English cricket team in Australia in 1950-51
Encyclopedia
Freddie Brown captained the English cricket team in Australia in 1950–51, playing as England in the 1950-51 Ashes series against the Australians and as the MCC
in their other matches on the tour. They were regarded as a weak team - some critics wanted to cancel the tour - and failed to regain the Ashes
. However, these facts do not tell the whole story as the inspirational Brown exposed flaws in the powerful Australian team. By winning the Fifth and final Test he ended Australia's record of 26 Tests without defeat and paved the way for England's victories in 1953
, 1954-55 and 1956
.
In selecting their team for Australia the MCC
selectors (Sir Pelham Warner, Harry Altham
, Gubby Allen
, Les Ames
, William Findlay
, Tom Pearce
, Walter Robins
, Brian Sellers
and Bob Wyatt
) made the mistake on relying on experience on one hand and youth on the other, but with little between. In this they were not helped by the hole left in English cricket by the Second World War, but only three players (Godfrey Evans
, Trevor Bailey
and Reg Simpson
) were aged between 26 and 31 and could be said to be at their prime; nine of the players were 32 or more and six 26 or less. The captain Freddie Brown had last toured Australia in 1932-33 with Douglas Jardine
and Len Hutton
, Cyril Washbrook
, Denis Compton
, Doug Wright
, Alec Bedser
and Godfrey Evans
in 1946-47 under Wally Hammond
; the rest of the team had never traveled down under. Bill Edrich
who had made a gutsy 462 runs (46.20) in 1946-47 and would tour Australia again in 1954-55, but was out of favour at Lords (he was being divorced, and such things counted in the 1950s) and had had an injury-struck season. The two biggest wicket-takers of 1950 were the top spinners Jim Laker
and Johnny Wardle
. Laker had taken an astounding 8/2 in the 1950 Bradford
Test Trial, but his brand of off-spin was deemed too slow for the hard Australian pitches and he was not chosen for the 1954-55 tour either. In the 1956 Ashes series he took 46 wickets (9.60) including 19/90 at Old Trafford and when he finally toured Australia in 1958-59 he took 15 wickets (21.20). The Yorkshire
Johnny Wardle
was also left behind, but would finish with 102 Test wickets (20.39) with his combination of Slow Left Arm bowling
and Chinamen
. To be fair to the selectors Laker had only taken 32 Test wickets (37.34) at the time and Wardle just 2 (56.50). The MCC were committed to a youth policy that consistently failed them. In 1950 they relied overly on young undergraduates from Cambridge University
and had lost 3-1 to the West Indies as a result. A continuation of this policy was unlikely to succeed in Australia, but John Dewes
, David Sheppard
and John Warr
were chosen for the tour along with the young professionals Brian Close
, Gilbert Parkhouse
and Bob Berry
. They all failed when faced with real class and only served to increase the burden on the senior players. Remembering his torrid time in 1946-47 Cyril Washbrook
declined to tour when selected, but was later flown out with Roy Tattersall
and Brian Statham
. Washbrook's fears were full realised, Tattersall failed and Statham would not make his Test debut until the party reached New Zealand. Freddie Brown was the selector's third choice to lead the tour, after Norman Yardley
of Yorkshire
and George Mann of Middlesex
both declined the job and he was only chosen after hitting a six into the Lords Pavillon while making 122 for the Gentlemen
, but the Lords
were determined to have an amateur captain
. It was a thankless job as even with the retirement of the great Don Bradman it was clear that Australia were the stronger team and would be hard to beat on their own ground. They had defeated Wally Hammond
3-0 in 1946-47 and Yardley 4-0 in 1948
and England had not won a Test against them in twelve years.
Michael Green
, a career Army officer who had played for Gloucester
and Essex
and was the Secretary of Worcestershire County Cricket Club
, was in charge of the social calendar and public relations
, and John Nash
, Secretary of Yorkshire County Cricket Club
since 1931, controlled the finances. This was the last tour of the 70 year old scorer Bill Ferguson
, who had toured with the MCC since 1907-08 and devised the famous Ferguson Charts which gave greater details than other scorecards, noting each ball bowled by from which bowler to which batsman. He also invented the radial scoring chart which show the directions in which a batsman scored his runs.
Freddie Brown was a veteran of Douglas Jardine
's Bodyline
side of 1932-33 and was Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1933. Born in Peru
and educated in Chile
and Cambridge University he was a big-hearted, self-confident red-headed all-rounder
usually seen wearing a white silk handkerchief
round his neck, with a big grin and an avuncular pipe. Over six feet tall and weighing 15 stone (over 200lbs
or 100 kilos) he loved to attack the bowling. Captured with Bill Bowes
at Tobruk
in 1942 Brown spent most of the Second World War in prisoner-of-war camp
s in Italy and Germany, where they organised games of cricket
, baseball
and rugby
and lost over 60lbs
(30 kilos) before being liberated by the Americans. A leg-spinner for Surrey
before the war he became a medium-paced seamer in the late 1940s and organised cricket while working as a welfare officer in a Doncaster
colliery. When the coal mines were nationalised Brown lost his job and became the captain
and assistant-secretary of Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
in 1949. From being in seventeenth and last place in the County Championship
in 1948 (and failing to win a county match between 1934 and 1939) Brown led Northants
to sixth place in 1949. He was rotated in the England captaincy in 1949-50 with George Mann and Norman Yardley
without success. He drew twice against a weak New Zealand in 1949 and lost to the West Indies in 1950. After Mann and Yardley had turned down the Ashes
tour Brown impressed the selectors by hitting a six into the Lords Pavillon while smashing 122 out of 131 runs inside two hours as captain in the Gentlemen v Players
match, followed with three quick wickets, and he was offered the post the same afternoon. This was still the age when the England captain had to be a gentleman, even if he was a 'passenger' in the team, Brown having made only 233 runs (23.30) and taken 14 wickets (40.79) in his 9 Tests. Despite his age (he turned 40 on tour) Brown had the most successful series of any England captain in Australia; Taking 18 wickets (21.61) and making 210 runs (26.25), third in the batting averages (behind Len Hutton
and Reg Simpson
) and in the bowling averages (behind Trevor Bailey
and Alec Bedser
). Brown's jovial bonhomie and refusal to admit defeat won him many fans in Australia and he was a magnificent ambassador for the game, a role which the MCC
regarded quite as important as sporting success, and the scorer Bill Ferguson
said it was the easiest, happiest tour he had been on since 1905. After losing 4-1 to Australia he won 1-0 in New Zealand and beat South Africa 3-1 at home in 1951. At 42 he was recalled to the England team for the 1953 Lords Test
, where took 4/82 and hit 50 runs to ensure a vital draw in the year England regained the Ashes
. Like many amateur captains he was happy to take advice from the senior professional and 'Brown conferred with Len Hutton
before he made a bowling change...there was little room for doubt...that Brown had tremendous respect for Hutton's advice on the cricket field', as well he should as the Yorkshireman was recognised as 'a tactical genius, whose advice was often sought', Actually making a northern professional vice-captain was a step too far and this office was granted to the debonair Middlesex
batsman Denis Compton
, the first professional cricketer
to hold that office in living memory. Though Brown also conferred with Compton on the field, it was only after he had spoken to Hutton. The young Trevor Bailey
surprised everybody by drawing up plans for dismissing and containing every Australian batsmen, which were used to great effect in the series.
