Ron Saggers with the Australian cricket team in England in 1948
Encyclopedia
Ron Saggers
was a member of Donald Bradman
's famous Australian cricket team of 1948, which toured England and went undefeated in their 34 matches. This unprecedented feat by a Test side touring England earned them the sobriquet The Invincibles.
The team's reserve wicket-keeper
, Saggers played in only the Fourth
of five Tests
, due to an injury to first-choice gloveman Don Tallon
. The match was Saggers's Test debut and he scored five in his only innings with the bat and took three catches. Despite being the second-choice gloveman, Saggers conceded byes
at a lower rate than Tallon did during the English summer. During the Fourth Test, Saggers conceded only six byes as England amassed a match total of 861, the lowest percentage of byes conceded by Australia in a match during the tour. Despite this, Tallon remained the favoured gloveman, as Bradman deemed him to be faster and more athletic.
Bradman rotated the two glovemen during the tour, and Saggers played in 17 of the 31 first-class matches
, taking 23 catches and 20 stumpings. Due to Australia's powerful batting line-up, Saggers had few opportunities with the bat, scoring 209 runs at an average
of 23.22, including his only century
at first-class level, 104 not out
against Essex
.
had played in each of Australia's 11 Tests since the resumption of cricket after the Second World War, while Saggers was yet to make his Test debut. Saggers made his first-class debut shortly before the start of the war, and after the resumption, was regarded as the second in line for Test selection behind Tallon. However, as Australia did not make any substantial tours in the years immediately after the end of hostilities, there was no need to take a reserve gloveman on such trips. However, the trip to England meant more than six months aborad, so a back-up wicketkeeper was needed, and Saggers was selected for his first national squad.
. Accordingly, Tallon was selected as the wicket-keeper for the match. Tallon scored six, made five dismissals and conceded 11 byes as Australia crushed the hosts by an innings and 17 runs.
Tallon was then rested and Saggers took his place for the next county
match against Leicestershire
. Saggers scored six, took a catch in each innings and conceded only six byes as Australia won by an innings. Saggers was then rested for the next two matches, against Yorkshire
and Surrey
. Australia scraped home by four wickets in the former and won by an innings in the latter. Tallon batted steadily with 10, 17 not out and 50 not out, but conceded 35 byes while taking two catches. Tallon was having difficulty with the bounce and movement of the ball in English conditions, and sustained a bruised right finger when he lost sight of a Ray Lindwall
bouncer
on a misty morning during the Surrey match. He was hit after placing his hand over his face for protection, and the ball ran away for four byes.
While Tallon nursed a bruised finger, Saggers played in three successive tour matches. Against Cambridge University
, he made two stumpings and took one catch, and was not required to bat as Australia won by an innings. He then played in the match against Essex where Australia scored 721 runs on the first day to set a new world record for the most runs scored in a day of first-class cricket. Saggers made his highest first-class score, 104 not out
—the only first-class century
of his career—in a partnership
of 166 runs in 65 minutes of batting with Sam Loxton
. This made him the fourth century-maker for the innings after Bill Brown
, Bradman and Loxton. Of Saggers's innings, former Test batsman Jack Fingleton
said that "he reminded me at times of Alan Kippax
in his artistry. He plays all the strokes." Saggers took one catch as Australia won by an innings and 451 runs, their largest winning margin of the season.
He then faced Oxford University
, scoring six runs and taking one catch in another innings victory. Saggers conceded six, eight and 14 byes respectively in the three matches. Up to this point, Saggers had conceded only 34 byes in his four tour matches, while Tallon had conceded 46 in three.N-
The next match was against the Marylebone Cricket Club
at Lord's. The MCC fielded seven players who went on to represent England in the Tests,N- and were basically a full-strength Test team, as were Australia, who fielded their first-choice team. It was a chance for players from both countries to gain a psychological advantage ahead of the Test matches, and Tallon was selected ahead of Saggers despite conceding byes at a higher rate in the opening tour matches. Saggers looked on as Tallon conceded 26 byes and Australia won by an innings.
