They
were met by unsettled weather at Melbourne, and managed only 181 for six on the
first day. McCabe displayed his class again, returning unbeaten with 63 at
close of play. Bradman was dismissed for 13. Voce sent back McCabe immediately
on resumption, and Bradman declared at 200 for nine. England’s innings never got off the
ground, and they were tottering at 76 for nine, Seivers bagging five for 21,
when Allen too closed the innings. He met with immediate success, O’Reilly sent
in to open in the treacherous conditions, was caught and bowled by Voce,
amazingly another dismissal off the first ball of the innings. Australia
were 3 for one wicket in a reversed batting order when play ended that evening.
Chuck
Fleetwood-Smith was also removed for nought by Voce first thing in the morning.
Wickets kept falling regularly. Opener Fingleton came in at no. 6, Bradman at
no. 7. By then the score was 97 for five. McCabe had still not put in an
appearance. Bradman had a providential escape when Walter Robins dropped him in
the covers. It drew a sarcastic jibe from the captain Allen, “Well done Walter,
you’ve cost us a Test series.” That only reflected the awe in which the English
held Bradman. Allen knew that this was just the bit of fortune The Don needed
to turn the series around. He was, of course, dead right. By stumps Bradman was
unbeaten on 56, and Australia
were 194 for five. By then he had crossed 4000 runs in Test cricket.
And
then the Bradman juggernaut began to roll again. He batted through the fourth
day, at the end of which he was 248 not out and his side at 500 for six. His
sixth-wicket stand with Fingleton (136) was worth 346, a record that stood till
2009. Never more could Fingleton’s words, “To bat with him was an exercise in
embarrassing futility,” have been more apt. Bradman went on to score 270,
having faced 375 balls in a little over seven-and-a-half hours, and struck 22
fours. Years later the bat with which he played this magnificent innings was
auctioned for $ 45,000. Australia
finished on 564, and the visitors were set a ridiculous 689 to win. Leyland was
again in exquisite form, scoring an unbeaten 111, and on the sixth day Australia
won by 365 runs. The series was still alive but the pressure was still on Australia.
Batting
first in Adelaide,
all their top-order batsmen got starts, but lost their wickets when set.
Bradman too got out for 26 after having sized up the bowling. McCabe, with a
sparkling 88, and Arthur Chipperfield, with an unbeaten 57, took Australia
to 288. Verity opening the batting for England in this Test was an unusual
sight, and he did a fair job in seeing the shine off the new ball. He faced 119
deliveries for his 19, hitting one boundary in his 101-minute stay. His opening
partnership with Charles Barnett was worth 53. Barnett went on to score a
painstaking 129, which was chiefly responsible for England’s first innings lead of 42.
The
Australians now had to bat really well in order to save the series. Fingleton
was leg-before to Hammond
at 21, which brought Bradman to the crease. Bill Brown helped him put on 67,
and then on the fourth day, McCabe joined him in a defining partnership that
shifted the balance in Australia’s
favour. They added 109 in a little over an-hour-and-a-half before McCabe was
dismissed for 55. Bradman kept the scoreboard ticking but did not take needless
risks for the stakes were very high indeed. It was a crucial stage of the match
and Ross Gregory assisted him in another vital stand. Bradman battled through
the day, adding 148 runs to his overnight score of 26, while Australia advanced by 278 runs to
341 for four. They had all but ensured that the series would be levelled.
The
task, though, was not over for Bradman. He raised his tenth score of 200 in
Test cricket. Gregory was run out for 50 after a 135-run association. Finally,
Bradman was caught by Hammond
off his own bowling, when on 212. The Don had been at the crease for over
seven-and-a-quarter hours, facing 395 balls and hitting 14 fours. It was not an
innings of bravado, but one of great concentration and sense of responsibility.
He put England
out of the reckoning in this Test by unparalleled batsmanship. After Bradman’s
exit the last four wickets crumbled for 11 runs. That was the extent of his
influence on the course of events. Hammond took five for 57.
England
were set 392 to win, and they lost their openers with 50 runs on the board. Joe
Hardstaff junior combined with Hammond
to put on 70. At close of play on the fifth day Hammond
was unbeaten on 39, Leyland on 17, and England were 148 for three, not
completely out of the game yet. Then, even before the spectators had settled in
their seats, Fleetwood-Smith bowled Hammond.
Whatever slim chance England
had, seemed to have vanished quickly. That prompted England’s former wicketkeeper
George Duckworth to pay Bradman the ultimate compliment: “We couldn’t have got
Don out with the match at stake.” And that was the difference between Bradman
and other greats. It was further emphasised in the final Test.
