Lindsay Hassett With The Australian Cricket Team in England in 1948 - Fifth Test

Fifth Test

Australia then headed to The Oval for the Fifth Test. Barnes returned from injury, so Hassett returned to his customary position in the middle order. England elected to bat on a rain-affected pitch. Propelled by Lindwall's 6/20, the tourists skittled Yardley’s men for 52 in 42.1 overs on the first afternoon. With the score at 1/10, Bill Edrich attempted to hook a short ball from Bill Johnston. Edrich failed to get the ball in the middle of the bat and it looped up and travelled around 10 m. Hassett caught the ball just behind square leg, diving sideways to get two hands to the ball. Soon after, Lindwall bounced Compton, resulting in an edge that appeared to be heading towards the slips cordon. However, the ball cleared the ring of Australian fielders. Hutton called Compton through for a run, but his surprised partner was too busy watching the ball and dropped his bat in panic. Luckily for Compton, the ball went to Hassett at third man, who waited for Compton to regain his bat and composure before returning the ball, thereby forfeiting the opportunity to effect the run out. However, Compton only made four before being dismissed, so Australia lost little from Hassett's sportsmanship.

In contrast, Australia batted with apparent ease, as the overcast skies cleared and sun came out late on the first afternoon. The opening partnership had reached 117 before Hollies removed Barnes for 61. This brought Bradman to the crease shortly before 18:00. As Bradman had announced that the tour would be his last at international level, the innings would be his last at Test level if Australia batted only once. With 6,996 Test career runs, he only needed four runs to average 100.00 in Test cricket. On the second ball, Hollies bowled Bradman for a duck with a googly that went between bat and pad as the Australian skipper leaned forward. Bradman appeared stunned and slowly turned around and walked back to the pavilion, receiving another large round of applause.

Hassett came in with the score at 2/117 and together with Morris saw Australia to the close at 2/153. Morris was unbeaten on 77 and Hassett 10. The next day, the pair took the score to 226 before their 109-run stand was broken when Young trapped Hassett lbw for 37 after 134 minutes of batting. As the Australians had dismissed their hosts cheaply on the first day and were already well in the lead, they had plenty of time to complete a victory, so Hassett and Morris had no need to take undue risks and scored at a sedate pace. The following batsmen were unable to string together substantial partnerships and Australia ended at 389. When England batted again, Allan Watkins pulled Doug Ring to the leg side and straight into the hands of Hassett, who did not need to move from his position on the boundary, leaving England at 6/167. The home team were eventually out for 188 and Australia thus sealed the series 4–0 with an innings victory.