There were four more county fixtures
before the First Test, against Lancashire
, Nottinghamshire
, Hampshire
and Sussex
. Australia drew the first two before winning the latter pair by eight wickets and an innings and 325 runs respectively. Saggers played in all but the Nottinghamshire match. Against Lancashire
, Saggers came in at 6/145 and held up his end, making an unbeaten 22 as Australia reached 204. He then completed a stumping and conceded 11 byes as the hosts replied with 182 before the rain-affected match ended in a draw. Saggers went without a dismissal and conceded 16 byes as Hampshire made 195 in their first innings. He came to the crease with Australia having scored 98 runs for the loss of seven wickets (7/98) and was last man out for 17, one of only four players to pass five, as Australia made 117 and conceded a first innings lead for the first time in the season. He then completed another stumping in the second innings and conceded four byes as Australia recovered to win by eight wickets. Saggers' final opportunity to stake a claim for Test selection was in the match against Sussex
. He did not concede a bye and took a catch in the first innings. Saggers was not required to bat as Australia declared their innings closed
at 5/549, and then made three more dismissals and conceded five byes as Australia won by an innings.
In Saggers' last three matches before the First Test, he conceded 36 byes and made six dismissals. In contrast, Tallon conceded 18 byes in his only match and scored 27. Despite averaging more byes per innings than Saggers during the warm-up matches,N- Tallon was retained in the Test team. He took four catches and conceded 17 byes as Australia won by eight wickets.
Between Tests, Australia played Northamptonshire
and Yorkshire, and Tallon was rested for both matches. The first was won by an innings and the second was drawn. Saggers scored four against Northamptonshire and 22 against Yorkshire. After not making a dismissal against Northamptonshire, he took two catches and two stumpings in the latter match. He conceded 14 and 10 byes in the two matches respectively.
Tallon was retained for the Second Test at Lord's, where he scored 53, took three catches and conceded 16 byes as Australia won by 409 runs. A dive to stop a leg glance resulted in Tallon severely bruising the little finger on his left hand. Nursing his finger injury, Tallon was rested for both tour matches between the Tests, which were against Surrey
and Gloucestershire
. Australia won the matches by ten wickets and an innings respectively. In Tallon's place, Saggers scored 12, completed a catch and made four stumpings while conceding 18 byes against Surrey. In the match against Gloucestershire, Saggers was deprived of an opportunity to bat as Australia amassed 7/774, its highest score of the tour and its second highest ever in England. He took two catches, completed three stumpings and conceded 13 byes for the match.
Tallon was retained as the teams then played out a draw in the Third Test at Manchester. During the match, Tallon conceded 16 byes and dropped Denis Compton
three times as the English batsman went from 50 to 145 not out. Tallon's little left finger swelled up after the Third Test and he exacerbated the injury during the next tour match against Middlesex
, which Australia won by ten wickets.
on 22 July 1948. As England made 496 runs in their first innings, Saggers took catches to remove Denis Compton
for 23, caught down the leg side
, and Jim Laker
for four. During the innings, Saggers was noted by Fingleton for maintaining a quiet presence behind the stumps, whereas Tallon was characteristically known for loudly appealing
in concert with the bowler when he was playing. Fingleton felt that Saggers' failure to appeal dampened the morale of the bowlers, who were vocally supported by Tallon in the other four Tests. Australia conceded 496 runs but Saggers leaked only two byes.
