Kit Harris reads Bloomsbury Sport’s latest cricket book.
It could not have been closer. Victorious at Brisbane, then beaten at Sydney, Australia were 188 for eight at Melbourne, in response to England’s 191, when the rest day came. But the pitch, cracked and crusty from the start, threatened to make any fourth-innings chase impossible. Only water could close the cracks and give the home side a chance – but watering after the start of a match was forbidden by the Laws. The groundsmen, Jack House and Bill Vanthoff, did it anyway. When the players returned to the stadium next morning, it was obvious what had happened, but House and Vanthoff – backed up by the MCG’s nightwatchman – crossed their fingers and lied. Same old Aussies, always cheating.
This is by no means the only stereotype upheld by Victory in Australia: the Remarkable Story of England’s Ashes Triumph, 1954-55. Behind-the-scenes books about England Test tours have been in fashion lately. David Tossell’s account of the 1974-75 Ashes tour told the tale of Colin Cowdrey’s heroic call-up, aged 41, to face Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson. David Woodhouse’s story of the 1953-54 visit to the West Indies was Wisden’s Book of the Year. Now Bloomsbury Sport has joined the genre, with an in-depth look at the following winter’s Ashes trip: Len Hutton as captain (as in the Caribbean), a callow Cowdrey on his first overseas assignment and, of course, Frank Tyson blowing the Australians away. It was their first home series defeat since Bodyline, more than 20 years before.
For 25% off, order the book at bloomsbury.com
and enter the discount code WISDENBLOG25 at checkout.
There is no book, no newspaper report, no letter – nor even, it seems, any diary entry – that our author, Richard Whitehead, hasn’t scoured. For every heroic cricketing deed, there is a backroom story to savour. It is as much social history as sportswriting.
The Establishment did not think much of having a professional as captain: many MCC officials felt Hutton undermined the polished reputation of the Englishman abroad. Having won the toss at Brisbane, he made Australia captain Ian Johnson wait while he walked up and down the pitch three times, “rubbing and prodding the parched earth like a cautious second-hand car buyer”. His eventual decision – to bowl – proved a terrible mistake.
Most of the players had travelled Down Under by boat, a mode of transport in its dying days as far as cricket tours were concerned. On board, they met Henry Sayen, an American millionaire who adored cricket. When England followed on, he offered £5 for any player who made a half-century – and $500 if the team turned the situation around and won the match. Trevor Bailey and Willie Watson collected fivers, but Sayen kept his $500.
England’s innings defeat aside, Brisbane does not come out of this book very well. Tyson wrote: “The boredom is crushing. Even that veteran networker, Alec Bedser, knows no one here.” The Gabba dressing-rooms were furnished with a trestle table and a dozen six-inch nails, hammered into the wall as pegs. The players’ lunch was a leaf of lettuce and a hunk of corned beef, garnished with a mosquito net. The stands – never cleaned – were littered with two-day-old prawn heads, empty beer bottles, banana skins and bread crusts. John Arlott, from the press box, summed it up: “Certain aspects of Sydney and Melbourne are cosmopolitan, but Brisbane is almost truculently Australian.”
Christmas came after the Sydney Test, with the series level. Some players pined for their families: Bob Appleyard described it as the worst Christmas day he had ever had. Others were more sanguine. George Duckworth, England’s scorer and baggage man, had not even told his wife he was going. She found a note on the kitchen table: “I’m going to Australia. Back in April.” The tourists spent the afternoon cavorting on the beach. Duckworth spotted Norman Preston, the editor of Wisden, having a swim, and encouraged the lifeguards to go and rescue him. Preston was dragged from the water, loudly protesting that he was perfectly all right.
Then came the Boxing Day hangover. All England had for support was Harold Dalton – a masseur, on £10 a week, who habitually wore a stethoscope round his neck, even though he had no medical training – and Dr John Butterfield’s “Cricket in Hot Climates” report.
“After liberal hospitality, try to prevent hangover by drinking more than one pint of fruit juice, or more than one pint of water and one salt tablet. This must be done before going to bed, after the party. Empty your bladder before going to bed. If you have a hangover in the morning: (1) take two Alka Seltzers in water or crush two aspirins in water and one salt tablet; (2) drink a lot of water; (3) try to take some breakfast; (4) lie down for half an hour after breakfast; (5) don’t smoke yet.”
Hanging over everything, throughout the tour, is a mist of mutual antipathy. The MCG gate attendants refused re-entry to any England player who had popped out of the stadium – even if he was just returning from net practice. Cowdrey, keen to make a good impression, sought the advice of Douglas Jardine. It was succinct. “When you get to Ceylon, have a hit and get your eye in. Then when you reach Australia, just remember one thing: hate the bastards.”
It took the English a long time to forget the groundsmen’s deceit (three years after the tour, Harold Pinter mentioned it in The Birthday Party). But the sweetness of success allayed the bitterness. England would not win again in Australia – no one would – until 1970-71. That was another of the great tours, but it lacks a definitive book. Thanks to Richard Whitehead, the 1954-55 Ashes now has one.
For 25% off, order the book at bloomsbury.com and enter the discount code WISDENBLOG25 at checkout.
Kit Harris is Assistant Editor of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.
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