MCC tour of Australia in 1946–47
Encyclopedia
The Marylebone Cricket Club
tour of Australia in 1946-47 under the captaincy of Wally Hammond
was its eighth since it took official control of overseas tours in 1907-1908 and the first since the Second World War. The touring team
played as England in the 1946–47 Ashes series
against Australia
, but as the MCC in all other games. In all there were 25 matches; 5 Test matches
(which they lost 3-0), 13 other First Class matches
(which they won 1-0) and 7 minor matches (which they won 3-0). Australia had been suffering a drought since 1937, but this ended as it rained in every match the MCC played on tour, including tropical thunderstorms twice in Brisbane
and again in Sydney
. However, this had an adverse effect on the pitches and denied the touring team adequate practice and lead to many draws.
The MCC team left austerity Britain on 31 August 1946 on the SS Stirling Castle and sailed to Australia, arriving in Perth, Western Australia
in September 1946, three weeks before their first scheduled match. They used this time to acclimatise and practice in the nets, but also to put on weight. Having arrived from a country that had had seven years of rationing Australia was a 'land flowing with milk and honey
' and Hammond promised his men "the happiest six months of their lives". Everyone in the team put on weight, one "consuming more in one day in Perth than his full weekly ration in London" and the big bowlers Bill Voce
and Dick Pollard
adding up to two stone (28 lbs
in weight. The team sent home food parcels from each city they visited and in general took an easy time of it. A Saturday Night Club was organised in which the team would don bow-ties in MCC colours and sit down to a full dinner together. Aware that this would affect their mobility in the field physical training was organised, but it was not kept up. In general the atmosphere was that of a holiday, with the feeling that this was a goodwill tour to re-establish cricketing relations ten years after the last tour of Australia, and that a serious cricket would not begin until the 1948 Ashes series
. The English and Australian press praised them for their sporting attitude and dwelt on the batting prowess of Wally Hammond
, Len Hutton
, Denis Compton
and the bowling abilities of Alec Bedser
and Doug Wright
.
teams and as these sides were roughly the equivalent to Lancashire League and provided the tourists with valuable practice before taking on the state sides and Australia. Northam
was a small mining town 60 miles inland from Perth
, but the mine was played out and the local economy was geared to sheep-raising
and the team travelled up after regaining their land legs from their voyage. It had been 10 years since the MCC had toured Australia in 1936-37
, the town was decorated as if for a fête
and the players were entertained by the locals. The Northam captain won the toss and batted, but his team was soon out as big left-arm fast bowler Bill Voce
of Bodyline
fame took 3/11 and Peter Smith
5/55 with his leg-spin. The opener Tetlaw top-scored with 34 and added 44 for the fifth wicket with Lawrence (32). Slater made 26 batting at number 7, but on one else reached double figures and they were out for 123. Len Hutton
(51) and Cyril Washbrook
(47) added 93 for the first wicket, then Denis Compton
hit 84 with 11 fours and Wally Hammond
131 with 19 fours and 4 sixes before he 'retired out' and declared the innings at 409/6 after tea the next day. This proved sufficient to bowl out the Northam team for 71, Tetlaw (29) again top-scored, but Bill Edrich
added figures of 6/20 to his three first innings catches and 38 not out. Smith took 4/18 and the MCC won by an innings and 215 runs inside two days.
where Yardley led them in a one day game against the Western Australian Colts, mostly 20 year olds trying to get into the Western Australian team
. The Colts won the toss and put the MCC into bat. Cyril Washbrook
made 25 before he was lbw to William Alderman, the father of Terry Alderman
. The wicketkeeper Paul Gibb
opened with Washbrook as Hammond wanted him to bat at number three in the Tests and made 51, adding 63 for the first wicket. Laurie Fishlock
(50) and Norman Yardley
(31 not out) added 73 for the fourth wicket and the MCC declared at 197/4. Dick Pollard
and Bill Voce
had the Colts 7/2, but they recovered, with Wally Langdon making 48 and though wickets fell steadily they survived the day on 121/6.
Although they would win the 1947–48 Sheffield Shield Western Australia
were its weakest team (Tasmania
was not yet included) and isolated from the rest of Australia, so they provided an easy start for the MCC's round of state matches. The WACA
Ground would not see a Test match until the 1970-71 Ashes series. George Robinson won the toss for the home side and batted. Herbert Rigg (34) and Allan Edwards (43) made their first class debuts and added 76 for the first wicket. David Watt (85) and Morgan Herbet (53) made 118 for the fifth wicket as Peter Smith
(4/132) and Doug Wright
(4/55) trundled their way through the batting order. Bill Voce
(2/75) picked up a couple of late wickets and Western Australia were out for 366 on the second morning. Gibb and Washbrook opened again, but it was jack Ikin
(66) and Joe Hardstaff
(53) who made the early runs, followed by Wally Hammond
's 208. This was Hammond's 36th double hundred, overtaking Don Bradman's record and this early indication of good form gave the Australians some worries (Bradman retook the record in 1947-48). He added 71 with Norman Yardley
(31) and 149 with Smith (46) as the MCC made 477 in 478 minutes. Due to the rain this only left 46 minutes for the WA second innings and they made a safe 48/1. 19,500 people watched the game with £1,809
in receipts.
To help Western Australia play the MCC on more even terms, and show some Australian talent to the Perth crowd Sid Barnes
of New South Wales
, Ken Meuleman
and Ian Johnson
of Victoria
and Bruce Dooland
of South Australia
were sent over to make up a Combined XI. Robinson won the toss again and they made 462 with David Watt making 157. Barnes and Allan Edwards both made 45 and Johnson 87. The MCC bowling looked plain, but Jack Ikin
's leg-spin was tested with old fashioned figures of 4/172. From this Hammond concluded that he wasn't a true all-rounder and thereafter used him in the minor games and rarely in the Tests. Every MCC match of the tour was rain-affected and the game finished when the tourists completed their first innings of 308. Cyril Washbrook
(80) and Denis Compton
(98) added 123 against the spin of Johnson (3/76) and Dooland (4/88) which they were seeing for the first time; "It was amazing to see Compton occasionally run down the pitch, change his mind, and either play the ball like a baseball
bunt, or scamper back to ground his bat in time to get the benefit of the doubt on a stumping appeal". Hammond was scathing of Compton's habit of walking down the wicket to the slow bowlers and his instructions to his batsmen to stay within the crease to the spinners made them play as if nailed to the wicket in the Tests with dire consequences. In fairness Hammond had made many runs in Australia that way, but in 1928-29 when Australia had no decent spinners and Australians themselves are brought up to use their feet against the slow men. 24,500 came to watch the match with receipts of £1,832.
as captain the MCC were taken by train (complete with cow-catcher
) to South Australia
and "a town of rudimentary graces (at least in those days) called Port Pirie where the opposition was terribly bad and very few people even came to watch". Len Hutton
(164), Laurie Fishlock
(98). Denis Compton
(100 in 67 minutes) and Joe Hardstaff
(67 not out) helped themselves to runs in the MCC's 487/6 declared. The Country openers C.V. Wright (32) and J.A.J. Horsell (27) initially held up the bowlers, but once out the remaining wickets were scooped up by Peter Smith
(5/16) and Doug Wright
(5/40) as they collapsed to 87 all out. Following on C.V. Wright (25) and G.F. Tuck (30) made another stand after Horsell was out for a duck, but they were all out for 92. Only the spinners were used this time Wright (3/38), Smith (3/27) and James Langridge (4/17) in a victory by an innings and 308 runs.
The game against South Australia caused much interest as Don Bradman played his first match of the season after almost a year without top flight cricket and speculation about his health. Alec Bedser
sat in the stands with Bradman's son John, but Hammond won the toss and chose to bat. After the warning not to caper about the wicket at Perth Len Hutton
(136) and Cyril Washbrook
(113) spent fives hours adding 235 runs for the first wicket with "the eternal pushing of half-volleys and the gentle nudging of longhops from noon to dark". Against a fairly toothless attack in which Bruce Dooland
was the best bowler with 3/146 Bill Edrich
and Denis Compton
both made 71 in a stand of 111 and Norman Yardley
(54 not out) and Jack Ikin
(35 not out) took the score to 506/5 before the declaration at the close of the second day. Bradman came in at 26/2 and after he was dropped by Godfrey Evans
played a careful innings of 76. He added 83 with Phil Ridings (57) and 90 with Ron James (58) before he was caught and bowled by Peter Smith
(5/93). The tail collapsed from 199/3 to 262/9 at stumps with James Langridge taking 3/60 and Hammond enforced the follow on when they were dismissed for 266. Reginald Craig made 111 and Bradman only 3, but John Mann helped save the day with 62 not out, adding 92 with Craig and 42 runs with Geff Noblet (25 not out). South Australia avoided an innings defeat with 276/8 and the game was drawn. 42,144 attended with receipts of £3,194
.
's Victoria
was a tougher proposition, and they would win the Sheffield Shield for the 17th time that season. Yardley won the toss and batted, but they struggled against an attack of near Test strength; Bill Johnston
, Fred Freer
, Ian Johnson
George Tribe
and Doug Ring
. Washbrook was out for a duck, Gibb 22 and Hutton and Hardstaff 15 each, but Denis Compton
made 143, added 119 with Norman Yardley
(70), then carried on batting with the tail. The Victorian bowlers shared the wickets and the MCC were out for 358 early on the second morning. Before stumps Victoria were out for 189 thanks to Bill Voce
(3/48) and Doug Wright
(6/48). Hassett top scored with a stonewalling 57 until he went to Jack Ikin
(1/18) and Yardley sent in his batsmen at the end of the day rather than enforce the follow on. Nobody made more than 21 except for Len Hutton
with 151 not out "He defended superbly against balls which jumped alarmingly or spun viciously across the wicket, and flayed all that was loose". Johnson took 4/38 and Yardley declared on 279/7, leaving Victoria 449 to win on a dusty pitch. Hassett scored 57 against as did Merv Harvey
, but Wright took 4/73 to give him 10 wickets in the match, Alec Bedser
3/40 and Hutton even bowled the opener Gordon Tamblyn with his leg-spin. Victoria were out for 204 runs and the MCC won by 224 runs - their only first class victory of the tour. They were helped by the pitch not having fully recovered from the Aussie Rules football
season, even though they dropped catches innumerable. 64,322 attended with receipts of £6,176
The Australia XI match was used by Australian selectors to see up and coming cricketers in action before choosing a team. It was Sydney
's turn to host two Tests this series, so the match was held in Melbourne
as a virtual Test match
, though losing the first and fourth days of play to rain dampened the game somewhat. Usually the Australian vice-captain took control, but Bradman needed match practice and took command with Hassett alongside. Many potential Test players were also included; Merv Harvey
, Arthur Morris
, Keith Miller
, Colin McCool
, Ron Saggers
and Fred Freer
. Hammond was back in charge and batted after winning the toss. Hutton (71) and Washbrook (57) made an opening stand of 122, but only Hammond (51) passed 30 of the other batsmen and they were out for 314. McCool (7/106) dismissed Hutton, Washbrook, Edrich, Compton, Hammond, Yardley and Voce with his flighted wrist spin
and "the English batsmen seemed like rabbits fascinated in the presence of a snake". The Australian XI opened with Harvey and Morris, who added 39 before Bradman came in. The Don made 106, Morris 115, they added 196 together and the Australian XI made 327/5 before rain ruined the final day. 84,336 attended (receipts unknown).
