Australia’s Invincibles of 1948 - Part 1: How Don Bradman cheered up England

HUW TURBERVILL: Australia became the Invincibles 70 years ago on an epic six-month tour that brought cheer to post-War Britain

^{Sir Don Bradman, left, and how The Cricketer reported the first Test of 1948}

It had not been certain if Donald Bradman would come to England in 1948. The decision had presented the 39-year-old with a great dilemma.

With a six-week boat trip to England – on the RMS Straithaird, landing at Tilbury at 6am on Friday April 16 – and a similar journey back, the Don was uneasy about leaving his business interests and family in Australia for nearly eight months.

The tour took in five Tests, and at least one match against every county (and two against Lancashire, Surrey and Yorkshire) as well as both leading universities and a number of other sides. He had two children aged eight and six, the youngest of whom had cerebral palsy. He was also offered a lucrative contract by a Fleet Street newspaper to cover the trip instead.

Ultimately he was swayed to play on his fourth Ashes tour to England (after 1930, 1934 and 1938) by the challenge of trying to go through it unbeaten (hopes were dashed in 1938 by the fifth-Test defeat, and Warwick Armstrong's team lost only to an England XI at Eastbourne in 1921).

The British establishment were also persuasive, desperate for him to provide some cheer. They stressed the importance of the series, for the Empire, and the morale of its citizens. Although there was a sense of optimism that Britain could continue to be a world player, some of the post-War euphoria had turned to grim realism. George Orwell wrote 1984 this year.

It had been a harsh winter – the coldest February in 300 years. The nation froze to a standstill, amid snowdrifts and floods, but a hot summer ensued, providing cheer for a country still in the throes of rebuilding and rationing. Britain was just becoming used to its new National Health Service and Welfare State.

^{Action from the 1948 series: Bradman at the wicket}

It was a very different country to the one we live in now. Televisions did not start to become widely owned until the Coronation in 1953, and there were few cars; people were reliant on the (newly nationalised) railways. Economic misery was enduring, but Britain showed it had lost none of its wartime determination when it also hosted a successful ‘Austerity’ Olympic Games that summer.

Although England’s players were tired and emaciated after the War, and they had played little cricket through the conflict compared to some of their global rivals, their home form had been reasonable. They had defeated India 1-0 in 1946 and South Africa 3-0 in 1947. They had lost to West Indies 2-0 in 1947/48, and the winter before they had been outgunned in the Ashes, 3-0.

The Australians, who had played grade cricket and who were not still suffering the effects of rationing, were favourites. The combined Australian services XI that faced an England XI in the Victory Tests of 1945 bore scant resemblance to Bradman’s strong, experienced tour party.

Sixteen out of 17 of the players were former servicemen, so were not the type to complain about the ardour of undertaking such a long campaign, and probably the biggest challenge on the journey to England, via Colombo and Bombay, was not putting on too much weight – there was a black-tie dinner six out of every seven evenings, although games of quoits and deck tennis helped.

Allrounder Sam Loxton said: “When we finally got on the ship, I think we had the one and only team meeting of the tour… [Bradman] gathered us all together and put on a little tea and nuts and a few drinks and so forth and just spelled it out. He never mentioned the opposition. Nor really did he mention the task ahead, he just said that he hoped that we would all enjoy the tour and that success would come from within. There would be outside influences of course, the press and so forth, but that if we all played as a united team then success was sure to come. And it did, it did.”  

^{Wicketkeeper Godfrey Evans and Bill Edrich watch Bradman on the cut}

Roland Perry's interesting and detailed book, Bradman's Invincibles, chronicles a few late-night escapades upon arrival, with Miller occasionally arriving home as his captain emerged for breakfast. Bradman was generally trusting of his men, though, and did not impose curfews or hard rules. 

The tour officially began at Australia House on April 17, with Jack Hobbs and Douglas Jardine among the guests attending a reception, while the tourists were later dined by Clement Attlee and his government at the House of Commons.

The Australians were made to feel welcome. I phoned their gifted left-hander, Harvey, in August 2011. Now aged 89, he told me: “It was the first tour after the War and England was in a bit of a mess. It was important we went to raise people’s morale. We were wonderfully well received. The grounds were full, even for the county games, six days out of seven. Because it was Bradman’s last tour, that gathered a few extra people in. It was a great tour, and we played the right type of cricket.

“There was absolutely no money – we were away eight months and were paid £600. We had to go on leave without pay from jobs at home, so it was tough for some. I was single, but it was hard for those with families.”

Loxton said: “Quite frankly the tour was such a joy that I think if they'd paid the rent at home and given us a few bob for a few drinks we would have gone over there for nothing.”

Nearly two months after they arrived, however, the serious stuff was about to begin, with the first Test at Trent Bridge…