| 1954–55 Ashes series | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 The Ashes were retained by England, who won a Test series in Australia for the first time in twenty years. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | 26 November 1954 – 3 March 1955 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | England won the 5-Test series 3–1 and retainedthe Ashes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The1954–55 Ashes series consisted of fivecricketTest matches, each of six days with five hours play each day andeight ball overs. It formed part of theMCC tour of Australia in 1954–55 and the matches outside the Tests were played in the name of theMarylebone Cricket Club. TheEngland team was captained byLen Hutton, the firstprofessional cricketer to lead an MCC tour of Australia. TheAustralian team underIan Johnson was confident of victory, but despite losing the First Test by an innings England won the series 3–1 and retainedthe Ashes. They were the only touring team to win a series in Australia between1932–33 and1970–71 and only the second of three touring teams to win a series in Australia from behind (the other two beingEngland in 1911–12 and theWest Indies in 1992–93). The tour is best remembered for the bowling ofFrank "Typhoon" Tyson, who was at the time regarded as the fastest, most frightening bowler ever seen in Australia. The series saw a phenomenal concentration of bowling prowess on both sides – four of the bowlers had careerTest averages under 21, another five under 25 and the remaining four under 30. Unsurprisingly therefore, the ball dominated the bat for most of the series and each side only topped 300 in an innings twice. Unlike thefollowing series in 1958–59 there were rarely any umpiring disputes andKeith Miller wrote "Mel McInnes,Colin Hoy andRon Wright were our leading umpires in the 1954–55M.C.C. tour of Australia, and I have no hesitation in saying that McInnes gave the finest exhibition of umpiring in a Test series that I have experienced".[1]
26 November–1 December 1954 scorecard |
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 Australia won by an innings and 154 runsBrisbane Cricket Ground,Woolloongabba, Australia Umpires:C. Hoy (AUS) &M.J. McInnes (AUS) |
TheEngland spinners had been out of form in the last few games, so the tour selectors (Geoffrey Howard,Len Hutton,Peter May,Bill Edrich andGodfrey Evans) chose four pace bowlers and Hutton was committed to bowling first, though this appears to have been his intention since the start of the tour. He was only the second England captain to play a Test match without a spinner, the only other example beingDouglas Jardine in the Second Test atMelbourne in1932–33, which he lost by 111 runs.[2] Wicket-keeperGodfrey Evans missed the Test because of heat-stroke and was replaced by debutantKeith Andrew.Colin Cowdrey, who had made 110 and 103 in the New South Wales match, andLes Favell, who had opened with 84 and 47 for South Australia against the tourists, also made their debuts.Reg Simpson opened with Hutton after his century againstQueensland, but the out of formBill Edrich had to come in at number 3. There were worries aboutRay Lindwall's gastric problems, andAlec Bedser's undiagnosedrash, but in the end both were deemed fit to play. Remembering Bedser's hold over the Australian batsmen and that England still held the Ashes the Australian bookies gave the two sides even odds.
Len Hutton had lost the toss five times in a row in 1953, but this time he won it and he became the first England captain to putAustralia in to bat since1911–12. He then watched his fielders drop 14 catches asAustralia piled up 601/8 declared.Keith Andrew droppedArthur Morris offBedser on 0, allowing the Australian opener to make 153, adding 202 in 232 minutes for the third wicket withNeil Harvey (162).Alec Bedser had a rash all over his back, but bowled on regardless for 1/131 as another six catches were dropped off his bowling. His ungainly fielding led to him being barracked by the crowd, calling "Old Man" whenever he stopped the ball.Tyson – labouring under a 38-yard run up – went for 1/160 off 29eight ball overs, but battered the batsmen with bouncers and bruised Morris on the arm several times. He also bowled short and fast atRay Lindwall after the all-rounder had despatched him to the boundary on his way to 64 not out, which would have serious repercussions in the Second Test at Sydney. "We dropped a considerable number of catches," recalled wicket-keeperKeith Andrew. "Nether were we the fittest team in the world.Compton broke a finger fielding on the first day andAlec Bedser was never well, as was proved when it was discovered that he had developedshingles. One or two of us also got a touch of the sun, but there was no way of getting away from the fact that 'catches win matches'."[3]
When they finally got to bat on the third dayEngland quickly collapsed to 25/4, but then debutantColin Cowdrey made 40, adding 72 for the 5th wicket withTrevor Bailey who ground out 88 over 283 minutes. With the "Barnacle" immobile at one end – he took 160 minutes to reach 38 – theAustralian bowlers worked their way through the tail untilDenis Compton, who had broken themetacarpal bone in his hand on the boundary fence, came at number 11. Before the match a local businessman had promised £100 to the first English batsman to hit a six. Realising that the innings was soon to close, the stonewaller extraordinaireTrevor Bailey hitIan Johnson into the stands for the prize.[4] The wickets were shared among the Australian bowlers:Ray Lindwall was the best with 3/27 andIan Johnson took 3/46.