Another rain-soaked match was played at Sydney. Hammond and Howard went to visit Sammy Carter
, the wicketkeeper of Warwick Armstrong
's 1921 Australians who was now a wheelchair user. He had donated £1,000
to the restoration of the Old Trafford cricket ground which had been bombed during the war and they wished to give him their personal thanks. Hammond won the toss and fielded, seeing Arthur Morris
make an unbeaten 53 in their 99/4 in the time allowed in between the showers. The second and third days were rained off completely and Morris took his score to 81 not out when Sid Barnes
declared. Hutton made a flawless 97 before he was run out after two hours and the MMC ended with 156/2. 22,733 attended with receipts of £2,320
In the last match before the First Test the Queensland captain Don Tallon
won the toss and batted. Rex Rogers (66) and Geoff Cook (who carried his bat for 169) put on 111 for the first wicket and Allan Young made 53, but no one else made 30 and they were out for 400. Norman Yardley
, barely recognised as a change bowler by Yorkshire
, took 3/19; "It was always amusing to watch the Englishmen when Yardley took a wicket. The first time he succeeded they seemed faintly amused, but when he was regularly breaking partnerships their enthusiasm knew no bounds..." The MCC made a pedestrian reply with 9 batsmen getting into double figures, but only passing 50. Hutton (42) and Washbrook (40) made 65 together, Denis Compton
55 and Bill Edrich
64 not out. Ian Johnson
opened the bowling with 4/53 and Colin McCool
took 6/105 (Hutton, Washbrook, Gibb, Hammond, Yardley and Bedser) and the tourists were out for 310. Queensland batted for a declaration hitting 230/6 in 177 minutes, Ken Mackay
sticking in for 33 not out while Len Johnson hit 75 at the other end. Needing 321 to win in 224 minutes the MCC went for a draw. Cyril Washbrook
made 124 and helped by Edrich (71) in a stand of 162 for the second wicket this was done with few problems, though McCool (3/73) took three late wickets (Washbrook, Ikin and Compton) to leave them 238/6.
. The Queensland Country XI Thomas Allen won the toss and batted. Allen himself top-scored with 53, with Len Johnson making 40 and Herbert Zischke 32. Peter Smith
proved useful in another minor game and took 5/80 as the home side were dismissed for 208. The reserve openers Paul Gibb
(31) and Laurie Fishlock
(62) made an opening stand of 82, Joe Hardstaff
stroked his way to 64 and the all rounder James Langridge 42. The local fast bowler Tim Ball took 5/69 and Len Johnson 3/51 as the MCC were out for 282, but the leg-breaks of Don Tallon
's brother Bill was hit for 0/73. Back in to bat the Queensland XI made a solid 311/9 with James Cockburn (41), Tim Allen (40), Colin Stribe (75) and Keith Gartell (52 not out) seeing out the draw.
for the first of four minor games before the Third Test at Melbourne. This one was against the combined grade sides of Northern New South Wales
. Wally Hammond
was captain, and struck 142 in the MCC's 395, with Laurie Fishlock
making 110, Bill Edrich
59 not out and Len Hutton
42 with Hinman taking 5/92. Hinman opened the batting with 46, the top-score in their reply of 202 as Bill Voce
took 4/45, with Dick Pollard
(2/62), James Langridge (2/46) and even Len Hutton
(2/4) helping out. The MCC batted again, but Pickles took 4/29 to dismiss Hutton (5), Washbrook (9), Fishlock (0) and Langridge (0), but Denis Compton
made 75 not out and Hammond 30 not out coming in at number 8 as they finished on 146/6 in another draw.
for another two day game in Canberra
against the combined grade teams of South New South Wales. Hammond captained against, won the toss and batted. Len Hutton
and Cyril Washbrook
made hay with 133 and 115 in an opening knock of 254, Hammond made 42 and Compton 76 as the MCC made 465/8 on the first day. The second day was ruined by rain, which was fortunate for Southern NSW as Hammond declared his overnight score and they collapsed to 11/4 to Dick Pollard
's 4/2.
took another useful 6/43. Smith was ill during much of the tour and proved too slow in the air for first class cricket in Australia, so was used in the minor games to rest other players. Gibb (49) and Fishlock (41) opened again and Bill Edrich
made 62 as they passed the Victorian Country XI total of 156 for a four wicket win, but carried on batting to 200/4, when Edrich was out, in order to gather some batting practice.
Like Western Australia
Tasmania
were a weak side and they were sent some help from the mainland to play the MCC and showcase the talents of some star players; Lindsay Hassett
, Keith Miller
and Ian Johnson
of Victoria
and Sid Barnes
of New South Wales
. Wally Hammond
preferred to stay in Melbourne, which was seen as a slight to the state, while his overworked bowlers had to go. Major Howard replied that Hammond was badly in need of a rest and that Wright and Bedser were given to option of resting in Melbourne, but chose to go to Tasmania. When Hammond was unable to play in the Fifth Test it was thought that it was illness that kept him in Melbourne. Norman Yardley
won the toss and batted, the MCC making 278 on the first day. Laurie Fishlock
held the early innings together with 52 as they crashed to 53/4 with Bill Edrich
(82), Alec Bedser
(51) - his first first class 50 - and Godfrey Evans
(34) hoisting up the lower order. They were asked to restrain themselves from hitting sixes due to the glass shortage, but the Tasmanian captain Ron Morrisby was not asked and the opener Ron Thomas twice lifted Dick Pollard
over the ropes in his innings of 16 at the end of the day, though no windows were broken. Morrisby was also out for 16, but Barnes made 57, Hassett 35 and Miller 70 with teh wicketkeeper hitting 94 batting at number 9. Pollard was hit for 2/124 off 20 overs and the Combined XI hit 374 in 250 minutes. Coming in 96 runs behind on the first innings Fishlock (46) and Hardstaff (60) added 91 for the second wicket, then Denis Compton
struck 124, his first innings of not since the start of the tour. Jack Ikin
(50) helped him add 168 for the fourth wicket and Yardley declared on 353/9. The task of making 258 runs in under two hours was not seriously attempted, but Ian Johnson came in at number three and hit an unbeaten 80 out of 145/2. 18,700 attended the game with £2,718
in receipts.
, but it was a weak state side that would not fully complete in the Sheffield Shield for another 25 years. With the Australian Test players returning home the MCC ran up 361/3 on the first day after winning the toss. Hutton gave a sound start with 51, but Joe Hardstaff
(155) and Denis Compton
(163) stroked their way though a stand of 282. The second day was rain-affected and Yardley declared at 467/5 to give him the chance of dismissing Tasmania twice in a day. Bill Voce
(2/7), Bill Edrich
(4/26) and Jack Ikin
(3/17) ran through their first innings and only Julian Murflett's 46 not out from number 9 brought them up from 49/8 to 103 all out. Following on Tasmania lost regular wickets to Compton (4/51), but ensured a draw with 129/6. 10,290 attended the game with £1,176
in receipts.
Wally Hammond
rejoined the team at Adelaide
for the return match against South Australia. He chose to bat on a slow pitch and the MCC batted into the third day for 577. Len Hutton
led the way with 88, Laurie Fishlock
made 57, but the highlight was the captain's 167th first class century of 188 which made him the seventh man to make 50,000 first class runs after W.G. Grace, Jack Hobbs
, Phil Mead
, Frank Woolley
, Patsy Hendren
and Herbert Sutcliffe
. before these milestones even loyal England supporters had been calling for him to be dropped from the team because of his poor form, and to allow Norman Yardley
to captain England. Hammond added 243 with James Langridge (100) and only Bruce Dooland
returned respectable figures with 4/67 off 33/7 overs. Doug Wright
(3/90) dismissed Reginald Craig and Don Bradman for 26/2, but South Australia responded well with 443, Paul Ridings making 77, Ron Hamance 145 and Ron James 85. Bill Voce
bowled manfully for 4/125, but the surprise was Hardstaff who snapped up 3/24 with his medium-pacers on a wicket which started to break up late on the second day. With only two hours left Hutton put in some batting practice with 77 not out and Hardstaff 40 not out, but Washbrook was out for a duck. It was hoped that a similar wicket in the forthcoming Fourth Test would aid Wright, but the over-prepared Test pitch was "as dead as Mussolini
" and it was thought that the MCC pitch had been neglected as a result. 34,068 attended the game with £2,950
in receipts.
town Ballarat, which was at the start of a post-war boom. The Victorian Country XI batted first and made an impressive 268 even though only Douglas Brown (64) exceeded 40. Bill Voce
took 3/28 and Peter Smith
3/70. The local fast bowler Robert McArthur (2/70) soon had Fishlock and Edrich out for ducks and the opener-wicketkeeper Paul Gibb
had to fight back with 69. Plummer took 4/68 and the MCC only overtook the Country team by 20 runs thanks to Denis Compton
(61) and Godfrey Evans
(82). Hammond could not bat due to his fibrosis
, which made him unfit for the Fifth Test. Dick Pollard
(2/7) took two quick wickets and Smith (2/10) another couple, but the match was drawn with the local team 70/5 at the end of the second day.
With Hammond ill Norman Yardley
led the team in the return match against Victoria. He won the toss and batted with the MCC making 355. Laurie Fishlock
made 51, Denis Compton
93, Jack Ikin
71 and Godfrey Evans
41, with Keith Miller
taking 4/63 and the Chinamen
of George Tribe
going for 3/142. Victoria were in trouble at 32/3, but captain Lindsay Hassett
(126) added 120 runs in 120 minutes with the 18 year old Neil Harvey
(69). Tribe his 60 coming in at number 9 and added 57 for the last wicket with the wicketkeeper Bill Baker to take Victoria to 327. Batting again the tourists floundered to Tribe whose 6/49 cleared them up for 118, leaving the home side 151 to win, but there was no time and the game ended with the MCC innings. 39,011 attended the game with £3,578
in receipts.
(65) and Arthur Morris
(44) made an opening partnership of 78, Sid Barnes
also made 44, Eric Lukeman 70 and Ray Lindwall
45, but the most notable performance was by Peter Smith
. Smith had suffered a hand injury en route to Australia, was in hospital for weeks with appendicitis
and was considered too slow in the air and flat in trajectory
to succeed on Australian wickets, but he took 9/121 by attacking the off stump, the best figures by an English bowler in Australia. New South Wales were out for 342, but had the MCC out for 266. Len Hutton
had made 19 of 20 runs when he was caught on the chin by a bumper from Ginty Lush (0/20) and was taken to hospital, but returned at 172/7 and made 40. Denis Compton
hit 75 while he was away and the NSW bowlers sharing the honours; Lindwall 2/54, Bill Johnston
3/51, Ernie Toshack
3/88 and John Pettiford 2/48. Leading by 76 runs NSW needed quicks runs and made 262/5 in 226 minutes. Morris struck 47, Lukeman 45 and Ronald Kissell 80 not out. Smith took 3/73 to bring his match total to 12/194. Asked to make 347 runs in just over two hours the MCC could only go for a draw and Hutton (72) and Compton (74 not out) took them to 203/3 without much trouble. 23,228 attended the game with £2,103
in receipts.
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
tour of Australia in 1946-47 under the captaincy of Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning his career as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed captain of England...
was its eighth since it took official control of overseas tours in 1907-1908 and the first since the Second World War. The touring team
English cricket team in Australia in 1946-47
The English cricket team in Australia in 1946–47 was captained by Wally Hammond, with Norman Yardley as his vice-captain and Bill Edrich as the senior professional. It played as England in the 1946-47 Ashes series against the Australians and as the MCC in their other matches on the tour...
played as England in the 1946–47 Ashes series
1946–47 Ashes series
The 1946–47 Ashes series consisted of five cricket Test matches, each of six days with five hours play each day and eight ball overs. Unlike pre-war Tests in Australia, matches were not timeless and played to a finish. It formed part of the MCC tour of Australia in 1946–47 and England played its...
against Australia
Australian cricket team in Australia in 1946-47
The 1946-47 Australians defeated the touring England team 3-0 in the 1946-47 Ashes series. First class cricket had continued in Australia until January 1942 and as grade cricket had continued throughout the war there had been less of an hiatus than in England...
