When the Australian team, captained by Don Bradman, arrived in England in the summer of 1938, few could have expected that it would be a decade before they returned. But with World War 2 beginning the following year, cricket once more had to take a back seat to global events.
That meant this was the last chance the English public got to see peak Bradman, and he did not disappoint, scoring three Test centuries over the summer, even if he was not as prolific as on his previous visit.
His first came in the First Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, where it was the home side who won the toss and piled up the runs after winning the toss.
Charlie Barnett and Len Hutton scored centuries. Eddie Paynter, batting at five, made 216 not out and Denis Compton also made it into three figures, before England declared on 658/8.
In reply, Stan McCabe scored 232 – an innings so magnificent that Bradman invited his teammates to the balcony and watch, for they were unlikely to see anything like that again. Bradman got a half century as well, but the Australians were dismissed for 411, meaning they were asked to follow-on and bat again.
However, 133 from Bill Brown and an unbeaten 144 from Bradman meant that they were able to save the test as they reached 427/6 before the match was declared a draw.
The second Test at Lord’s also ended in a draw, with again England batting first. Captain Wally Hammond made 240, Paynter fell one short of his century, and Les Ames contributed 83 in a score of 494. But 206 from Brown and a half-century from Lindsay Hassett enabled the Australians to limit the damage, as they were all out for 422 in turn.
When England batted again, Compton top scored with 76 not as England declared on 242/8, but Bradman helped ensure that there would be no positive result with an unbeaten 102, as the visitors got to 204 when the match ended.
The third Test, at Old Trafford,made headlines for all the wrong reasons as it became only the second Test match to be abandoned ever without a ball being bowled due to persistent bad weather in Manchester.
The Fourth Test, at Headingley, Leeds determined that Australia would retain The Ashes.
England again won the toss and batted first, but this time, despite 76 from Hammond, they were bowled out for 223, leg spinner Bill O’Reilly taking 5-66. Bradman’s 103 ensured Australia took a marginal first-innings lead as they were dismissed for 242.
O’Reilly took five more wickets and Chuck Fleetwood-Smith four, as England were all out for 123 second time round.
Australia needed 105 to win, and they reached their target, losing five wickets in the process.
The final Test at the Oval, saw England smash all sorts of batting records on a featherbed designed for a timeless Test. Their first innings total of 903/7 declared was the highest made by any side in an innings in Test match cricket (it has only been beaten once since).
And Len Hutton’s 364 was the highest individual score ever by a player – a record that stood until Gary Sobers beat it 20 years later. Maurice Leyland meanwhile made 187, and Joe Hardstaff Jr an unbeaten 169, as the runs flowed.
The weary Australians, who had spent several days chasing the ball round the field, were bowled out for 201 in their first innings, Bill Bowes the leading wicket-taker with 5-49. Not surprisingly, they were asked to follow-on and were bowled out again, this time for just 123, Ken Farnes this time taking 4-63.
Australia had lost by an innings and 579 runs, the largest margin in test cricket, but there were mitigating circumstances. During the England innings, Bradman had taken a rate turn at bowling. In his third over, he slipped and fractured his ankle and played no further part in the match. Meanwhile Jack Fingleton was also unable to bat because of a leg muscle strain.