Forced to follow on 411 runs behindEngland did better in the second innings, losing only two early wickets instead of four.Bill Edrich made a battling 88 and put on 124 for the 3rd wicket withPeter May (44), but when Bailey was out for 23 the tail collapsed from 220/5 to 257 all out despite Tyson making his highest Test score of 37 not out. The wickets were again distributed amongst the bowlers withRichie Benaud taking 3/43.
Australia won by an innings and 154 runs to take a 1–0 lead in the series. The papers unanimously criticised Hutton's decision to sendAustralia in to bat, though they noted he would have done better ifEngland had held onto its chances in the field.John Arlott wrote that neitherLen Hutton orAlec Bedser had produced a "larger than life" performance to rescue England. Only once before had a team come from behind to win in Australia, in1911–12 when the greatSydney Barnes had rescued the side after his captain's mistakes in the First Test.Ian Johnson had more than confirmed his place asAustralian captain, even though it was "only" the biggest Australian victory over England since they won by an innings and 332 runs in theFirst Test on the same ground in 1946–47.
17–22 December 1954 scorecard |
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 England won by 38 runsSydney Cricket Ground,Sydney, Australia Umpires:M.J. McInnes (AUS) &R.J.J. Wight (AUS) |
In the Second TestKeith Andrew,Reg Simpson andAlec Bedser were unceremoniously dumped from theEngland team, which they discovered when they saw the batting line up posted in the dressing room. Andrews was not surprised asGodfrey Evans was fit again and it annoyed Simpson, but devastated Bedser, the bedrock ofEngland's bowling attack since the war. Instead the spinnersBob Appleyard andJohnny Wardle were brought into the bowling attack andTom Graveney stood in for the injuredDenis Compton.Australia were not without their troubles, both captainIan Johnson and his rivalKeith Miller were unfit to play so batsmanJim Burke and all-rounderAlan Davidson of New South Wales were brought in as replacements and vice-captainArthur Morris took command, withRichie Benaud as his vice-captain despite his lack of form and seniority. One piece of good news for theEngland team was the arrival of Henry Sayen, a rich American industrialist and cricket fan who was seen as a luckymascot. He gave financial bonuses to England players for outstanding play and had watched them play Australia in 1953 and the West Indies in 1953–54, when England fought their way out of almost certain defeat. Despite a recent operation and the advice of his doctors he travelled across the world to see England play and dined with the MCC team,Ian Johnson, SirDonald Bradman and Prime MinisterRobert Menzies.
Morris won the toss and like Hutton at Brisbane put the opposition in, but this time on a fast, green wicket. Here the similarity ended as the Australian bowlers turned up trumps, helped by some superb fielding.Trevor Bailey, acting as makeshift opener, was out for a duck (after 37 minutes) and wickets continued to fall at regular intervals,Ron Archer (3/12) andBill Johnston (3/56) took most of the wickets and"The Claw" accounted for Hutton's demise. OnlyJohnny Wardle's top scoring 35 – adding 43 for the last wicket with Brian Statham – managed to pullEngland up to 154.