, but as the MCC in all other games. In all there were 25 matches; 5 Test matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
(which they lost 3-0), 13 other First Class matches
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
(which they won 1-0) and 7 minor matches (which they won 3-0). Australia had been suffering a drought since 1937, but this ended as it rained in every match the MCC played on tour, including tropical thunderstorms twice in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and again in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. However, this had an adverse effect on the pitches and denied the touring team adequate practice and lead to many draws.
Hammond's ill-equipped army returned to England beaten, yet deserving of the highest honours for their sportsmanshipSportsmanshipSportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors...
, their ability to smile in the face of certain disaster and also for their success in gaining the objective of their invasion - the spreading of cricket goodwill from the Homeland to a DominionDominionA dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century. They have included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland,...
.
- Clif Cary
Clif CaryClif Cary was an Australian cricket reporter of the 1930s and 1940s. He was the "sports editor on the commercial radio network with the largest sports audience in the Commonwealth" and in 1946 he published Test Cricket and Records, "a splendid, authentic and comprehensive history of the many great...
Traveling to Australia
The Stirling Castle was still under the control of War Transport and was equipped more or less as a troopship - no luxury cabins as the case for the teamMCC tour of Australia in 1958–59The Marylebone Cricket Club tour of Australia in 1958-59 under the captaincy of Peter May was its eleventh since it took official control of overseas tours in 1907-1908. The touring team played as England in the 1958-59 Ashes series against Australia, but as the MCC in all other games...
now. Laurie FishlockLaurie FishlockLaurence Barnard "Laurie" Fishlock was an English cricketer, who played in four Tests from 1936 to 1947. A specialist batsman, he achieved little in those four matches, but might have had a much more substantial Test career, had he not lost six of what should have been his best years to World War...
and I shared a cabin so small that we could hardly turn round. The ship was 'dry' and on board were some 700 war brides returning to Australia.
The MCC team left austerity Britain on 31 August 1946 on the SS Stirling Castle and sailed to Australia, arriving in Perth, Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
in September 1946, three weeks before their first scheduled match. They used this time to acclimatise and practice in the nets, but also to put on weight. Having arrived from a country that had had seven years of rationing Australia was a 'land flowing with milk and honey
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
' and Hammond promised his men "the happiest six months of their lives". Everyone in the team put on weight, one "consuming more in one day in Perth than his full weekly ration in London" and the big bowlers Bill Voce
Bill Voce
Bill Voce was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire and England, and was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932–1933.-Life and career:...
and Dick Pollard
Dick Pollard
Richard "Dick" Pollard was an English cricketer born in Westhoughton, Lancashire, who played in four Tests between 1946 and 1948...
adding up to two stone (28 lbs
Pound (mass)
The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
in weight. The team sent home food parcels from each city they visited and in general took an easy time of it. A Saturday Night Club was organised in which the team would don bow-ties in MCC colours and sit down to a full dinner together. Aware that this would affect their mobility in the field physical training was organised, but it was not kept up. In general the atmosphere was that of a holiday, with the feeling that this was a goodwill tour to re-establish cricketing relations ten years after the last tour of Australia, and that a serious cricket would not begin until the 1948 Ashes series
1948 Ashes series
The 1948 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing cricket rivalry between England and Australia. Starting on 10 June 1948, England and Australia played five Tests. Australia had not lost a Test since the Second World War and were strong favourites...
. The English and Australian press praised them for their sporting attitude and dwelt on the batting prowess of Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning his career as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed captain of England...
, Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
, Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
and the bowling abilities of Alec Bedser
Alec Bedser
Sir Alec Victor Bedser, CBE was a professional English cricketer. He was the chairman of selectors for the English national cricket team, and the president of Surrey County Cricket Club...
and Doug Wright
Doug Wright
Doug Wright is an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2004 for his play, I Am My Own Wife.-Early years:Wright was born in Dallas, Texas...
.
Northam and Country Districts vs MCC
A major part of the MCC tour was to fly the flag, promote cricket throughout Australia and earn revenue for the English counties. All these were fulfilled by playing upcountry games against local grade cricketGrade cricket
Grade cricket is the name of the senior inter-club or district cricket competitions in each of the Australian states. The term may refer to:*Brisbane Grade Cricket *South Australian Grade Cricket League*Sydney Grade Cricket...
teams and as these sides were roughly the equivalent to Lancashire League and provided the tourists with valuable practice before taking on the state sides and Australia. Northam
Northam, Western Australia
Northam is a town in Western Australia, situated at the confluence of the Avon and Mortlock Rivers, about north-east of Perth in the Avon Valley. At the 2006 census, Northam had a population of 6,009. Northam is the largest town in the Avon region...
was a small mining town 60 miles inland from Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, but the mine was played out and the local economy was geared to sheep-raising
Sheep husbandry
Sheep husbandry is a subcategory of animal husbandry specifically dealing with the raising and breeding of domestic sheep. Sheep farming is primarily based on raising lambs for meat, or raising sheep for wool. Sheep may also be raised for milk or to sell to other farmers.-Shelter and...
and the team travelled up after regaining their land legs from their voyage. It had been 10 years since the MCC had toured Australia in 1936-37
English cricket team in Australia in 1936-37
The England cricket team toured Australia in the 1936-37 season to play a five-match Test series against Australia for The Ashes. The tour was organised by the Marylebone Cricket Club and matches outside the Tests were played under the MCC name....
, the town was decorated as if for a fête
Fête
Fête is a French word meaning festival, celebration or party, which has passed into English as a label that may be given to certain events.-Description:It is widely used in England and Australia in the context of a village fête,...
and the players were entertained by the locals. The Northam captain won the toss and batted, but his team was soon out as big left-arm fast bowler Bill Voce
Bill Voce
Bill Voce was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire and England, and was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932–1933.-Life and career:...
of Bodyline
Bodyline
Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia, specifically to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's Don Bradman...
fame took 3/11 and Peter Smith
Peter Smith (cricketer)
Peter Smith, was an English cricketer, who played for Essex and England. Smith was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1947. An all-rounder, Smith played for Essex from 1929 to 1951.-Life and career:...
5/55 with his leg-spin. The opener Tetlaw top-scored with 34 and added 44 for the fifth wicket with Lawrence (32). Slater made 26 batting at number 7, but on one else reached double figures and they were out for 123. Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
(51) and Cyril Washbrook
Cyril Washbrook
Cyril Washbrook was an English cricketer, who played for Lancashire and England. He had a long career, split by World War II, and ending when he was aged 44. Washbrook, who is most famous for opening the batting for England with Len Hutton, which he did fifty one times, played a total of 592...
(47) added 93 for the first wicket, then Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
hit 84 with 11 fours and Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning his career as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed captain of England...
131 with 19 fours and 4 sixes before he 'retired out' and declared the innings at 409/6 after tea the next day. This proved sufficient to bowl out the Northam team for 71, Tetlaw (29) again top-scored, but Bill Edrich
Bill Edrich
William John "Bill" Edrich DFC was a distinguished cricketer who played for Middlesex, MCC, Norfolk and England.Edrich's three brothers, Brian, Eric and Geoff, and also his cousin, John, all played first-class cricket...
added figures of 6/20 to his three first innings catches and 38 not out. Smith took 4/18 and the MCC won by an innings and 215 runs inside two days.
Western Australia Colts vs MCC
After the game at Nortam the MCC preceded to PerthPerth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
where Yardley led them in a one day game against the Western Australian Colts, mostly 20 year olds trying to get into the Western Australian team
Western Warriors
The Western Australia cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team representing the state of Western Australia...
. The Colts won the toss and put the MCC into bat. Cyril Washbrook
Cyril Washbrook
Cyril Washbrook was an English cricketer, who played for Lancashire and England. He had a long career, split by World War II, and ending when he was aged 44. Washbrook, who is most famous for opening the batting for England with Len Hutton, which he did fifty one times, played a total of 592...
made 25 before he was lbw to William Alderman, the father of Terry Alderman
Terry Alderman
Terence Michael Alderman is a former Australian cricketer.He began his first-class career in 1974 with Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield and came to international prominence when he was chosen for the Australian national team to tour England in 1981...
. The wicketkeeper Paul Gibb
Paul Gibb
Paul Gibb was an English cricketer, who played in eight Tests for England from 1938 to 1946. He also played first-class cricket for Cambridge University and Yorkshire, mostly as a batsman but occasionally also keeping wicket.Gibb was educated at St Edward's School, Oxford, and played first-class...
opened with Washbrook as Hammond wanted him to bat at number three in the Tests and made 51, adding 63 for the first wicket. Laurie Fishlock
Laurie Fishlock
Laurence Barnard "Laurie" Fishlock was an English cricketer, who played in four Tests from 1936 to 1947. A specialist batsman, he achieved little in those four matches, but might have had a much more substantial Test career, had he not lost six of what should have been his best years to World War...
(50) and Norman Yardley
Norman Yardley
Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler. An amateur, he captained Yorkshire from 1948 to 1955 and England on fourteen occasions between 1947 and 1950,...
(31 not out) added 73 for the fourth wicket and the MCC declared at 197/4. Dick Pollard
Dick Pollard
Richard "Dick" Pollard was an English cricketer born in Westhoughton, Lancashire, who played in four Tests between 1946 and 1948...
and Bill Voce
Bill Voce
Bill Voce was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire and England, and was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932–1933.-Life and career:...
had the Colts 7/2, but they recovered, with Wally Langdon making 48 and though wickets fell steadily they survived the day on 121/6.
Western Australia vs MCC
Western Warriors
The Western Australia cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team representing the state of Western Australia...
were its weakest team (Tasmania
Tasmanian Tigers
The Tasmanian cricket team, nicknamed the Tigers, represents the Australian state of Tasmania in cricket tournaments. They compete annually in the Australian domestic senior men's cricket season, which currently consists of the first-class Sheffield Shield, the limited overs Ford Ranger Cup, and...
was not yet included) and isolated from the rest of Australia, so they provided an easy start for the MCC's round of state matches. The WACA
WACA Ground
The WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association....
Ground would not see a Test match until the 1970-71 Ashes series. George Robinson won the toss for the home side and batted. Herbert Rigg (34) and Allan Edwards (43) made their first class debuts and added 76 for the first wicket. David Watt (85) and Morgan Herbet (53) made 118 for the fifth wicket as Peter Smith
Peter Smith (cricketer)
Peter Smith, was an English cricketer, who played for Essex and England. Smith was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1947. An all-rounder, Smith played for Essex from 1929 to 1951.-Life and career:...
(4/132) and Doug Wright
Doug Wright (cricketer)
Douglas Vivian Parson Wright, better known as Doug Wright was an English cricketer. A leg-spinner for Kent and England from 1932 to 1957 he took a record seven hat-tricks in first class cricket. He played for Kent for 25 years and was their first professional captain from late 1953 to 1956...
(4/55) trundled their way through the batting order. Bill Voce
Bill Voce
Bill Voce was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire and England, and was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932–1933.-Life and career:...
(2/75) picked up a couple of late wickets and Western Australia were out for 366 on the second morning. Gibb and Washbrook opened again, but it was jack Ikin
Jack Ikin
John Thomas Ikin, known as Jack Ikin was an English cricketer, who played in eighteen Tests from 1946 to 1955...
(66) and Joe Hardstaff
Joe Hardstaff junior
Joseph Hardstaff junior was an English cricketer, who played in twenty three Tests for England from 1935 to 1948...
(53) who made the early runs, followed by Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning his career as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed captain of England...
's 208. This was Hammond's 36th double hundred, overtaking Don Bradman's record and this early indication of good form gave the Australians some worries (Bradman retook the record in 1947-48). He added 71 with Norman Yardley
Norman Yardley
Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler. An amateur, he captained Yorkshire from 1948 to 1955 and England on fourteen occasions between 1947 and 1950,...
(31) and 149 with Smith (46) as the MCC made 477 in 478 minutes. Due to the rain this only left 46 minutes for the WA second innings and they made a safe 48/1. 19,500 people watched the game with £1,809
Australian pound
The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...
in receipts.