Australia replied with 458, but Saggers was unable to make a substantial contribution, stumped by England's wicket-keeper Godfrey Evans
off the bowling of Laker for only five runs. England's second innings reached 8/365, as Saggers took one catch to secure the wicket of Ken Cranston
and conceded four byes. This left Australia needing a world record Test run chase of 404 for victory. However, an innings of 182 runs from Arthur Morris
and 173 not out from Bradman meant that Saggers was not required to bat in the second innings; Australia defeated England by seven wickets, and set a world record for the highest successful Test run chase. Saggers's six byes out of England's match total of 861 runs was the lowest percentage of byes conceded by Australia in a match on the tour.N-
Saggers made six not out, completed two catches, a stumping and conceded 15 byes in the innings victory over Derbyshire
, before being rested in the next match against Glamorgan
. In his first match back from injury, Tallon took a catch and two stumpings, but conceded 19 byes in a rain-affected draw. Tallon's byes were 9.64% of the hosts' total, the highest percentage contribution made by byes to an innings on the tour.N- Saggers returned for the nine-wicket win over Warwickshire
and struggled, making a duck
. Although he took two catches and a stumping, he conceded 28 byes, 9.56% of Warwickshire's total runs, the second highest percentage contribution of byes to a match total against Australia.N- Saggers was then rested for Australia's second match and second draw against Lancashire
as Tallon made three dismissals and conceded 23 byes. In the non-first-class match against Durham
, Tallon played purely as a batsman, while Saggers kept wicket. Saggers came in at 8/226 and made 22 to help Australia reach 273. He then made two stumpings and conceded four byes as the hosts reached 5/73 when rain ended the match. With Tallon fit again for the Fifth Test, Saggers was omitted as Australia won by an innings and 149 runs to complete a 4–0 series victory.
, the Gentlemen of England, and Somerset
, and Saggers kept wickets in all three fixtures; Australia won all three by an innings. Saggers made only eight as Australia scored 361 against Kent. He then conceded only two byes and took two catches and made two stumpings as the home side made 51 and 124. Saggers did not bat as Australia amassed 5/610 against the Gentlemen of England. He then took a catch and conceded 19 byes as Australia enforced the follow on and won. The match against Somerset was similar; Saggers did not bat in Australia's 5/560 declared, before making two stumpings and conceding eight byes. In total, he made seven dismissals and conceded 29 byes in the six innings of the three matches. Saggers was rested as Tallon returned for the following match against the South of England
. Tallon took three catches and conceded 13 byes before the match was washed out when the hosts were dismissed for 298.
Australia's biggest challenge in the post-Test tour matches was against the Leveson-Gower's XI. During the last tour in 1938, this team was effectively a full-strength England outfit, but this time Bradman insisted that only six current Test players be allowed to represent the hosts. Bradman then fielded a first-choice team; the only difference from the Fifth Test team was Ian Johnson
's inclusion at the expense of Doug Ring
. Saggers was left out as the match ended in a draw after multiple rain delays.
The tour ended with two non-first-class matches against Scotland. In the first match, Tallon played as a batsman while Saggers kept wicket. Saggers scored only eight in Australia's 236 and then took two catches, three stumpings and conceded 13 byes in the innings victory. In the second match in Aberdeen
, Saggers was rested as Australia completed another innings win.
The reserve wicket-keeper, Saggers played in 17 first-class matches and scored 209 runs at an average of 23.22, including a career high score of 104 not out against Essex, 23 catches and 20 stumpings, also career records for one season. This compared with the first-choice gloveman Tallon, who scored 283 runs at 25.72. In all his matches on tour, Tallon missed 249 byes as Australia conceded 5331 runs, a bye percentage of 4.67%. In contrast, Saggers conceded 221 byes from the 6190 runs scored against Australia when he was behind the stumps, a percentage of 3.57%.N- In his 1950 book Farewell to cricket, Bradman said of Saggers, "[he] had not quite the speed or agility of Tallon but could always be relied on for a solid performance. A most polished and unostentatious player."
During the tour, Saggers had few opportunities with the bat, generally batting between No. 8 and No. 10
,N- because Australia's frontline bowlers included the likes of Ray Lindwall
, Colin McCool
, Ian Johnson
and Doug Ring
, who were all capable batsmen. Lindwall scored two Test centuries in his career, while McCool scored 18 first-class centuries, one in Tests. Johnson and Ring both scored more than 20 fifties at first-class level. As a result, many of the bowlers batted before he did. As Australia often won by an innings, and declared in the first innings on many occasions, Saggers only had 12 innings in his 17 first-class fixtures and was not out three times after his remaining partners had been dismissed.