It
was now only a matter of time before Australia wrapped up the Test. England
finally folded up for 243. Fleetwood-Smith bagged six for 110. The victory
margin was 148 runs, the series level at 2-2, thanks to two Bradman double
centuries. The visitors had surrendered a big advantage, and the run of play
was now against them. If they were to sail back with the Ashes, the scourge of
Bradman had to be stamped out.
That
was easier said than done. At Melbourne,
Farnes sent back the Aussie openers Keith Rigg and Fingleton before they could
provide too much of a platform for the Bradman genius. It made little
difference. Bradman had an objective - to win the Ashes in his first series as
Australian captain. McCabe matched his skipper stroke-for-stroke in a
magnificent partnership that won the series. Bradman completed his century;
McCabe followed suit later in the afternoon. By the time McCabe was dismissed
by Verity, the two stalwarts had taken the total to 303 in a classy exhibition
of strokeplay. The partnership was worth 249, McCabe scoring 112 off 155 balls
with 16 boundaries in his 163-minute innings. By close Australia were 342 for three, with
Bradman on 165.
Though
Bradman was bowled by Farnes early on the second day, Australia had established their
ascendancy. The Don had scored 169 in 191 deliveries with 15 fours, having been
at the crease for 223 minutes. Charles Macartney observed, “What mystifies
bowlers when Bradman is batting is the unerring certainty with which he sends
the bad ball to the boundary.” This innings was proof.
The
young pair of Badcock and Gregory then took charge, putting on 161 for the
fifth wicket. Badcock (118) notched up his lone century, and Gregory (80) his
highest score, in Test cricket, playing a significant part in the mission to
wrest the series. Australia
totalled 604, and paceman Farnes, in a lion-hearted performance took six
wickets for 96 in 28.5 eight-ball overs. The pressure on the English batsmen
was reflected in their losing wickets regularly at the top, and a collapse of
the lower half. Their best partnerships were 63 for the second wicket, and 62
for the fifth, with Hardstaff (83) managing their sole half-century. This was
hardly the challenge that was required to keep their Ashes aspirations on
track. Their last five wickets fell while a mere three runs were scored. Australia’s resurgence in the last three Tests,
led by Bradman’s marauding bat, had clearly demoralised England. O’Reilly added another
five-wicket haul to his impressive tally, conceding 51 runs in his 23 overs.
Bowled out for 239, England
followed on.
Right
from the outset it was apparent that the fight had gone out of them. They were
soon 10 for two. Hammond
made a last-ditch effort with help from Barnett and Leyland, but it was an
impossible task. When he perished after a gallant 56 off 106 balls with 9
boundaries, significantly caught by Bradman off O’Reilly, the plight of his
team was miserable at 121 for four. They lurched to 165 for eight at close of
play. Not a run was added on the fifth morning as Fleetwood-Smith had Voce and
Farnes snapped up. Australia
won by an innings and 200 runs.
Bradman
became the first captain to win a five-Test series after being down 0-2. It was
a titanic struggle, a tribute to his amazing batting skills, concentration and
determination, strength of mind and acumen. He led from the front, sweeping
aside the English advance like a raging tornado, stamping his suzerainty with
knocks of 270, 212 and 169 in the last three victorious Tests. All this, while
leading a depleted side with many untested youngsters, himself returning to the
Test arena after a near-death experience. What would you call that, if not one
of the most inspiring stories of the sporting arena? Bradman was a fighter all
the way. As he said in an interview at the end of his career, “I can never remember
taking the field in any match without setting out to win.” He had now firmly
entrenched himself as The Don of cricket, unquestionably and irrevocably.
To
those who hold the view that statistics are misleading, one would only suggest
that they take a look at the figures of this series, and Bradman’s batting
record in particular. His aggregate of 810 is still the highest by a captain in
a Test series. Nobody else on either side got to 500, and that included the
likes of McCabe, Hammond and Leyland. After Bradman’s average of 90, these
three luminaries registered between 58.50 and 54.55 per innings. That really
sums up the mark Bradman left on the series, and the game as a whole. Spin was Australia’s
forte, with O’Reilly, as usual, and the chinaman specialist Fleetwood-Smith,
picking up 44 wickets between them. England followed the opposite
course, Voce and Allen sharing 43 wickets. Yet everything pales in comparison
with the great turnaround in the series wrought by Bradman’s magic wand, his
run-hungry willow. No wonder Gubby Allen accepted in one of his letters home,
“The Australian XI is simply Bradman and no-one else.”
(Author
Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted on emails singh_iv@hotmail.com and
teddy.rajpipla@gmail.com).
Don's Century is available at an attractive price on Amazon
https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166859
Other books by Indra Vikram Singh on Amazon:
A Maharaja's Turf
https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166832
The Big Book of World Cup Cricket
https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166840
Crowning Glory
https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166867
Follow Indra Vikram Singh on his blogs:
www.indravikramsingh.blogspot.com
www.singhiv.wordpress.com
