The Ashes Legends: Don Bradman’s Invincibles of 1948

On the batting front, the highly-talented Arthur Morris was so successful that he overshadowed his one-time hero in that series, scoring 696 runs at an average of 87. Meanwhile, Bradman averaged 72. Along with Morris was his temperamental but highly talented opening partner, Sid Barnes, who scored 1345 runs at an average of 56.41 in 21 matches.

Behind the stumps, the Aussies had Don Tallon, who was regarded as Australia’s finest wicket-keeper of his generation. Alert and agile, his stumpings were delicate and his glove-work second to none, rarely involving the removal of more than one bail. And then there was Neil Harvey, 19, the youngest member of a 17-man squad, 20 years junior to Bradman, left-handed batsman and an elegant stroke-maker who possessed brutal power for a man of his short height, 5’6’’.

There will be lots of performances for which he will be remembered, such as his 153 against India in his second Test, an innings which made him the youngest ever Australian to score a Test century. But it was his 112 in the Leeds Test in 1948 which made him a household name in Australia. Out of his 21 centuries, six came in his first 13 Test innings!

All these players, in their own right, would have been legends had they played in any other era. But there was a shadow looming large, of a man called Don Bradman. By 1948, Bradman, 40, was widely accepted as the greatest batsman in the game thanks to his exploits before the Second World War. Don himself admitted that he would not have toured England in ’48 had there been no war.

There came a point during the 1946-47 series when he doubted his ability to perform in Test cricket. But after his success in the series with India in 1947-48, he was convinced to embark on a journey of England in 1948. Here he was, in his last Test series, scoring 508 runs in 5 matches at an average of 72.57 with two hundreds, including a match winning innings of 173 while chasing 404 runs on a fifth day wicket at Headingly.

But perhaps the most memorable incident of the long tour was Bradman’s second-ball duck in his final Test innings, which meant he finished with a career average of 99.94, an agonizing four runs shy of an average of 100.

This Test series sowed the seeds for Australian cricket to follow in the footsteps of the Invincibles – play bold and aggressive cricket – which became the hallmark of future Australian teams.

The Invincibles touring party

Don 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