Australia replied with 228, the top nine batsmen getting into double figures, but no one reached 50,Ron Archer equalling his best Test score of 49 andJim Burke making 44. Bailey opened the bowling as well as the batting and took 4/59, but the talking point was Frank Tyson. With his "short" run up of 18–20 yards Tyson took 4/45, described vividly by Margaret Hughes "Harvey received a beast of a ball from Tyson which spat up at him and splashed off his bat to Cowdrey".[5]Ray Lindwall had bowled Tyson for a duck in the England first innings and was bounced again by the England fast bowler.
He let me have a very fast,short-pitched delivery...Instinctively I turned a defensive back on the ball which skidded through and hit me a sickening blow on the back of my head. I sank to the ground and as I slipped in and out of consciousness, I was dimly aware of the players gathering round my prostrate body. Indistinctly I heard my fellow batsmanBill Edrich saying: 'My God, Lindy, you've killed him!'...I was very, very angry with Ray Lindwall. And the whole of the Aussie team knew it...I would return the bouncer with interest!.[6]Picture
- Frank Tyson
WithAustralia 74 runs ahead runs were imperative forEngland, but they fell to 55/3 beforePeter May (104) andColin Cowdrey (54) came together and made a disciplined stand of 116 "every run a precious inch of ground won back at a moment when the Ashes seemed to have receded almost out of sight...the recovery was shaped by batsmanship of a classic method executed by two young men".[7] May added another 51 withBill Edrich before being bowled by Lindwall. Strangely, Tyson had been put in to bat at number 7 above Test centurionGodfrey Evans. Lindwall boasted that he never bowled short at tailenders (which didn't bother Tyson), but someone coming to bat at number 7 can be regarded as an all-rounder and the Australian fast bowler made the greatest mistake of his career, he bounced Tyson, who caught the ball on the back of his head and collapsed at the wicket. TheAustralians anxiously gathered around, players did not wear protective helmets in the 1950s and he had to be helped off the field and taken to hospital for x-rays. He returned to bat sporting a bump on his head that could be seen from the stands, was cheered by the crowd, and made another 8 runs before being bowled by Lindwall.England crashed from 222/4 to 250/9 and once again it was up to the last wicket pair – this time Appleyard (19 not out) and Statham (25) – to add 46 vital runs, taking the score to 296. The strength of theAustralian bowling attack prevented any one man taking the lion's share, Archer (3/53), Lindall (3/69) and Bill Johnston (3/70) sharing the wickets between them.
Australia needed 223 runs to win in over four sessions, which was regarded as not too difficult a task, especially ifFrank Tyson was affected by his injury, but instead he was very angry and ready to exact revenge. TheAustralians were afraid that he would send down a barrage of fast, short-pitched bowling, but Tyson was intelligent enough to bowl full length deliveries that caught them unprepared.[8]Brian Statham bowled the first over from thePaddington End, "up the cellar steps".[9] into a "half a gale",[10] while Tyson tore down the slope from theRandwick End and with the wind behind him and bowled "as fast as man has ever bowled".[11] Statham showed why he was an "unlucky" bowler;Les Favell was dropped in the first over andArthur Morris was beaten four times before being trappedleg before in the last over before tea to makeAustralia 27/1. In the first over after tea Favell was out when a ball from Tyson ricocheted off his bat and carried 120 feet toBill Edrich in the slips, who caught it chest-high. SomehowJim Burke andNeil Harvey survived the session as they played and missed and Tyson made the ball rear up from a length. Burke didn't score for almost an hour, but by the end of the day they were 72/2 andAustralia needed only 151 more runs for victory.
