Delving into cricket history, V GANGADHAR discovers that Don Bradman’s fabled cricket team which toured England in 1948 and returned unbeaten, still remains the strongest-ever team in the history of the game. Its fabulous left-handed opener Arthur Morris, who even outperformed the Don in 1948, died aged 93. Morris’ duels with England’s medium pacer Alec Victor Bedser were highlights of their encounters which were spread over four series.
Careers of several dozen top cricketers were cut short by six or eight years because of World War II. Some of them like England’s champion left arm spinner Hedley Verity did not return from the battlefield. Others like Wally Hammond, ‘Gubby Allen’ and George Headley found their reflexes had slowed down, eye sight had dimmed and family responsibilities had enhanced with no corresponding rise in earnings. Top stars like Don Bradman and Bill Brown had one eye on retirement. Don already had one foot in the press box, Jack Hobbs opened a sports shop, and others joined the ground staff or became coaches. The average professional cricketer had no other option in the absence of a university degree or specific job skills. Further, tens of thousands of soldiers were demobbed. Being a professional cricketer was tough, only top class players were offered benefit matches once or twice in their careers.
When the war ended and Bradman planned a comeback, he was around 40. England made their first post-war visit ‘Down Under’ and Bradman wondered if his body could withstand the strain. Chosen to lead Australia at Brisbane in the first test, a nervous Don decided if he failed, he would retire and switch over to cricket administration. Well, luck was with the Don. At 28, he snicked England pace bowler Bill Edrich to the slip region where slip specialist John Ikin claimed a catch. This was much before the era of The Third Umpire, DRS and so on. The English team glared, muttered oaths and Hammond was heard muttering, “What a way to start a new series!” A Brisbane thunderstorm broke over the ground and England, skittled out in both the innings, was defeated by an inning. Both the teams did not forget the incident, it made Don more determined to tour England for one last time in 1948 and return home unbeaten. That would be a new record claimed by Don.
Besides Don, for ageing players like Bill Brown, Don Tallon, Ernie Toshack, Ron Hamence this would be their last hurrah. But welcome new arrivals were the fearsome pace trio Lindwall, Miller and Bill Johnstone, brilliant young batsman 19-year old Neil Harvey and talented left handed opener Arthur Morris. These players were highly successful in 1948; Lindwall and Miller became the most dreaded pace combination. But all these players in their mid-20s had already lost five or six years of international cricket. But the baby of the team, Neil Harvey, only 19, still had much to offer and did not disappoint his country. After Don, the two left-handers, along with Miller, carried the Australian batting.
Battered in World War II, English cricket was not spared. Star players had died or were incapacitated and without decent jobs. Counties needed good players to meet outstation challenges, particularly Australia. The batting depended on the plus 30 generation like Len Hutton, Cyril Washbrook, Bill Edrich and Denis Compton. Overall, the team lacked freshness. Bruised and battered by Harold Larwood during the Bodyline attack, Australia, thirsting for revenge, could unleash Lindwall, Miller and Johnstone. The sole English weapon was the ’sultan of swing’ — Alec Victor Bedser — the more famous of the ‘Bedser Twins’. The other identical twin was off spinner Eric Bedser who often created confusion among team members.
And who can deny ‘encounters’ between individual players bringing more spice to the game? From their first encounter in 1947-48, Bedser discovered an ‘Achilles Heel’ in Don’s batting. For the medium paced swinging ball, Don tended to poke at the ball to the short fine leg fielder, specially posted for the catch. This happened four or five times, both in England and Australia. Was it a new strategy to trap Don? Neither English nor Australian players thought so. Bradman, at 42, was facing a bowler 15 years younger!
The nations provided more such duels. In 1948, Morris was the master, scoring 105, 182 (not out) and 196 in three of the five tests. Bedser was bidding his time. 1953 was the Coronation Year in England. England under Len Hutton fought to win the coveted ‘Ashes’. Bedser, in his prime, claimed 39 wickets including that of Morris, eight times. Prior to that, in the Australian tour of 1950-51, Bedser once again ‘tortured’ Morris who could just score one double century in the fourth test. Bedser took his wicket in all the earlier tests. At the end of the third test, Bedser presented a copy of Bradman’s popular cricket book, ‘How to play Cricket,’ marking heavily the chapter on ‘Batting’. But at the end of the 4th test, Morris presented a copy of the Bradman book to Bedser with most of the lines in the ‘Batting’ chapter heavily underlined!
It is hard to expect such camaraderie in today’s cricket. Matches were keenly contested; performances from either side were applauded. In the 1953 Nottingham test where Bedser took a record 14 wickets and worried all Aussie batsmen, Hassett was so much bothered that after a Bedser over, he threatened to pierce the bowler’s feet, “You big oaf, do you want your big feet pierced?” All that in the midst of Ashes! Neither Hasset nor Bedser is with us. Wherever they are, they will find a cricket pitch, fix the stumps and start a game of cricket which will be played without any hassle.
