Arthur Morris With The Australian Cricket Team in England in 1948 - Early Tour

Early Tour

Morris marked his first-class debut on English soil in the opening match of the tour, against Worcestershire. After the hosts had batted first and made 233, Morris stroked with a fluent 138 (including 19 fours) from 275 minutes. He put on an opening stand of 79 with Sid Barnes, before adding 186 for the second wicket with Bradman. Australia declared at 8/462 before completing an innings victory. Morris and Bradman's scoring matched one another during their partnership and both were close to being the first Australian century-maker on the tour. The former was on 95 and took three runs to move to 98, before Bradman hit consecutive fours to progress from 91 to 99. The Australian captain failed to score for the rest of the over, so Morris took the strike in the next over and reached his century before Bradman followed suit. After reaching triple figures, Morris added his last 38 runs in 50 minutes. Morris’s role indicated his standing alongside Barnes as a first-choice opener, as Australia customarily selected its strongest team for the tour opener. The third opener taken on tour, Bill Brown, played out of position in the middle order.

Morris was rested from the second tour match, which was against Leicestershire; Bradman’s team won by an innings. He returned against Yorkshire, and in a low-scoring match on a damp pitch favouring slower bowling, made 17 and three as Australia won by only four wickets. The match saw 324 runs scored for the loss of 35 wickets and a top-score of only 34. Morris’s 17 in the first innings was actually the fourth highest score for the entire match. The match was the closest Australia came to defeat for the whole tour; the tourists were 6/31 in pursuit of the target of 60, with effectively only three wickets in hand because Sam Loxton was injured and unable to bat. The Australians travelled to London to play Surrey at The Oval. In the first hour of play, Australia's openers played solidly and rarely missed a ball. Morris scored 65 as he and Barnes put on an opening stand of 136, which laid the foundation for Australia's 632. The tourists went on to win the match by an innings. In the next fixture, Morris managed only 26 as Australia piled on 4/414 declared against Cambridge University. Morris bowled for the first time on tour, sending down five wicketless overs for 11 runs as Australia completed their second innings victory in succession.

Morris was rested as Australia crushed Essex by an innings and 451 runs, their largest winning margin for the summer. During the match, the Australian batsmen set a world record by scoring 721 runs on the first day, a new world record for the most runs in one day of first-class cricket. Morris returned for the innings victory against Oxford University, putting on an opening stand of 138 with Brown before being run out for 64. Former Australian Test batsman Jack Fingleton reported that Hubert Webb "brilliantly ran out Morris from the boundary with a throw over the stumps". Australia amassed 431 and won completed their fourth consecutive innings victory. In the hosts’ second innings, Morris took his first wicket of the tour, bowling Indian Test batsman Abdul Hafeez Kardar to end with 1/6 from three overs.

The next match was against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord's. The MCC fielded seven players who would represent England in the Tests, and were basically a full strength Test team, while Australia fielded their strongest possible team. Morris and Barnes retained their positions at the top of the order, while Brown played out of position in the middle order. It was a chance to players from both sides to gain a psychological advantage ahead of the Tests, but Morris looked uncomfortable, managing only five as Australia amassed 552 and enforced the follow on to win by an innings. In the MCC’s second innings, Morris caught Jim Laker from the bowling of Colin McCool. The Lord’s fixture was followed by Australia's first non-victory of the tour, which was against Lancashire. Morris continued to struggle, making five and 22, falling twice to England Test paceman Dick Pollard, In the drawn match against Nottinghamshire, Morris continued his form slump, making 16 in the tourists’ only innings.

Morris found batting difficult for the first few weeks of the tour, as he struggled to adapt to the unfamiliar batting conditions. He reached 50 only twice in the nine innings after the Worcestershire match, totalling only 223 runs at 24.77; Morris sometimes attempted to drive balls pitched just short of a good length, and if they reared suddenly, he was liable to be caught. Morris was worried about edging the ball to the slips cordon and had become fidgety and shuffled across the crease.

After being rested for the eight-wicket win over Hampshire, Morris rectified his technical problem, and success followed against Sussex. After the hosts had been rolled for 86 in their first innings, Morris dominated an opening partnership of 153 with Brown, who made only 44 before becoming the first man to fall. Morris added a further 189 for the second wicket with Bradman before he fell for 184 at 2/342. He had struck 26 fours, laying the platform for Australia's total of 5/549 declared and eventual innings victory. He was to hit five more first-class centuries before the end of the season.