Burke did not long survive the morning as Tyson moved a ball back up the hill to flatten his stumps.Graeme Hole had a high backlift and failed to get his bat down in time to trap ayorker and was clean bowled by Tyson at 77/4. Hutton now rested his fast bowlers and brought onTrevor Bailey andBob Appleyard to slow down the scoring and tie up the batsman.Richie Benaud was not a patient batsman and took a swipe at"Applecart" which he hit sky high to Tyson in the deep, who only managed to snatch it inches above the grass to haveAustralia 102/5.[12]Neil Harvey was now getting into his stride and in what many observers thought was the greatest innings of his life, he counter-attacked the bowling,[13] cutting short balls and clipping anything on his pads through the leg side and once hooking Tyson over fine leg's head for four.[14] By lunch he andRon Archer had taken the score to 118/5 and as long has Harvey was in the Australians thought they could win. After the interval Tyson and Statham were brought back on, with immediate results as Tyson felled Archer's stumps with another fast ball.Alan Davidson lasted only 6 balls before he was caught by thewicket-keeperGodfrey Evans off Statham. Statham was phenomenally accurate, conceding only 45 runs off 19 eight-ball overs. Tyson bled runs at double that rate, asTom Graveney recalled "I was fielding in the slips and we were having to stand 40 yards off the bat, andstill the ball was often going over our heads from edged shots".[15]Ray Lindwall came in fearing the bouncer, and it was his undoing as he turned a Tyson half-volley into ayorker by playing off the back foot and was bowled.[12]
Harvey now started to farm the bowling ruthlessly, protecting the tailenders from Tyson and Statham as he attacked the fast bowlers, butwicket-keeperGil Langley was bowled by Statham for a duck to leave Australia 145/9, "...which on paper meant that the result was now almost surely ordained: but it scarcely seemed that way on the spot, partly because Harvey was in such devastating form, and equally because the fast bowlers were almost burst".[7] Last manBill Johnston was in and Australia still needed 78 to win, but protected by Harvey he only had to face 16 balls in the next 40 minutes. Tyson recalled "Bill Johnston did his bit for his team with true Aussie grit. His speciality stroke was a right-handed, one-handed, back-handed, glancing scoop off the line of his bum – cricket's equivalent of tennis' back-handed retrieve. It bought him a dozen runs – plus a considerable amount of pain when he failed to make contact and the ball clipped hismaximus gluteus!"[16] Finally Tyson bowled a ball closer to his body on the advice of Statham and a thin edge was enough for Evans to finish the innings and the match. Johnston was out for 11 andNeil Harvey had made a defiant, unbeaten 92, exactly half of theAustralian innings of 184 in which no one else made 15. Together they had added 39 for the last wicket and halved the runs required when Johnston came in, it was heroic, but not enough andEngland won by 38 runs. The other hero of the day was "Typhoon Tyson", who had powered his way through the Australian batting, taking 6/85 (10–130 in the match) with Statham (3/45) in indefatigable support.
England beatAustralia by 38 runs to even the series 1–1 andTHE TOAST IS: TYPHOON TYSON! was the headline as the papers hailed the new sensation.[17]Arthur Morris told the newspapers "Such fine bowling deserved to win",[18]Don Bradman thought it was the fastest bowling he had ever seen andJohn Arlott wrote "This was intelligence, rhythm and strength merged into the violent craft of fast bowling".[19] "Seldom has fortune swayed as it did in this game"[20] wroteE.W. Swanton and for years it was regarded as one of the most eventful and exciting Tests seen in Australia.[9] Henry Sayden had danced for joy with MCC SecretaryRonnie Aird at the fall of each Australian wicket, took the entireEngland team to a celebratory dinner at Prince's Restaurant and handed out bonuses all round.[21]
31 December 1954–5 January 1955 scorecard |
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| England won by 128 runs Melbourne Cricket Ground,Melbourne, Australia Umpires:C. Hoy (AUS) &M.J. McInnes (AUS) |
Despite the loss of the Sydney Test theAustralians were still confident, they had won by an innings,England had won narrowly in the absence of the Australian captainIan Johnson and the great all-rounderKeith Miller, who now returned to the team. Miller was playing despite the advice of his doctor who warned him not to bowl on his injured knee and said himself that he didn't think his back could take the strain of bowling.[22]Len Maddocks replacedGil Langley as wicket-keeper as the latter had been hit in the eye by a bail in a Sheffield Shield match.England receivedDenis Compton at the expense ofTom Graveney, but faced a crisis on the first day of the Test when Len Hutton refused to leave his bed because of hisfibrositis and a heavy cold. The managerGeoffrey Howard,George Duckworth,Bill Edrich andGodfrey Evans had to persuade him to play so as to not damage the morale of the team, especially as the series was locked at 1–1. Finally Hutton agreed to play and went to the ground. The wicket was worse than Sydney. After the MCC's match against Victoria it had broken up completely had had to be repaired and was covered with cracks even before the Test began.
