Alan Davidson (cricketer) - Early International Career

Early International Career

After being omitted in the opening tour match against Worcestershire, Davidson made his debut on English soil against Leicestershire. He scored 63, featuring in a century partnership with Harvey, before taking 2/23 and 0/35 in an innings victory. In the next match against Yorkshire, he removed Len Hutton, regarded as the best batsman in the world at the time. In the nine first-class matches leading up to the Tests, Davidson performed steadily without being spectacular. He scored two fifties and passed 20 in every completed innings to aggregate 317 runs at 45.28, and took 17 wickets at 22.12, taking more than two wickets in an innings on only one occasion. That occasion was against the Marylebone Cricket Club, which was a virtual England Test team, while Australia fielded their strongest possible team. In what was effectively a dress rehearsal for the Tests, Davidson took 2/17 and 3/49, removing Trevor Bailey, Godfrey Evans, Johnny Wardle, Tom Graveney and leading batsman Denis Compton.

When the Tests started at Trent Bridge, Davidson was named in the playing XI. He supported the pace attack of Miller, Lindwall and Johnston in the five Tests. His debut in the First Test was unremarkable. As with most of Australia's batsmen, Davidson struggled against Alec Bedser, who broke the English Test wicket-taking record in the wet conditions, making only four and six. He took 2/22 in the first innings as the match ended in a rain affected draw. His first Test wicket was that of Hutton, caught by Benaud, and he added Evans in the latter part of the innings.

He scored a hard hitting 76 in the first innings of the Second Test at Lord's to help Australia take control, but a stubborn partnership by Bailey and Willie Watson saw England hang on for a draw. Davidson bowled only 24.5 overs for the match, and Wardle was his only wicket. Rainy weather greeted the players in the Third Test at Old Trafford and more than half the playing time was washed out. Davidson took 2/60 in the drawn match, removing Reg Simpson and Willie Watson. Australia were in a good position at the start of the final day of the Fourth Test at Headingley, with England leading by only 78 runs with five wickets in hand. However, Bailey (38) and Jim Laker (48) stubbornly resisted with a mixture of time-wasting and dour defence. Davidson eventually removed both, but there was not enough time remaining to secure an Australian victory. His match figures of 3/59 from 50.1 overs were in large part due to the defensive tactics of England. The fate of The Ashes thus came down to the Fifth Test at The Oval. Davidson scored 22 and 21 and could not take a wicket as England won by eight wickets to regain the urn for the first time in two decades. Australia had blundered by omitting a specialist spinner, mistakenly thinking that the pitch would not spin. Davidson hit England's spinners out of the attack for a period, but succumbed to the variable bounce of the pitch.

Davidson passed 25 in the Tests only once took two wickets on three occasions. He finished the series with 182 runs at 22.75 and his sparingly used bowling yielded eight wickets at 26.50. Despite this, he was Australia's sixth-highest run-scorer and third-leading wicket-taker.

Despite his lack of performance in the Tests, Davidson showed his potential with consistent performance throughout the tour. He compiled 944 runs at 41.04 during the tour and amassed five half centuries and a century. He scored three fifties in the last month of the tour, and after missing his maiden first-class century with 95 against Lancashire, he broke through with 104* against Somerset at County Ground, Taunton. He also took 50 wickets at 20.96 with the ball. Davidson was steady with the ball, never taking more than three wickets in an innings. He ranked seventh among the Australians in both run-scoring and wicket-taking.

During the tour, tensions sometimes arose between the senior players, who were war veterans and drinkers, while the younger players including Davidson tended to abstain from alcohol. Teammate Ian Craig estimated that bus journeys to matches proceeded at an average speed of 16 km/h because of persistent stoppages outside pubs, something that frustrated the non-drinkers. In the end, the young players had to the majority of the fielding as their older colleagues were often still intoxicated during matches.

The 1953–54 season was purely domestic, with no Tests scheduled. Davidson had a modest injury-hit season, scoring 76 runs at 19.00 and taking nine wickets at 32.71 in four matches. His best was a 4/50 against Queensland, and 3/89 in a testimonial match for retiring Australian captain Lindsay Hassett; he removed Test team-mates Benaud, Ron Archer and Graeme Hole.

In 1954–55 England toured Australia for five Ashes Tests. Davidson started his season well, scoring 30 and 27 not out and taking a total of 5/104 as New South Wales drew with England. His victims included leading batsmen Colin Cowdrey and Bill Edrich. However, Davidson succumbed to injury and missed Australia's only win of the series in the First Test, and upon his return in the Second Test, managed match figures of 2/86 and did not pass twenty in either innings as England levelled the series. He was dropped for the Third Test, but continued to perform strongly in domestic matches, including a sequence of 19 wickets in three matches. This included 4/45 including the wickets of Compton, Bailey and Graveney in a tour match against England, and a match-winning performance against arch-rivals Victoria that sealed a second successive Shield triumph with a resounding nine-wicket win in two days. He tore through the Victorians with 5/36 and 4/50, removing Harvey and Test all rounder Sam Loxton twice. It was his best match bowling figures in his career to date.