Ron Saggers
Ronald Arthur Saggers was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales. He played briefly for the Australian team, playing six Tests between 1948 and 1950...
was a member of Donald Bradman
Donald Bradman
Sir Donald George Bradman, AC , often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time...
's famous Australian cricket team of 1948, which toured England and went undefeated in their 34 matches. This unprecedented feat by a Test side touring England earned them the sobriquet The Invincibles.
The team's reserve 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...
, Saggers played in only the Fourth
Fourth Test, 1948 Ashes series
The Fourth Test of the 1948 Ashes series was one of five Tests in a cricket series between Australia and England. The match was played at Headingley Stadium at Leeds from 22 to 27 July with a rest day on 25 July. Australia won the match by seven wickets to take an unassailable 3–0 series lead...
of five Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
, due to an injury to first-choice gloveman Don Tallon
Don Tallon
Donald "Don" Tallon was an Australian cricketer who played 21 Test matches as a wicket-keeper between 1946 and 1953...
. The match was Saggers's Test debut and he scored five in his only innings with the bat and took three catches. Despite being the second-choice gloveman, Saggers conceded byes
Bye (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a bye is a run scored by the batting team when the ball has not been hit by the batsman and the ball has not hit the batsman's body.-Scoring byes:...
at a lower rate than Tallon did during the English summer. During the Fourth Test, Saggers conceded only six byes as England amassed a match total of 861, the lowest percentage of byes conceded by Australia in a match during the tour. Despite this, Tallon remained the favoured gloveman, as Bradman deemed him to be faster and more athletic.
Bradman rotated the two glovemen during the tour, and Saggers played in 17 of the 31 first-class matches
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
, taking 23 catches and 20 stumpings. Due to Australia's powerful batting line-up, Saggers had few opportunities with the bat, scoring 209 runs at an average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
of 23.22, including his only century
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
at first-class level, 104 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...
against 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...
.
Background
Saggers started the tour as the clear second-choice wicket-keeper, as Don TallonDon Tallon
Donald "Don" Tallon was an Australian cricketer who played 21 Test matches as a wicket-keeper between 1946 and 1953...
had played in each of Australia's 11 Tests since the resumption of cricket after the Second World War, while Saggers was yet to make his Test debut. Saggers made his first-class debut shortly before the start of the war, and after the resumption, was regarded as the second in line for Test selection behind Tallon. However, as Australia did not make any substantial tours in the years immediately after the end of hostilities, there was no need to take a reserve gloveman on such trips. However, the trip to England meant more than six months aborad, so a back-up wicketkeeper was needed, and Saggers was selected for his first national squad.
Early tour
Australia traditionally fielded its first-choice team in the tour opener, which was customarily against WorcestershireWorcestershire 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...
. Accordingly, Tallon was selected as the wicket-keeper for the match. Tallon scored six, made five dismissals and conceded 11 byes as Australia crushed the hosts by an innings and 17 runs.
Tallon was then rested and Saggers took his place for the next county
County cricket
County cricket is the highest level of domestic cricket in England and Wales. For the 2010 season, see 2010 English cricket season.-First-class counties:...
match against Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire 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 Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
. Saggers scored six, took a catch in each innings and conceded only six byes as Australia won by an innings. Saggers was then rested for the next two matches, against 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 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...
. Australia scraped home by four wickets in the former and won by an innings in the latter. Tallon batted steadily with 10, 17 not out and 50 not out, but conceded 35 byes while taking two catches. Tallon was having difficulty with the bounce and movement of the ball in English conditions, and sustained a bruised right finger when he lost sight of a 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...
bouncer
Bouncer (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a bouncer is a type of delivery, usually bowled by a fast bowler. It is pitched short so that it bounces on the pitch well short of the batsman and rears up to chest or head height as it reaches the batsman.Bouncers are used tactically to drive the batsman back on to his...
on a misty morning during the Surrey match. He was hit after placing his hand over his face for protection, and the ball ran away for four byes.