Runs did not flow; they were grafted from a pitch which kept the batsman hopping around as delivery after delivery tickled their ribs.Colin was icily superb. For four hours his concentration never wavered...he stroked the ball through the cover and mid-wicket gaps in the field. Shooters became more frequent, but Colin dug them out. When I joined him at the wicket he was a run short of his maiden Test century: a goal he achieved with a scampered single. If he ever scored a better hundred I hope that I am there to see it.
Len Hutton won the toss and elected to bat on New Year's Eve, but soon regretted it. Regardless of his crook knee and bad back Miller opened the bowling with a 90-minute spell of 9–8–5–3 to send Hutton, Edrich (the captain's third opening partner in as many Tests) and Compton back to the pavilion in quick time.[22] WithRay Lindwall dismissingPeter May for a duckEngland were 41/4 and in deep trouble, but according toRalph Barker, after "Surviving the early horrors through perfect technique, the 22-year-oldCowdrey made 50 out of 69 and 100 out of 158".[24] He completed his maiden Test century, adding 74 withTrevor Bailey (30) and 54 withwicket-keeperGodfrey Evans (20) before falling toIan Johnson with a ball that "hit the edge of one of the cracks in the wicket, which was now assuming the appearance of a tessellated pavement. It jagged back to pass behindKipper's pads and hit his leg stump!".[23]Bill O'Reilly, not an easy man to impress, said that it was the best Test innings he had ever seen and aged only 22 Cowdrey was the youngest Englishman to make an Ashes century sinceJack Hearne on the same ground in1912. Although Cowdrey would make 22 Test centuries they would all be measured against theyardstick of his Melbourne hundred, and still it remained greatest innings; "his driving, concentration and command were all faultless...a tribute to his wonderful ability".[25]Ron Archer (4/33) wrapped up the tail andEngland fell from 181/6 to 191 all out at the end of the first day.
Still the wicket gave hope to theEngland bowlers and wickets fell at a steady rate throughout New Year's Day to leaveAustralia 181/8, onlyArthur Morris andLes Favell failing to each double figures. The next day was a Sunday and a rest day, but its events were to be of great importance. Fearing that the wicket would break up in the middle of the Test it was surreptitiously and illegally watered to bind the cracks and make it last an extra couple of days. Worse still Percy Barnes ofThe Age reported that he had overheard the MCG sprinklers during the night.[26]Frank Tyson reckoned that"had he not acted there can be little doubt that there would have been hardly any wicket left on the Monday".[27] An official enquiry by theVictorian Cricket Association and theMelbourne Cricket Club denied any watering of the playing area during the match and claimed that the wicket must have sweated under the tarpaulin despite the baking heat and dry wind. Some scientists theorised that the dry weather drew up water from underground and the wicket watered itself, but aSydney reporter asked "has anyone worked out how the wicket rolled itself out to close up all those cracks?".[26]Wisden stated "large cracks were evident on Saturday yet on Monday these had closed and for a time the surface behaved more kindly to batsmen".[28] Fortunately asEngland were due to bat Hutton thought he gained from the incident and did not complain, butIan Johnson said "It was like losing the toss twice over".[29] The proof of the pudding wicket was thatLen Maddocks (47),Ian Johnson (33 not out) andBill Johnston (11) added another 50 runs before Statham (5/60) finished off the innings, the first time he had taken five wickets in a Test innings.
Starting 40 runs behindLen Hutton (42) andBill Edrich (13) evened the score for the first wicket, Hutton was so ill that he could not take off his pads for an hour after returning to the dressing room, but remained slumped in a corner.Peter May held the innings together with a classic 91 then"Barnacle" Bailey (24 not out off 144 balls) held up one end while Evans (22) and Wardle (38) made runs at the other.Bill Johnston was bowling Slow-Left-Arm spin, which Wardle had hit all over the ground when the Australians playedYorkshire in 1953 and he had hit 7 fours in his 38.Keith Miller told him "Now, Bill, don't bowl that slow stuff against to Wardle", told him to bowl quicker and Johnston took the last 3 wickets for 6 runs.[30] His 5/85 was the only Australian five wicket haul in the series, andEngland were all out for 279.
