The Australian cricket team in England in 1948 is famous for being the only Test match team to play an entire tour of England without losing a match. This feat earned them the nickname of "The Invincibles", and they are regarded as one of the greatest cricket teams of all time. According to the Australian federal government, the team "is one of Australia's most cherished sporting legends". The team was captained by Don Bradman, who was making his fourth and final tour of England.
Including five Test matches, Australia played a total of 34 matches, of which 31 were first-class, between 28 April and 18 September. Two of the non-first-class matches were played in Scotland. They had a busy schedule, with 112 days of play scheduled in 144 days, meaning that they often played every day of the week except Sunday. Their record in the first-class games was 23 won and 8 drawn; in all matches, they won 25 and drew 9; many of the victories were by large margins. They won the Test series 4–0 with one draw.
The strength of the Australian team was based around its formidable batting line-up, which included Bradman, Arthur Morris, vice-captain Lindsay Hassett, Neil Harvey and Sid Barnes, and the hostile fast bowling of Ray Lindwall, Keith Miller and Bill Johnston.
Due to the popularity of Bradman, generally regarded as the greatest batsman of all time, and the fact that he had announced that it was his farewell international tour, the Australians were greeted with much fanfare across the country, and many records for match attendances were broken. The record for Test attendance at a match in England was broken thrice: in the Second, Third and Fourth Tests, and stands to this day.
Touring party
Keith Johnson (manager) Donald Bradman (captain) Lindsay Hassett (vice-captain) Ray Lindwall Keith Miller Sam Loxton Neil Harvey Bill Brown Arthur Morris Don Tallon (wicket-keeper) Sid Barnes Ian Johnson Bill Johnston Ernie Toshack Doug Ring Ron Hamence Colin McCool Ron Saggers (wicket-keeper)
Significance The 1948 Australian team has great significance in cricket history, as it is the only team to tour England unbeaten, earning the sobriquet "The Invincibles". The tour was captain Donald Bradman's last Test series, and the immediate postwar team was the most successful that Bradman appeared in. It has been claimed that English cricket suffered more heavily from the effects of World War II than the Australians. Even so, various commentators have rated the 1948 Australians as one of the best cricket teams ever, and it is often compared to other great outfits such as the 1902 Australian touring team, Warwick Armstrong's Australian team of just after World War I, the West Indies team of the 1980s, and the Australian team of the 1990s and 2000s.
The high regard with which The Invincibles are held in the annals of Australian and world cricket is reflected in the various honours accorded to the players. Bradman, Lindwall and Miller were among the ten inaugural inductees into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 1996. Hassett, Morris and Harvey were later inducted, so that 20% of the inductees are from the 1948 team. Of these six, all except Hassett were selected in Australia's Team of the Century, with Bradman as captain and Miller his deputy. Bradman, Lindwall, Miller and Harvey are among a group of only 14 Australians in a total of 60 players who have been inducted into the International Cricket Council's Hall of Fame. In The Ten Greatest Test Teams by Tom Graveney (with Norman Miller), ten teams were compared by a computer, and the 1948 Australians emerged second behind the 1984 West Indians.p169, Tom Graveney with Norman Miller, The Ten Greatest Test Teams, Sidgewick and Jackson, London Graveney strongly disagreed with the result, writing 'there has not been a better team in my lifetime than Don Bradman's Australian tourists of 1948'.p170, Tom Graveney with Norman Miller, The Ten Greatest Test Teams, Sidgwick and Jackson, London The computer regarded Sam Loxton as a member of the team as he played more Tests in the series than Neil Harvey; if Harvey had been picked, the Australians would have been the superior team.
The three Queensland players selected in the touring party—Don Tallon, Bill Brown, and Colin McCool—were all from Toombul District Cricket Club.
Preparations Since the resumption of cricket following World War II, Australia had played 11 Tests and had been unbeaten. In 1946–47, they won the five-Test series against England 3–0, and followed this with a 4–0 series win over India in the following season. Australia were regarded as an extremely strong team in the lead-up to the tour of England, and their captain Donald Bradman publicly expressed his desire to achieve the unprecedented feat of going through the five-month tour without defeat.Perry (2000), pp. 221–225.
The committee that selected the touring party was Bradman, Jack Ryder and Chappie Dwyer. They held their final meeting on Wednesday 11 February and announced the team that day.Harte and Whimpress, p. 404. The team was chosen with a dual emphasis on strong batting and fast bowling. This was in large part because England had agreed to make a new ball available after 55 six-ball overs in the Tests; a new ball was generally taken after every 200 runs, which usually takes more than 55 overs to accumulate, the rule change meant that a new ball was more frequently available. A new ball is more helpful to fast bowling, so this move favoured the team with the better pace attack, in this case Australia.Perry (2000), pp. 222–223.