Rarely has the batting of a team been so dominated by one man as Len Hutton
did the England side of 1950-51. He made 533 runs at an average of 88.83, 50 runs more than the next man Reg Simpson
(38.77) and all the others except Freddie Brown (26.25) averaged under 20. He had broken his left arm in an accident on a commando course while a sergeant in the Army Physical Training Corps in the war and after an operation using 46 stitches, grafting bone from his leg onto his arm, which was left 2 inches (5 cm) shorter and weaker than his right. He was forced to review his technique and use a lightened bat, but his defense was flawless and he was an expert on 'sticky dogs' like Brisbane and averaged higher in post-war Tests than in his youth, when he had made the record score of 364 at the Oval in 1938. The Yorkshireman was saddled with the heavy burden of knowing that England depended on his skill and was the prime target of the Australian fast bowlers Keith Miller
and Ray Lindwall
. Of Jack Iverson
Hutton told Miller "Ah'll show thee how to play 'im", but never quite fathomed his mystery spin. England had one other great batsmen, the 'golden boy' Denis Compton
whose heroic strokeplay had enthralled the crowds in 1946-47 and 1948. Unlike Hutton he had no inhibition about playing his shots, but had spent much of 1950 suffering from the knee injury that would plague his career. He went on the tour against the advice of his doctor, who warned that his leg may be immobilised and took pain-killing drugs throughout the visit. It is unlikely that any batsman has had such a checked tour as Compton in 1950-51, he averaged 7.57 in the Tests and 92.11 in the other First Class matches, a difference of nearly 85 runs. His loss of form at the highest level was a severe blow to England's chances. Reg Simpson
came a poor second to Hutton in the Test averages, his 349 runs (38.77) being almost entirely dependent on his 156 not out
on his 31st birthday in the Fifth and final Test. This innings was the finest of his career, first adding 131 with Hutton and 64 out of a stand of 74 for the last wicket to put England 103 runs ahead and gave them their first victory against Australia since 1938. It was the highest score of his Test career and he also made 269, his highest First Class hundred against the Sheffield Shield Champions New South Wales
. He was a fearless and effective player of fast bowling, but had a habit of getting out to spin bowlers, who he regarded with contempt. Hutton's regular opening partner was the Lancashire
stalwart Cyril Washbrook
, with whom he added 359 against South Africa in 1948-49, still a record opening stand for England. He averaged over 50 against Don Bradman's 1948 Australians, but couldn't handle the mystery spin of Jack Iverson
. Apart from the captain's own efforts - Freddie Brown came third in the England Test averages with 210 runs at 26.25 - the rest of the England batting was woefully poor. John Dewes
had amassed 1,262 runs (78.88) for Cambridge
and 739 (61.58) for Middlesex
in 1950 with defensive prods and pushes. For Cambridge
he added 343 vs the West Indies and 349 vs Sussex
with David Sheppard
, but they fared worse when not playing on the friendly wicket at Fenners. Sheppard is best remembered for taking holy orders
, becoming the first Reverend to play Test cricket, becoming captain of Sussex
and England and later Bishop of Liverpool
. Gilbert Parkhouse
was a Welsh
middle order batsman who was sent in to open for Glamorgan
in 1950 and made such as success of it that he broke the county record by making seven centuries in a season. The teenage Brian Close
was chosen after he took 100 wickets and made 1,000 runs in 1949 and became England's youngest ever player aged 18 years and 149 days. Despite respectable all-round figures Close never reached the heights expected of him in Test cricket, though his tough, uncompromising, captaincy of Yorkshire
, Somerset
and England would become the stuff of legend. Trevor Bailey
's barnacle-like qualities were already apparent and this notorious stonewaller tended to substitute stubbornness for strokeplay, though he made few runs in this series.
Alec Bedser
dominated the England bowling (and the Australian batsmen) as much as Len Hutton
did the batting and by the end of the tour the Australians rated him the best new-ball bowler in the world. He sent down almost twice as many overs as anybody else in the Tests and took 30 wickets (16.06), including 10/105 in England's final victory at Melbourne
. Bedser carried the England bowling on his broad back against in the 1940s and 1950s with a long list of short-term new-ball partners. His huge hands and powerful shoulders allowed him to bowl a lethal combination of in-swingers and leg-cutters off a short run-up and only Keith Miller
- briefly - was able to cut loose from his control. In 1950-51 series he did have the support of his captain Freddie Brown, another big medium paced bowler, who surprised everybody by taking 18 wickets (21.61) despite celebrating his 40th birthday on the tour. There was also Trevor Bailey
who took 14 wickets (14.14) with his naggingly accurate out-swingers that mirrored his monotonous batting as he settled on containing batsmen, but could be dangerous in the right conditions. After these three the quality of the England bowling dropped dramatically, for which the selectors must bear the brunt of the blame. Doug Wright
was a mercurial leg-spinner who the MCC liked sent on tour instead of Jim Laker
because he was more suited to the harder wickets abroad. He was potential match-winner, but he liked to buy his wickets and asking him to bowl was always a gamble as he could equally snap up a few quick wickets, concede a slew of runs, or both. Eric Hollies
bowled one of the most famous balls in cricket when his googly
dismissed Don Bradman for a duck in his last Test innings, but the Warwickshire leg-spinner was not a great turner of the ball, instead relying on line and length. Unfortunately the 1950-51 tour was the first to use extensive air travel. Hollies was scared stiff of flying and had to be drunk before he could get on a plane. He failed to turn the ball on Australian wickets and was kept out of the team by Wright
. Roy Tattersall
and Bob Berry
were off-spinners who were supposed to tie down the Australian batsmen, but like many of their kind failed to adjust to the faster, harder Australian pitches. John Warr
quickly proved himself to be the worst player in the team, he took only one test wicket - for 281 runs - when Ian Johnson
walked after the umpire declined to give him out, an almost unheard of practice in Australia at the time. He improved his game during the tour, but was never more than a decent county bowler. Let loose from the hard life at Yorkshire and the Army Brian Close
was undisciplined and failed on a tour for which he should not have been chosen.