Davidson was recalled for the Fourth Test, but managed only a wicket as England sealed the series 4–1. However, he then took a total of 6/68 as New South Wales defeated England; it was only the second time the tourists had lost for the summer. Davidson was retained for the final Test, his first on his home ground in Sydney, but was wicketless in a rain-affected draw. His Test series had been poor, with 71 runs at 14.20 and only three wickets at 73.33 as England retained the Ashes 3–1. Davidson had not tasted victory in any of his eight Tests. His poor Test form contrasted to his performances against England in tour matches; he took 15 wicket at 15.13 in three matches outside the Tests.

His overall bowling performance was strong, with 34 wickets at 23.18, although his batting was ineffective, with only 213 runs at 15.21 and a top-score of 30.

Davidson was selected for the 1954–55 tour of the West Indies, where he injured his right ankle in a tour match against Jamaica and missed the First Test against the West Indies. Upon his recovery, he could not break into the XI and did not play in any of the Tests, which Australia won 3–0. He scored 70 runs at 35.00 and took four wickets at 51.75 in three first-class outings.

After his injury-hit Caribbean sojourn, Davidson had the 1955–56 season, which was purely domestic, to force his way back into the national team for the 1956 tour of England. Johnston had also retired, leaving an extra vacancy for a pace bowler.

He started strongly with match figures of 7/87 in a drawn match against Queensland in Brisbane. The hosts managed to hang on with three wickets in hand, after Davidson's captain had held up play and wasted 20 minutes for the running of the Melbourne Cup. He performed steadily for the next six matches, not taking more than two wickets in any innings, before playing a prominent role in the final match of the Sheffield Shield season against Victoria. It was then 100th anniversary of matches between the old rivals. Davidson took 6/99 in the first innings, including Harvey for 128, before adding 2/61 in the second. It helped prevent a defeat on the anniversary and sealed New South Wales' hat-trick of Shield titles.

Davidson was selected for the England tour and then took 12 wickets and scored his only half-century of the season as the Australians warmed up before sailing abroad. He ended the Australian season with 350 runs at 31.81 and 36 wickets at 25.19.

Davidson had an interrupted lead-in to the Tests. He injured himself while batting in his sixth match, against the MCC, and was unable to take any further part in the match. He was out of action for two weeks but recovered in time for the First Test at Trent Bridge. He had scored 46 runs at 11.50 and took 13 wickets at 20.92during his preparation.

In the First Test of the series at Nottingham, Davidson removed Cowdrey before his ankle slipped in a footmark during the first innings and a bone was chipped. He was carried off with figures of 1/22 and his ankle plastered. The injury was such that he was unable to bat even with the assistance of a runner and was absent. This injury sidelined him until August.

By the time of Davidson's return, England had retained the Ashes 2–1 after annihilating Australia by an innings in consecutive Tests. Prior to this, Australia had not lost by an innings since 1938, let alone twice in a row. The Surrey finger spin pairing of Jim Laker and Tony Lock had led the decimation, taking 38 of the 40 wickets of dry dusty wickets doctored for their use. In Australia's match against Surrey before the Tests, the pair had taken 19 wickets as the tourists lost to a county side for the first time since 1912.

As a result of the finger spinners' success, Australian captain Ian Johnson tried to convert Davidson into a left arm orthodox spinner. Davidson returned as Australia faced a fourth meeting with Laker and Lock, in a match against Surrey immediately after the two consecutive Test maulings. On a sticky wicket that played into the hands of the Surrey spinners, Australia were skittled for 143. Only Davidson, who took the attack to the pair, made 44 not out. One six that he lofted from Laker almost reached the iconic gasometer outside The Oval. The match was drawn, and Davidson took 2/50 including Eric Bedser and Laker in his new role as a slow bowler.

Davidson was able to force his way back into the team for the Fifth Test at The Oval. He scored eight and took a total of 1/34 in another rain-marred draw. Johnson persisted in using Davidson as a spinner, but it was not effective. In eight matches, the ploy yielded only 12 wickets at 24.25. Johnson was criticised for this novel strategy; cricket writer Ray Robinson said "I have not met one good cricketer or cricket judge who is not mystified by them ". Davidson felt that Johnson tried to rely too heavily on the senior players and should have placed more responsibility on the likes of Richie Benaud, Ron Archer and himself. Overall Davidson scored 270 runs at 27.00 with two fifties and took 26 wickets at 22.50 in England.

On the return leg to Australia, the team stopped on the Indian subcontinent. Davidson's 37 in the inaugural one off Test against Pakistan was his first score beyond 25 in nine Tests. He was bowled sparingly with a total of 2/15 from 15 overs as Australia lost by nine wickets. A muscle problem stopped Davidson from playing against India in the First Test in Madras, which Australia won by an innings. He played only in the Second Test, with pacemen Miller and Ron Archer injured and unavailable. It got worse for Australia as Davidson and fellow paceman Pat Crawford were hampered by stomach bugs and a hip strains respectively. Davidson scored 16 and took match figures of 1/42; Australia were unable to finish off the Indians with their depleted attack and the match ended in a draw. Davidson was left out of the Third Test win, so his overseas tour had ended without a Test victory, and only 64 runs at 16.00 and his underused bowling yielded five wickets at 22.60. In total, he had played twelve Tests, none of them resulting in an Australian victory. His individual performances were also unimpressive despite being successful at first-class level, producing only 317 runs at 18.64 and 16 wickets at 34.06. It was to be another year before Davidson tasted victory at the highest level.