Western Australia Combined XI vs MCC
...the captain was sarcastic about Denis'sDenis ComptonDenis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
'capering about' outside his crease and rubbed in the point by turning to Jack IkinJack IkinJohn Thomas Ikin, known as Jack Ikin was an English cricketer, who played in eighteen Tests from 1946 to 1955...
and commending him for sticking in his ground. 'Let the ball come to you, that's the way to play out here.' Denis, from whom I had the story, was much deflated - he was, in fact, stumped for 98...The oracleOracleIn Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination....
was listened to with great respect, and his dictum was largely taken up by those who followed him in the England XIs - especially by HuttonLen HuttonSir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
, who was a fine enough technician to play slow bowling without coming out to meet it. To the ordinary mortal it is fatal to so surrender the initiative to slow bowling.
- E.W. Swanton
To help Western Australia play the MCC on more even terms, and show some Australian talent to the Perth crowd Sid Barnes
Sid Barnes
Sidney George Barnes was an Australian cricketer and cricket writer, who played 13 Test matches between 1938 and 1948. Able to open the innings or bat down the order, Barnes was regarded as one of Australia's finest batsmen in the period immediately following the Second World War...
of New South Wales
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
, Ken Meuleman
Ken Meuleman
Kenneth Douglas Meuleman was an Australian cricketer who played in one Test in 1946....
and Ian Johnson
Ian Johnson (cricketer)
Ian William Geddes Johnson CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 45 Test matches as a slow off-break bowler between 1946 and 1956. Johnson captured 109 Test wickets at an average of 29.19 runs per wicket and as a lower order batsman made 1,000 runs at an average of...
of Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
and Bruce Dooland
Bruce Dooland
Bruce Dooland was an Australian cricketer who played in 3 Tests from 1947 to 1948....
of South Australia
Southern Redbacks
The South Australia cricket team, nicknamed the Southern Redbacks and known as the West End Redbacks due to their sponsorship agreement with local brewers West End, are an Australian first class cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia, and represent the state of South Australia...
were sent over to make up a Combined XI. Robinson won the toss again and they made 462 with David Watt making 157. Barnes and Allan Edwards both made 45 and Johnson 87. The MCC bowling looked plain, but Jack Ikin
Jack Ikin
John Thomas Ikin, known as Jack Ikin was an English cricketer, who played in eighteen Tests from 1946 to 1955...
's leg-spin was tested with old fashioned figures of 4/172. From this Hammond concluded that he wasn't a true all-rounder and thereafter used him in the minor games and rarely in the Tests. Every MCC match of the tour was rain-affected and the game finished when the tourists completed their first innings of 308. Cyril Washbrook
Cyril Washbrook
Cyril Washbrook was an English cricketer, who played for Lancashire and England. He had a long career, split by World War II, and ending when he was aged 44. Washbrook, who is most famous for opening the batting for England with Len Hutton, which he did fifty one times, played a total of 592...
(80) and Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
(98) added 123 against the spin of Johnson (3/76) and Dooland (4/88) which they were seeing for the first time; "It was amazing to see Compton occasionally run down the pitch, change his mind, and either play the ball like a baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
bunt, or scamper back to ground his bat in time to get the benefit of the doubt on a stumping appeal". Hammond was scathing of Compton's habit of walking down the wicket to the slow bowlers and his instructions to his batsmen to stay within the crease to the spinners made them play as if nailed to the wicket in the Tests with dire consequences. In fairness Hammond had made many runs in Australia that way, but in 1928-29 when Australia had no decent spinners and Australians themselves are brought up to use their feet against the slow men. 24,500 came to watch the match with receipts of £1,832.
South Australia Country vs MCC
With Norman YardleyNorman Yardley
Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler. An amateur, he captained Yorkshire from 1948 to 1955 and England on fourteen occasions between 1947 and 1950,...
as captain the MCC were taken by train (complete with cow-catcher
Pilot (locomotive)
In railroading, the pilot is the device mounted at the front of a locomotive to deflect obstacles from the track that might otherwise derail the train. In some countries it is also called cowcatcher or cattle catcher....
) to South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
and "a town of rudimentary graces (at least in those days) called Port Pirie where the opposition was terribly bad and very few people even came to watch". Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
(164), Laurie Fishlock
Laurie Fishlock
Laurence Barnard "Laurie" Fishlock was an English cricketer, who played in four Tests from 1936 to 1947. A specialist batsman, he achieved little in those four matches, but might have had a much more substantial Test career, had he not lost six of what should have been his best years to World War...
(98). Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
(100 in 67 minutes) and Joe Hardstaff
Joe Hardstaff junior
Joseph Hardstaff junior was an English cricketer, who played in twenty three Tests for England from 1935 to 1948...
(67 not out) helped themselves to runs in the MCC's 487/6 declared. The Country openers C.V. Wright (32) and J.A.J. Horsell (27) initially held up the bowlers, but once out the remaining wickets were scooped up by Peter Smith
Peter Smith (cricketer)
Peter Smith, was an English cricketer, who played for Essex and England. Smith was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1947. An all-rounder, Smith played for Essex from 1929 to 1951.-Life and career:...
(5/16) and Doug Wright
Doug Wright (cricketer)
Douglas Vivian Parson Wright, better known as Doug Wright was an English cricketer. A leg-spinner for Kent and England from 1932 to 1957 he took a record seven hat-tricks in first class cricket. He played for Kent for 25 years and was their first professional captain from late 1953 to 1956...
(5/40) as they collapsed to 87 all out. Following on C.V. Wright (25) and G.F. Tuck (30) made another stand after Horsell was out for a duck, but they were all out for 92. Only the spinners were used this time Wright (3/38), Smith (3/27) and James Langridge (4/17) in a victory by an innings and 308 runs.
South Australia vs MCC
Alec Bedser
Sir Alec Victor Bedser, CBE was a professional English cricketer. He was the chairman of selectors for the English national cricket team, and the president of Surrey County Cricket Club...
sat in the stands with Bradman's son John, but Hammond won the toss and chose to bat. After the warning not to caper about the wicket at Perth Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
(136) and Cyril Washbrook
Cyril Washbrook
Cyril Washbrook was an English cricketer, who played for Lancashire and England. He had a long career, split by World War II, and ending when he was aged 44. Washbrook, who is most famous for opening the batting for England with Len Hutton, which he did fifty one times, played a total of 592...
(113) spent fives hours adding 235 runs for the first wicket with "the eternal pushing of half-volleys and the gentle nudging of longhops from noon to dark". Against a fairly toothless attack in which Bruce Dooland
Bruce Dooland
Bruce Dooland was an Australian cricketer who played in 3 Tests from 1947 to 1948....
was the best bowler with 3/146 Bill Edrich
Bill Edrich
William John "Bill" Edrich DFC was a distinguished cricketer who played for Middlesex, MCC, Norfolk and England.Edrich's three brothers, Brian, Eric and Geoff, and also his cousin, John, all played first-class cricket...
and Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
both made 71 in a stand of 111 and Norman Yardley
Norman Yardley
Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler. An amateur, he captained Yorkshire from 1948 to 1955 and England on fourteen occasions between 1947 and 1950,...
(54 not out) and Jack Ikin
Jack Ikin
John Thomas Ikin, known as Jack Ikin was an English cricketer, who played in eighteen Tests from 1946 to 1955...
(35 not out) took the score to 506/5 before the declaration at the close of the second day. Bradman came in at 26/2 and after he was dropped by Godfrey Evans
Godfrey Evans
Thomas Godfrey Evans CBE was an English cricketer who played for Kent and England.Described by Wisden as 'arguably the best wicket-keeper the game has ever seen', Evans collected 219 dismissals in 91 Test match appearances between 1946 and 1959 and a total of 1066 in all first-class matches...
played a careful innings of 76. He added 83 with Phil Ridings (57) and 90 with Ron James (58) before he was caught and bowled by Peter Smith
Peter Smith (cricketer)
Peter Smith, was an English cricketer, who played for Essex and England. Smith was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1947. An all-rounder, Smith played for Essex from 1929 to 1951.-Life and career:...
(5/93). The tail collapsed from 199/3 to 262/9 at stumps with James Langridge taking 3/60 and Hammond enforced the follow on when they were dismissed for 266. Reginald Craig made 111 and Bradman only 3, but John Mann helped save the day with 62 not out, adding 92 with Craig and 42 runs with Geff Noblet (25 not out). South Australia avoided an innings defeat with 276/8 and the game was drawn. 42,144 attended with receipts of £3,194
Australian pound
The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...
.
Victoria vs MCC
Lindsay HassettLindsay Hassett
Arthur Lindsay Hassett MBE was a cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. The diminutive Hassett was an elegant middle-order batsman, described by Wisden as, "... a master of nearly every stroke ... his superb timing, nimble footwork and strong wrists enabled him to make batting look a...
's Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
was a tougher proposition, and they would win the Sheffield Shield for the 17th time that season. Yardley won the toss and batted, but they struggled against an attack of near Test strength; Bill Johnston
Bill Johnston (cricketer)
William Arras Johnston was an Australian cricketer who played in forty Test matches from 1947 to 1955. A left arm pace bowler, as well as a left arm orthodox spinner, Johnston was best known as a spearhead of Don Bradman's undefeated 1948 touring team, well known as "The Invincibles"...
, Fred Freer
Fred Freer
Frederick Alfred William Freer was an Australian cricketer who played in one Test in 1946. He was a fast-medium bowler more accuarte than Keith Miller. He was called into the team for the Second Test in Sydney after Ray Lindwall was struck down by chickenpox...
, Ian Johnson
Ian Johnson (cricketer)
Ian William Geddes Johnson CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 45 Test matches as a slow off-break bowler between 1946 and 1956. Johnson captured 109 Test wickets at an average of 29.19 runs per wicket and as a lower order batsman made 1,000 runs at an average of...
George Tribe
George Tribe
George Edward Tribe was an Australian cricketer who played in 3 Tests from 1946 to 1947, as well as an Australian rules footballer with the Footscray Football Club in the VFL....
and Doug Ring
Doug Ring
Douglas Thomas Ring was an Australian cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia in 13 Tests from 1948 to 1953...
. Washbrook was out for a duck, Gibb 22 and Hutton and Hardstaff 15 each, but Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
made 143, added 119 with Norman Yardley
Norman Yardley
Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler. An amateur, he captained Yorkshire from 1948 to 1955 and England on fourteen occasions between 1947 and 1950,...
(70), then carried on batting with the tail. The Victorian bowlers shared the wickets and the MCC were out for 358 early on the second morning. Before stumps Victoria were out for 189 thanks to Bill Voce
Bill Voce
Bill Voce was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire and England, and was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932–1933.-Life and career:...
(3/48) and Doug Wright
Doug Wright (cricketer)
Douglas Vivian Parson Wright, better known as Doug Wright was an English cricketer. A leg-spinner for Kent and England from 1932 to 1957 he took a record seven hat-tricks in first class cricket. He played for Kent for 25 years and was their first professional captain from late 1953 to 1956...
(6/48). Hassett top scored with a stonewalling 57 until he went to Jack Ikin
Jack Ikin
John Thomas Ikin, known as Jack Ikin was an English cricketer, who played in eighteen Tests from 1946 to 1955...
(1/18) and Yardley sent in his batsmen at the end of the day rather than enforce the follow on. Nobody made more than 21 except for Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
with 151 not out "He defended superbly against balls which jumped alarmingly or spun viciously across the wicket, and flayed all that was loose". Johnson took 4/38 and Yardley declared on 279/7, leaving Victoria 449 to win on a dusty pitch. Hassett scored 57 against as did Merv Harvey
Merv Harvey
Mervyn Roye Harvey was a cricketer who played in one Test match for Australia in 1947. His younger brother, Neil, was one of Australia's finest batsmen since the Second World War, and the pair played together for Victoria during the latter part of Merv’s career.Merv Harvey broke into the Victorian...