Australia were set 240 to win, but Tyson hadArthur Morris caught for 4 byColin Cowdrey. As "Les Favell got going, his wicket went tumbling", bowled for 30 byBob Appleyard.Neil Harvey andRichie Benaud took the score to 75/2 by stumps and over 50,000 supporters came on the fifth day to see them knock off the remaining runs, but what they got was "the fastest and most frightening sustained spell of fast bowling seen in Australia".[31] as Tyson sentAustralia crashing to 111 all out – the dreadedTriple Nelson – andEngland won by 128 runs. Australia added only 36 runs that morning as Tyson took 6/16 off 6.3 eight-ball overs, 7/27 in the innings, hurtling down from the Richmond End and slightly into the breeze, but at enormous pace. The first wicket to fall was "a phenomenal piece of cricket"[32] described byNeville Cardus as "Harvey flicked the seventh ball of the morning (fromTyson) round the corner and this timeEvans dived full length to the right, clutching the ball in his out-stretched glove".[33] Evans had anticipated Harvey's stroke and had moved to leg before making his "prodigious leap"[32] and "thought this almost his best catch".[26]Richie Benaud chopped the ball onto his stumps trying to hook,Keith Miller managed to block four shooters in a row from Statham, edging the last for four through his pads,[32] but at the other end saw the ball ricochet off the shoulder of his bat, and deflect offLen Hutton's outstretched hand forBill Edrich to leap backwards and take the catch.Graeme Hole in his final Test innings, edgedBrian Statham behind toEvans,Len Maddocks couldn't repeat his first innings heroics and was bowled first ball by a Tysonyorker that he dug out, only to see it spin back into his wicket.Ray Lindwall, fearing a Tyson bouncer after Sydney, played back to a full-length ball and waslbw for a second ball duck,Ron Archer made 15 before he was bowled by a Stathamyorker, andBill Johnston lasted only three balls before he hung his bat outside off-stump and was caught behind off Tyson to end the innings on 111, with captainIan Johnson unbeaten with 4. The match finished well before lunch and theMelbourne Cricket Club caterers were left with thousands of unsold meat pies as the crowd deserted the ground.[34]
Len Hutton was delirious with happiness. He, England's first professional captain, was leading a triumphant team – in Australia!...He frowns on 'sleeping with the enemy' and counsels against our going into the Aussie dressing-room to fraternise with our affable opponents. In Melbourne, however, he could afford to be magnanimous. After the game he threw open the door of the English dressing room. The champagne flowed, flooding well into the night.
The Third Test cemented Tyson's "Typhoon" reputation and made him a sporting legend asEngland beatAustralia by 128 runs to take a 2–1 lead in the series. He became only the fifth England bowler to take seven wickets in a Test innings in Australia afterTom Richardson (8/94),George Lohmann (8/35 and 8/58),Wilfred Rhodes (7/56 and 8/68) andDoug Wright (7/105).[36] The Test was referred to in theGoon Show, in the original script of episode 15 of their fifth series "1985" broadcast on 5 January 1955Neddie Seagoon wanders into an antique shop in 1985 and sees an old cricket bat. The shop-owner tells him "As a matter of fact this bat was used in the very last test by an Australian opening bat, you can see it's quite unmarked".[37] The bat's ownership was changed toLen Hutton when broadcast because of the England captain's poor form.[37]
28 January–2 February 1955 scorecard |
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| England won by 5 wickets Adelaide Oval,Adelaide, Australia Umpires:M.J. McInnes (AUS) &R.J.J. Wright (AUS) |
