Ashes Chronicles – Part 3: Typhoon Tyson blows Australia away in 1954/55

HUW TURBERVILL: How much success Down Under meant back home was summed up by the calypso singer Lord Kitchener, who released a single about the tour called ‘The Ashes’.

"My God, Lindy, you’ve killed him!"

Bill Edrich feared the worst when he saw Frank Tyson collapse at the other end of the pitch. His batting partner was unconscious, hit on the head by a bouncer from Australia’s fast bowler, Ray Lindwall.

England had lost the first Test at Brisbane by an innings, and in the second, at Sydney, they had conceded a first-innings lead of 74. Tyson had belatedly found his form with four wickets in the first innings, and had suddenly emerged as Len Hutton’s key fast bowler. Now, in England’s second innings, just before lunch on day four, Tyson was out for the count.

"It was overcast and I lost the ball completely out of the sightscreen at the Randwick Road End," Tyson said. "I’d bowled quite a few bouncers at Lindwall at Brisbane, so he retaliated in kind. He let me have a very fast, short-pitched delivery. It hit me on the back of the head. I went down like a sack of potatoes. I was in a vague mist, slipping in and out of consciousness. I was aware of the players gathering round my body, and I will always remember Bill’s comment."

Tyson was helped off the field by team-mates and taken to hospital for X-rays. Had it been serious, England’s task of retaining the Ashes would have been much harder. "We always watched every ball," said Tom Graveney. "We were all worried to death. It was a terrible blow."

The news was positive, however. No permanent injury had been sustained. Tyson returned, only to be bowled by Lindwall for 9.

"I was very, very angry with Lindwall," Tyson wrote. "And the whole of the Aussie team knew it... I would return the bouncer with interest!"

^{Frank Tyson leaves the field injured}

He chuckled when I read him that quote, but he confirmed: "It certainly fired me up." I told him it sounded very much like Devon Malcolm’s remark in the 1994 series against South Africa at The Oval when he was purported to have said: "You guys are history."

England set a target of 223 at Sydney, thanks to Peter May’s 104, his first century against Australia, and 54 from Colin Cowdrey. Then, with the relentless accuracy of Brian Statham bowling into the wind from one end, Tyson simply blew the hosts’ batting away from the other. He took 6 for 85, giving him match figures of 10 for 130, and exacting revenge over Lindwall by yorking him for 8. Statham took three wickets, and although Neil Harvey struck a defiant, unbeaten 92, England levelled the series, winning with a day to spare.  

Australia’s stand-in captain for that Test, opener Arthur Morris, conceded: "Such fine bowling deserved to win."

Graveney remembered it all vividly when I phoned him at his Gloucestershire home. "Tyson was the quickest I have ever seen," he said. "He had a 40 mph gale behind him in that Test. When he came on I was standing 50 yards back at slip; I was closer to the fence than the stumps!"

After two emphatic series defeats in Australia since the War, England had finally found one man who would prove the explosive difference between the teams.  

And to think that Frank Holmes Tyson, known forever after as 'Typhoon', could easily have been overlooked for the trip. He was selected controversially ahead of Fred Trueman, who had been in trouble for his behaviour in the Caribbean the previous winter.  

Tyson had given me his phone number when he visited England during the 2005 Ashes, and I was relieved when it still worked, even though I disturbed his breakfast in early November 2009.  

He was living in Surfers Paradise, a suburb of Queensland’s Gold Coast, having moved from Melbourne to enjoy the warmer climate.

Tyson had endured a frustrating summer in 1954 on the slow square at Wantage Road, Northampton. Fortunately the selectors – in a panic after England had lost at home to Pakistan – decided that he would revel in Australia. After an indifferent start at Brisbane, he combined frightening pace with an analytical approach (he even, bizarrely, quoted Shakespeare at batsmen) to take 28 wickets in the five Tests, helping England to a 3-1 win.  