, but Wright took 4/73 to give him 10 wickets in the match, Alec Bedser
Alec Bedser
Sir Alec Victor Bedser, CBE was a professional English cricketer. He was the chairman of selectors for the English national cricket team, and the president of Surrey County Cricket Club...
3/40 and Hutton even bowled the opener Gordon Tamblyn with his leg-spin. Victoria were out for 204 runs and the MCC won by 224 runs - their only first class victory of the tour. They were helped by the pitch not having fully recovered from the Aussie Rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
season, even though they dropped catches innumerable. 64,322 attended with receipts of £6,176
Australian pound
The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...
Australian XI vs MCC
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
's turn to host two Tests this series, so the match was held in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
as a virtual Test match
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
, though losing the first and fourth days of play to rain dampened the game somewhat. Usually the Australian vice-captain took control, but Bradman needed match practice and took command with Hassett alongside. Many potential Test players were also included; Merv Harvey
Merv Harvey
Mervyn Roye Harvey was a cricketer who played in one Test match for Australia in 1947. His younger brother, Neil, was one of Australia's finest batsmen since the Second World War, and the pair played together for Victoria during the latter part of Merv’s career.Merv Harvey broke into the Victorian...
, Arthur Morris
Arthur Morris
Arthur Robert Morris MBE is a former Australian cricketer who played 46 Test matches between 1946 and 1955. An opener, Morris is regarded as one of Australia's greatest left-handed batsmen. He is best known for his key role in Don Bradman's Invincibles side, which made an undefeated tour of...
, Keith Miller
Keith Miller
Keith Ross Miller MBE was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. Because of his ability, irreverent manner and good looks he was a crowd favourite...
, Colin McCool
Colin McCool
Colin Leslie McCool was an Australian cricketer who played in 14 Tests from 1946 to 1950. McCool, born in Paddington, New South Wales, was an all-rounder who bowled leg spin and googlies with a round arm action and as a lower order batsman was regarded as effective square of the wicket and against...
, Ron Saggers
Ron Saggers
Ronald Arthur Saggers was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales. He played briefly for the Australian team, playing six Tests between 1948 and 1950...
and Fred Freer
Fred Freer
Frederick Alfred William Freer was an Australian cricketer who played in one Test in 1946. He was a fast-medium bowler more accuarte than Keith Miller. He was called into the team for the Second Test in Sydney after Ray Lindwall was struck down by chickenpox...
. Hammond was back in charge and batted after winning the toss. Hutton (71) and Washbrook (57) made an opening stand of 122, but only Hammond (51) passed 30 of the other batsmen and they were out for 314. McCool (7/106) dismissed Hutton, Washbrook, Edrich, Compton, Hammond, Yardley and Voce with his flighted wrist spin
Wrist spin
Wrist spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket. It refers to the cricket technique and specific hand movements associated with imparting a particular direction of spin to the cricket ball...
and "the English batsmen seemed like rabbits fascinated in the presence of a snake". The Australian XI opened with Harvey and Morris, who added 39 before Bradman came in. The Don made 106, Morris 115, they added 196 together and the Australian XI made 327/5 before rain ruined the final day. 84,336 attended (receipts unknown).
New South Wales vs MCC
Sammy Carter
Hanson Carter was a cricketer who played for Australia and New South Wales.-Career:...
, the wicketkeeper of Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Windridge Armstrong was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921 and was undefeated, winning eight Tests and drawing two...
's 1921 Australians who was now a wheelchair user. He had donated £1,000
Australian pound
The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...
to the restoration of the Old Trafford cricket ground which had been bombed during the war and they wished to give him their personal thanks. Hammond won the toss and fielded, seeing Arthur Morris
Arthur Morris
Arthur Robert Morris MBE is a former Australian cricketer who played 46 Test matches between 1946 and 1955. An opener, Morris is regarded as one of Australia's greatest left-handed batsmen. He is best known for his key role in Don Bradman's Invincibles side, which made an undefeated tour of...
make an unbeaten 53 in their 99/4 in the time allowed in between the showers. The second and third days were rained off completely and Morris took his score to 81 not out when Sid Barnes
Sid Barnes
Sidney George Barnes was an Australian cricketer and cricket writer, who played 13 Test matches between 1938 and 1948. Able to open the innings or bat down the order, Barnes was regarded as one of Australia's finest batsmen in the period immediately following the Second World War...
declared. Hutton made a flawless 97 before he was run out after two hours and the MMC ended with 156/2. 22,733 attended with receipts of £2,320
Australian pound
The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...
Queensland vs MCC
People who were praying for water were among those to give the tourists a tremendous BrisbaneBrisbaneBrisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
welcome. Rain had fallen in every match in which the Englishmen had played and the record was maintained until the end of the tour...
- Clif Cary
Clif CaryClif Cary was an Australian cricket reporter of the 1930s and 1940s. He was the "sports editor on the commercial radio network with the largest sports audience in the Commonwealth" and in 1946 he published Test Cricket and Records, "a splendid, authentic and comprehensive history of the many great...
In the last match before the First Test the Queensland captain Don Tallon
Don Tallon
Donald "Don" Tallon was an Australian cricketer who played 21 Test matches as a wicket-keeper between 1946 and 1953...
won the toss and batted. Rex Rogers (66) and Geoff Cook (who carried his bat for 169) put on 111 for the first wicket and Allan Young made 53, but no one else made 30 and they were out for 400. Norman Yardley
Norman Yardley
Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler. An amateur, he captained Yorkshire from 1948 to 1955 and England on fourteen occasions between 1947 and 1950,...
, barely recognised as a change bowler by Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
, took 3/19; "It was always amusing to watch the Englishmen when Yardley took a wicket. The first time he succeeded they seemed faintly amused, but when he was regularly breaking partnerships their enthusiasm knew no bounds..." The MCC made a pedestrian reply with 9 batsmen getting into double figures, but only passing 50. Hutton (42) and Washbrook (40) made 65 together, Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
55 and Bill Edrich
Bill Edrich
William John "Bill" Edrich DFC was a distinguished cricketer who played for Middlesex, MCC, Norfolk and England.Edrich's three brothers, Brian, Eric and Geoff, and also his cousin, John, all played first-class cricket...
64 not out. Ian Johnson
Ian Johnson (cricketer)
Ian William Geddes Johnson CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 45 Test matches as a slow off-break bowler between 1946 and 1956. Johnson captured 109 Test wickets at an average of 29.19 runs per wicket and as a lower order batsman made 1,000 runs at an average of...
opened the bowling with 4/53 and Colin McCool
Colin McCool
Colin Leslie McCool was an Australian cricketer who played in 14 Tests from 1946 to 1950. McCool, born in Paddington, New South Wales, was an all-rounder who bowled leg spin and googlies with a round arm action and as a lower order batsman was regarded as effective square of the wicket and against...
took 6/105 (Hutton, Washbrook, Gibb, Hammond, Yardley and Bedser) and the tourists were out for 310. Queensland batted for a declaration hitting 230/6 in 177 minutes, Ken Mackay
Ken Mackay
Kenneth Donald Mackay was an Australian cricketer who played in 37 Tests from 1956 to 1963....
sticking in for 33 not out while Len Johnson hit 75 at the other end. Needing 321 to win in 224 minutes the MCC went for a draw. Cyril Washbrook
Cyril Washbrook
Cyril Washbrook was an English cricketer, who played for Lancashire and England. He had a long career, split by World War II, and ending when he was aged 44. Washbrook, who is most famous for opening the batting for England with Len Hutton, which he did fifty one times, played a total of 592...
made 124 and helped by Edrich (71) in a stand of 162 for the second wicket this was done with few problems, though McCool (3/73) took three late wickets (Washbrook, Ikin and Compton) to leave them 238/6.
First Test – Brisbane
See Main Article - 1946–47 Ashes seriesQueensland Country vs MCC
The team travelled 160 miles north after the disastrous First Test to play at GympieGympie
Gympie may refer to:* Gympie, a city in Queensland, Australia** Gympie Airport** Electoral district of Gympie** Gympie Region, its local government authority* Gympie Gympie , a stinging plant...
. The Queensland Country XI Thomas Allen won the toss and batted. Allen himself top-scored with 53, with Len Johnson making 40 and Herbert Zischke 32. Peter Smith
Peter Smith (cricketer)
Peter Smith, was an English cricketer, who played for Essex and England. Smith was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1947. An all-rounder, Smith played for Essex from 1929 to 1951.-Life and career:...
proved useful in another minor game and took 5/80 as the home side were dismissed for 208. The reserve openers Paul Gibb
Paul Gibb
Paul Gibb was an English cricketer, who played in eight Tests for England from 1938 to 1946. He also played first-class cricket for Cambridge University and Yorkshire, mostly as a batsman but occasionally also keeping wicket.Gibb was educated at St Edward's School, Oxford, and played first-class...
(31) and Laurie Fishlock
Laurie Fishlock
Laurence Barnard "Laurie" Fishlock was an English cricketer, who played in four Tests from 1936 to 1947. A specialist batsman, he achieved little in those four matches, but might have had a much more substantial Test career, had he not lost six of what should have been his best years to World War...
(62) made an opening stand of 82, Joe Hardstaff
Joe Hardstaff junior
Joseph Hardstaff junior was an English cricketer, who played in twenty three Tests for England from 1935 to 1948...
stroked his way to 64 and the all rounder James Langridge 42. The local fast bowler Tim Ball took 5/69 and Len Johnson 3/51 as the MCC were out for 282, but the leg-breaks of Don Tallon
Don Tallon
Donald "Don" Tallon was an Australian cricketer who played 21 Test matches as a wicket-keeper between 1946 and 1953...
's brother Bill was hit for 0/73. Back in to bat the Queensland XI made a solid 311/9 with James Cockburn (41), Tim Allen (40), Colin Stribe (75) and Keith Gartell (52 not out) seeing out the draw.
Second Test – Sydney
See Main Article - 1946–47 Ashes seriesNorthern New South Wales vs MCC
After losing their second Test by an innings the MCC went north to the industrial town of NewcastleNewcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
for the first of four minor games before the Third Test at Melbourne. This one was against the combined grade sides of Northern New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning his career as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed captain of England...
was captain, and struck 142 in the MCC's 395, with Laurie Fishlock
Laurie Fishlock
Laurence Barnard "Laurie" Fishlock was an English cricketer, who played in four Tests from 1936 to 1947. A specialist batsman, he achieved little in those four matches, but might have had a much more substantial Test career, had he not lost six of what should have been his best years to World War...
making 110, Bill Edrich
Bill Edrich
William John "Bill" Edrich DFC was a distinguished cricketer who played for Middlesex, MCC, Norfolk and England.Edrich's three brothers, Brian, Eric and Geoff, and also his cousin, John, all played first-class cricket...
59 not out and Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
42 with Hinman taking 5/92. Hinman opened the batting with 46, the top-score in their reply of 202 as Bill Voce
Bill Voce
Bill Voce was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire and England, and was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932–1933.-Life and career:...
took 4/45, with Dick Pollard
Dick Pollard
Richard "Dick" Pollard was an English cricketer born in Westhoughton, Lancashire, who played in four Tests between 1946 and 1948...
(2/62), James Langridge (2/46) and even Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
(2/4) helping out. The MCC batted again, but Pickles took 4/29 to dismiss Hutton (5), Washbrook (9), Fishlock (0) and Langridge (0), but Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
made 75 not out and Hammond 30 not out coming in at number 8 as they finished on 146/6 in another draw.