Despite the form ofPeter Loader andAlec Bedser in the recent tour matchesEngland kept their winning team from Melbourne andLen Hutton even keptBill Edrich as his opening partner. TheAustralian selection process was more confused. Vice-captainArthur Morris was somewhat unfairly blamed for the Sydney and Melbourne disasters and was dropped in favour ofColin McDonald, thenLes Favell was dropped after his failure in the recent tour match and Morris was recalled on the morning of the match.Graeme Hole had also played poorly forSouth Australia against the MCC was dropped andJim Burke was recalled. Worse for AustraliaRay Lindwall pulled a muscle in theQueensland-Victoria game andAlan Davidson had to be brought in. ThoughSouth Australia'sGil Langley had recovered and made a fifty against the MCCVictoria'sLen Maddocks kept his place as wicket-keeper due to his batting in the Third Test and was booed by the local crowd, who cheered Langley when he visited the Australian dressing room.[38]
Ian Johnson won the toss in the sweltering 100 °F/38 °C heat and chose to bat on the best surface seen since Brisbane. Again nineAustralian batsmen got into double figures,Colin McDonald (48) andArthur Morris (25) added 59 for the first wicket, andKeith Miller made 44. Hutton made himself unpopular with his deliberately slow over rates so that he could rest his exhausted fast bowlers, andBrian Statham ripped the nail off his right big toe and had to hack a hole in his boot so he could continue to bowl. It wasBob Appleyard (3/58) who made the breakthrough, dismissing MacDonald, Miller and Benaud, with Tyson (3/85) and Bailey (3/39) in support asAustralia fell to 229/8.Len Maddocks (69) justified his selection and was the only man to pass fifty, adding 92 for the ninth wicket withIan Johnson (41) until Bailey removed the captain. Maddocks was run out two runs later and Australia were dismissed for 323 on the afternoon of the second day.
Len Hutton (80) andBill Edrich (20) sawEngland through to stumps and took the score to 60 the next morning before the first wicket fell. Cowdrey (79) added 99 with Hutton looking certain for a century before he smashed the ball intoAlan Davidson's back, where it lobbed up for an easy, if painful, catch.Colin Cowdrey andDenis Compton (44) took the score to 230/3 by the end of the day and England were confident of a first innings lead, but they both fell early next morning and though the lower middle order all got going the tail collapsed again and the last four wickets fell for 20 runs and the last seven wickets for 111. Still 341 was England's highest score so far in the series and gave them a slim 18 run lead, the leg-spinnerRichie Benaud (4/120) doing most of the work.
In theAustralian second innings Hutton made his bowling changes with great cunning, removing Tyson and Statham after a few overs and bringing onBob Appleyard whose 3/12 accounted for Morris, Burke and Harvey before the day was out, leaving the home side on 69/3. Expecting more spin the next day the Aussies were confronted by Tyson (3/47) and Statham (3/38) at their most lethal. Statham's motto was "if they miss, I hit".[39] and he bowled MacDonald before a run was added, then bowled Miller and caught Maddocks lbw.Frank Tyson took care of Benaud and Archer and 69/3 was soon 83/8.Alan Davidson (23) added some respectability to the lower order, butAustralia were out for 111 and the dreadedTriple Nelson had struck again.
England needed only 94 runs to win the Test, win the series and retain the Ashes, but Miller (3/40) had other ideas, sending Hutton, Edrich and Cowdrey back to the pavilion for 18 and catchingPeter May offBill Johnston (2/20).Denis Compton (34 not out) sawEngland through andGodfrey Evans came in at the fall of the 5th wicket to hit the winning runs with a boundary.