Australia had injury concerns to key players ahead of the tour. Chronic knee injuries had begun to hamper medium-pacer Toshack, and he only made the trip after a 3–2 vote by a medical panel, despite being one of the first players chosen by the selectors on cricketing merit.Pollard (1990), p. 6. Leading paceman Lindwall had been playing with an injured leg tendon. In addition, his foot drag during the delivery stride led to speculation about the legality of his bowling action. The injury was worked on ahead of the tour, while Bradman advised Lindwall on how to rectify any suspicion over his bowling action. The Australian captain advised his bowler to ensure that his foot was further behind the line than usual to avoid being no-balled, and to operate below full speed until the umpires were satisfied.Perry (2001), p. 222.Fingleton (1945) Bradman's counsel was effective, as Lindwall did not have a no-ball problem during the tour.
Bill Jeanes, who was secretary of the Australian Board of Control and had managed the previous Australian tour of England in 1938, was offered the job of managing the 1948 team, but he turned it down. Jeanes had become increasingly unpopular among the players because of an approach that cricket historian Gideon Haigh has called "increasingly officious and liverish". He was replaced by Keith Johnson, the New South Wales delegate to the Australian Board of Control. Johnson had previously managed the Australian Services team—which included Keith Miller and Lindsay Hassett—in the Victory Tests that took place in 1945 at the conclusion of the Second World War in Europe.
Warm-up matches in Australia Before they sailed for England, Australia played three warm-up matches. The first two were two-day games against Tasmania in Hobart and at the Northern Tasmanian Cricket Association Ground, Launceston; the third was a three-day match against Western Australia in Perth. In Hobart, Australia scored 538/5 declared, with centuries by Barnes, Hassett and Harvey in reply to 122. Using a mixture of pace and spin, they reduced Tasmania to 186/7 when time ran out. In Launceston, Australia won by an innings and 49 runs. Toshack took 5/24 as Tasmania fell for 123. Australia then scored 288 before five bowlers shared the wickets as Tasmania fell for just 116, Barnes taking 3/1. Four days later, on Saturday 13 March, the Australians were at the WACA Ground where they found a tougher test from Western Australia. Western Australia scored 348 as Wally Langdon made 112, while five bowlers took two wickets each. Australia replied with 442/7 declared, including 115 apiece by Morris and Bradman. Western Australia only had time to reach 62/3 and the game was drawn. The match attracted a total crowd of 30,500.
Voyage and stopover in Ceylon The team set sail on board from Fremantle on Friday 19 March. En route to England, the Australians berthed in Colombo where they played a one-day single-innings match—not limited overs—against the Ceylon national team at the Colombo Oval. The local newspaper The Islander ran a headline of "Bradman Will Definitely Play" and this guaranteed a crowd of more than 20,000.Harte and Whimpress, p. 405. Australia batted first and became suspicious about the pitch as the morning went on. At lunch, Ian Johnson demanded that the pitch be measured and it was found to be only long. After that, the bowlers delivered from two yards behind the crease. Australia made 184/8 declared (Barnes 49, Miller 46) before a monsoon ended the match with Ceylon at 46/2 in reply.
The party docked at Tilbury on Friday 16 April to a resounding welcome. Bradman announced the delivery of 17,000 food parcels as a gift to the British people from the State of Victoria. Great Britain was still in the throes of rationing and post-war austerity.
Popularity Despite Australia's ruthless on-field dominance and a succession of one-sided victories, the touring team drew unprecedented levels of spectator and media interest. Bradman's dominant cricketing stature was a key factor in his team's popularity with the public, especially as it was known that it would be his last international campaign. A leading cricket writer of the time, R. C. Robertson-Glasgow, said "we want him to do well. We feel we have a share in him. He is more than Australian. He is a world batsman."Haigh and Frith (2007) The Australian journalist Andy Flanagan said that "cities, towns and hotels are beflagged, carpets set down, and dignitaries wait to extend an official welcome. He is the Prince of Cricketers." Writing later, Haigh opined that "perhaps no touring cricketer ... has been as feted as Bradman in that northern summer". Bradman received hundreds of personal letters every day, and one of his dinner speeches was broadcast live, causing the British Broadcasting Corporation to postpone the news bulletin. Of Bradman's retirement, Robertson-Glasgow said in the 1949 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack: "... a miracle has been removed from among us ... So must ancient Italy have felt when she heard of the death of Hannibal."
As a team, the Australians were greeted by record crowds and gate receipts across the country, even when wet weather curtailed the matches.Perry (2005), p. 226. The record attendance for a Test match in England was broken three times, in the Second Test at Lord's, the Third Test at Old Trafford, and the Fourth Test at Headingley. The 158,000 spectators that watched the proceedings at Headingley remain a record for a Test on English soil.Allen, pp. 106–107.
Off the field, the Australians were inundated with requests for social functions, including appointments with government officials and members of the royal family, and they had to juggle a plethora of off-field engagements, with 112 days of scheduled cricket in the space of 144 days. Three-day matches were often held consecutively with only the traditional Sunday rest day, although their dominance ended several matches prematurely and earned them extra rest days.