Southern New South Wales vs MCC
The team travelled to the Australian Capital TerritoryAustralian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
for another two day game in Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
against the combined grade teams of South New South Wales. Hammond captained against, won the toss and batted. Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
and Cyril Washbrook
Cyril Washbrook
Cyril Washbrook was an English cricketer, who played for Lancashire and England. He had a long career, split by World War II, and ending when he was aged 44. Washbrook, who is most famous for opening the batting for England with Len Hutton, which he did fifty one times, played a total of 592...
made hay with 133 and 115 in an opening knock of 254, Hammond made 42 and Compton 76 as the MCC made 465/8 on the first day. The second day was ruined by rain, which was fortunate for Southern NSW as Hammond declared his overnight score and they collapsed to 11/4 to Dick Pollard
Dick Pollard
Richard "Dick" Pollard was an English cricketer born in Westhoughton, Lancashire, who played in four Tests between 1946 and 1948...
's 4/2.
Victoria Country vs MCC
The MCC continued south into Victoria for another Country XI game, this time a one day knockabout. The local team batted first and the off-spinner Peter SmithPeter Smith (cricketer)
Peter Smith, was an English cricketer, who played for Essex and England. Smith was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1947. An all-rounder, Smith played for Essex from 1929 to 1951.-Life and career:...
took another useful 6/43. Smith was ill during much of the tour and proved too slow in the air for first class cricket in Australia, so was used in the minor games to rest other players. Gibb (49) and Fishlock (41) opened again and Bill Edrich
Bill Edrich
William John "Bill" Edrich DFC was a distinguished cricketer who played for Middlesex, MCC, Norfolk and England.Edrich's three brothers, Brian, Eric and Geoff, and also his cousin, John, all played first-class cricket...
made 62 as they passed the Victorian Country XI total of 156 for a four wicket win, but carried on batting to 200/4, when Edrich was out, in order to gather some batting practice.
Third Test – Melbourne
See Main Article - 1946–47 Ashes seriesTasmania Combined XI vs MCC
Social successes are one of the causes of their cricket failure. They are not always going to bed early in the Tests. Some are known to have reached their hotels long after the Australians have been tucked up for the night. There are tourists who do not give the impression that cricket is their main consideration.
- Clif Cary
Clif CaryClif Cary was an Australian cricket reporter of the 1930s and 1940s. He was the "sports editor on the commercial radio network with the largest sports audience in the Commonwealth" and in 1946 he published Test Cricket and Records, "a splendid, authentic and comprehensive history of the many great...
, Sunday ExpressDaily ExpressThe Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
Like Western Australia
Western Warriors
The Western Australia cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team representing the state of Western Australia...
Tasmania
Tasmanian Tigers
The Tasmanian cricket team, nicknamed the Tigers, represents the Australian state of Tasmania in cricket tournaments. They compete annually in the Australian domestic senior men's cricket season, which currently consists of the first-class Sheffield Shield, the limited overs Ford Ranger Cup, and...
were a weak side and they were sent some help from the mainland to play the MCC and showcase the talents of some star players; Lindsay Hassett
Lindsay Hassett
Arthur Lindsay Hassett MBE was a cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. The diminutive Hassett was an elegant middle-order batsman, described by Wisden as, "... a master of nearly every stroke ... his superb timing, nimble footwork and strong wrists enabled him to make batting look a...
, Keith Miller
Keith Miller
Keith Ross Miller MBE was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. Because of his ability, irreverent manner and good looks he was a crowd favourite...
and Ian Johnson
Ian Johnson (cricketer)
Ian William Geddes Johnson CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 45 Test matches as a slow off-break bowler between 1946 and 1956. Johnson captured 109 Test wickets at an average of 29.19 runs per wicket and as a lower order batsman made 1,000 runs at an average of...
of Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
and Sid Barnes
Sid Barnes
Sidney George Barnes was an Australian cricketer and cricket writer, who played 13 Test matches between 1938 and 1948. Able to open the innings or bat down the order, Barnes was regarded as one of Australia's finest batsmen in the period immediately following the Second World War...
of New South Wales
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
. Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning his career as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed captain of England...
preferred to stay in Melbourne, which was seen as a slight to the state, while his overworked bowlers had to go. Major Howard replied that Hammond was badly in need of a rest and that Wright and Bedser were given to option of resting in Melbourne, but chose to go to Tasmania. When Hammond was unable to play in the Fifth Test it was thought that it was illness that kept him in Melbourne. Norman Yardley
Norman Yardley
Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler. An amateur, he captained Yorkshire from 1948 to 1955 and England on fourteen occasions between 1947 and 1950,...
won the toss and batted, the MCC making 278 on the first day. Laurie Fishlock
Laurie Fishlock
Laurence Barnard "Laurie" Fishlock was an English cricketer, who played in four Tests from 1936 to 1947. A specialist batsman, he achieved little in those four matches, but might have had a much more substantial Test career, had he not lost six of what should have been his best years to World War...
held the early innings together with 52 as they crashed to 53/4 with Bill Edrich
Bill Edrich
William John "Bill" Edrich DFC was a distinguished cricketer who played for Middlesex, MCC, Norfolk and England.Edrich's three brothers, Brian, Eric and Geoff, and also his cousin, John, all played first-class cricket...
(82), Alec Bedser
Alec Bedser
Sir Alec Victor Bedser, CBE was a professional English cricketer. He was the chairman of selectors for the English national cricket team, and the president of Surrey County Cricket Club...
(51) - his first first class 50 - and Godfrey Evans
Godfrey Evans
Thomas Godfrey Evans CBE was an English cricketer who played for Kent and England.Described by Wisden as 'arguably the best wicket-keeper the game has ever seen', Evans collected 219 dismissals in 91 Test match appearances between 1946 and 1959 and a total of 1066 in all first-class matches...
(34) hoisting up the lower order. They were asked to restrain themselves from hitting sixes due to the glass shortage, but the Tasmanian captain Ron Morrisby was not asked and the opener Ron Thomas twice lifted Dick Pollard
Dick Pollard
Richard "Dick" Pollard was an English cricketer born in Westhoughton, Lancashire, who played in four Tests between 1946 and 1948...
over the ropes in his innings of 16 at the end of the day, though no windows were broken. Morrisby was also out for 16, but Barnes made 57, Hassett 35 and Miller 70 with teh wicketkeeper hitting 94 batting at number 9. Pollard was hit for 2/124 off 20 overs and the Combined XI hit 374 in 250 minutes. Coming in 96 runs behind on the first innings Fishlock (46) and Hardstaff (60) added 91 for the second wicket, then Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
struck 124, his first innings of not since the start of the tour. Jack Ikin
Jack Ikin
John Thomas Ikin, known as Jack Ikin was an English cricketer, who played in eighteen Tests from 1946 to 1955...
(50) helped him add 168 for the fourth wicket and Yardley declared on 353/9. The task of making 258 runs in under two hours was not seriously attempted, but Ian Johnson came in at number three and hit an unbeaten 80 out of 145/2.
Australian pound
The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...
in receipts.
Tasmania vs MCC
Some of the oldest grade clubs in Australia are in TasmaniaTasmanian Tigers
The Tasmanian cricket team, nicknamed the Tigers, represents the Australian state of Tasmania in cricket tournaments. They compete annually in the Australian domestic senior men's cricket season, which currently consists of the first-class Sheffield Shield, the limited overs Ford Ranger Cup, and...
, but it was a weak state side that would not fully complete in the Sheffield Shield for another 25 years. With the Australian Test players returning home the MCC ran up 361/3 on the first day after winning the toss. Hutton gave a sound start with 51, but Joe Hardstaff
Joe Hardstaff junior
Joseph Hardstaff junior was an English cricketer, who played in twenty three Tests for England from 1935 to 1948...
(155) and Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
(163) stroked their way though a stand of 282. The second day was rain-affected and Yardley declared at 467/5 to give him the chance of dismissing Tasmania twice in a day. Bill Voce
Bill Voce
Bill Voce was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire and England, and was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932–1933.-Life and career:...
(2/7), Bill Edrich
Bill Edrich
William John "Bill" Edrich DFC was a distinguished cricketer who played for Middlesex, MCC, Norfolk and England.Edrich's three brothers, Brian, Eric and Geoff, and also his cousin, John, all played first-class cricket...
(4/26) and Jack Ikin
Jack Ikin
John Thomas Ikin, known as Jack Ikin was an English cricketer, who played in eighteen Tests from 1946 to 1955...
(3/17) ran through their first innings and only Julian Murflett's 46 not out from number 9 brought them up from 49/8 to 103 all out. Following on Tasmania lost regular wickets to Compton (4/51), but ensured a draw with 129/6. 10,290 attended the game with £1,176
Australian pound
The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...
in receipts.
South Australia vs MCC
For Hammond there was one highlight in a season of disasters...he became the seventh man in cricket history to register an aggregate of more than 50,000 runs in first-class games. Hammond reached his goal in his 992nd innings, and for some time afterwards he was kept busy answering congratulatory letters, telegrams, and cables from admirers in all parts of the world.
- Clif Cary
Clif CaryClif Cary was an Australian cricket reporter of the 1930s and 1940s. He was the "sports editor on the commercial radio network with the largest sports audience in the Commonwealth" and in 1946 he published Test Cricket and Records, "a splendid, authentic and comprehensive history of the many great...
Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning his career as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed captain of England...
rejoined the team at Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
for the return match against South Australia. He chose to bat on a slow pitch and the MCC batted into the third day for 577. Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
led the way with 88, Laurie Fishlock
Laurie Fishlock
Laurence Barnard "Laurie" Fishlock was an English cricketer, who played in four Tests from 1936 to 1947. A specialist batsman, he achieved little in those four matches, but might have had a much more substantial Test career, had he not lost six of what should have been his best years to World War...
made 57, but the highlight was the captain's 167th first class century of 188 which made him the seventh man to make 50,000 first class runs after W.G. Grace, Jack Hobbs
Jack Hobbs
Sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....
, Phil Mead
Phil Mead
Charles Phillip Mead was a left-handed batsman for Hampshire and England between 1905 and 1936. He was born at 10 Ashton Buildings , second eldest of seven children...
, Frank Woolley
Frank Woolley
Frank Edward Woolley was an English cricketer, one of the finest all-rounders the game has seen. In a career lasting more than thirty years, he scored more first-class runs than anyone but Sir Jack Hobbs, and took over 2,000 wickets at an average of under 20...
, Patsy Hendren
Patsy Hendren
Elias Henry Hendren better known as Patsy Hendren was an English cricketer. Patsy was one of the most prolific English batsmen of the period between the wars, averaging 47.63 in his 51 Test matches...
and Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the two World Wars...
. before these milestones even loyal England supporters had been calling for him to be dropped from the team because of his poor form, and to allow Norman Yardley
Norman Yardley
Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler. An amateur, he captained Yorkshire from 1948 to 1955 and England on fourteen occasions between 1947 and 1950,...
to captain England. Hammond added 243 with James Langridge (100) and only Bruce Dooland
Bruce Dooland
Bruce Dooland was an Australian cricketer who played in 3 Tests from 1947 to 1948....
returned respectable figures with 4/67 off 33/7 overs. Doug Wright
Doug Wright (cricketer)
Douglas Vivian Parson Wright, better known as Doug Wright was an English cricketer. A leg-spinner for Kent and England from 1932 to 1957 he took a record seven hat-tricks in first class cricket. He played for Kent for 25 years and was their first professional captain from late 1953 to 1956...
(3/90) dismissed Reginald Craig and Don Bradman for 26/2, but South Australia responded well with 443, Paul Ridings making 77, Ron Hamance 145 and Ron James 85. Bill Voce
Bill Voce
Bill Voce was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire and England, and was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932–1933.-Life and career:...
bowled manfully for 4/125, but the surprise was Hardstaff who snapped up 3/24 with his medium-pacers on a wicket which started to break up late on the second day. With only two hours left Hutton put in some batting practice with 77 not out and Hardstaff 40 not out, but Washbrook was out for a duck. It was hoped that a similar wicket in the forthcoming Fourth Test would aid Wright, but the over-prepared Test pitch was "as dead as Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
" and it was thought that the MCC pitch had been neglected as a result. 34,068 attended the game with £2,950
Australian pound
The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...
in receipts.