England beatAustralia by 5 wickets to take a 3–1 lead in the series and retainthe Ashes. It was the first time any touring team had won a series in Australia since1932–33. They were only the second touring team to win there from behind afterJ.W.H.T Douglas's1911–12 England Team. The England celebrations lasted through the night, starting in the dressing room before moving on to the South Australian Cricket Association Committee Room and the team hotel before moving round the city, consuming 56 bottles of champagne at the hotel alone.Bill Edrich – the life and soul of any party – climbed the marble pillar in the lounge ofGlenelg's Pier Hotel and sungGinger.[40]
25 February–3 March 1955 scorecard |
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371/7 (dec) Graveney, T.W. 111 Compton, D.C.S. 84 P.B.H. May 79 T.E. Bailey 72 I.W.G. Johnson 3/68 R.R. Lindwall 3/77 | ||
The only change in theEngland team was thatBill Edrich was dropped for poor form and replaced byTom Graveney, who became Hutton's fourth opening partner of the series. Colin Cowdrey had a broken nose from fielding at Adelaide andTrevor Bailey had a broken finger from playing Victoria, but both still played, though Bailey did not bowl in the Test. With an eye to the imminent tour of the West Indies theAustralian selectors picked debutantsPeter Burge andBill Watson andLes Favell andRay Lindwall returned to the side. To make wayArthur Morris,Bill Johnston,Ken Archer andJim Burke were dropped (Morris, Johnston and Archer having already been picked for the West Indies).
The first three days were lost to heavy rain and only 13 hours play were available when the captains went out on the fourth afternoon to toss, Johnson winning and puttingEngland in to bat. Hutton was out quickly, but Graveney effortlessly stroked his way to 111 out of 182 in two and a half hours, adding 176 with May (79). Crowdey was out first ball, but Compton (84) and Bailey (72) added 134 and Hutton declared on 371/7, easily England's best score of the series. Amazingly Bailey gave Lindall his wicket to record his 100th England wicket in the mistaken belief that with was the fast bowler's last Ashes Test and "at one stroke achieved heights of Australian popularity to which he could scarcely have aspired".[41] Lindwall ending with (3/77) and his captain (3/68).
Colin McDonald responded with 72, adding 53 for the first wicket withBill Watson (18), but Maddocks (32) was the only other batsman to make more than 20 as the England spinnerJohnny Wardle (5/79) worked his way through their batting with a mixture of orthodox slow left arm spin mixed with chinamen and reverse googlies. Johnson was run out when the last wicket fell for 221 and believed that the follow on had been avoided, but due to the three days lost Hutton could enforce the follow on despite being only 150 runs ahead and promptly did so. It was the first timeAustralia had followed on for eighteen years, when a young Hutton had made his world record 364 at theKensington Oval in 1938.
Macdonald (37) watched the wickets fall about him again and at 29/3Australia were in danger of an innings defeat as Wardle (3/51) struck again. Miller (28), Burge (18 not out) and Benaud (22) stopped the rot, but Hutton did not concede the draw until he brought himself on in the final over, bowling Benaud with the last ball of the series.Australia finally ended on 118/6, still 32 runs short of makingEngland bat again.
England drew withAustralia to win the series 3–1
Thecalypso singerLord Kitchener released a single The Ashes (Australia vs MCC 1955) to celebrate their victoryPlay Recording:
Tyson taught them a lesson that can't be forgotten,
Tyson taught them a lesson that can't be forgotten,
We began quietly, but we came back with victory,
Good captaincy fromLen Hutton, but the honours must go toTyphoon Tyson.
Australia's tragedy, it began at Sydney,
Magnificent Tyson, had their batsmen beaten,
He went on to give us, a victory for Christmas,
Good captaincy from Len Hutton, but the honours must go to Typhoon Tyson.
More shocks for Australia, the Melbourne disaster,
Les Favell got going, his wicket went tumbling,
We got them out cheaply, and score second victory,
Good captaincy from Len Hutton, but the honours must go to Typhoon Tyson.
The bowling was so good, it remind them ofLarwood,
Maginificent Tyson finished with seven for twenty-seven,
They had no excuses, we regainedthe Ashes,
Good captaincy from Len Hutton, but the honours must go to Typhoon Tyson.
source As was the convention of the time gentleman amateurs have their initials in front of their surname and professional players have their initials after their name, if used at all.[42][43] The Australians were all amateurs until thePacker Revolution, even though they played like professionals. In a dinner for the teams by theAustralian Board of Control Hutton gave a speech asking when the Australian players were going to see some of the£100,000 the ABC had made from the1953 tour of England "You rich men get all the money – why don't the players get more?" and asked "Miller andLindwall have done so much for Australian cricket – what are you going to do for them?" and suggested they should have abenefit.[44]
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