Australian cricket team in England in 1953

The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1953 season to play a five-match Test series against England for The Ashes.

1953 Ashes Series
The Ashes returned to England after 19 years.
Date	11 June – 19 August 1953
Location	England
Result	England won the 5-Test series 1–0
Teams England Australia Captains Hutton, L A.L. Hassett Most runs Hutton, L – 443 (55.37) A.L. Hassett – 365 (36.50) Most wickets Bedser, A.V. – 39 (17.48) R.R Lindwall – 26 (18.84)

England won the final Test to take the series 1–0 after the first four Tests were all drawn. England therefore recovered the Ashes for the first time since losing them in 1934.

The England Test players

Below are the Test statistics of the England squad. As was the convention of the time gentleman amateurs have their initials in front of their surname and professional players have their initials after their name, if their initials were used at all.[1] The Australians were all amateurs until the Packer Revolution, even though they played like professionals.

Name	County	Age	Arm	Role	Tests	Runs	Highest	Average	100s	50s	Ct	St	Wickets	Best	Average	5 Wt	10 Wt
Hutton, L. (c)	Yorkshire	36	Right	Opening batsman	79	6971	364	56.67	19	33	57		3	1/2	77.33
Kenyon, D.	Worcs	29	Right	Opening Batsmen	8	192	87	12.80		1	5
R.T. Simpson	Notts	33	Right	Opening batsman	27	1401	156*	33.45	4	6	5		3	2/4	11.00
Compton, D.C.S.	Middlesex	35	Right	Middle-order batsman	78	5807	278	50.06	17	28	49		25	5/70	56.40	1
Graveney, T.W.	Glos	25	Right	Middle-order batsman	79	4882	258	44.38	11	20	80		1	1/34	167.00
P.H.B. May	Surrey	23	Right	Middle-order batsman	66	4537	285*	46.77	14	22	42
Watson, W.	Yorkshire	33	Left	Middle-order batsman	23	879	116	25.85	2	3	8
T.E. Bailey	Essex	29	Right	All-rounder	61	2290	134*	29.74	1	10	32		132	7/34	29.21	5	1
F.R. Brown	Northants	42	Right	All-rounder	22	734	79	25.31		5	22		45	5/49	31.06	1
W.J. Edrich	Middlesex	37	Right	All-rounder	37	2440	219	40.00	6	13	39		41	4/68	41.29
Evans, T.G.	Kent	32	Right	Wicket-keeper	91	2439	104	20.49	2	8	173	46
Statham, J.B.	Lancashire	22	Left (Bat) Right (Ball)	Fast seam bowler	51	675	38	11.44			28		252	7/39	24.84	9	1
Trueman, F.S.	Yorkshire	22	Right	Fast swing bowler	67	981	39*	13.81			64		307	8/31	21.57	17	3
Bedser, A.V.	Surrey	34	Right	Medium-fast swing bowler	51	714	79	12.75		1	26		236	7/44	24.89	15	5
Lock, G.A.R.	Surrey	23	Right (Bat) Left (Ball)	Slow left-arm bowler	49	742	89	13.74		3	59		174	7/35	25.58	9	3
Wardle, J.H.	Yorkshire	30	Left	Slow left-arm bowler	28	653	66	19.78		2	12		102	7/36	20.39	5	1
Laker, J.C.	Surrey	31	Right	Slow off-spin bowler	46	676	63	14.08		2	12		193	10/53	21.24	9	3
Tattersall, R.	Lancashire	30	Left (Bat) Right (Ball)	Slow off-spin bowler	16	50	10*	5.00			8		58	7/52	26.08	4	1

The Australian players

Hassett, Morris, Harvey, Johnston, Lindwall, Miller, Ring and Tallon had toured England with the 1948 Australian team, known as The Invincibles. Davidson, de Courcy and Hill had not played Test cricket before this tour: all three made their debuts during the 1953 Ashes series. The following table shows the career Test averages of the Australian cricketers who toured England in 1953.