"There are two ways a fast bowler can succeed in Australia – bowl bloody fast, or do a lot with the ball. We did both!" he said, after taking a moment to clear away his breakfast things. "The Australians accused us of taking too long to bowl our overs. Our over-rate was certainly not very high – the equivalent of 12 six-ball overs an hour. The thing was, we kept bowling them out!  

^{Bill Edrich and Len Hutton, pictured earlier in their careers}

"The balance swung our way because we bowled fast... faster than the Australians. In subsequent tours there has been a great mistake by the selectors – they haven’t picked the right type of fast bowler."

Hutton was chosen as captain, despite the ongoing furore about having a professional in charge. He had led the side that recaptured the Ashes in 1953, a 1-0 series win clinched with an eight-wicket victory in the final Test at The Oval. Less happily, he had been captain in the West Indies in 1953/54, the first time a professional had led an England touring team.  

That series ended in a 2-2 draw, and although England fought back after trailing 2-0, they were unhappy about the umpiring. Hutton’s side even had to leave the field during the third Test, when local supporters threw bottles at Guyana after seeing the West Indies’ hopes of securing a draw dashed.  

There had also been questions about some of the off-the-field conduct of the Englishmen, particularly Trueman, which explains why David Sheppard was sounded out about leading in Australia. Opinion was sharply divided between the northern professional and the southern amateur. Sheppard was prepared to delay his training for the ministry, but the ensuing rumpus when the story hit the newspapers played a part in Hutton being retained.  

The team journeyed to Australia on the P&O luxury liner, the Orsova, into the Bay of Biscay, past Gibraltar, into Naples then through the Red Sea; the trip afforded a chance to recharge the batteries after a long, first-class summer. "We’d almost been on the field for four months," said Graveney, speaking in October 2009. "We held catching practice, played deck tennis and quoits... it was a great way to relax. We were reasonably sensible with what we ate and drank." Reporters were allowed to file only two lots of 250-word reports in total from the boat because of the expense.

The ship stopped at Colombo, but England suffered a setback there, when Bedser contracted shingles; he failed to recover fully all winter. The voyage ended at Fremantle, Perth.

A long warm-up campaign in Australia ensured everyone went into the series with plenty of cricket under their belts. There were games against three Western Australia sides, South Australia, an Australia XI, New South Wales and Queensland.  

With rationing still in place in England, impeding the development of big, brutish fast bowlers, Tyson was already starting to look the part. He put on 21 pounds within a month of arriving.

England started poorly at Brisbane, though, and Australia won the series opener with a day to spare. It was the first time a pitch had been covered for a Test in Australia, and Hutton put the hosts in. It was also only the second time England had gone into a Test without a slow bowler, and to compound the problems Bedser was picked even though he was still unwell. "The masseur thought it was muscular and tried to massage it," he said. "I was in bed the whole time we were in Perth, feeling bloody rough. I should have come home."

The tourists’ problems deepened, when Denis Compton broke a bone in his left hand after running into the boundary fence. Bedser took 1 for 131 as the Australians declared on 601 for 8, with Arthur Morris making 153 and Neil Harvey 162. England could only manage 190 and 257 in response.  

^{Ray Lindwall, bowling during the 1953 Ashes}

It was a fine start for Ian Johnson, who had succeeded Lindsay Hassett as captain. He did not always enjoy the confidence of his team – many would have preferred Keith Miller to be in charge – but winning took some of the pressure off him, at least temporarily.

His opposite number was suffering at the time. "Len had a tough time in the West Indies," said Graveney. "He was not used to being in charge, and his decision to put Australia in at Brisbane was as calamitous as Nasser Hussain’s in 2002/03.  

"We felt there was a bit of pace in the Brisbane pitch so we packed the side with pacemen. It was extraordinary in those days to go in without a slow bowler. If we’d taken a few of our half-chances [some say there were as many as 14] it might have been different, and we also missed Godfrey Evans [who had sunstroke]. Miller only scored 49, but it was a blazing innings and it really put us on the back foot. It was always going to be a struggle after that. Then Denis broke a finger."