While Tallon nursed a bruised finger, Saggers played in three successive tour matches. Against 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...
, he made two stumpings and took one catch, and was not required to bat as Australia won by an innings. He then played in the match against Essex where Australia scored 721 runs on the first day to set a new world record for the most runs scored in a day of first-class cricket. Saggers made his highest first-class score, 104 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...
—the only first-class century
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
of his career—in a partnership
Partnership (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in partnership, although only one is on strike at any time. The partnership between two batsmen will come to an end when one of them is dismissed or retires, or the innings comes to a close In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in...
of 166 runs in 65 minutes of batting with Sam Loxton
Sam Loxton
Samuel John Everett "Sam" Loxton OBE is a former Australian cricketer, footballer and politician. Among these three pursuits, his greatest achievements were attained on the cricket field; he played in 12 Tests for Australia from 1948 to 1951...
. This made him the fourth century-maker for the innings after Bill Brown
Bill Brown (cricketer)
William Alfred "Bill" Brown, OAM was an Australian cricketer who played 22 Tests between 1934 and 1948, captaining his country in one Test. A right-handed opening batsman, his partnership with Jack Fingleton in the 1930s is regarded as one of the finest in Australian Test history...
, Bradman and Loxton. Of Saggers's innings, former Test batsman Jack Fingleton
Jack Fingleton
John "Jack" Henry Webb Fingleton OBE was an Australian cricketer who was trained as a journalist and became a political and cricket commentator after the end of his playing career...
said that "he reminded me at times of Alan Kippax
Alan Kippax
Alan Falconer Kippax was a cricketer for New South Wales and Australia. Regarded as one of the great stylists of Australian cricket during the era between the two World Wars, Kippax overcame a late start to Test cricket to become a regular in the Australian team between the 1928–29 and...
in his artistry. He plays all the strokes." Saggers took one catch as Australia won by an innings and 451 runs, their largest winning margin of the season.
He then faced Oxford University
Oxford University Cricket Club
Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...
, scoring six runs and taking one catch in another innings victory. Saggers conceded six, eight and 14 byes respectively in the three matches. Up to this point, Saggers had conceded only 34 byes in his four tour matches, while Tallon had conceded 46 in three.N-
The next match was against the Marylebone Cricket Club
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...
at Lord's. The MCC fielded seven players who went on to represent England in the Tests,N- and were basically a full-strength Test team, as were Australia, who fielded their first-choice team. It was a chance for players from both countries to gain a psychological advantage ahead of the Test matches, and Tallon was selected ahead of Saggers despite conceding byes at a higher rate in the opening tour matches. Saggers looked on as Tallon conceded 26 byes and Australia won by an innings.
There were four more county fixtures
County cricket
County cricket is the highest level of domestic cricket in England and Wales. For the 2010 season, see 2010 English cricket season.-First-class counties:...
before the First Test, against 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...
, Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...
, Hampshire
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
and 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...
. Australia drew the first two before winning the latter pair by eight wickets and an innings and 325 runs respectively. Saggers played in all but the Nottinghamshire match. Against 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...
, Saggers came in at 6/145 and held up his end, making an unbeaten 22 as Australia reached 204. He then completed a stumping and conceded 11 byes as the hosts replied with 182 before the rain-affected match ended in a draw. Saggers went without a dismissal and conceded 16 byes as Hampshire made 195 in their first innings. He came to the crease with Australia having scored 98 runs for the loss of seven wickets (7/98) and was last man out for 17, one of only four players to pass five, as Australia made 117 and conceded a first innings lead for the first time in the season. He then completed another stumping in the second innings and conceded four byes as Australia recovered to win by eight wickets. Saggers' final opportunity to stake a claim for Test selection was in the match against 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...
. He did not concede a bye and took a catch in the first innings. Saggers was not required to bat as Australia declared their innings closed
Declaration and forfeiture
In the sport of cricket a declaration occurs when a captain declares his team's innings closed and a forfeiture is when a captain chooses to forfeit an innings. Declaration and forfeiture are covered in Law 14 of the Laws of cricket...
at 5/549, and then made three more dismissals and conceded five byes as Australia won by an innings.