Fourth Test – Adelaide
See Main Article - 1946–47 Ashes seriesVictoria Country vs MCC
After the drawn Fourth Test Hammond took the MCC to the famous Victorian gold rushVictorian gold rush
The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...
town Ballarat, which was at the start of a post-war boom. The Victorian Country XI batted first and made an impressive 268 even though only Douglas Brown (64) exceeded 40. Bill Voce
Bill Voce
Bill Voce was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire and England, and was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932–1933.-Life and career:...
took 3/28 and Peter Smith
Peter Smith (cricketer)
Peter Smith, was an English cricketer, who played for Essex and England. Smith was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1947. An all-rounder, Smith played for Essex from 1929 to 1951.-Life and career:...
3/70. The local fast bowler Robert McArthur (2/70) soon had Fishlock and Edrich out for ducks and the opener-wicketkeeper Paul Gibb
Paul Gibb
Paul Gibb was an English cricketer, who played in eight Tests for England from 1938 to 1946. He also played first-class cricket for Cambridge University and Yorkshire, mostly as a batsman but occasionally also keeping wicket.Gibb was educated at St Edward's School, Oxford, and played first-class...
had to fight back with 69. Plummer took 4/68 and the MCC only overtook the Country team by 20 runs thanks to Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
(61) and Godfrey Evans
Godfrey Evans
Thomas Godfrey Evans CBE was an English cricketer who played for Kent and England.Described by Wisden as 'arguably the best wicket-keeper the game has ever seen', Evans collected 219 dismissals in 91 Test match appearances between 1946 and 1959 and a total of 1066 in all first-class matches...
(82). Hammond could not bat due to his fibrosis
Fibrosis
Fibrosis is the formation of excess fibrous connective tissue in an organ or tissue in a reparative or reactive process. This is as opposed to formation of fibrous tissue as a normal constituent of an organ or tissue...
, which made him unfit for the Fifth Test. Dick Pollard
Dick Pollard
Richard "Dick" Pollard was an English cricketer born in Westhoughton, Lancashire, who played in four Tests between 1946 and 1948...
(2/7) took two quick wickets and Smith (2/10) another couple, but the match was drawn with the local team 70/5 at the end of the second day.
Victoria vs MCC
He played the ball in the middle of the bat for an over or two. Then he commenced to make strokes. He glanced Pollard for four. He hooked Wright to the fence...All young Harvey's strokes were true. He placed his off and on drives past the fieldsmen...Jack Ryder, was deeply impressed. TrumperVictor TrumperVictor Thomas Trumper was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found unplayable. Archie MacLaren said of him, "Compared to Victor I was a cab-horse to a Derby...
, Clem HillClem HillClement "Clem" Hill was an Australian cricketer who played 49 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1896 and 1912. He captained the Australian team in ten Tests, winning five and losing five...
, Macartney, Bradman, JacksonArchie JacksonArchibald "Archie" Jackson , occasionally known as Archibald Alexander Jackson, was an Australian cricketer who played eight Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1929 and 1931. A teenage prodigy, he played first grade cricket at only 15 years of age and was selected for New South Wales at 17...
were in their teens when they played their first Test. Neil HarveyNeil HarveyRobert Neil Harvey MBE is a former Australian cricketer who represented the Australian cricket team between 1948 and 1963, playing in 79 Test matches. He was the vice-captain of the team from 1957 until his retirement...
has excellent prospects of joining their company.
- Clif Cary
Clif CaryClif Cary was an Australian cricket reporter of the 1930s and 1940s. He was the "sports editor on the commercial radio network with the largest sports audience in the Commonwealth" and in 1946 he published Test Cricket and Records, "a splendid, authentic and comprehensive history of the many great...
With Hammond ill Norman Yardley
Norman Yardley
Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler. An amateur, he captained Yorkshire from 1948 to 1955 and England on fourteen occasions between 1947 and 1950,...
led the team in the return match against Victoria. He won the toss and batted with the MCC making 355. Laurie Fishlock
Laurie Fishlock
Laurence Barnard "Laurie" Fishlock was an English cricketer, who played in four Tests from 1936 to 1947. A specialist batsman, he achieved little in those four matches, but might have had a much more substantial Test career, had he not lost six of what should have been his best years to World War...
made 51, Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
93, Jack Ikin
Jack Ikin
John Thomas Ikin, known as Jack Ikin was an English cricketer, who played in eighteen Tests from 1946 to 1955...
71 and Godfrey Evans
Godfrey Evans
Thomas Godfrey Evans CBE was an English cricketer who played for Kent and England.Described by Wisden as 'arguably the best wicket-keeper the game has ever seen', Evans collected 219 dismissals in 91 Test match appearances between 1946 and 1959 and a total of 1066 in all first-class matches...
41, with Keith Miller
Keith Miller
Keith Ross Miller MBE was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. Because of his ability, irreverent manner and good looks he was a crowd favourite...
taking 4/63 and the Chinamen
Left-arm unorthodox spin
Left-arm unorthodox spin, or chinaman, is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket using the hand wrist. Left-arm unorthodox spin bowlers use a wrist hand action to spin the ball which turns from off to leg side of the cricket pitch...
of George Tribe
George Tribe
George Edward Tribe was an Australian cricketer who played in 3 Tests from 1946 to 1947, as well as an Australian rules footballer with the Footscray Football Club in the VFL....
going for 3/142. Victoria were in trouble at 32/3, but captain Lindsay Hassett
Lindsay Hassett
Arthur Lindsay Hassett MBE was a cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. The diminutive Hassett was an elegant middle-order batsman, described by Wisden as, "... a master of nearly every stroke ... his superb timing, nimble footwork and strong wrists enabled him to make batting look a...
(126) added 120 runs in 120 minutes with the 18 year old Neil Harvey
Neil Harvey
Robert Neil Harvey MBE is a former Australian cricketer who represented the Australian cricket team between 1948 and 1963, playing in 79 Test matches. He was the vice-captain of the team from 1957 until his retirement...
(69). Tribe his 60 coming in at number 9 and added 57 for the last wicket with the wicketkeeper Bill Baker to take Victoria to 327. Batting again the tourists floundered to Tribe whose 6/49 cleared them up for 118, leaving the home side 151 to win, but there was no time and the game ended with the MCC innings. 39,011 attended the game with £3,578
Australian pound
The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...
in receipts.
New South Wales vs MCC
In their penultimate match of the Australian tour the MCC returned to Sydney. Ginty Lush won the toss and batted. Keith CarmodyKeith Carmody
Douglas Keith Carmody was an Australian first class cricketer who played during the 1940s and 1950s.He was Western Australia's captain when they won their first ever Sheffield Shield and is credited as being the inventor of the 'umbrella field'.Born in Mosman, Carmody started his career with New...
(65) and Arthur Morris
Arthur Morris
Arthur Robert Morris MBE is a former Australian cricketer who played 46 Test matches between 1946 and 1955. An opener, Morris is regarded as one of Australia's greatest left-handed batsmen. He is best known for his key role in Don Bradman's Invincibles side, which made an undefeated tour of...
(44) made an opening partnership of 78, Sid Barnes
Sid Barnes
Sidney George Barnes was an Australian cricketer and cricket writer, who played 13 Test matches between 1938 and 1948. Able to open the innings or bat down the order, Barnes was regarded as one of Australia's finest batsmen in the period immediately following the Second World War...
also made 44, Eric Lukeman 70 and Ray Lindwall
Ray Lindwall
Raymond Russell Lindwall MBE was a cricketer who represented Australia in 61 Tests from 1946 to 1960. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time. He also played top-flight rugby league football with St...
45, but the most notable performance was by Peter Smith
Peter Smith (cricketer)
Peter Smith, was an English cricketer, who played for Essex and England. Smith was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1947. An all-rounder, Smith played for Essex from 1929 to 1951.-Life and career:...
. Smith had suffered a hand injury en route to Australia, was in hospital for weeks with appendicitis
Appendicitis
Appendicitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the appendix. It is classified as a medical emergency and many cases require removal of the inflamed appendix, either by laparotomy or laparoscopy. Untreated, mortality is high, mainly because of the risk of rupture leading to...
and was considered too slow in the air and flat in trajectory
Trajectory
A trajectory is the path that a moving object follows through space as a function of time. The object might be a projectile or a satellite, for example. It thus includes the meaning of orbit—the path of a planet, an asteroid or a comet as it travels around a central mass...
to succeed on Australian wickets, but he took 9/121 by attacking the off stump, the best figures by an English bowler in Australia. New South Wales were out for 342, but had the MCC out for 266. Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
had made 19 of 20 runs when he was caught on the chin by a bumper from Ginty Lush (0/20) and was taken to hospital, but returned at 172/7 and made 40. Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
hit 75 while he was away and the NSW bowlers sharing the honours; Lindwall 2/54, Bill Johnston
Bill Johnston (cricketer)
William Arras Johnston was an Australian cricketer who played in forty Test matches from 1947 to 1955. A left arm pace bowler, as well as a left arm orthodox spinner, Johnston was best known as a spearhead of Don Bradman's undefeated 1948 touring team, well known as "The Invincibles"...
3/51, Ernie Toshack
Ernie Toshack
Ernest Raymond Herbert Toshack was an Australian cricketer who played in 12 Tests from 1946 to 1948. A left arm medium paced bowler who was known for his accuracy and stamina in his application of leg theory, Toshack was best known for being as member of Don Bradman's Invincibles that toured...
3/88 and John Pettiford 2/48. Leading by 76 runs NSW needed quicks runs and made 262/5 in 226 minutes. Morris struck 47, Lukeman 45 and Ronald Kissell 80 not out. Smith took 3/73 to bring his match total to 12/194. Asked to make 347 runs in just over two hours the MCC could only go for a draw and Hutton (72) and Compton (74 not out) took them to 203/3 without much trouble. 23,228 attended the game with £2,103
Australian pound
The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...
in receipts.