England failed to match the Australians' high standards of fielding and were nicknamed Brown's Cows
by the Australian barrackers. They dropped six catches in a match against Victoria and made frequent mistakes in the state matches. However, they made a considerable improvement in the Tests with "...first class work in the field, in direct contrast to the slovenly and often lackadaisical displays in the previous games of the tour". Even so they never reached the heights of catching and fielding displayed by the Australian team. Both Brown and Alec Bedser
weighted 15 stone (over 200 lb
or 100 kilos) and were particularly ungainly in the field, but their bucket-like hands picked up 9 catches and Brown twice caught and bowled Keith Miller
. Godfrey Evans
was the outstanding wicket-keeper of his generation whose enthusiasm could energise a fielding team and always entertained the crowd with his antics. His deputy was Arthur McIntyre (cricketer, born 1918), who kept wicket for Alec Bedser
, Jim Laker
and Tony Lock
in the Surrey
side that would win the County Championship
seven times in a row in 1952-58. Len Hutton
was a good slip
and would pick up 9 catches in the series and Trevor Bailey
took some great catches in the gully
. Unfortunately the MCC had no other slip fielders and they were joined by Gilbert Parkhouse
, who hated the role and frequently dropped catches. John Dewes
was a good outfielder, but the rest of the team failed to impress and a picture of John Warr
was used to illustrate how not to take catches.
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...
in their other matches on the tour. They were regarded as a weak team - some critics wanted to cancel the tour - and failed to regain the Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
. However, these facts do not tell the whole story as the inspirational Brown exposed flaws in the powerful Australian team. By winning the Fifth and final Test he ended Australia's record of 26 Tests without defeat and paved the way for England's victories in 1953
Australian cricket team in England in 1953
The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1953 season to play a five-match Test series against England for The Ashes.England won the final Test to take the series 1-0 after the first four Tests were all drawn. England therefore recovered the Ashes for the first time since losing them in...
, 1954-55 and 1956
Australian cricket team in England in 1956
The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1956 season to play a five-match Test series against England for The Ashes.England won the series 2-1 with 2 matches drawn and therefore retained The Ashes....
.
Selection
The 1950-51 side under Freddie Brown...was full of inexperienced players and we paid the penalty. I'm sure if we had selected one or two solid players such as Jack RobertsonJack RobertsonJack Robertson was an English cricketer, who played county cricket for Middlesex, and in eleven Tests for England....
, Dennis BrookesDennis BrookesDennis Brookes was an English cricketer who played for Northamptonshire between 1934 and 1959 . He also played in one Test match for England against West Indies in 1948. Brookes was President of Northamptonshire from 1982 to 1984...
, Jack IkinJack IkinJohn Thomas Ikin, known as Jack Ikin was an English cricketer, who played in eighteen Tests from 1946 to 1955...
and Bill EdrichBill EdrichWilliam 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...
we would have won the Ashes - in spite of once again being caught on a glue-pot at Brisbane. Two Tests were lost by a very small margin and we won the last. In addition Denis ComptonDenis ComptonDenis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
was a complete failure in the Tests, scoring only 53 runs in four matches. In spite of the critics the bowling proved adequate and Freddie Brown did a grand job in view of the shortcomings of the side. To me the annoying part was that we had players in England who could have won the series for us.
- Alec Bedser
Alec BedserSir 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...
In selecting their team for Australia the MCC
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...
selectors (Sir Pelham Warner, Harry Altham
Harry Altham
Harry Surtees Altham, CBE, DSO, MC was an English cricketer who became an important figure in the game as an administrator, historian and coach. His Wisden obituary described him as "among the best known personalities in the world of cricket"...
, Gubby Allen
Gubby Allen
Sir George Oswald Browning "Gubby" Allen, CBE was a cricketer who played for Middlesex, Cambridge University, MCC and England. Australian-born, Allen was a fast bowler and hard-hitting lower-order batsman, who captained England in eleven Test matches...
, Les Ames
Les Ames
Leslie Ethelbert George Ames, CBE was an outstanding wicket-keeper and batsman for the England cricket team and Kent County Cricket Club. In his obituary, the Wisden of 1991 described him as the greatest wicket-keeper-batsman of all time...
, William Findlay
William Findlay (cricketer)
William Findlay was an English cricketer and administrator.William Findlay represented Lancashire and Oxford University as a batsman and wicket-keeper. He served the Marylebone Cricket Club as Secretary from 1936 until 1946....
, Tom Pearce
Tom Pearce
Thomas Neill Pearce OBE was an English cricketer and Rugby Union official. He was primarily a batsman for Essex and was captain for nearly 20 years. He also acted as secretary, chairman and president of Essex, and was also a Test selector for England.-Cricket career:Pearce made his first-class...
, Walter Robins
Walter Robins
Robert Walter Vivian Robins was a dynamic English cricketer and footballer.Walter Robins was born in Stafford and was educated at Highgate School and Cambridge University. He played football for Nottingham Forest and first-class cricket for Middlesex, Cambridge University and England...
, Brian Sellers
Brian Sellers
Arthur Brian Sellers was an English amateur first-class cricketer, who played in 334 first-class matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1932 and 1948, and later became a prominent administrator at the club....
and Bob Wyatt
Bob Wyatt
Robert "Bob" Elliott Storey Wyatt was an English cricket player. He played for Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and the English cricket team....
) made the mistake on relying on experience on one hand and youth on the other, but with little between. In this they were not helped by the hole left in English cricket by the Second World War, but only three players (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...
, Trevor Bailey
Trevor Bailey
Trevor Edward Bailey CBE was an England Test cricketer, cricket writer and broadcaster.An all-rounder, Bailey was known for his skilful but unspectacular batting...
and Reg Simpson
Reg Simpson
Reginald Thomas Simpson is an English former cricketer, who played in twentry seven Tests from 1948 to 1955.-Life and career:...
) were aged between 26 and 31 and could be said to be at their prime; nine of the players were 32 or more and six 26 or less. The captain Freddie Brown had last toured Australia in 1932-33 with Douglas Jardine
Douglas Jardine
Douglas Robert Jardine was an English cricketer and captain of the England cricket team from 1931 to 1933–34.When describing cricket seasons, the convention used is that a single year represents an English cricket season, while two years represent a southern hemisphere cricket season because it...
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...
, 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...
, Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
, 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...
, 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 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...
in 1946-47 under 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...
; the rest of the team had never traveled down under. 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...
who had made a gutsy 462 runs (46.20) in 1946-47 and would tour Australia again in 1954-55, but was out of favour at Lords (he was being divorced, and such things counted in the 1950s) and had had an injury-struck season. The two biggest wicket-takers of 1950 were the top spinners Jim Laker
Jim Laker
James "Jim" Charles Laker was a cricketer who played for England in the 1950s, known for "Laker's match" in 1956 at Old Trafford, when he took nineteen wickets in England's victory against Australia...
and Johnny Wardle
Johnny Wardle
Johnny Wardle was an English spin bowler of post-war cricket. His Test bowling average of 20.39, is the lowest in Test cricket by any recognised spin bowler, since World War I....
. Laker had taken an astounding 8/2 in the 1950 Bradford
Great Horton Road (Cricket Ground)
Great Horton Road was a cricket ground in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England on which Yorkshire County Cricket Club held first class matches from 1863 to 1874. The ground hosted seven County Championship and one other first class match during that time...
Test Trial, but his brand of off-spin was deemed too slow for the hard Australian pitches and he was not chosen for the 1954-55 tour either. In the 1956 Ashes series he took 46 wickets (9.60) including 19/90 at Old Trafford and when he finally toured Australia in 1958-59 he took 15 wickets (21.20). The 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....
