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

Fourth Test

The teams then headed to Headingley for the Fourth Test. Australia made two changes. Neil Harvey replaced the injured Barnes, while Ron Saggers replaced Don Tallon—who had a finger injury—behind the stumps. The reserve opener Brown was not recalled to open in the absence of Barnes; instead, Hassett would improvise and open with Morris, while the teenaged Harvey came into the middle-order. As Australia led 2–0 after three Tests, England needed to win the last two matches to square the series. The home team won the toss and elected to bat on a batsman-friendly pitch. Hassett dropped Len Hutton—who went on to score 81—on 25. England’s first-wicket partnership was broken at 168 and was their first opening stand beyond 42 for the series. The hosts were eventually out for 496 on the second day. Hassett caught England wicket-keeper Godfrey Evans, who meekly prodded a ball from Sam Loxton straight to silly mid-on.

With Barnes injured, Hassett moved from the middle-order to open the innings with Morris. Bedser removed Morris for six to leave Australia at 1/13, bringing Bradman to the crease. Hassett batted in a restrained manner, while Bradman attacked. The Australian captain was 31 and his deputy 13 as the tourists reached stumps at 1/63. Bradman did the majority of the scoring during the closing stages of the afternoon, adding 31 in a partnership of 50. On the third morning, play resumed in hot and humid conditions. In the second over delivered by Dick Pollard, the bowler made the second ball lift unexpectedly. Hassett was unable to get out of the way and edged the ball to Jack Crapp for 13. Bradman was out in the same over and Australia were in trouble at 3/68, but they recovered after a middle-order counterattack took them to 458 early on the fourth day. Hassett then caught Bedser during England's second innings.

England declared at 8/365 after two overs on the last day. Batting into the final day allowed Yardley to ask the groundsman to use a heavy roller, which would help to break up the wicket and make it more likely to spin. Bradman elected to not have the pitch rolled at all, demonstrating his belief that such a device would only make batting more difficult.

Yardley’s declaration left Australia to chase 404 runs for victory. At the time, this would have been the highest ever fourth innings score to result in a Test victory for the batting team. Australia had only 345 minutes to reach the target; the local press wrote them off and predicted that they would be dismissed by lunchtime on a deteriorating wicket that was expected to favour the spin bowlers. Morris and Hassett started slowly, scoring only six runs in the first six overs on a surface that offered spin and bounce. It appeared that they were playing carefully at first before deciding whether to try and achieve the target at a later point. Only 44 runs came in the first hour, meaning that 360 runs were still needed in 285 minutes. Evans then missed a leg-side stumping opportunity against Hassett as Bedser beat both openers with extra bounce. Hassett was dismissed by Compton's left-arm unorthodox spin for 17 with the score at 57. The Englishman’s delivery had caught Hassett's leading edge and he dived forward in his follow through to take a one-handed catch just above the ground. Bradman joined Morris with 347 runs needed in 257 minutes. The English spinners created a number of chances against both batsmen, but multiple catches and stumping opportunities were fumbled. Aside from the missed wicket-taking opportunities, the spinners were erratic in line and length and Bradman and Morris plundered many boundaries. Australia went on to complete the world record chase with seven wickets and 15 minutes in hand, ensuring an unassailable 3–0 series lead.

Hassett was rested as Australia amassed 456 and defeated Derbyshire by an innings immediately after the Fourth Test. He then led the team in place of the resting Bradman in the next match against Glamorgan, a rain-affected draw that did not reach the second innings. The hosts fell for 197 and Hassett was unbeaten on 71 as Australia reached 3/215—having featured in a partnership of 126 with Miller—when the weather ended the match.

In response to the home side's 138, Hassett top-scored with 68 in Australia's first innings of 254 before being trapped leg before wicket by Eric Hollies as the tourists defeated Warwickshire by nine wickets. Hollies's 8/107 was the best innings bowling figures against the Australians for the summer. The feat earned him selection for the Fifth Test, where he dismissed Bradman in his final Test innings for a duck.

Hassett was then rested as Australia faced and drew with Lancashire for the second time on the tour. Bradman then rested himself and Hassett captained in the non-first-class match against Durham, a rain-affected draw that did not reach the second innings. Hassett made three while batting at No. 8 as Australia made 282 and then had the hosts at 5/73 when rain washed out the match after the first day.