Ray Lindwall With The Australian Cricket Team in England in 1948 - Second Test

Second Test

Two weeks after injuring himself at Trent Bridge, Lindwall undertook a thorough fitness examination on the morning of the Second Test at Lord's. Bradman was not convinced of the bowler's fitness, but Lindwall—keen to play at the historic ground known as the "home of cricket"—was able to convince his captain to risk his inclusion. Australia won the toss and elected to bat, allowing Lindwall further time to recover. He came in late on the first afternoon with the score at 7/246 and made three runs before stumps were called at 7/258. The next morning, Lindwall batted confidently from the outset. He hit two cover drives for four from Bedser after the new ball had been taken, prompting O'Reilly to say that Lindwall was playing in the same manner as when he made his maiden Test century in the last Ashes series in 1946–47. However, he then played around a straight ball from Bedser, and was bowled for 15 to leave the score at 275/8. Australia were out for 350 shortly before lunch on the second morning. In the hosts' reply, Lindwall took the new ball and felt pain in his groin after delivering the first ball of the innings to Len Hutton. Despite this, the paceman persevered through the pain.

In his fourth over, Lindwall had Washbrook caught behind for eight after needlessly playing at a ball wide outside off stump. Before lunch, Lindwall bowled six overs and took 1/7, while Bill Johnston accompanied him from the other end because Keith Miller had a back injury and was only able to bat. Neither Hutton nor Washbrook appeared comfortable against the bowling, and the new batsman Bill Edrich tried to hit Lindwall through the off side, leading to a loud appeal for caught behind, which was turned down. After the lunch break, Hutton fell, and Compton came in, having been dismissed hit wicket after falling over in the First Test while trying to avoid a bouncer. Lindwall delivered a few short balls straight away, but the new batsman was not caught off-guard. Lindwall then clean bowled Bill Edrich—who was playing across the line of the ball—for five. Tom Dollery was the new batsman and stopped the first ball with his pads before Lindwall’s next delivery broke through his defences and hit the stumps to send him back to the pavilion for a duck. Dollery's bat was about to start its downward swing by the time Lindwall's outswinger had passed him and hit the stumps. O'Reilly said that Dollery's inability to deal with Lindwall was typical of English cricket's lack of answers to express pace bowling. This was part of a six-over post-lunch spell of 2/11 by Lindwall; the batsmen appeared unable to deal with his swing and extreme pace. England were 4/46 and Australia firmly in control, but the home side were given some respite when both Lindwall and Johnston were taken out of the attack. Australia had the option of taking the new ball just before the tea break, but Bradman decided to wait so his two pacemen could have an extra 20 minutes to replenish their energy levels.

Once the second new ball was taken after tea, Lindwall returned but appeared to be tired and lacking in spirit in his first over. Johnston removed Compton, and one run later, Lindwall clipped Yardley's off stump with the first ball of the next over to leave England at 134/6; the home skipper had made 44 before an outswinger had evaded his bat as he attempted to play a back foot defensive shot. At the start of the third morning, he bowled Alec Bedser off an inside edge from a bouncer to finish with 5/70 as Australia took a 135-run first innings lead on the third morning. O'Reilly said Lindwall "bowled as well as any fast bowler can bowl. He always seemed to have the situation sized up correctly and he knew just when to put his all into the task ... and enjoyed a triumph which seldom comes to any bowler." Arlott praised Lindwall for his subtle variations in pace, line and length, and how he kept the batsman guessing as to what was coming to them.

Bradman’s batsmen set about building on their lead and Lindwall was initially not expected to bat; the Australian captain was expected to declare just before lunch on the fourth day so he could attack the English openers for a short period before the adjournment, but a shower deterred him from doing so, as his bowlers would have struggled to grip the ball. Lindwall had also been injured on a slippery surface in earlier times. Lindwall came to the crease to join Miller with Australia at 5/416 on the fourth afternoon. They attacked at every opportunity before the declaration. Miller fell and Lindwall ran out of his crease in attempt to hit Laker across the line to the boundary. He missed and was stumped for 25. This prompted Bradman to declare at 7/460 immediately upon his dismissal, leaving England to chase a world record 596 for victory.

Further showers breathed extra life into the pitch at the start of the run chase, and Lindwall and Johnston extracted steep bounce with the new ball, troubling the English batsmen. Lindwall dropped Hutton from Johnston's bowling before he had scored and the English batsmen played and missed multiple times. Hutton had trouble seeing and playing Lindwall’s deliveries in the deteriorating light with no sightscreen available, and Fingleton described it as "probably Hutton's worst effort in a Test". O'Reilly said Hutton "seemed to have lost all power of concentration and looked like a man being led to the gallows", calling him "little more than a masquerader compared to the Hutton ". Hutton took 32 minutes of batting to score his first run of the innings.

Hutton and Washbrook took the score to 42—England's highest opening partnership of the series thus far—before the latter edged Lindwall to Johnson in the slips and was out for 13. Edrich and Washbrook were then subjected to repeated short balls, and the latter was hit several times on the fingers while fending down Lindwall's bouncers, having decided to avoid the hook shot. However, they survived Lindwall's spell of bowling. Late in the day, Lindwall was brought back to put pressure on Dollery, having bowled him for a duck in the first innings, but the batsman had already been in the middle for a short period, and played the pace bowling with more assurance.

Lindwall returned on the final morning with the score at 6/141. Dollery, who had been batting with assurance, shaped to duck under a Lindwall bouncer, but it skidded through low and bowled him. Later in the same over, Lindwall bowled Laker for a duck to leave England at 8/141. The match ended when Doug Wright hit Ernie Toshack to Lindwall and was caught for four. Lindwall ended with 3/61 as Australia took a 409-run victory. Arlott said that while Toshack (5/40) had the best figures, Lindwall was the pivotal figure. He said that when Lindwall "so patently disturbed Hutton he struck a blow at the morale of the English batting that was never overcome." In later years, Bradman told Lindwall he pretended not to notice the bowler's pain. Lindwall was worried Bradman had noticed his injury and would be disappointed, but the Australian captain later claimed to have feigned ignorance to allow Lindwall to relax and focus on his bowling.

After carrying an injury into the Second Test, Bradman rested Lindwall for the match against Surrey, which started the day after the proceedings at Lord’s ended; Australia took a ten-wicket victory. Lindwall returned for the match against Gloucestershire. Australia batted first and made 7/774, its highest score of the tour and the second highest by any Australian team in England. Lindwall was not able to partake in the prolific run-getting, as the tourists declared before he had scored. He bowled a total of 21 overs, taking 0/41 as Australia enforced the follow on and won by an innings and 363 runs.