Donald Bradman With The Australian Cricket Team in England in 1948 - Fourth Test

Fourth Test

The Fourth Test was played at Headingley, starting on 22 July, and Australia made two changes. Harvey replaced the injured Sid Barnes, while Ron Saggers replaced Don Tallon, who had a finger injury, as wicket-keeper. Brown was not recalled for the Fourth Test to open; instead, Hassett was promoted to open with Morris, while the teenaged Harvey came into the middle-order. As Australia were leading 2–0 after three Tests, England needed to win the last two Tests to square the series. England won the toss and elected to bat on an ideal batting pitch.

At the start of the innings, Bradman used off theory, but left a large gap square of the wicket in an attempt to coax England's out-of-form top-order to play risky shots into the inviting gap. However, Bradman's offer was spurned as Hutton and Washbrook played cautiously. Meanwhile, Australia's attack appeared unsettled. Bradman set defensive fields for most of the first day as England's openers put on 168 for the first wicket. O'Reilly said that Bradman's defensive field settings "made the sorry admission of impotency". England's batsmen dominated to reach stumps at 2/268. Jack Fingleton said that Australia's day went "progressively downhill" and was its worst day of bowling since the Second World War, citing the proliferation of full tosses. O'Reilly criticised the display as the worst by the Australians on tour and said that no bowler could be excused. He said that the attack "functioned without object—hopelessly and meaninglessly" throughout the day. He lambasted the bowlers for performing at a standard akin to county cricket. O'Reilly criticised the players for having a casual and lethargic manner, speculating that Bradman had been allowed them to become complacent.

On the second day, Bradman continued to use defensive tactics for most of the day as England continued to dominate. Australia had trouble removing night-watchman Bedser, who helped take the score to 2/423. Bradman gave his leading bowler Lindwall a heavy workload as the other bowlers appeared unthreatening. O'Reilly decried the use of Lindwall as excessive and potentially harmful to his longevity. The hosts were eventually out for 496, their largest score of the series, after a largely self-inflicted collapse late on the second day. Bedser removed Morris for six to leave Australia at 1/13. This brought Bradman to the crease and he was mobbed by the spectators on a ground where he had previously scored two triple centuries and another century in three Tests at the venue. He had made a Test world record of 334 in 1930, scoring 309 in one day's play. Many spectators walked onto the playing arena to greet the arrival of Bradman and he doffed his baggy green and raised his bat to greet them. Fingleton opined that "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 2/63. Bradman did the majority of the scoring in the late afternoon, scoring 31 in a partnership of 50.

On the third morning, Bradman resumed proceedings by taking a single from a Bedser no ball. In same over, one ball reared from the pitch and moved into Bradman, hitting him in the groin, causing a delay as he recovered from the pain and recomposed himself before play resumed. In the second over bowled by Pollard, Hassett fell for 13 on the second ball, which lifted suddenly after bouncing. Miller came to the crease and drove his first ball for three runs, bringing Bradman on strike for the fourth ball of the over. Pollard then pitched a ball in the same place as he did to Hassett, but this time it skidded off the pitch and knocked out Bradman's off stump for 33. According to O'Reilly, Bradman backed away from the ball as it cut off the pitch with a noticeable flinch. O'Reilly attributed Bradman's unwillingness to get behind the ball to the blow inflicted on him by Bedser in the previous over and the rearing ball that dismissed Hassett. The crowd, sensing the importance of the two quick wickets, in particular that of Bradman, who had been so productive at Headingley, erupted. This left Australia struggling at 3/68, but a rapid counterattack by the middle and lower order took them to 9/457 at stumps and eventually 458 on the fourth morning.

England batted for the second time, and after lunch on the fourth afternoon, Bradman set fields to restrict the scoring, as England passed 100 without loss. Washbrook then hooked Johnston and top edged it, but Bradman failed to take the catch. He repeated the shot soon after and Harvey took the catch at 1/129, so the Australian captain's miss cost little. Johnson then removed Hutton for 57 without further addition to the total, caught by Bradman on the run, leaving England at 2/129. During most of the afternoon, Bradman used a strategy of rotating his bowlers in short spells, and set a defensive, well-spread field for Johnson, who had been repeatedly attacked by the batsmen. England then reached 8/362 at the close, a lead of 400. England batted on for five minutes on the final morning, adding three runs in two overs before Yardley declared at 8/365. As the batting team is allowed to choose which (if any) roller can be used at the start of the day's play, this ploy allowed Yardley to ask the groundsman to use a heavy roller, which would help to break up the wicket and make the surface more likely to spin. Bradman had done a similar thing during the previous Ashes series in Australia in order to make the batting conditions harder for England. At the start of any innings, the batting captain also has the choice of having the pitch rolled. Bradman elected to not have the pitch rolled at all, demonstrating his opinion that such a device would disadvantage his batsmen. This 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. Australia had only 345 minutes to reach the target, and the local press wrote them off, predicting that they would be dismissed by lunchtime on a deteriorating spinners' wicket. Morris and Hassett started slowly, with only six runs in the first six overs on a pitch that offered spin and bounce. Only 44 runs came in the first hour, leaving 360 runs needed in 285 minutes. Both players survived close calls before Hassett fell at 1/57.