Tyson did not think Hutton’s decision was so contentious, however. "The great, so-called gaffe where we put Australia in?" he said. "You talk to the Australians like Arthur Morris, and they say they are not so sure it was a mistake. Our attack was faster, we felt we had a keen edge over them. It was terribly hot, and we missed a lot of catches.  

"After the match, Len took us back to the Lennons Hotel, where they had air-conditioning. We went back to his room and had a good drink. He said to us: 'Now that’s the preliminaries over, we are not going to lose again.' It was perceptive." Hutton was nearly right – England only lost one more match, to New South Wales.

With the exception of the first Test, Tyson had a wondrous winter. After taking 1 for 160 at Brisbane, though, could the unthinkable have happened – was he in danger of being dropped?

Trevor Bailey did not think so. "Tyson was the quickest around at that time," he said. "He didn’t move the ball, but no one in England was nearly as quick. We felt we had a genuine weapon in him. I certainly made absolutely sure he didn’t bowl flat out to me in the nets, because one thing I didn’t want was to be hit in there. And he wasn’t all that accurate. I wouldn’t normally have him in my net."

At that stage of the tour, Tyson abandoned the 38-yard run-up he had adopted for the trip and returned to the shorter one of 10 that he had used that summer. It has been suggested that this change was upon the recommendation of former Surrey and England seamer Alf Gover, who was covering the tour for a newspaper. "That’s a bit of a myth," Tyson said. "I had lengthened my run slightly on the tour, and Alf did mention to me about reverting to my short one, but I had been having similar thoughts.  

"I’d been using that shorter run for Northants. It helped me use my body weight to good advantage. The Northampton wicket was terribly slow, and I was being used as a stock bowler. It was farcical. I was delighted to be bowling on the pacier pitches in Australia."

Whatever, or whoever, persuaded him to change, the move worked immediately. In the draw against Victoria, he took 6 for 68. He retained his place for Sydney, while Bedser made way for Bob Appleyard’s medium-pace off-cutters. "It was a shock when Alec was dropped," said Tyson. "He had been such a decisive bowler in previous series against Australia, and even though he was ill, to leave him out almost amounted to sacrilege. And to put it on the notice board, without explaining the decision to him...  

"I’m sure if he’d played he would have done just as well as me," he added modestly. "The surface was greenish, there were thunderstorms around, and he would have bowled magnificently."

^{Neil Harvey}

Graveney said: "Len should have had a quiet word with Alec. He’d been such a great bowler ... he’d carried England since 1946/47."

Hutton and Bedser had never been close, and the latter’s omission from the five-man tour committee meant he lost his voice when it came to selection. Bedser, ever the patriot, could not help but wonder what might have been. He told me: "It was tough to watch as the Sydney surface was lovely to bowl on. It had pace and bounce. The pitches had changed by then and the ball did all sorts of things. The ball also had a bit more seam on it by then."

The victory put the tourists in a positive frame of mind over Christmas. However, the pressure was weighing heavily on Hutton, and Geoffrey Howard, the tour manager, revealed much later that he believed the captain was heading for a breakdown. Howard said Hutton was struggling to get out of bed at one stage. "Basically," the manager wrote, "it all amounted to one thing. 'How am I going to tell Alec that he’s not playing?' That was the thing that was preying on Hutton’s mind. Deep down, I think he had an inferiority complex."

Scyld Berry wrote that Hutton was so scarred by his experiences playing against Australia that he couldn’t even bring himself to meet Don Bradman on the 1982/83 tour, even though he considered him a friend.

After his ten wickets at Sydney, Tyson took another nine in the third Test at Melbourne, starting on New Year’s Eve, to help England win by 128 runs, again with a day to spare. Despite Cowdrey becoming the 50th England batsman to score a hundred against Australia (102), the hosts led by 40 on first innings.
Then, controversy.