Fifth Test – Sydney
See Main Article - 1946–47 Ashes seriesFirst Class Tour Averages
Source As was the convention of the time gentleman amateurs have their initials in front of their surname and professional players have their initials after their name, if used at all.| Tour Batting Averages | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Batting Position | Matches | Innings | Not Out | Runs | Highest Score | Average | 100s | 50s | Ct Caught Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in the sport of cricket. Being caught out is the most common method of dismissal at higher levels of competition... | St |
| Hutton, L. Len Hutton Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket... |
Yorkshire Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure.... |
Right-Hand Opening Batsman Batting order (cricket) In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time... |
14 | 21 | 3 | 1267 | 151* Not out In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress... |
70.38 | 3 | 8 | 5 | |
| Compton, D.C.S. Denis Compton Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer... |
Middlesex Middlesex County Cricket Club Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the... |
Right-Hand Top Order Batsman Batting order (cricket) In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time... |
15 | 25 | 3 | 1432 | 163 | 65.09 | 5 | 8 | 9 | |
| Langridge, J. | Sussex Sussex County Cricket Club Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a... |
Right-Hand Middle Order Batsman Batting order (cricket) In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time... |
4 | 3 | 1 | 130 | 100 | 65.00 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Edrich, W.J. Bill Edrich William John "Bill" Edrich DFC was a distinguished cricketer who played for Middlesex, MCC, Norfolk and England.Edrich's three brothers, Brian, Eric and Geoff, and also his cousin, John, all played first-class cricket... |
Middlesex Middlesex County Cricket Club Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the... |
Right-Hand Top Order Batsman Batting order (cricket) In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time... |
14 | 21 | 2 | 881 | 119 | 46.36 | 1 | 7 | 9 | |
| W.R. Hammond Wally Hammond Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning his career as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed captain of England... (c) Captain (cricket) The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player... |
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire County Cricket Club Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators.... |
Right-Hand Top Order Batsman Batting order (cricket) In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time... |
10 | 14 | 633 | 208 | 45.21 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ||
| Washbrooke, C. Cyril Washbrook Cyril Washbrook was an English cricketer, who played for Lancashire and England. He had a long career, split by World War II, and ending when he was aged 44. Washbrook, who is most famous for opening the batting for England with Len Hutton, which he did fifty one times, played a total of 592... |
Lancashire Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then... |
Right-Hand Opening Batsman Batting order (cricket) In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time... |
15 | 25 | 891 | 124 | 35.64 | 3 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Hardstaff, J. Joe Hardstaff junior Joseph Hardstaff junior was an English cricketer, who played in twenty three Tests for England from 1935 to 1948... |
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws... |
Right-Hand Top Order Batsman Batting order (cricket) In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time... |
16 | 28 | 3 | 850 | 110 | 34.00 | 1 | 6 | 5 | |
| N.W.D. Yardley Norman Yardley Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler. An amateur, he captained Yorkshire from 1948 to 1955 and England on fourteen occasions between 1947 and 1950,... (vc) Captain (cricket) The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player... |
Yorkshire Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure.... |
Right-Hand Middle Order Batsman Batting order (cricket) In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time... |
16 | 23 | 4 | 614 | 70 | 32.31 | 5 | 9 | ||
| Ikin, J.T. Jack Ikin John Thomas Ikin, known as Jack Ikin was an English cricketer, who played in eighteen Tests from 1946 to 1955... |
Lancashire Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then... |
Right-Hand Top Order Batsman Batting order (cricket) In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time... |
16 | 24 | 3 | 590 | 71 | 28.09 | 4 | 17 | ||
| Fishlock, L.B. Laurie Fishlock Laurence Barnard "Laurie" Fishlock was an English cricketer, who played in four Tests from 1936 to 1947. A specialist batsman, he achieved little in those four matches, but might have had a much more substantial Test career, had he not lost six of what should have been his best years to World War... |
Surrey Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions... |
Left-Hand Opening Batsman Batting order (cricket) In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time... |
7 | 12 | 1 | 299 | 57 | 27.18 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Evans, T.G. Godfrey Evans Thomas Godfrey Evans CBE was an English cricketer who played for Kent and England.Described by Wisden as 'arguably the best wicket-keeper the game has ever seen', Evans collected 219 dismissals in 91 Test match appearances between 1946 and 1959 and a total of 1066 in all first-class matches... (wk) Wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike... |
Kent Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent... |
Right-Hand Middle Order Batsman Batting order (cricket) In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time... |
12 | 16 | 5 | 224 | 41* Not out In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress... |
20.36 | 22 | 4 | ||
| Smith, T.P.B. Peter Smith (cricketer) Peter Smith, was an English cricketer, who played for Essex and England. Smith was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1947. An all-rounder, Smith played for Essex from 1929 to 1951.-Life and career:... |
Essex Essex County Cricket Club Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games... |
Right-Hand Middle Order Batsman Batting order (cricket) In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time... |
7 | 8 | 154 | 46 | 19.25 | 5 | ||||
| P.A. Gibb Paul Gibb Paul Gibb was an English cricketer, who played in eight Tests for England from 1938 to 1946. He also played first-class cricket for Cambridge University and Yorkshire, mostly as a batsman but occasionally also keeping wicket.Gibb was educated at St Edward's School, Oxford, and played first-class... (wk) Wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike... |
Yorkshire Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure.... |
Right-Hand Middle Order Batsman Batting order (cricket) In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time... |
9 | 14 | 1 | 199 | 37* Not out In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress... |
15.30 | 10 | 1 | ||
| Bedser, A.V. Alec Bedser Sir Alec Victor Bedser, CBE was a professional English cricketer. He was the chairman of selectors for the English national cricket team, and the president of Surrey County Cricket Club... |
Surrey Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions... |
Right-Hand Lower Order Batsman Batting order (cricket) In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time... |
11 | 17 | 3 | 214 | 51 | 15.28 | 6 | |||
| Voce, W. Bill Voce Bill Voce was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire and England, and was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932–1933.-Life and career:... |
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws... |
Right-Hand Lower Order Batsman Batting order (cricket) In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time... |
8 | 9 | 1 | 116 | 28 | 14.50 | 3 | |||
| Pollard, R. Dick Pollard Richard "Dick" Pollard was an English cricketer born in Westhoughton, Lancashire, who played in four Tests between 1946 and 1948... |
Lancashire Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then... |
Right-Hand Lower Order Batsman Batting order (cricket) In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time... |
9 | 7 | 3 | 45 | 12* Not out In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress... |
11.25 | 5 | |||
| Wright, D.V.A. Doug Wright (cricketer) Douglas Vivian Parson Wright, better known as Doug Wright was an English cricketer. A leg-spinner for Kent and England from 1932 to 1957 he took a record seven hat-tricks in first class cricket. He played for Kent for 25 years and was their first professional captain from late 1953 to 1956... |
Kent Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent... |
Right-Hand Lower Order Batsman Batting order (cricket) In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time... |
12 | 16 | 5 | 76 | 20 | 6.90 | 5 | |||
| Tour Bowling Averages | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Bowling Type | 8 Ball Overs | 8 Ball Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Best Bowling | Average | 5 Wt Wicket In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch... | 10 Wt |
| Hardstaff, J. Joe Hardstaff junior Joseph Hardstaff junior was an English cricketer, who played in twenty three Tests for England from 1935 to 1948... |
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws... |
Right-Arm Medium Bowler Fast bowling Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling... |
14 | 1 | 50 | 3 | 3/24 | 16.66 | ||
| N.W.D. Yardley Norman Yardley Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler. An amateur, he captained Yorkshire from 1948 to 1955 and England on fourteen occasions between 1947 and 1950,... (vc) Captain (cricket) The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player... |
Yorkshire Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure.... |
Right-Arm Medium Bowler Fast bowling Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling... |
134.7 | 16 | 443 | 15 | 3/19 | 29.53 | ||
| Smith, T.P.B. Peter Smith (cricketer) Peter Smith, was an English cricketer, who played for Essex and England. Smith was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1947. An all-rounder, Smith played for Essex from 1929 to 1951.-Life and career:... |
Essex Essex County Cricket Club Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games... |
Leg-Spin Bowler Wrist spin Wrist spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket. It refers to the cricket technique and specific hand movements associated with imparting a particular direction of spin to the cricket ball... |
235.6 | 14 | 993 | 30 | 9/121 | 33.10 | 2 | 1 |
| Wright, D.V.P. Doug Wright (cricketer) Douglas Vivian Parson Wright, better known as Doug Wright was an English cricketer. A leg-spinner for Kent and England from 1932 to 1957 he took a record seven hat-tricks in first class cricket. He played for Kent for 25 years and was their first professional captain from late 1953 to 1956... |
Kent Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent... |
Leg-Spin Bowler Wrist spin Wrist spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket. It refers to the cricket technique and specific hand movements associated with imparting a particular direction of spin to the cricket ball... |
395.4 | 39 | 1699 | 51 | 7/105 | 33.31 | 3 | 1 |
| Ikin, J.T. Jack Ikin John Thomas Ikin, known as Jack Ikin was an English cricketer, who played in eighteen Tests from 1946 to 1955... |
Lancashire Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then... |
Leg-Spin Bowler Wrist spin Wrist spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket. It refers to the cricket technique and specific hand movements associated with imparting a particular direction of spin to the cricket ball... |
107 | 8 | 481 | 13 | 4/51 | 37.00 | ||
| Langridge, J. | Sussex Sussex County Cricket Club Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a... |
Slow Left Arm Bowler | 100 | 15 | 297 | 7 | 3/60 | 42.42 | ||
| Edrich, W.J. Bill Edrich William John "Bill" Edrich DFC was a distinguished cricketer who played for Middlesex, MCC, Norfolk and England.Edrich's three brothers, Brian, Eric and Geoff, and also his cousin, John, all played first-class cricket... |
Middlesex Middlesex County Cricket Club Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the... |
Right-Arm Fast-Medium Bowler Fast bowling Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling... |
235 | 27 | 949 | 22 | 4/26 | 43.13 | ||
| Bedser, A.V. Alec Bedser Sir Alec Victor Bedser, CBE was a professional English cricketer. He was the chairman of selectors for the English national cricket team, and the president of Surrey County Cricket Club... |
Surrey Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions... |
Right-Arm Medium-Fast Bowler Fast bowling Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling... |
392.3 | 58 | 1359 | 28 | 3/40 | 48.53 | ||
| Compton, D.C.S. Denis Compton Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer... |
Middlesex Middlesex County Cricket Club Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the... |
Slow Left Arm Bowler Chinaman Bowler |
83 | 11 | 311 | 6 | 2/46 | 51.83 | ||
| Pollard, R. Dick Pollard Richard "Dick" Pollard was an English cricketer born in Westhoughton, Lancashire, who played in four Tests between 1946 and 1948... |
Lancashire Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then... |
Right-Arm Fast-Medium Bowler Fast bowling Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling... |
233 | 45 | 735 | 13 | 2/23 | 56.53 | ||
| Voce, W. Bill Voce Bill Voce was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire and England, and was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932–1933.-Life and career:... |
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws... |
Left-Arm Fast-Medium Bowler Fast bowling Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling... |
179.4 | 34 | 660 | 11 | 4/125 | 60.00 | ||
| Hutton, L. Len Hutton Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket... |
Yorkshire Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure.... |
Leg-Spin Bowler Wrist spin Wrist spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket. It refers to the cricket technique and specific hand movements associated with imparting a particular direction of spin to the cricket ball... |
21 | 1 | 132 | 2 | 1/8 | 66.00 | ||
| Fishlock, L.B. Laurie Fishlock Laurence Barnard "Laurie" Fishlock was an English cricketer, who played in four Tests from 1936 to 1947. A specialist batsman, he achieved little in those four matches, but might have had a much more substantial Test career, had he not lost six of what should have been his best years to World War... |
Surrey Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions... |
Slow Left Arm Bowler | 1 | 3 | 0/3 | |||||
| P.A. Gibb Paul Gibb Paul Gibb was an English cricketer, who played in eight Tests for England from 1938 to 1946. He also played first-class cricket for Cambridge University and Yorkshire, mostly as a batsman but occasionally also keeping wicket.Gibb was educated at St Edward's School, Oxford, and played first-class... |
Yorkshire Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure.... |
Unknown | 1 | 14 | 0/14 | |||||
| W.R. Hammond Wally Hammond Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning his career as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed captain of England... (c) Captain (cricket) The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player... |
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire County Cricket Club Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators.... |
Right-Arm Fast-Medium Bowler Fast bowling Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling... |
3 | 8 | 0/8 | |||||
Further reading
- John ArlottJohn ArlottLeslie Thomas John Arlott OBE was an English journalist, author and cricket commentator for the BBC's Test Match Special. He was also a poet, wine connoisseur and former police officer in Hampshire...
, John Arlott's 100 Greatest Batsmen, MacDonald Queen Anne Press, 1986 - Peter Arnold, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Cricket, W. H. Smith, 1985
- Bill FrindallBill FrindallWilliam Howard Frindall, MBE was an English cricket scorer and statistician. He was familiar to cricket followers from his appearances on the BBC Radio 4 programme Test Match Special, nicknamed the Bearded Wonder by Brian Johnston for his ability to research the most obscure cricketing facts in...
, The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877-1978, Wisden, 1979 - Tom GraveneyTom GraveneyThomas William Graveney in Riding Mill, Northumberland, is a former English cricketer and was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club for 2004/5. He went to Bristol Grammar School...
and Norman Miller, The Ten Greatest Test Teams Sidgewick and Jackson, 1988 - Chris Harte, A History of Australian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, 1993
- Alan Hill, The Bedsers: Twinning Triumphs, Mainstream Publishing, 2002
- Ray Robinson, On Top Down Under, Cassell, 1975
- E.W. Swanton (ed), Barclay's World of Cricket, Willow, 1986