Name	State	Age	Arm	Role	Tests	Runs	Highest	Average	100s	50s	Ct	St	Wickets	Best	Average	5 Wt	10 Wt
C.C. McDonald	Victoria	26	Right	Opening batsman	47	3107	170	39.32	5	17			14	0/3
A.R. Morris (vc)	NSW	32	Left	Opening batsman	46	3353	206	46.48	12	12	15		2	1/5	25.00
J.H. de Courcy	NSW	26	Right	Middle-order batsman	3	81	41	16.20			3
I.D. Craig	NSW	17	Right	Middle-order batsman	11	358	53	19.88		2	2
R.N. Harvey	Victoria	26	Left	Middle-order batsman	79	6145	205	48.41	21	24	64		3	1/8	40.00
A.L. Hassett (c)	Victoria	39	Right	Middle-order batsman	43	3073	198*	46.56	10	11	30			0/1
G.B. Hole	South Australia	24	Right	Middle-order batsman	18	789	66	25.45		5	6		3	1-9	42.00
R.G. Archer	NSW	21	Right	All-rounder	19	713	128	24.58	1	2	20		48	5/53	27.45	1
R. Benaud	NSW	24	Right	All-rounder	63	2201	122	24.45	3	9	65		248	7/72	27.03	16	1
A.K. Davidson	NSW	25	Left	All-rounder	44	1328	80	24.59		5	42		186	7/93	20.53	14	2
R.R. Lindwall	NSW	31	Right	All-rounder	61	1502	118	21.15	2	5	26		228	7/38	23.03	12
K.R. Miller	NSW	35	Right	All-rounder	55	2958	147	36.97	7	13	38		170	7/60	22.97	7	1
D.T. Ring	Victoria	34	Right	All-rounder	13	426	67	22.42		4	5		35	6/72	37.28	2
D. Tallon	Queensland	37	Right	Wicket-keeper	21	394	92	17.13		2	50	8
G.R.A. Langley	South Australia	25	Right	Wicket-keeper	26	374	53	14.96		1	83	15
W.A. Johnston	Victoria	32	Right (Bat) Left (Ball)	Fast-medium swing bowler	40	273	29	11.37			16		160	6/44	23.91	7
J.C. Hill	Victoria	29	Right	Slow leg-spin bowler	3	21	8*	7.00			2		8	3/35	34.12

Test series summary

First Test at Trent Bridge

11–16 June 1953 scorecard

Australia	v	England
249 A.L. Hassett (c) 115 A.R. Morris (vc) 67 K.R. Miller 55 Bedser, A.V. 7/55		144 Hutton, L (c) 43 R.R. Lindwall 5/54 J.C. Hill 3/35
123 A.R. Morris (vc) 60 Bedser, A.V. 7/44		120/1 Hutton, L (c) 60*

Match Drawn Trent Bridge, Nottingham, England Umpires: D. Davies (ENG) & H. Elliott (ENG)

• 15 June 1953

Rain washed out play entirely on the fourth day and prevented a resumption until half past four on the last day. Before that, Alec Bedser, with seven wickets in each innings, had bowled England into a strong position after they trailed by 105 on the first innings. In Australia's first innings, Morris, who made 67 and Hassett put on 122 for the second wicket and then Hassett and Miller made 109 for the fourth wicket, Miller making 55. Hassett's 115 was his ninth century in Test cricket. From 243 for four at lunch on the second day, Australia lost their remaining six wickets for six runs, Bedser finishing with seven for 55. The Australian scorecard is one of the more unbalanced in Test history - a century, two half centuries, two single figure scores, single figure extras, and six batsmen failing to score.[2]

England, apart from Leonard Hutton, with 43, struggled and Lindwall took five wickets for 57 runs. In Australia's second innings, only Morris, who made 60, was confident against Bedser, who took seven for 44 to have match figures of 14 for 99. Hutton was 60 not out in England's weather-interrupted reply.[3]

Second Test at Lord's

25–30 June 1953 scorecard

Australia	v	England
346 A.L. Hassett (c) 104 A.K. Davidson 76 R.N. Harvey 59 Bedser, A.V. 5/105 Wardle, J.H. 4/77		372 Hutton, L (c) 145 Graveney, T.W. 78 Compton, D.C.S. 57 R.R. Lindwall 5/66
368 K.R. Miller 109 A.R. Morris (vc) 89 R.R. Lindwall 50 F.R. Brown 4/82 Bedser, A.V. 3/77		282/7 Watson, W. 109 T.E. Bailey 71 R.R. Lindwall 2/26

Match Drawn Lord's Cricket Ground, London, UK Umpires: H.G. Baldwin (ENG) & F.S. Lee (ENG)

Hassett opened with Morris and made his second century of the series, though he retired hurt at 101. Harvey made 59, but Johnny Wardle removed the middle order batsmen before Davidson, with 76, coaxed 117 runs out of the last six wickets. Hutton and Tom Graveney put on 168 for the second wicket, and after Graveney was out for 78, Denis Compton (57) added a further 102 with Hutton, who scored 145. But England lost their last seven wickets between lunch and tea on the third day, and the first innings lead was only 26. Morris and Miller regained the initiative for Australia in a second wicket partnership of 165 and when Morris was out for 89 Miller went on to 109, with useful runs also from Hole (47) and Lindwall (50). Set 343 to win, England lost three wickets for 12 runs, and Willie Watson was missed before the end of the fourth day. On the last day, Watson battled to 109 and shared a fifth wicket stand of 163 with Trevor Bailey (71), which saved the match for England.[4]

Third Test at Old Trafford

9–14 July 1953 scorecard

Australia	v	England
318 R.N. Harvey 122 G.B. Hole 66 Bedser, A.V. 5/115 Wardle, J.H. 3/70		276 Hutton, L (c) 66 Compton, D.C.S. 45 Evans, T.G. (wk) 44* J.C. Hill 3/97
35/8 Wardle, J.H. 4/7

Match Drawn Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester, England Umpires: D. Davies (ENG) & H. Elliott (ENG)

