Australian Cricket Team in England in 1948 - Roles and Strategy

Roles and Strategy

As matches often started the day after the previous fixture, sometimes amounting to six days of cricket a week—Sunday was always a rest day—Australia employed a rotation policy in order to allow the players to recuperate, except for the Tests and matches against Worcestershire, the Marylebone Cricket Club and the Leveson-Gower's XI, when they chose their strongest team. As a result, no member of the squad—Bradman included—played in more than 23 of the first-class matches. Thus, the vice-captain Hassett led the Australians in nine tour matches while Bradman was rested, and maintained the unbeaten run in all of them. Wisden opined that "in addition to his playing ability Hassett's cheerfulness and leadership, which extended to off-the-field relaxation as well as in the more exacting part of the programme, combined to make him an ideal vice-captain able to lift a considerable load off Bradman's busy shoulders".

Likewise, the batting was regularly rotated. The three openers Barnes, Morris and Brown took turns sitting out, while the middle-order was changed frequently and the wicket-keeping duties divided between Tallon and Saggers.

Australia's bowling attack was led by Lindwall and Miller, who took the new ball in the Tests. Bradman used the pair in short and fiery bursts with the new ball. English cricket administrators had agreed to make a new ball available every 55 overs; at the time, the norm was to allow a new ball for every 200 runs scored, something that usually took longer than 55 overs. The new regulation played directly into the hands of the Australians, as a new ball is ideal for fast bowling and the tourists had a vastly superior pace attack. Bradman thus wanted to preserve his two first-choice pacemen for a vigorous attack on the English batsmen every 55 overs. As a result, Australia's third fast bowler Bill Johnston bowled the most overs, and the left arm seamer Ernie Toshack also had a heavy workload until a knee injury ended his campaign.

The new ball rule also meant that spin bowling was less effective in the Tests, so Australia only used one full-time spinner in the Tests, off spinner Johnson, until his omission in favour of leg spinner Ring. Together they took only eight wickets.

Things were different in the county matches. As Bradman wanted to keep Lindwall and Miller fresh for the Tests, he generally gave them a lighter workload against the weaker opposition in the county matches, and the three spinners Ring, Johnson and McCool did more of the work, especially as the 55-over rule did not apply outside the Tests. Ring did the second-most bowling outside the Tests, despite not being in Bradman's first-choice team. Bradman even used Hamence, a reserve batsman, to open the bowling at times, in order to rest his bowlers, and in the second match against Yorkshire, decided to bat for an extended period instead of going for a win, so that his bowlers could recuperate.