Test omission
Between Tests, Australia played Northamptonshire
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...
and Yorkshire, and Tallon was rested for both matches. The first was won by an innings and the second was drawn. Saggers scored four against Northamptonshire and 22 against Yorkshire. After not making a dismissal against Northamptonshire, he took two catches and two stumpings in the latter match. He conceded 14 and 10 byes in the two matches respectively.
Tallon was retained for the Second Test at Lord's, where he scored 53, took three catches and conceded 16 byes as Australia won by 409 runs. A dive to stop a leg glance resulted in Tallon severely bruising the little finger on his left hand. Nursing his finger injury, Tallon was rested for both tour matches between the Tests, which were against 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...
and Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....
. Australia won the matches by ten wickets and an innings respectively. In Tallon's place, Saggers scored 12, completed a catch and made four stumpings while conceding 18 byes against Surrey. In the match against Gloucestershire, Saggers was deprived of an opportunity to bat as Australia amassed 7/774, its highest score of the tour and its second highest ever in England. He took two catches, completed three stumpings and conceded 13 byes for the match.
Tallon was retained as the teams then played out a draw in the Third Test at Manchester. During the match, Tallon conceded 16 byes and dropped Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
three times as the English batsman went from 50 to 145 not out. Tallon's little left finger swelled up after the Third Test and he exacerbated the injury during the next tour match against 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...
, which Australia won by ten wickets.
Test debut
As a result of Tallon's finger injury, Saggers made his Test debut in the Fourth Test, which started at HeadingleyHeadingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....
on 22 July 1948. As England made 496 runs in their first innings, Saggers took catches to remove Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
for 23, caught down the leg side
Leg side
The leg side, or on side, is defined to be a particular half of the field used to play the sport of cricket.From the point of view of a right-handed batsman facing the bowler, it is the left hand side of the cricket field...
, and 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...
for four. During the innings, Saggers was noted by Fingleton for maintaining a quiet presence behind the stumps, whereas Tallon was characteristically known for loudly appealing
Appeal (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an appeal is the act of a player on the fielding team asking an umpire for a decision regarding whether a batsman is out or not. According to the Laws of Cricket, an umpire may not rule a batsman out unless the fielding side appeals...
in concert with the bowler when he was playing. Fingleton felt that Saggers' failure to appeal dampened the morale of the bowlers, who were vocally supported by Tallon in the other four Tests. Australia conceded 496 runs but Saggers leaked only two byes.
Australia replied with 458, but Saggers was unable to make a substantial contribution, stumped by England's wicket-keeper 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...
off the bowling of Laker for only five runs. England's second innings reached 8/365, as Saggers took one catch to secure the wicket of Ken Cranston
Ken Cranston
Kenneth "Ken" Cranston was an English cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Lancashire and eight times for England, in 1947 and 1948. He retired from playing cricket to concentrate on his career as a dentist....
and conceded four byes. This left Australia needing a world record Test run chase of 404 for victory. However, an innings of 182 runs from Arthur Morris
Arthur Morris
Arthur Robert Morris MBE is a former Australian cricketer who played 46 Test matches between 1946 and 1955. An opener, Morris is regarded as one of Australia's greatest left-handed batsmen. He is best known for his key role in Don Bradman's Invincibles side, which made an undefeated tour of...
and 173 not out from Bradman meant that Saggers was not required to bat in the second innings; Australia defeated England by seven wickets, and set a world record for the highest successful Test run chase. Saggers's six byes out of England's match total of 861 runs was the lowest percentage of byes conceded by Australia in a match on the tour.N-
Saggers made six not out, completed two catches, a stumping and conceded 15 byes in the innings victory over Derbyshire
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...