Johnny Wardle
Johnny Wardle
Johnny Wardle was an English spin bowler of post-war cricket. His Test bowling average of 20.39, is the lowest in Test cricket by any recognised spin bowler, since World War I....
was also left behind, but would finish with 102 Test wickets (20.39) with his combination of Slow Left Arm bowling
Left-arm orthodox spin
Left-arm orthodox spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket.Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left arm bowler using the fingers to spin the ball from right to left of the cricket pitch...
and 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...
. To be fair to the selectors Laker had only taken 32 Test wickets (37.34) at the time and Wardle just 2 (56.50). The MCC were committed to a youth policy that consistently failed them. In 1950 they relied overly on young undergraduates from Cambridge University
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
and had lost 3-1 to the West Indies as a result. A continuation of this policy was unlikely to succeed in Australia, but John Dewes
John Dewes
John Dewes is a former English cricketer, who played for Cambridge University and Middlesex, and was chosen for five Tests between 1948 and 1950.-Life and career:...
, David Sheppard
David Sheppard
David Stuart Sheppard, Baron Sheppard of Liverpool was the high-profile Bishop of Liverpool in the Church of England who played cricket for Sussex and England in his youth...
and John Warr
John Warr
John James Warr is an English former cricketer. He played in two Test matches for England.His Test bowling average remains the worst of any English player, but Warr turned it into comic relief in his highly humorous after dinner speeches.-Life and career:He played for Middlesex as a right-arm...
were chosen for the tour along with the young professionals Brian Close
Brian Close
Dennis Brian Close , usually known as Brian Close, is a former cricketer who is the youngest man ever to play Test cricket for England. He was picked for the Test team to play against New Zealand, in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England,...
, Gilbert Parkhouse
Gilbert Parkhouse
William Gilbert Anthony Parkhouse was a Welsh cricketer who played in seven Tests for England in 1950, 1950-51 and 1959....
and Bob Berry
Bob Berry (cricketer)
Robert Berry was an English cricketer. He played in two Tests in 1950. He played county cricket for Lancashire from 1948 to 1954, for Worcestershire from 1955 to 1958, and for Derbyshire from 1959 to 1962...
. They all failed when faced with real class and only served to increase the burden on the senior players. Remembering his torrid time in 1946-47 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...
declined to tour when selected, but was later flown out with Roy Tattersall
Roy Tattersall
Roy Tattersall is an English former Lancashire cricketer, who played sixteen Tests for England as a specialist off spin bowler....
and Brian Statham
Brian Statham
John Brian "George" Statham, CBE was one of the leading English fast bowlers in 20th-century English cricket. Initially a bowler of a brisk fast-medium pace, Statham was able to remodel his action to generate enough speed to become genuinely fast...
. Washbrook's fears were full realised, Tattersall failed and Statham would not make his Test debut until the party reached New Zealand. Freddie Brown was the selector's third choice to lead the tour, after 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,...
of 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....
and George Mann of 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...
both declined the job and he was only chosen after hitting a six into the Lords Pavillon while making 122 for the Gentlemen
Gentlemen v Players
The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...
, but the Lords
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...
were determined to have an amateur captain
History of English amateur cricket
The history of English amateur cricket describes the concept and importance of amateur players in English cricket.-Co-development of amateur and professional cricket to 1800:...
. It was a thankless job as even with the retirement of the great Don Bradman it was clear that Australia were the stronger team and would be hard to beat on their own ground. They had defeated 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...
3-0 in 1946-47 and Yardley 4-0 in 1948
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...
and England had not won a Test against them in twelve years.
The Managers
There were two managers of equal rank; BrigadierBrigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
Michael Green
Michael Green (cricketer)
Michael Arthur Green, born at Bristol on 3 October 1891 and died at Kensington, London on 28 December 1971, was an all-round sportsman primarily known as a first-class cricketer for Gloucestershire and Essex, and as a cricket administrator who managed England tours to South Africa and Australia and...
, a career Army officer who had played for Gloucester
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....
and 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...
and was the Secretary of Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire 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 Worcestershire...
, was in charge of the social calendar and public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
, and John Nash
John Nash (cricket administrator)
John Henry Nash was an English cricket administrator.John Nash was Secretary of Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1931 until his retirement in 1971, when he was succeeded by Joe Lister. He became one of the most respected figures in cricket, making a host of friends throughout the world...
, Secretary of Yorkshire County Cricket Club
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....
since 1931, controlled the finances. This was the last tour of the 70 year old scorer Bill Ferguson
Bill Ferguson
William Henry Ferguson BEM is one of the best known cricket scorers. For 52 years from 1905 until his death, Ferguson acted as the scorer and baggageman for Australia, England, West Indies, South Africa and New Zealand in 43 tours and 208 Test matches.He is often credited with two of the most...
, who had toured with the MCC since 1907-08 and devised the famous Ferguson Charts which gave greater details than other scorecards, noting each ball bowled by from which bowler to which batsman. He also invented the radial scoring chart which show the directions in which a batsman scored his runs.
The Captain
England's popular captain did a magnificent job both as an individual unit of the Test team and as captain of it. His unstinted devotion to his job and the unselfish manner in which he delved in with a will when the going was hardest won the admiration of all Australian enthusiasts and met a fitting reward when England emerged victorious from the Fifth Test at the end of the tour.
- Bill O'Reilly
Bill O'Reilly (cricketer)William Joseph "Bill" O'Reilly , often known as Tiger O'Reilly, was an Australian cricketer, rated as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. Following his retirement from playing, he became a well-respected cricket writer and broadcaster.O'Reilly was one of the best spin bowlers to...
Freddie Brown was a veteran of Douglas Jardine
Douglas Jardine
Douglas Robert Jardine was an English cricketer and captain of the England cricket team from 1931 to 1933–34.When describing cricket seasons, the convention used is that a single year represents an English cricket season, while two years represent a southern hemisphere cricket season because it...
