Fourth Test, 1948 Ashes Series - 22 July: Day One

22 July: Day One

As Australia were leading 2–0 after three Tests, England needed to win the last two matches to square the series. The hosts won the toss and elected to bat on an ideal batting pitch, which was seen as being unhelpful to fast bowling. Despite saying the pitch would be more conducive to spinners, O'Reilly described the playing strip as being "so green that it was difficult to decide where the out-field ended and the pitch began". Although fast, the outfield was bumpy in some parts. On some sections of the ground, there was a downward slope towards the edge of the playing arena, meaning the ball would accelerate downhill after being hit. At times the crowd spilled over the unfenced boundary, making the ground smaller than intended. All these factors meant scoring a boundary would be an easier task for the batsmen.

The England openers Cyril Washbrook and Len Hutton were given a loud reception as they walked out to bat, particularly the Yorkshire local Hutton. They had to face the Australian opening pair of Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller without the aid of sightscreen. It was the first time some of the Australians had played in a first-class match without a sightscreen, and those cricketers would later have to bat without its assistance. It was believed the Yorkshire administrators were reluctant to install a sightscreen as it would have taken up space and lowered the capacity of the ground, and thus the gate takings.

The large crowd roared boisterously as Hutton got off the mark with a single in the first over from Lindwall. At the other end, Miller bowled with less pace than normal and his opening over saw three full tosses. In Miller's first over, Hutton scored the first boundary of the day, driving past mid-off. Both Australian pacemen felt their legs for strained muscles, and after two overs O'Reilly described as "very innocuous", Miller was taken off. He was replaced by the left-arm pace of Bill Johnston, who appeared to be having back problems. Johnston had bowled the most overs of any bowler on the tour and his loss would have meant a heavy workload for his remaining colleagues. Johnston's apparent discomfort led onlookers to opine that he should have been given more rest in the county matches. The Australian bowlers appeared to be unsettled and Bradman made four bowling changes in the first 50 minutes of play.

Bradman thought his faster bowlers could not extract much bounce from the surface and soon removed the short leg fielder, and pursued a 6–3 off-side field with three slips and a deep point, trying to encourage the English openers to cut through the vacant area between the slips and extra cover. However, they declined Bradman's incentive and decided to bat in a low-risk manner, favouring straight-batted shots. After 80 minutes of batting, England's openers reached 50, the first time they had put on a half-century in the series. Hutton and Washbrook appeared set for the long haul, and did not react to the applause. They continued on cautiously, and persisted in eschewing the cross-batted cut and pull shots and relying on the safe accumulation of singles.

Hutton then edged a ball from left-arm medium pacer Ernie Toshack through the slips, and was dropped by Lindsay Hassett on 25 after flicking the ball behind square leg from the medium pace of Sam Loxton. Hutton then hit a square drive past point and Washbrook pulled a ball along the ground past Harvey, who was patrolling the midwicket boundary. England were 88 without loss at the lunch interval, with Hutton and Washbrook on 46 and 41 respectively. After a slow start, they had scored at almost a run a minute after passing 50, and five boundaries were hit from a spell of six overs by Lindwall.

Immediately after lunch, Lindwall made a confident appeal for leg before wicket (lbw) against Washbrook, but was not supported behind the stumps by a silent Saggers, and the umpire ruled against the tourists. At the other end, Hutton square drove Toshack for four, bringing up his fifty in 125 minutes. He followed this with another boundary in the same direction, and Washbrook back cut Lindwall for four more at the other end. This brought up England's 100, its first without loss for the series. Washbrook then on-drove a ball to the boundary and brought up his half-century, as Bradman pondered how to capture Australia's first wicket. England brought up 150 without loss 30 minutes before tea, and continued unhindered by two brief rain interruptions. Up to this point, the Australian bowling had been loose and inaccurate.

In bright sunshine, Bradman called on the off spin of Ian Johnson, who had delivered only three overs to this point, the rest of the proceedings having been through fast bowlers. Seeking to stem the flow of runs, Bradman set a defensive ring field, with no slip in place. While Johnson bowled two consecutive maidens, Washbrook took 24 at the other end to reach 85. O'Reilly said Bradman's defensive field settings "made the sorry admission of impotency". Bradman then called for the new ball with the score on 164, which Hutton on-drove for four from Lindwall. This took the opening partnership to 168, the best by England in the series. Washbrook refrained from the hook shot, which had caused him to lose his wicket on earlier occasions in the series. The partnership ended on the very next ball when Hutton went onto the front foot and was clean bowled by Lindwall, much to the dismay of the home crowd. Nevertheless, England had made a strong start, continuing their spirited showing in the previous Test. Washbrook was joined by Edrich, who had scored two 50s in the Third Test at Old Trafford after a lean start to the series. O'Reilly said the hosts' incoming batsmen had an ideal opportunity to amass a large score as "the Australian attack was completely at the mercy of the two Englishmen. It had lost all its sting and looked quite innocuous."

Washbrook reached his century with the score on 189/1; he reached triple figures half an hour after tea, having batted for 230 minutes and 16 boundaries. Washbrook avoided cross-batted shots and solidly defended shorter balls from the back foot, and profited from many over-pitched balls, which he drove away for boundaries. It was a welcome return to form for the opener from Lancashire. He had scored six, one, eight, 37 and 11 in his first five innings of the series, and was dropped on 21 in the second innings of the Third Test before proceeding to an unbeaten 85. After reaching his century, Washbrook began to play more expansively, driving in a manner that prompted Arlott to compare him to Frank Woolley.

Washbrook and Edrich batted until late in the first day, when the former was dismissed by Johnston for 143 in the last over before stumps, hitting a catch to Lindwall in the slips. His innings included 22 fours and the dismissal ended a second wicket partnership worth exactly 100 runs. Washbrook had been solid in his back foot defence and scored many runs from overpitched deliveries. Bedser was sent in as the nightwatchman, and he survived the last four balls from Johnston as England closed at 268/2 without further addition to the score, with Edrich, who played fluently as he had done in the previous Test, on 41. England's supporters were much buoyed with the situation at the end of the first day.

Former Test batsman Jack Fingleton, who covered the tour as a journalist, said Australia's day went "progressively downhill" and described the efforts as the country's worst day of bowling since World War II, citing the proliferation of full tosses. England had batted conservatively, steadily accumulating runs on a pitch unfavourable for fast bowlers, and Miller bowled placidly. Fingleton's fellow journalist and former playing colleague O'Reilly criticised the bowling display as the worst by the Australians on tour and said none of the bowlers could be excused. He lambasted the attack for operating "without object—hopelessly and meaninglessly" throughout the day. He decried the "so-called attack" for being "so blatantly inaccurate both in direction in length" and likened it to what was on offer in "another monotonously uninteresting county match". O'Reilly criticised Bradman's players for what he regarded as an overly casual and relaxed disposition in the morning, which gradually became more lethargic throughout the day as the home team strengthened their position. O'Reilly speculated that the tourists had become complacent because of their comfortable 2–0 series lead.