Everyone seems to concur that on the rest day, after two days’ play, groundsman Jack House watered the pitch illegally. He had been concerned about big cracks that had opened up, making batting hazardous.  
The Victorian Cricket Association and the Melbourne Cricket Club held an inquiry after a report published in Melbourne newspaper, The Age, made allegations. They issued a statement: "After a searching inquiry it is emphatically denied that the pitch or any part of the cricket ground has been watered since the commencement of the third Test."

Tyson had no doubts, however, saying: "I’m sure the wicket had been watered, but there wouldn’t have been a pitch if they hadn’t! The match was on the same surface where Australian Rules matches were played, and big chunks were coming out of it. One ball would lift and the next would creep. It was also 101 degrees, which didn’t help the disintegration.  

"We’d gone surfing at Point Leo, and when we came back we were told what had happened by Percy Beames, correspondent of The Age. Fortunately it played into our hands. The watering enabled Peter May to score 91."

In the final innings of the game, Tyson was unstoppable as Australia were dismissed for 111. It was described by author David Lemmon as the "fastest and most frightening sustained spell of fast bowling seen in Australia".  Graveney concurred: "Tyson was incredible, he completely had them by then. They didn’t know what to do with him."

Tyson, again modestly, said: "I had a hell of a lot of luck. To take 5 for 50 would be good bowling, but to take 7 for 27, you need lots of luck for that. Keith Miller got one that whizzed past his nose off a length from me... understandably he didn’t fancy it much after that! That was the best wicket of the series, but psychologically the momentum was now with us."

England were on the march now, and took the fourth Test at Adelaide by five wickets to clinch the Ashes and their first series win in Australia since the Bodyline series of 1932/33. Hutton became the first England captain to regain the Ashes, and lead a successful campaign in their defence.  

Graveney, meanwhile, was disappointed to play in only the second and fifth Tests, and wonders if his relationship with Hutton had something to do with it. "Len never trusted me when the chips were down. I only learned recently when I read in a book that he didn’t like people with red faces. Against Australia at Lord’s in 1953, Len and I had put on 168, and then he forgot my name introducing me to the Queen! There was a hell of a lot of pressure on Len, though, being England’s first professional captain. The broadsheet newspapers in particular weren’t very happy about it."

^{Tom Graveney (centre) and Colin Cowdrey (right) with Ted Dexter in Australia nine years later}

Graveney was given another chance in the fifth Test, back at Sydney, and made a splendid 111, becoming the 100th player to score an Ashes century. The match was drawn after rain delayed the start until 2pm on the fourth day (out of six – the others in the series were played over five days). The downpours were the worst in New South Wales for 50 years and the lack of play hit MCC’s tour profits.  

Graveney said: "Johnson put us in, and I didn’t know I was playing until Len tapped me on the shoulder and said: “Tom, put your pads on and come in with me." Everyone tells me my century doesn’t count because it was a dead rubber, but I was thrilled. Miller allowed me to reach three figures. I hit three of his first six balls for four. The seventh [of the eight-ball over] was a slow long-hop down the leg side, and I missed it. He then gave me another one.  

"It was like that then. Every evening, after a competitive day in the field, there were half-a-dozen Australians in your dressing room, waiting to have a beer with you. All my life I had a reputation for being too friendly with the opposition. I’ve no regrets, though. It was a fantastic tour, playing alongside the likes of Cowdrey and May; besides, playing in Australia was always enjoyable. It was a hell of a good place – almost entirely British in its feel. It was the time of the '£10 passage', when a lot of people emigrated after becoming disillusioned with Britain."

How much  success Down Under meant back home was summed up by the calypso singer Lord Kitchener, who released a single about the tour called 'The Ashes'. The first verse went:

"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 from Len Hutton, but the honours must go to Typhoon Tyson."