This coming summer will feature an eagerly awaited Ashes series. It will also mark 75 years since the corresponding contest of 1950/51, an anniversary worthy of recognition.
It was the first series in 24 years to not feature Don Bradman. And perhaps most notably, it featured a ‘mystery’ spinner who subsequently disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.
The teams
Australia was undefeated since WWII, winning 16 matches and drawing five. It had defeated England twice, as well as India, New Zealand and South Africa. 13 members of the 1948 Invincibles were still active, and Lindsay Hassett had inherited the team’s captaincy.
England were rebuilding slowly. In addition to their Ashes defeats, they had lost to the West Indies, won against India and South Africa, and drawn with New Zealand. They were heavily reliant on pre-war batsmen Len Hutton, Denis Compton and Cyril Washbrook, seamer Alec Bedser and wicketkeeper Godfrey Evans.
Amateur and establishment figure Freddie Brown accepted the team’s captaincy, after three others had declined it. He had toured Australia with Douglas Jardine in 1932/33, and been a prisoner-of-war for three years during WWII. His side’s tour would last almost seven months, ending with two Test matches in New Zealand. Its itinerary comprised 30 matches, including 20 first-class ones.
Playing conditions included some long since abandoned. Pitches were generally uncovered. Matches took place over six days, each of five hours’ duration, interrupted by a rest day. And a new ball was available after 50 eight-ball overs, equivalent to 67 six-ball ones.
The mystery spinner
Jack Iverson’s rise to cricket stardom is unique. In 1946 he was already 31 years old, yet had never played club cricket. Less than five years later he would play a starring role in an Ashes victory, and bamboozle some of the world’s greatest batsmen.
The key to Iverson’s success was his ability to bowl leg-breaks, off-breaks and top-spinners out of the front of his hand, with no discernible change in action. A large hand and strong fingers, and a height of six feet two inches, enhanced his deliveries’ drop, turn and bounce. He also bowled extremely accurately, and with a very flat trajectory.
He had mastered the skill while serving in Papua New Guinea, by obsessively flicking a ping-pong ball with a bent middle finger, including in French cricket games played with rulers as bats and tent-poles as stumps. By transferring the technique to a cricket ball, he invented what we would now term a ‘carrom’ ball.
After returning to Melbourne, in 1946/47 he decided to try out for sub-district club Brighton. Selected in Third Grade, he claimed 15/25 on debut. By the end of that summer he had taken 38 First Grade wickets at an average of 11.
The 1947/48 season yielded another 79 wickets at 10 runs apiece, a premiership, and an invitation to join a district club. The 1948/49 summer with Melbourne produced 64 wickets at an average of 12, and another premiership.
1949/50 was Iverson’s breakthrough year. He gained selection for Victoria, and in seven Sheffield Shield games took 46 wickets at an average of 16.60. That earned him a place on an Australia A tour to New Zealand, on which he claimed 75 wickets at 7 runs apiece.
Add in 21 wickets for Melbourne at an average of 11, and his season haul was a remarkable 142 wickets. Starting the following season in good form duly led to a Test call-up at the age of 35, ahead of the established Colin McCool and Doug Ring.
Perhaps understandably given Iverson’s inexperience, he often lacked ‘cricket sense’ and self-belief. He struggled to set fields, and ran poorly between wickets. He was also a poor fielder, unfamiliar with the names of positions, and couldn’t appreciate the importance of walking in with a bowler.
And following any less-than-outstanding bowling figures, he invariably told team-mates that it was time to “give the game away,” as batsmen had “worked him out.”
First Test, ‘Gabba
For the third consecutive Ashes series, its opening match featured a rain-affected Brisbane pitch. Hassett elected to bat in dry weather, and the first day’s play ended shortly after Australia’s dismissal for 228. Neil Harvey (74) top-scored, while Alec Bedser (4/45) took the bowling honours.
After the next day’s play was washed out, on a now-diabolical Day 3 pitch Brown closed England’s first innings at 7/68 despite his team being 160 runs in arrears, with Bill Johnston (5/35) the most successful bowler. The hosts fared even worse in their second innings, slumping to 3/0 before Hassett declared his side’s innings at 7/32 to set a small- but impossible- 193-run victory target.
England duly struggled to 6/30 by stumps. The sixth wicket to fall was that of Arthur McIntyre, who was beaten by a return from the boundary when attempting a fourth run from the day’s final delivery. The day had yielded 20 wickets for 130 runs, in less than four hours.
When the match resumed the following morning, Hutton played an innings regarded as one of his finest. Having been held back in the hope that batting conditions would improve, he scored an undefeated 62 from 102 deliveries.
Despite his efforts, England’s score of 122 was 71 runs short of victory. Iverson (4/43) took his first Test wickets, after not bowling in the visitors’ first innings.
Second Test, MCG
The second game took place on a sporting pitch under overcast skies. Hassett again won the toss, and his side was well-placed at 4/177 before collapsing to 194 all out, despite his own 52 runs. Bedser (4/37) and Trevor Bailey (4/40) took the bowling honours.
England slipped to 6/61 in reply, recovering to 197 only due to a defiant innings by skipper Brown (62), with Iverson (4/37) the most successful bowler. The low scoring continued in Australia’s second innings, as it was restricted to 181 with Brown (4/26) again leading by example.
Requiring 179 to win the match, the visitors ended its third day on 2/28 but still in a strong position. However despite progressing to 3/82 and with Hutton (40) continuing his good form, it was dismissed for 150 to concede victory by 28 runs. Johnston (4/26) took the bowling honours, with support from Lindwall (3/29) and Iverson (2/36).