, before being rested in the next match against 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 his first match back from injury, Tallon took a catch and two stumpings, but conceded 19 byes in a rain-affected draw. Tallon's byes were 9.64% of the hosts' total, the highest percentage contribution made by byes to an innings on the tour.N- Saggers returned for the nine-wicket win over Warwickshire
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...
and struggled, making a duck
Duck (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's dismissal for a score of zero.-Origin of the term:The term is a shortening of the term "duck's egg", the latter being used long before Test cricket began...
. Although he took two catches and a stumping, he conceded 28 byes, 9.56% of Warwickshire's total runs, the second highest percentage contribution of byes to a match total against Australia.N- Saggers was then rested for Australia's second match and second draw against 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...
as Tallon made three dismissals and conceded 23 byes. In the non-first-class match against Durham
Durham County Cricket Club
Durham 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 Durham. Its limited overs team is called the Durham Dynamos. Their kit colours are blue with yellow trim and the shirt sponsor was...
, Tallon played purely as a batsman, while Saggers kept wicket. Saggers came in at 8/226 and made 22 to help Australia reach 273. He then made two stumpings and conceded four byes as the hosts reached 5/73 when rain ended the match. With Tallon fit again for the Fifth Test, Saggers was omitted as Australia won by an innings and 149 runs to complete a 4–0 series victory.
Later tour matches
Seven matches remained on Bradman's quest to complete an English tour without defeat. Tallon was rested for three consecutive matches against KentKent 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...
, the Gentlemen of England, and 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 Saggers kept wickets in all three fixtures; Australia won all three by an innings. Saggers made only eight as Australia scored 361 against Kent. He then conceded only two byes and took two catches and made two stumpings as the home side made 51 and 124. Saggers did not bat as Australia amassed 5/610 against the Gentlemen of England. He then took a catch and conceded 19 byes as Australia enforced the follow on and won. The match against Somerset was similar; Saggers did not bat in Australia's 5/560 declared, before making two stumpings and conceding eight byes. In total, he made seven dismissals and conceded 29 byes in the six innings of the three matches. Saggers was rested as Tallon returned for the following match against the South of England
South of England cricket team
The South of England appeared in first-class cricket between 1836 and 1961, most often in the showcase North v. South matches against the North of England although there were also games against touring teams, MCC and others....
. Tallon took three catches and conceded 13 byes before the match was washed out when the hosts were dismissed for 298.
Australia's biggest challenge in the post-Test tour matches was against the Leveson-Gower's XI. During the last tour in 1938, this team was effectively a full-strength England outfit, but this time Bradman insisted that only six current Test players be allowed to represent the hosts. Bradman then fielded a first-choice team; the only difference from the Fifth Test team was 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...
's inclusion at the expense of Doug Ring
Doug Ring
Douglas Thomas Ring was an Australian cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia in 13 Tests from 1948 to 1953...
. Saggers was left out as the match ended in a draw after multiple rain delays.
The tour ended with two non-first-class matches against Scotland. In the first match, Tallon played as a batsman while Saggers kept wicket. Saggers scored only eight in Australia's 236 and then took two catches, three stumpings and conceded 13 byes in the innings victory. In the second match in Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, Saggers was rested as Australia completed another innings win.
Role
During the tour, Saggers had few opportunities with the bat, generally batting between No. 8 and No. 10
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...
,N- because Australia's frontline bowlers included the likes of 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...
, Colin McCool
Colin McCool
Colin Leslie McCool was an Australian cricketer who played in 14 Tests from 1946 to 1950. McCool, born in Paddington, New South Wales, was an all-rounder who bowled leg spin and googlies with a round arm action and as a lower order batsman was regarded as effective square of the wicket and against...
, 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...
and Doug Ring
Doug Ring
Douglas Thomas Ring was an Australian cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia in 13 Tests from 1948 to 1953...
, who were all capable batsmen. Lindwall scored two Test centuries in his career, while McCool scored 18 first-class centuries, one in Tests. Johnson and Ring both scored more than 20 fifties at first-class level. As a result, many of the bowlers batted before he did. As Australia often won by an innings, and declared in the first innings on many occasions, Saggers only had 12 innings in his 17 first-class fixtures and was not out three times after his remaining partners had been dismissed.