's 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...
side of 1932-33 and was Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1933. Born in Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and educated in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and Cambridge University he was a big-hearted, self-confident red-headed all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
usually seen wearing a white silk handkerchief
Handkerchief
A handkerchief , also called a handkercher or hanky, is a form of a kerchief, typically a hemmed square of thin fabric that can be carried in the pocket or purse, and which is intended for personal hygiene purposes such as wiping one's hands or face, or blowing one's nose...
round his neck, with a big grin and an avuncular pipe. Over six feet tall and weighing 15 stone (over 200lbs
Pound (mass)
The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
or 100 kilos) he loved to attack the bowling. Captured with Bill Bowes
Bill Bowes
Bill Bowes was one of the best bowlers of the interwar period and, for a time, the most important force behind Yorkshire's dominance of the County Championship...
at Tobruk
Tobruk
Tobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....
in 1942 Brown spent most of the Second World War in prisoner-of-war camp
Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...
s in Italy and Germany, where they organised games of cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, 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...
and rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
and lost over 60lbs
Pound (mass)
The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
(30 kilos) before being liberated by the Americans. A leg-spinner for 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...
before the war he became a medium-paced seamer in the late 1940s and organised cricket while working as a welfare officer in a Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
colliery. When the coal mines were nationalised Brown lost his job and became the captain
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...
and assistant-secretary of Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
Northamptonshire 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 Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northants Steelbacks. The traditional club colour is Maroon. During the...
in 1949. From being in seventeenth and last place in the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
in 1948 (and failing to win a county match between 1934 and 1939) Brown led Northants
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
Northamptonshire 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 Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northants Steelbacks. The traditional club colour is Maroon. During the...
to sixth place in 1949. He was rotated in the England captaincy in 1949-50 with George Mann 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,...
without success. He drew twice against a weak New Zealand in 1949 and lost to the West Indies in 1950. After Mann and Yardley had turned down the Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
tour Brown impressed the selectors by hitting a six into the Lords Pavillon while smashing 122 out of 131 runs inside two hours as captain in the Gentlemen v Players
Gentlemen v Players
The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...
match, followed with three quick wickets, and he was offered the post the same afternoon. This was still the age when the England captain had to be a gentleman, even if he was a 'passenger' in the team, Brown having made only 233 runs (23.30) and taken 14 wickets (40.79) in his 9 Tests. Despite his age (he turned 40 on tour) Brown had the most successful series of any England captain in Australia; Taking 18 wickets (21.61) and making 210 runs (26.25), third in the batting averages (behind 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 Reg Simpson
Reg Simpson
Reginald Thomas Simpson is an English former cricketer, who played in twentry seven Tests from 1948 to 1955.-Life and career:...
) and in the bowling averages (behind Trevor Bailey
Trevor Bailey
Trevor Edward Bailey CBE was an England Test cricketer, cricket writer and broadcaster.An all-rounder, Bailey was known for his skilful but unspectacular batting...
and 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...
). Brown's jovial bonhomie and refusal to admit defeat won him many fans in Australia and he was a magnificent ambassador for the game, a role which the MCC
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...
regarded quite as important as sporting success, and the scorer Bill Ferguson
Bill Ferguson
William Henry Ferguson BEM is one of the best known cricket scorers. For 52 years from 1905 until his death, Ferguson acted as the scorer and baggageman for Australia, England, West Indies, South Africa and New Zealand in 43 tours and 208 Test matches.He is often credited with two of the most...
said it was the easiest, happiest tour he had been on since 1905. After losing 4-1 to Australia he won 1-0 in New Zealand and beat South Africa 3-1 at home in 1951. At 42 he was recalled to the England team for the 1953 Lords Test
Australian cricket team in England in 1953
The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1953 season to play a five-match Test series against England for The Ashes.England won the final Test to take the series 1-0 after the first four Tests were all drawn. England therefore recovered the Ashes for the first time since losing them in...
, where took 4/82 and hit 50 runs to ensure a vital draw in the year England regained the Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
. Like many amateur captains he was happy to take advice from the senior professional and 'Brown conferred with 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...
before he made a bowling change...there was little room for doubt...that Brown had tremendous respect for Hutton's advice on the cricket field', as well he should as the Yorkshireman was recognised as 'a tactical genius, whose advice was often sought', Actually making a northern professional vice-captain was a step too far and this office was granted to the debonair 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...
batsman Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
, the first professional cricketer
History of English amateur cricket
The history of English amateur cricket describes the concept and importance of amateur players in English cricket.-Co-development of amateur and professional cricket to 1800:...
to hold that office in living memory. Though Brown also conferred with Compton on the field, it was only after he had spoken to Hutton. The young Trevor Bailey
Trevor Bailey
Trevor Edward Bailey CBE was an England Test cricketer, cricket writer and broadcaster.An all-rounder, Bailey was known for his skilful but unspectacular batting...
surprised everybody by drawing up plans for dismissing and containing every Australian batsmen, which were used to great effect in the series.
The Batting
All Australia honoured Hutton as the world's best batsman, and never did a man play harder or more successfully on his country's behalf...One man cannot make a cricket team, but Len 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...
did the next best thing in Australia last winter. He stood alone. Superb in craftsmanship, magnificent in the hour of stress, veritably a giant among all batsmen and worthy of ranking with such famous names as HobbsJack HobbsSir 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....
, SutcliffeHerbert SutcliffeHerbert 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...
, WoolleyFrank WoolleyFrank 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...
, HammondWally HammondWalter 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...
...they were masters of all they surveyed. So was Hutton.
- John Kay
John Kay (cricket journalist)John Kay was a British cricket correspondent for the Manchester Evening News from the end of the Second World War to 1975 and for the Brighton Argus...
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...
did the England side of 1950-51. He made 533 runs at an average of 88.83, 50 runs more than the next man Reg Simpson
Reg Simpson
Reginald Thomas Simpson is an English former cricketer, who played in twentry seven Tests from 1948 to 1955.-Life and career:...
(38.77) and all the others except Freddie Brown (26.25) averaged under 20. He had broken his left arm in an accident on a commando course while a sergeant in the Army Physical Training Corps in the war and after an operation using 46 stitches, grafting bone from his leg onto his arm, which was left 2 inches (5 cm) shorter and weaker than his right. He was forced to review his technique and use a lightened bat, but his defense was flawless and he was an expert on 'sticky dogs' like Brisbane and averaged higher in post-war Tests than in his youth, when he had made the record score of 364 at the Oval in 1938. The Yorkshireman was saddled with the heavy burden of knowing that England depended on his skill and was the prime target of the Australian fast bowlers 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 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...
. Of Jack Iverson
Jack Iverson
John Brian Iverson was an Australian cricketer who played in 5 Tests from 1950 to 1951. He was known for his unique "bent finger" grip, with which he briefly perplexed batsmen across Australia as well as the touring English cricket team...
Hutton told Miller "Ah'll show thee how to play 'im", but never quite fathomed his mystery spin. England had one other great batsmen, the 'golden boy' Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
whose heroic strokeplay had enthralled the crowds in 1946-47 and 1948. Unlike Hutton he had no inhibition about playing his shots, but had spent much of 1950 suffering from the knee injury that would plague his career. He went on the tour against the advice of his doctor, who warned that his leg may be immobilised and took pain-killing drugs throughout the visit. It is unlikely that any batsman has had such a checked tour as Compton in 1950-51, he averaged 7.57 in the Tests and 92.11 in the other First Class matches, a difference of nearly 85 runs. His loss of form at the highest level was a severe blow to England's chances. Reg Simpson
Reg Simpson
Reginald Thomas Simpson is an English former cricketer, who played in twentry seven Tests from 1948 to 1955.-Life and career:...
came a poor second to Hutton in the Test averages, his 349 runs (38.77) being almost entirely dependent on his 156 not out
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...
on his 31st birthday in the Fifth and final Test. This innings was the finest of his career, first adding 131 with Hutton and 64 out of a stand of 74 for the last wicket to put England 103 runs ahead and gave them their first victory against Australia since 1938. It was the highest score of his Test career and he also made 269, his highest First Class hundred against the Sheffield Shield Champions 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...