Bradman joined Morris with 347 runs needed in 257 minutes. After receiving another rapturous welcome from the Headingley spectators, Bradman signalled his intentions by hitting a boundary from Compton; and then, on his first ball from Laker, cover driving against the spin for a boundary. He reached 12 in six minutes. Yardley then called upon the occasional leg spin of Hutton in an attempt to exploit the turning wicket. Morris promptly joined Bradman in the counter-attack, and 20 runs in two Hutton overs, which Fingleton described as "rather terrible" due to the errant length. Bradman took two fours off Hutton's second over before almost holing out to Yardley. This let Australia reach 1/96 from 90 minutes.

In the next over, Compton deceived Bradman with a googly. Bradman expected the ball to turn in, but it went the other way, took the outside edge and ran away past slip for four. Bradman leg-glanced the next one for another boundary, before again failing to read a googly on the third ball. This time the edge went to Crapp, who failed to hold on. The sixth ball of Compton's over beat Bradman and hit him on the pads. At the other end, Morris continued to plunder Hutton's inaccurate leg breaks, and Australia reached lunch at 1/121, with Morris on 63 and Bradman on 35. Hutton had conceded 30 runs in four overs, and in the half-hour preceding the interval, Australia had added 64 runs. Both players had been given lives. Although Australia had scored at a reasonable rate, they had also been troubled by many of the deliveries and were expected to face further difficulty if they were to avoid defeat.

After the break, Morris added 37 runs in 14 minutes from a series of Compton full tosses and long hops, while Bradman had only added three. This prompted Yardley to take the new ball. Bradman reached 50 in 60 minutes and then aimed a drive from Ken Cranston, but sliced it in the air to point. Yardley dived and got his hands to the ball, but failed to hold on. Australia reached 202—halfway to the required total—with 165 minutes left, after Morris dispatched consecutive full tosses from Laker. Bradman then hooked two boundaries, but suffered a fibrositis attack, which put him in significant pain. Drinks were then taken, and Morris had to farm the strike until Bradman's pain had subsided. Australia then reached 250 shortly before tea with Morris on 133 and Bradman on 92. Bradman then reached his century in 147 minutes as the second-wicket stand passed 200.

Bradman was given another life at 108 when he advanced two metres down the pitch to Jim Laker and missed, but Evans fumbled the stumping opportunity. Australia reached tea at 1/292 having added 171 during the session. Morris was eventually dismissed for 182, having partnered Bradman in a stand of 301 in 217 minutes. This brought Miller to the crease with 46 runs still required. He struck two boundaries and helped take the score to 396 before falling with eight runs still needed. Harvey came in and got off the mark with a boundary that brought up the winning runs. This sealed an Australian victory by seven wickets, setting a new world record for the highest successful Test run-chase, with Bradman unbeaten on 173 with 29 fours in only 255 minutes.

Immediately after the Fourth Test, Bradman scored 62, before being bowled attempting a pull shot to a ball that kept low, as Australia compiled 456 and defeated Derbyshire by an innings. Bradman rested himself in the next match against Glamorgan, a rain-affected draw that did not reach the second innings. He then scored 31 and 13 not out, bowled by Eric Hollies as Australia defeated Warwickshire by nine wickets. Hollies's 8/107 was the best innings bowling figures against the Australians for the summer and earned him selection for the Fifth Test, where he famously dismissed Bradman in his final Test innings for a duck. Australia proceeded to face and draw with Lancashire for the second time on the tour. Bradman made 28 after being dropped twice in Australia's 321, before taking two catches as the tourists took a 191-run lead. He then came in at 1/16 and put on 161 for the second wicket with Barnes, and was unbeaten on 133 when he declared at 3/265. The home side hung on for a draw at 7/199 when time ran out. Bradman then rested himself during the non-first-class match against Durham, a rain-affected draw that was washed out after the first day.