Third Test, SCG
Australia retained the Ashes with a third consecutive victory. England owed its first innings total of 290 to Hutton (62) and Brown (79), while Keith Miller (4/37, including three of the first four wickets to fall, as well as a superb catch) was the pick of the bowlers.
The home side’s reply of 426 was highlighted by a masterful century from Miller (145 from 268 deliveries). Hassett (70) and Ian Johnson (77) also made the most of injuries to two bowlers, with Bedser (4/107) and Brown (4/153) the only wicket-takers.
When England batted again in the face of a 136-run deficit, it found Iverson (6/27 from 19.4 overs) irresistible. He reduced it to 3/45 by dismissing Hutton, Reg Simpson and Washbrook, and ended the match by removing its last three batsmen. The visitors’ score was just 123, and the hosts’ victory margin an innings and 13 runs.
Fourth Test, Adelaide Oval
Australia extended its winning streak to four games. Another unsuccessful call of the toss by Brown enabled the home side to accumulate 3/254 on the match’s first day, and increase it to 5/374 before being held to 371. Arthur Morris (206) finally mastered Bedser and was supported by forties from Hassett, Harvey and Miller.
England’s response was 272, as Hutton (156no) carried his bat and maintained his reputation as arguably the world’s finest batsman. Iverson, Johnston and Lindwall took three wickets apiece.
Australia then scored 8(dec)403 for an unbeatable 502-run lead, thanks to Miller (99), Harvey (68) and debutant Jim Burke (102no). The visitors’ response of 228 all out fell 275 runs short of victory, with Simpson (61) and Johnston (4/73) the leading batsman and bowler respectively. Iverson didn’t bowl, after injuring an ankle.
Fifth Test, MCG
England salvaged some lost pride by inflicting on Australia its first defeat since 1938. The home side’s first innings of 217 was below par despite the efforts of Morris (50) and skipper Hassett (92), with Bedser (5/46) and Brown (5/49) sharing the bowling honours. The visitors’ Hutton (79) and Simpson (156no), as well as a 74-run last-wicket partnership, enabled a response of 320 with Miller (4/76) the most successful bowler.
When the hosts batted again, debutant Graeme Hole (63) top-scored in his side’s modest 197 that Bedser (5/59, for a match haul of 10/105) again dominated. England overhauled its 95-run target with eight wickets to spare, and Hutton (60no) fittingly scored the winning run.
The stars
While England provided the series’ leading individual performers, Australia’s 4-1 margin proved the value of team depth. Injuries, sporting pitches, poor weather and sheer bad luck also influenced the series’ outcome.
Hutton (533 runs at an average of 88.83) batted magnificently, and was matched by Bedser (30 wickets at an average of 16.06) with the ball. Brown (210 runs at 26.25, and 18 wickets at 21.61 from a mixture of medium-pace and wrist-spin) led by example. Meaningful contributions by their team-mates were few and far between, with those of Compton (53 runs at 7.57) and Washbrook (173 at 17.30) particularly disappointing.
The hosts’ success owed much to the run-scoring of captain Hassett (366 runs at an average of 40.66), Harvey (362 at 40.22) and Miller (350 at 43.75), with support from Morris, Burke, Hole and Ken Archer. However its strength was bowling in the form of Lindwall (15 wickets at an average of 22.93), Miller (17 at 17.70), Johnston (22 at 19.18) and Iverson (21 at 15.23).
What happened next
Australia’s dominance gradually diminished. It defeated the West Indies and drew with South Africa during the next two summers, before relinquishing the Ashes in 1953. The side would not rise again until the late 1950s, following the emergence of Richie Benaud and Alan Davidson.
England defeated Australia in the Ashes series of 1953, 1954/55 and 1956. Hutton and Bedser, as well as Frank Tyson, Jim Laker and Peter May, played key roles. It would not lose a single series for the next seven years, winning ten and drawing four.
The teenaged Close, having faced Lindwall and Miller, would later face Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith in 1963 and 1966, and Andy Roberts and Michael Holding in 1976 when aged 45. Medium-pacer John Warr, whose two Tests produced career figures of 1/281, would later serve as President of the Marylebone Cricket Club.
Jack Iverson never played Test cricket again, for a number of reasons including injury, and family and work commitments. He appeared just once for Victoria in 1951/52 (taking five wickets), and twice in 1952/53 (taking seven).
The famous photo of Jack Iverson gripping a ball which appeared on the cover of Gideon Haigh’s book Mystery Spinner.
Although Richie Benaud, Hassett and Miller all predicted that Iverson would be a match-winner in England in 1953, he could not be persuaded to make himself available. Fellow Victorian and off-spinner Ian Johnson subsequently kept his place in the Australian side, and later inherited its captaincy as well.
Iverson did join a Commonwealth XI tour to India in 1953/54, in which he claimed 17 wickets at a cost of 18 runs apiece from three unofficial ‘Tests.’ His first-class career comprised 34 games, for 157 wickets at an average of 19.22.
He continued to play club cricket on and off until 1962/63, when he also bowled in the nets to the English side at captain Ted Dexter’s invitation. He also became a respected radio and television commentator. Unfortunately from 1963 he suffered regularly from depression, and in 1973 took his own life at the age of 58. Sadly, his Ashes team-mate Burke would do the same six years later, aged just 49.
A number of later bowlers have attempted to replicate his bowling technique, with varying success. They include Johnny Gleeson and Graeme Beard, as well as some more recent south-Asian ones.
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