Bradman in Headingley

ON Don's second visit to Headingley in 1934 he made 304 - but, this time, under dire circumstances. But let me leave it to the great Cardus to describe this. England had made 200 on the opening day (July 20) and Australia had responded perilously with 39 for 3 at close of play having lost Brown, Woodfull - clean bowled by Bowes! - and Oldfield c Ames b Bowes. Here is Cardus on the opening day's play:

"The day began with two balls by Bowes left over from the evening before; Bradman drove the first straight for four and the second to the on, also for four. These hits were ominous; they lacked the rhetoric which many times this summer has told us of a Bradman strangely different from the Bradman of six years ago, a Bradman in rebellion against his own mastery and driven a little beyond proportion to that intemperance which hath been the untimely emptying of thrones. Bradman once again entered his own domain, conquered himself as well as the enemy, and conveyed to us his pleasures in spacious plenty. Those two preludial boundaries off Bowes were executed over the line of the ball with the body in control to an inch; the strokes were fundamental; I saw them like grim, purposeful stanchions fixing to the earth a great innings."

By the end of the second day, Australia had reached 494 for the loss of just Ponsford's wicket! Of the Bradman-Ponsford stand of 388, Cardus wittily observes: "... many a Yorkshire heart must have been comforted by the shouts of the newsvendors, 'All out for Kent.' It was certainly a comfort to all of us to know that some English bowlers were getting wickets somewhere."

The Don's third visit to Headingley was productive if not quite as prolific. He made only 103 in the first innings (bowled, yet again, by his nemesis, Bowes) and 16 (and not 15 as given in the first part of this article last Sunday) in his second knock and Australia was home and dry by five wickets to square the series.

1948 was the Don's final visit to England and, the title of Fingleton's lovely book "Brightly Fades the Don", is an apt description of the Don's last appearance at his favourite venue: Headingley. In the first innings, when the Don came in to bat, he was "greeted like an emperor by the crowd" (E.W. Swanton). However, he made only 33 before being bowled by the red-haired Dick Pollard, who had terrorized the Indians two years earlier. Here is how Roland Perry, his most recent biographer, saw it:

"... the Australian skipper had to face Pollard, who always seemed to go up another notch of enthusiasm with the challenge of Bradman. His fourth ball swung in late to beat the batsman's indecisive blade to flatten his off-stump. The roar from the crowd was a mix of delight, shock and dismay. Bradman's triple centuries of 1930 and 1934 were elevated to legendary status, for with only one chance left in the second innings almost certainly they would not now be accompanied by another. His 33 today seemed unnatural compared with those epic feats of the 1930s." But the Don took that "only... chance left in the second innings" to gain immortality as he made 173 not out for an incredible Australian victory as they reached 404 for 4 in just under five and half hours! Exactly at 1 p.m., with Australia just 57 on the board and 73 precious minutes gone and still to get 347 in 257 minutes, the Don for the last time in his career, walked in to achieve the impossible. Here is how H.S. Altham described the Don as he walked in to bat: "In the many pictures I have stored in my mind from the burnt-out Junes of forty years, there is none more dramatic or compelling than that of Bradman's small, serenely- moving figure in its big-peaked green cap coming out of the pavilion shadows into the sunshine, with the concentration, ardour and apprehension of surrounding thousands centred upon him, and the destiny of a Test match in his hands."

The left-handed Arthur Morris and the Don were asked to make "a gentle raid on the clock" (Roland Perry). Australia went to lunch at 121 for 1 having scored 95 runs in 90 minutes. It was well ahead of the clock but still required 284 runs in the final two sessions of 120 minutes each at 3.5 runs per over! But this was no crowd-pleasing One-day International but a Test Match.

The wicket was worn badly and Laker was turning the ball pitching outside the Don's off-stump and making the ball pass outside leg. With 202 still to get, Australia had just 165 minutes left. In 90 minutes after lunch, Morris and the Don had added 122 to swing the game the tourists' way. At 4:10 p.m. the Don reached his 100 in just 145 minutes with his fifteenth boundary. At 108, the Don jumped out to Laker and Evans, unsighted, missed the chance of stumping. At tea, Australia was 288 for 1 with the Don on 108 when Morris was caught by Pollard off Yardley for 185. The Don was on 143 and Australia was just 46 runs away from victory. Miller fell next for 12 at 6:11 p.m. and at 6:16 p.m. young Neil Harvey, who had made a hundred in the first innings, hit a four and Australia achieved a historic 7-wicket victory with still some 5 or 10 minutes to spare. The Don was not out on 173. He had batted just 270 minutes and he has ranked this innings as one of his best.

The Don's batting feats are indeed deathless. One still sees the Don in the mind's eye "coming out of the pavilion shadows into the sunshine, with a concentration, ardour and apprehension of surrounding thousands centred upon him and the destiny of a Test match in his hands." No wonder Hazare, who has been sending him Christmas cards for the last five decades, said recently after his death: "I'll not stop because I feel he is still there... like a star in the sky."

T. G. VAIDYANATHAN

(Concluded)

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