Fourth Test, 1948 Ashes Series - 23 July: Day Two

23 July: Day Two

The next day, England resumed hoping for more of what happened on the opening day. The ground was again full, with even more people squashed in than the previous day. The sun was obscured by heavy cloud cover, further hindering the visibility of a ground without a sightscreen. The two English batsmen were initially tentative and played and missed frequently, and only two singles were scored in the first 15 minutes of play. The England team frequently looked towards the sky; as they needed to win the match and were in a good position, they hoped that time would not be lost to rain. Bradman set a deep-set defensive field as he sought to have Lindwall and Johnston contain the batsmen before the third new ball became available. In all, England scored only five runs in the first half hour, as the two batsmen sought to survive and be set when the new ball was taken and the Australian attack advantaged. During this time the main threat to the batsmen was Lindwall, who bowled a spell at high pace and unsettled Edrich, who sparred at a number of balls. As soon as it was possible, Bradman took the new ball, and Bedser endeavoured to keep his wicket intact to shield Denis Compton and the other middle-order batsmen from having to come in against a swinging ball. During this period Bedser did not attempt to exploit his strong physique to hit the ball hard. Continuing the defensive strategy of seeing off the new ball, it was not until the 48th minute of play that Edrich reached his 50 in 193 minutes, although he did miss several attempted cut shots that went past the outside edge. However, the hosts had seen off the new ball without losing a wicket. Bedser then glanced a ball for four; England scored only 22 runs in the first hour.

After the new ball bowlers had finished their new ball spells, Bradman reverted to the slower bowlers, using run-saving, defensive field settings. Immediately thereafter, Bedser targeted Toshack and hit three consecutive fours and a two in one over. Bradman immediately removed the left-armer and replaced him with Johnson. The Australian captain set his infield rather deep, effectively allowing the batsmen to take easy singles. Bedser responded cautiously, surveying Johnson's off spin for one over, before going on the attack in the next. He lofted Johnson into the leg side three times, yielding a six over long on and two fours, taking his score to 47. Bedser then hit a ball back to the bowler Loxton, which was almost caught, before reaching 50. Bradman also brought back a tired Miller to bowl medium pace off breaks, to no avail. England went to the lunch adjournment at 360/2, with Edrich on 76 and Bedser on 52. They had added 92 for the session, including 70 in the second hour. Lindwall had been the only bowler who caused much difficulty to the batsmen, particularly concerning Edrich, but the Englishmen dealt with his colleagues comfortably and Miller, nursing fitness concerns, was forced to bowl medium-paced off breaks.

Edrich and Bedser continued to amass runs after the break, and Lindwall appealed for lbw for the fourth time while Saggers remained silent. The pair brought up their century partnership as England scored 22 runs in the 30 minutes after lunch. Johnson came on, and Edrich lofted him for six to reach 96. Edrich then hit a long hop from the part-time wrist spin of Arthur Morris for four to reach his century. Bedser joined the attack and lifted Morris high over square leg for six, and Bradman replaced him with Toshack, who bowled a maiden. O'Reilly said that during the partnership, only Lindwall appeared capable of threatening the batsmen. He said Lindwall "kept slogging away, tirelessly retaining his pace and enthusiasm long after the other members of the attack had lost all signs of hostility…Bradman could not afford to spare him from doing much more than his share of the galley-slave work." O'Reilly decried Lindwall's workload as excessive and potentially harmful to his longevity. However, against the run of play, Bedser was out caught and bowled by Johnson after almost three hours of batting, ending a 155-run stand for the third wicket. His on-drive was intercepted by the bowler, who dived across the pitch to his right-hand side to complete the catch. Bedser had struck eight fours and two sixes in a Test best of 79. He appeared upset by his dismissal, patting the ball back to the bowler when he could have hit it decisively. Edrich attempted to pull a Johnson long hop to the leg side, targeting the large gap between square leg and mid-on, but only ballooned the ball to Morris, who completed the catch diving forwards at wide mid-on. This came after only three runs after Bedser's dismissal and left the score at 426/4. Edrich had batted for 314 minutes in compiling 111, with 13 fours and a six.

With two new batsmen—Compton and Jack Crapp—at the crease, Australia quickly made further inroads. Toshack bowled Crapp for five with an inside-edged half volley to leave England at 447/5. With this, Bradman took the new ball, and Compton exploited its hardness to score quickly. However, after the shine wore off and the ball went soft, Compton could not score for 25 minutes. O'Reilly decried Compton's "helpless" effort in failing to dispatch the tired Australian bowling as "the worst Test innings I have seen him play".

After Compton and captain Norman Yardley had added 26 for the sixth wicket, the former edged Lindwall down the leg side, and Saggers completed his first Test catch to leave England at 473/6. O'Reilly speculated that Compton's inability to make progress against the bowling deflated his colleagues. Playing in his second Test of the summer, Loxton bowled Ken Cranston for 10 to claim his first Ashes wicket, leaving England at 486/7. Cranston opted to not play at a ball that went straight into his leg stump. Loxton then removed Godfrey Evans and Jim Laker in quick succession as England fell to 496/9. Evans fell meekly, prodding a ball straight to Hassett at silly mid-on, prompting O'Reilly to deem Loxton "lucky to be on deck when the English tail were falling over themselves in their nervous speed to commit hara-kiri". In contrast, Laker edged Loxton down the leg side and it took a diving, low catch from Saggers to complete the dismissal. Umpire Baldwin asked his colleague Chester at square leg to confirm the ball had carried on the full before sending Laker back to the pavilion. Miller then bowled Yardley to end England's innings at 496. The home side had batted for 192.1 overs and lost their last eight wickets for the addition of 73 runs. Loxton took 3/55 while Lindwall and Johnson both took two apiece. However, the late wickets came at a cost for Australia, who lost the services of Toshack to a knee injury.

The collapse was heavily condemned. Fingleton said England "encountered something which they had not known in post-war cricket with Australia and did not know how to handle it". O'Reilly called the capitulation a "disgustingly bad show". He asked what "was there to make bowlers...pulverize the carefully chosen cream of English batting on a perfect wicket?" before concluding that the collapse was caused by "an unfortunate absence of concentration" rather than the opposition bowling. Both thought England had wasted an opportunity to put themselves in an unassailable position.

With Barnes injured, Hassett moved up from the middle order to open the innings with Morris. Using the new ball, Bedser removed Morris, who chipped the ball in the air to Cranston at mid-wicket and fell for six to leave Australia at 13/1. This brought Bradman to the crease and he was mobbed by the spectators on a ground where he had scored two triple centuries in Tests in 1930 and 1934. Many spectators surged onto the playing arena to greet Bradman, and he doffed his baggy green and raised his bat to acknowledge them. Fingleton wrote "on this field he has won his greatest honours; nowhere else has he been so idolatrously acclaimed".

Bradman got off the mark from his first ball, which Compton prevented from going for four with a diving stop near the boundary. Hassett was restrained while Bradman attacked, taking three fours from one Edrich over. Bradman was 31 and Hassett 13 as the tourists reached stumps at 63/1. The Australian captain did the majority of the scoring in the late afternoon, adding 31 in a partnership of 50. The tourists batted with little discomfort on a pitch that was still offering even bounce at a gentle pace.