Bill Johnston With The Australian Cricket Team in England in 1948 - Second Test

Second Test

In the Second Test at Lord's, Australia batted first and Johnston scored his Test career best of 29 in another tail-wagging performance in the first innings. After coming to the crease with the score at 8/275 on the second morning, Johnston added 45 runs with wicket-keeper Don Tallon before the latter fell to Bedser. He was joined by last man Toshack and they put on 30 before Johnston was stumped—having overbalanced while leaning onto the front foot and trying to hit a ball for six—from the bowling of Doug Wright to end Australia's innings at 350. Both Johnston and Toshack threw the bat at the ball, which often went in vastly different directions compared to where they had aimed their shots. Both men—not known for their batting ability—played without inhibitions, joyfully revelling in their luck. One sequence of two overs from Edrich was taken for 28 runs, with many balls being unintentionally spooned over the slips or the covers.

With Keith Miller injured and playing purely as a batsman, Johnston took the new ball, sharing it with Lindwall. He was unable to take a wicket initially, but the English openers were uncomfortable when he and Lindwall were taking the new ball. Following the tea break, he returned with the second new ball after Compton and Yardley had put on an 87-run partnership to stabilise the middle-order. Johnston took Compton's outside edge and Miller completed the catch in slips. The left armer then claimed Evans, caught by a diving Miller after the Englishman had taken a swing of the bat wide outside off stump; this left the hosts at 7/145. Johnston ended with 2/43 from 22 overs as England were bowled for at 215 early on the third morning. After Australia declared at 7/460 on the fourth afternoon to leave the home side a target of 596, Johnston troubled the English openers with the new ball, but did not take a wicket.

Lindwall and Johnston extracted steep bounce with the new ball, troubling the English batsmen. Fielding in the slips, Lindwall dropped Hutton from Johnston's bowling before the English batsman had scored. Johnston usually moved the ball into the right-handed batsmen, but on this occasion the ball went straight on and took the outside of the edge of Hutton's bat. Hutton had trouble with both Australian pacemen, and played and missed multiple times in the deteriorating light. In a fidgety display, he played loosely outside the off stump and missed four times in one Johnston over, before Lindwall dismissed him.

Yardley’s men resumed at 3/106 on the final day. On the second ball of the final morning, bowled by Johnston, Compton aimed a square drive, but the delivery was Johnston's variation ball, which went away instead of into the batsman. The ball flew off the outside edge to a diving Miller, who knocked the ball up before falling on his back and completing the catch as the ball came down. Compton stood his ground and waited for the umpire to confirm whether Miller had caught the ball cleanly, and was duly given out by the unhesitating official. O'Reilly described Miller's effort as "perhaps the very best slips catch of the whole series and … a real match-winner." Johnston then removed Bedser for nine to end with 2/62 as Australia won by 409 runs and took a 2–0 series lead.

After 16 days of cricket in 20 days, from the First to the Second Test, Johnston was rested from the next two matches against Surrey and Gloucestershire, which Australia won by ten wickets and an innings respectively.