. He was a fearless and effective player of fast bowling, but had a habit of getting out to spin bowlers, who he regarded with contempt. Hutton's regular opening partner was the 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...
stalwart 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...
, with whom he added 359 against South Africa in 1948-49, still a record opening stand for England. He averaged over 50 against Don Bradman's 1948 Australians, but couldn't handle the mystery spin of Jack Iverson
Jack Iverson
John Brian Iverson was an Australian cricketer who played in 5 Tests from 1950 to 1951. He was known for his unique "bent finger" grip, with which he briefly perplexed batsmen across Australia as well as the touring English cricket team...
. Apart from the captain's own efforts - Freddie Brown came third in the England Test averages with 210 runs at 26.25 - the rest of the England batting was woefully poor. John Dewes
John Dewes
John Dewes is a former English cricketer, who played for Cambridge University and Middlesex, and was chosen for five Tests between 1948 and 1950.-Life and career:...
had amassed 1,262 runs (78.88) for Cambridge
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
and 739 (61.58) for 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...
in 1950 with defensive prods and pushes. For Cambridge
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
he added 343 vs the West Indies and 349 vs 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...
with David Sheppard
David Sheppard
David Stuart Sheppard, Baron Sheppard of Liverpool was the high-profile Bishop of Liverpool in the Church of England who played cricket for Sussex and England in his youth...
, but they fared worse when not playing on the friendly wicket at Fenners. Sheppard is best remembered for taking holy orders
Holy Orders
The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....
, becoming the first Reverend to play Test cricket, becoming captain of 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...
and England and later Bishop of Liverpool
Bishop of Liverpool
The Bishop of Liverpool is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Liverpool in the Province of York.The diocese stretches from Southport in the north, to Widnes in the south, and from the River Mersey to Wigan in the east. Its see is in the City of Liverpool at the Cathedral Church of...
. Gilbert Parkhouse
Gilbert Parkhouse
William Gilbert Anthony Parkhouse was a Welsh cricketer who played in seven Tests for England in 1950, 1950-51 and 1959....
was a Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
middle order batsman who was sent in to open for Glamorgan
Glamorgan County Cricket Club
Glamorgan 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 Glamorgan aka Glamorganshire . Glamorgan CCC is the only Welsh first-class cricket club. Glamorgan CCC have won the English County...
in 1950 and made such as success of it that he broke the county record by making seven centuries in a season. The teenage Brian Close
Brian Close
Dennis Brian Close , usually known as Brian Close, is a former cricketer who is the youngest man ever to play Test cricket for England. He was picked for the Test team to play against New Zealand, in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England,...
was chosen after he took 100 wickets and made 1,000 runs in 1949 and became England's youngest ever player aged 18 years and 149 days. Despite respectable all-round figures Close never reached the heights expected of him in Test cricket, though his tough, uncompromising, captaincy of 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....
, Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset 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 Somerset...
and England would become the stuff of legend. Trevor Bailey
Trevor Bailey
Trevor Edward Bailey CBE was an England Test cricketer, cricket writer and broadcaster.An all-rounder, Bailey was known for his skilful but unspectacular batting...
's barnacle-like qualities were already apparent and this notorious stonewaller tended to substitute stubbornness for strokeplay, though he made few runs in this series.
The Bowling
With thirty Test Match wickets to his name, Alec BedserAlec BedserSir 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...
founded England's eventual success. He toiled for hours without complaint, and never once looked annoyed at the missing of a catch, or at a rejected l.b.w.Leg before wicketIn the sport of cricket, leg before wicket is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed. An umpire will rule a batsman out LBW under a series of circumstances which primarily include the ball striking the batsman's body when it would otherwise have continued on to hit the batsman's...
appeal. A great bowler, and an example to all who aspire to cricketing fame. The schoolboys who cheered him, and the elderly folk who applauded politely, all realised one thing. In Alec BedserAlec BedserSir 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...
England had the best bowler Australia had seen for years, and friend and foe alike admitted the fact.
- John Kay
John Kay (cricket journalist)John Kay was a British cricket correspondent for the Manchester Evening News from the end of the Second World War to 1975 and for the Brighton Argus...
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...
dominated the England bowling (and the Australian batsmen) as much as 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...
did the batting and by the end of the tour the Australians rated him the best new-ball bowler in the world. He sent down almost twice as many overs as anybody else in the Tests and took 30 wickets (16.06), including 10/105 in England's final victory at Melbourne
McG
Joseph McGinty Nichol , better known as McG, is an American director and producer of film and television, as well as a former record producer....
. Bedser carried the England bowling on his broad back against in the 1940s and 1950s with a long list of short-term new-ball partners. His huge hands and powerful shoulders allowed him to bowl a lethal combination of in-swingers and leg-cutters off a short run-up and only 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...
- briefly - was able to cut loose from his control. In 1950-51 series he did have the support of his captain Freddie Brown, another big medium paced bowler, who surprised everybody by taking 18 wickets (21.61) despite celebrating his 40th birthday on the tour. There was also Trevor Bailey
Trevor Bailey
Trevor Edward Bailey CBE was an England Test cricketer, cricket writer and broadcaster.An all-rounder, Bailey was known for his skilful but unspectacular batting...
who took 14 wickets (14.14) with his naggingly accurate out-swingers that mirrored his monotonous batting as he settled on containing batsmen, but could be dangerous in the right conditions. After these three the quality of the England bowling dropped dramatically, for which the selectors must bear the brunt of the blame. 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...
was a mercurial leg-spinner who the MCC liked sent on tour instead of Jim Laker
Jim Laker
James "Jim" Charles Laker was a cricketer who played for England in the 1950s, known for "Laker's match" in 1956 at Old Trafford, when he took nineteen wickets in England's victory against Australia...
because he was more suited to the harder wickets abroad. He was potential match-winner, but he liked to buy his wickets and asking him to bowl was always a gamble as he could equally snap up a few quick wickets, concede a slew of runs, or both. Eric Hollies
Eric Hollies
William Eric Hollies was an English cricketer, who is mainly remembered for taking the wicket of Donald Bradman for a duck in Bradman's final Test match innings, in which only four was needed for a Test average of 100...
bowled one of the most famous balls in cricket when his googly
Googly
In cricket, a googly is a type of delivery bowled by a right-arm leg spin bowler. It is occasionally referred to as a Bosie , an eponym in honour of its inventor Bernard Bosanquet.- Explanation :...
dismissed Don Bradman for a duck in his last Test innings, but the Warwickshire leg-spinner was not a great turner of the ball, instead relying on line and length. Unfortunately the 1950-51 tour was the first to use extensive air travel. Hollies was scared stiff of flying and had to be drunk before he could get on a plane. He failed to turn the ball on Australian wickets and was kept out of the team by 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...
