; we weren't that old. But we were certainly shunned by the association."[97]
Yallop later said he had "mixed emotions" about the tour. "Knowing now what it was like there, there were certain things they kept from us, certain things we weren't meant to see but did. But hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn't it? Certainly we enjoyed it while we were there. But reflecting on it, there's mixed emotions. Disappointing thing, politics."[97]
Yallop must carry some blame for this fickleness. Englishman Mike Brearley (his opposite number in the 1978–79 series) noted that Yallop used to "... slide his back foot to and fro in a grandmotherly shuffle ... More than most Test players, Yallop can range from the inept to the masterly."[22]
Undoubtedly, Yallop was more at home against slow bowling and was considered one of the best players of spinners during an era when few existed. Although not ideally suited to the one-day game, Yallop's ODI figures are good and he played in the World Cups of 1979 and 1983 and toured India in 1984. He was a safe fielder behind the wicket and was often positioned in the gully.
Yallop averaged better than one century every five Tests and never went more than six consecutive Tests without a hundred. He also jointly holds the record for the fastest Ashes half-century, scored off 35 balls in the Old Trafford test in the 1981 series.
Christian Ryan once wrote of him:
If you were given three words to sum up the cricket career of Graham Yallop... what would you say? Australia's Lousiest Captain? Solid And Reliable? Dodgy Against Pace? A Bit Boring? There is a dollop of truth in them all. Yallop could be dull; if Dean Jones set the pulses of Melbourne grandmothers racing like a couple of shandies over lunch, then Yallop was the comforting mug of Milo who put them back to sleep. He was decidedly more at home when the spinners were on. He was also, especially at his 1983 peak, the epitome of rocklike solidity. And yes, he was a fatally flawed, forlorn captain... He was unimaginative, tactically unsophisticated and lacked the respect of his players. And because he had predicted they would win 6-0, in the dumbest press conference any Australian captain ever gave... More than anyone, Yallop suffered from the chaos of [World Series Cricket]... He was used and abused at every turn. He is not the only Australian batsman of the last 25 years to have been mistreated by selectors... But Yallop was the first, and arguably copped the rawest deal, of them all.... Graham Yallop in three words? Unlucky Uncelebrated Unmissed seem to fit best, more's the pity.[22]