. Roy Tattersall
Roy Tattersall
Roy Tattersall is an English former Lancashire cricketer, who played sixteen Tests for England as a specialist off spin bowler....
and Bob Berry
Bob Berry (cricketer)
Robert Berry was an English cricketer. He played in two Tests in 1950. He played county cricket for Lancashire from 1948 to 1954, for Worcestershire from 1955 to 1958, and for Derbyshire from 1959 to 1962...
were off-spinners who were supposed to tie down the Australian batsmen, but like many of their kind failed to adjust to the faster, harder Australian pitches. John Warr
John Warr
John James Warr is an English former cricketer. He played in two Test matches for England.His Test bowling average remains the worst of any English player, but Warr turned it into comic relief in his highly humorous after dinner speeches.-Life and career:He played for Middlesex as a right-arm...
quickly proved himself to be the worst player in the team, he took only one test wicket - for 281 runs - when 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...
walked after the umpire declined to give him out, an almost unheard of practice in Australia at the time. He improved his game during the tour, but was never more than a decent county bowler. Let loose from the hard life at Yorkshire and the Army Brian Close
Brian Close
Dennis Brian Close , usually known as Brian Close, is a former cricketer who is the youngest man ever to play Test cricket for England. He was picked for the Test team to play against New Zealand, in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England,...
was undisciplined and failed on a tour for which he should not have been chosen.
The Fielding
It was not only that catches were missed. The picking up was slovenly and the returns to the wicket badly directed. There was no anticipation or cutting off of runs by the men in the deep, and quite often Brown had to halt a bowler in his run-up to direct a fieldsmen to his proper position.
- John Kay
John Kay (cricket journalist)John Kay was a British cricket correspondent for the Manchester Evening News from the end of the Second World War to 1975 and for the Brighton Argus...
England failed to match the Australians' high standards of fielding and were nicknamed Brown's Cows
How now brown cow
"How now brown cow" is a phrase used in elocution teaching to demonstrate rounded vowel sounds. Each "ow" sound in the phrase represents an individual diphthong. The phrase does not have an explicit meaning per se but can be used as a light-hearted greeting...
by the Australian barrackers. They dropped six catches in a match against Victoria and made frequent mistakes in the state matches. However, they made a considerable improvement in the Tests with "...first class work in the field, in direct contrast to the slovenly and often lackadaisical displays in the previous games of the tour". Even so they never reached the heights of catching and fielding displayed by the Australian team. Both Brown and 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...
weighted 15 stone (over 200 lb
Pound (mass)
The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
or 100 kilos) and were particularly ungainly in the field, but their bucket-like hands picked up 9 catches and Brown twice caught and bowled 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...
. 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...
was the outstanding wicket-keeper of his generation whose enthusiasm could energise a fielding team and always entertained the crowd with his antics. His deputy was Arthur McIntyre (cricketer, born 1918), who kept wicket for 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...
, Jim Laker
Jim Laker
James "Jim" Charles Laker was a cricketer who played for England in the 1950s, known for "Laker's match" in 1956 at Old Trafford, when he took nineteen wickets in England's victory against Australia...
and Tony Lock
Tony Lock
Graham Anthony Richard Lock was an English cricketer, who played primarily as a left-arm spinner. He played in forty nine Tests for England taking 174 wickets at 25.58 each.-Life and career:...
in the 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...
side that would win the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
seven times in a row in 1952-58. 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...
was a good slip
Slip (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a slip fielder is placed behind the batsman on the off side of the field. They are placed with the aim of catching an edged ball which is beyond the wicket-keeper's reach. Many teams employ two or three slips...
and would pick up 9 catches in the series and Trevor Bailey
Trevor Bailey
Trevor Edward Bailey CBE was an England Test cricketer, cricket writer and broadcaster.An all-rounder, Bailey was known for his skilful but unspectacular batting...
took some great catches in the gully
Slip (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a slip fielder is placed behind the batsman on the off side of the field. They are placed with the aim of catching an edged ball which is beyond the wicket-keeper's reach. Many teams employ two or three slips...
. Unfortunately the MCC had no other slip fielders and they were joined by Gilbert Parkhouse
Gilbert Parkhouse
William Gilbert Anthony Parkhouse was a Welsh cricketer who played in seven Tests for England in 1950, 1950-51 and 1959....
, who hated the role and frequently dropped catches. John Dewes
John Dewes
John Dewes is a former English cricketer, who played for Cambridge University and Middlesex, and was chosen for five Tests between 1948 and 1950.-Life and career:...
was a good outfielder, but the rest of the team failed to impress and a picture of John Warr
John Warr
John James Warr is an English former cricketer. He played in two Test matches for England.His Test bowling average remains the worst of any English player, but Warr turned it into comic relief in his highly humorous after dinner speeches.-Life and career:He played for Middlesex as a right-arm...
was used to illustrate how not to take catches.
MCC Touring Team
By 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 their initials were used at all.| Test Statistics of the England Cricket Team in Australia 1950-51 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | County | Age | Role | Tests | Runs | Highest | Average | 100s | 50s | Ct | St | Wickets | Best | Average | 5 Wt | 10 Wt |
| Brigadier M.A. Green Michael Green (cricketer) Michael Arthur Green, born at Bristol on 3 October 1891 and died at Kensington, London on 28 December 1971, was an all-round sportsman primarily known as a first-class cricketer for Gloucestershire and Essex, and as a cricket administrator who managed England tours to South Africa and Australia and... |
Worcs Worcestershire County Cricket Club Worcestershire 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 Worcestershire... |
59 | Joint Manager | |||||||||||||
| J.H. Nash John Nash (cricket administrator) John Henry Nash was an English cricket administrator.John Nash was Secretary of Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1931 until his retirement in 1971, when he was succeeded by Joe Lister. He became one of the most respected figures in cricket, making a host of friends throughout the world... |
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.... |
44 | Joint Manager | |||||||||||||
| Ferguson, W. Bill Ferguson William Henry Ferguson BEM is one of the best known cricket scorers. For 52 years from 1905 until his death, Ferguson acted as the scorer and baggageman for Australia, England, West Indies, South Africa and New Zealand in 43 tours and 208 Test matches.He is often credited with two of the most... |
70 | Scorer Scorer A scorer in the sport of cricket is someone appointed to record all runs scored, all wickets taken and, where appropriate, number of overs bowled. In professional games, in compliance with the Laws of Cricket, two scorers are appointed, most often one provided by each team.The scorers have no say... and Baggage Man |
||||||||||||||
| 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... |
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... |
34 | Right-Handed 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... |
79 | 6971 | 364 | 56.67 | 19 | 33 | 57 | 3 | 1/2 | 77.33 | |||
| W.G.A. Parkhouse Gilbert Parkhouse William Gilbert Anthony Parkhouse was a Welsh cricketer who played in seven Tests for England in 1950, 1950-51 and 1959.... |
Glamorgan Glamorgan County Cricket Club Glamorgan 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 Glamorgan aka Glamorganshire . Glamorgan CCC is the only Welsh first-class cricket club. Glamorgan CCC have won the English County... |
25 | Right-Handed 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 | 373 | 78 | 28.69 | 2 | 3 | |||||||
| D.S. Sheppard David Sheppard David Stuart Sheppard, Baron Sheppard of Liverpool was the high-profile Bishop of Liverpool in the Church of England who played cricket for Sussex and England in his youth... |
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.... and Cambridge Cambridge University Cricket Club Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University... |
21 | Right-Handed 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... |
22 | 1172 | 119 | 37.80 | 3 | 6 | 12 | ||||||
| R.T. Simpson Reg Simpson Reginald Thomas Simpson is an English former cricketer, who played in twentry seven Tests from 1948 to 1955.-Life and career:... |
Notts 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... |
30 | Right-Handed 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... |
23 | 1401 | 156* | 33.45 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2/4 | 11.00 | |||
| 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... |
35 | Right-Handed 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... |
37 | 2569 | 195 | 42.81 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 1/25 | 33.00 | |||
| Compton, D.C.S. Denis Compton Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer... (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... |
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... |
32 | Right-Handed 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... |
78 | 5807 | 278 | 50.06 | 17 | 28 | 49 | 25 | 5/70 | 56.40 | 1 | ||
| J.G. Dewes John Dewes John Dewes is a former English cricketer, who played for Cambridge University and Middlesex, and was chosen for five Tests between 1948 and 1950.-Life and career:... |
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... and Cambridge Cambridge University Cricket Club Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University... |
24 | Left-Handed 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... |
5 | 121 | 67 | 12.10 | 1 | ||||||||
| 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... |
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... |
29 | Wicket-Keeper 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... |
91 | 2439 | 104 | 20.49 | 2 | 8 | 173 | 46 | |||||
| McIntyre, A.J.W. | 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... |
32 | Wicket-Keeper 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... |
3 | 19 | 7 | 3.16 | 8 | ||||||||
| T.E. Bailey Trevor Bailey Trevor Edward Bailey CBE was an England Test cricketer, cricket writer and broadcaster.An all-rounder, Bailey was known for his skilful but unspectacular batting... |
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... |
26 | 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... |
61 | 2290 | 134* | 29.74 | 1 | 10 | 32 | 132 | 7/34 | 29.21 | 5 | 1 | |
| Statham, J.B. Brian Statham John Brian "George" Statham, CBE was one of the leading English fast bowlers in 20th-century English cricket. Initially a bowler of a brisk fast-medium pace, Statham was able to remodel his action to generate enough speed to become genuinely fast... |
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... |
20 | 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... |
51 | 675 | 38 | 11.44 | 28 | 252 | 7/39 | 24.84 | 9 | 1 | |||
| J.J. Warr John Warr John James Warr is an English former cricketer. He played in two Test matches for England.His Test bowling average remains the worst of any English player, but Warr turned it into comic relief in his highly humorous after dinner speeches.-Life and career:He played for Middlesex as a right-arm... |
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... and Cambridge Cambridge University Cricket Club Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University... |
23 | 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... |
2 | 4 | 4 | 1.00 | 1 | 1/76 | 281.00 | ||||||
| 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... |
32 | 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... |
51 | 714 | 79 | 12.75 | 1 | 26 | 236 | 7/44 | 24.89 | 15 | 5 | ||
| F.R. Brown (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... |
Northants Northamptonshire County Cricket Club Northamptonshire 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 Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northants Steelbacks. The traditional club colour is Maroon. During the... |
39 | 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... 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... |
22 | 734 | 79 | 25.31 | 5 | 22 | 45 | 5/49 | 31.06 | 1 | |||
| Close, D.B. Brian Close Dennis Brian Close , usually known as Brian Close, is a former cricketer who is the youngest man ever to play Test cricket for England. He was picked for the Test team to play against New Zealand, in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England,... |
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.... |
19 | 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... Off-Spin Bowler Finger spin Finger 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. The other spinning technique, generally used to spin the ball in the opposite direction, is wrist spin... |
22 | 887 | 70 | 25.34 | 4 | 24 | 18 | 4/35 | 29.55 | ||||
| Hollies, W.E. Eric Hollies William Eric Hollies was an English cricketer, who is mainly remembered for taking the wicket of Donald Bradman for a duck in Bradman's final Test match innings, in which only four was needed for a Test average of 100... |
Warwicks Warwickshire County Cricket Club Warwickshire 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 Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor... |
38 | 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... |
13 | 37 | 18* 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... |
5.28 | 44 | 7/50 | 30.27 | 5 | |||||
| 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... |
36 | 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... |
34 | 289 | 45* 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... |
11.11 | 10 | 108 | 7/105 | 39.11 | 6 | 1 | |||
| Bedser, E.A. Eric Bedser Eric Arthur Bedser was a cricket player for Surrey County Cricket Club. He was the elder identical twin brother of Sir Alec , widely regarded as one of England's top bowlers of the 20th century... |
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... |
32 | Off-Spin Bowler Finger spin Finger 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. The other spinning technique, generally used to spin the ball in the opposite direction, is wrist spin... |
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| Tattersall, R. Roy Tattersall Roy Tattersall is an English former Lancashire cricketer, who played sixteen Tests for England as a specialist off spin bowler.... |
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... |
28 | Off-Spin Bowler Finger spin Finger 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. The other spinning technique, generally used to spin the ball in the opposite direction, is wrist spin... |
16 | 50 | 10* 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... |
5.00 | 8 | 58 | 7/52 | 26.08 | 4 | 1 | |||
| Berry, R. Bob Berry (cricketer) Robert Berry was an English cricketer. He played in two Tests in 1950. He played county cricket for Lancashire from 1948 to 1954, for Worcestershire from 1955 to 1958, and for Derbyshire from 1959 to 1962... |
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... |
24 | Slow Left Arm Bowler Left-arm orthodox spin Left-arm orthodox spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket.Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left arm bowler using the fingers to spin the ball from right to left of the cricket pitch... |
2 | 6 | 4* | 3.00 | 2 | 9 | 5/63 | 25.33 | 1 |
First Test – Brisbane
See Main Article - 1950-51 Ashes seriesSecond Test – Melbourne
See Main Article - 1950-51 Ashes seriesThird Test – Sydney
See Main Article - 1950-51 Ashes seriesFourth Test – Adelaide
See Main Article - 1950-51 Ashes seriesFifth Test – Melbourne
See Main Article - 1950-51 Ashes seriesFurther 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
- Ashley Brown, The Pictorial History of Cricket, Bison, 1988
- 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 - Gideon Haigh, Mystery Spinner: The Story of Jack Iverson, Aurum Press Ltd, 2002
- Chris Harte, A History of Australian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, 1993
- Alan Hill, The Bedsers: Twinning Triumphs, Mainstream Publishing, 2002
- Keith MillerKeith MillerKeith 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...
, Cricket Crossfire, Oldbourne Press, 1956 - Ray Robinson, On Top Down Under, Cassell, 1975
- E.W. Swanton (ed), Barclay's World of Cricket, Willow, 1986