• 13 July 1953

More than half the scheduled playing time was lost to rain. In an innings spread over three days, Harvey made 122 and Hole with 66 and de Courcy on his Test debut also made useful runs. England's innings was also made disjointed by rain, which prevented any play at all on the fourth day. Hutton top-scored with 66. With the match dead, Wardle, Bedser and Jim Laker took eight Australian second-innings wickets, with none of the batsmen reaching double figures.[5]

Fourth Test at Headingley

23–28 July 1953 scorecard

England	v	Australia
167 Graveney, T.W. 55 R.R. Lindwall 5/54		266 R.N. Harvey 71 G.B. Hole 53 Bedser, A.V. 6/95 T.E. Bailey 3/71
275 W.J. Edrich 64 Compton, D.C.S. 61 Laker, J.C. 48 K.R. Miller 4/63 R.R. Lindwall 3/104		147/4 A.R. Morris (vc) 38 R.N. Harvey 34 G.B. Hole 33

Match Drawn Headingley, Leeds, England Umpires: F. Chester (ENG) & F.S. Lee (ENG)

On a pitch affected by damp, England batted very cautiously, making just 142 for seven in five-and-a-half hours on the first day, Graveney top-scoring with 55. Lindwall took five for 54. Australia batted more enterprisingly, with Harvey making 71 and Hole 53 and were all out at the end of the second day with a lead of 99. Light rain prevented play for more than four hours on the third day, and across the Monday England batted doggedly, with Bill Edrich making 64, Compton 61 until he had to retire hurt, and Bailey 38 in more than four hours. In all, England's innings occupied nine hours and 40 minutes, and left the Australians 115 minutes in which to score 177. Despite 30s from Morris, Harvey and Hole, they finished 30 runs short. Bailey restricted the scoring by bowling wide of the leg stump.[6][7]

Fifth Test at The Oval

15–19 August 1953 scorecard

Australia	v	England
275 R.R. Lindwall 62 A.L. Hassett (c) 53 Trueman, F.S. 4/86 Bedser, A.V. 3/88		306 Hutton, L. (c) 82 T.E. Bailey 64 R.R. Lindwall 4/70 W.A. Johnston 3/94
162 R.G. Archer 49 Lock, G.A.R. 5/45 Laker, J.C. 4/75		132/2 W.J. Edrich 55*

England won by 8 wickets The Oval, London, UK Umpires: HD. Davies (ENG) & F.S. Lee (ENG)

The series being undecided, six days were allowed and the match began, unusually for a Test in England, on a Saturday. Hassett won the toss for the fifth time. He made 53 and Harvey and Hole made 30s, but Lindwall top-scored with 62 and last five wickets more than doubled the score. Fred Trueman, in his only match of the series, took four wickets. Hutton scored 82, but at the end of the second day England, at 235 for seven, were still 40 behind. The lead was not gained until the last pair, Bailey and Bedser, were together; Bailey made 64. When Australia batted for the second time, Hutton turned very quickly to the Surrey spin-bowling pair, Laker and Tony Lock, and they took nine of the 10 wickets to fall, the other being a run-out. Lock finished with five for 45 and Laker four for 75. Australia's lack of a spinner – though Johnston bowled slows from one end – meant England got the 132 needed for victory easily, if slowly. The match was finished in mid-afternoon on the fourth day and the Ashes had been won.[8]

1953 Ashes Series averages

Batting averages

source

Player	Team	Matches	Innings	Not out	Runs	Highest score	Average	100s	50s	Ct	St
L. Hutton (c)	England	5	9	1	443	145	55.37	1	3	4
W.J. Edrich	England	3	5	1	156	64	39.00		2	6
A.L. Hassett (c)	Australia	5	10		365	115	36.50	2	1	2
R.N. Harvey	Australia	5	10		346	122	34.60	1	2
A.R. Morris (vc)	Australia	5	10		337	89	33.70		3	2
Watson, W.	England	3	5		168	109	33.60	1		1
Compton, D.C.S.	England	5	8	1	234	61	33.42		2	4
T.E. Bailey	England	5	7		222	71	31.71		2	3
Wardle, J.H.	England	3	4	2	57	29*	28.50
P.B.H. May	England	2	3		85	39	28.33
F.R. Brown	England	1	2		50	28	25.00			1
K.R. Miller	Australia	5	9		223	109	24.77	1	1	2
Graveney, T.W.	England	5	7		169	78	24.14		2	4
R.G. Archer	Australia	3	5	1	95	49	23.75			1
Evans, T.G. (wk)	England	5	7	2	117	44*	23.40			11	5
A.K. Davidson	Australia	5	10	2	182	76	22.75		1	5
R.T. Simpson	England	3	5	1	74	31	18.50			1
R.R. Lindwall	Australia	5	9		159	62	17.66		2	2
I.D. de Courcy	Australia	3	6	1	81	41	16.20			3
Laker, J.C.	England	3	4		64	48	16.00
Bedser, A.V.	England	5	6	3	38	22*	12.66			1
D.T. Ring	Australia	1	2		25	18	12.50
Trueman, F.S.	England	1	1		10	10	10.00			2
G.R.A. Langley (wk)	Australia	4	6		55	18	9.16			8	1
D. Tallon (wk)	Australia	1	2		15	15	7.50			2
Kenyon, D.	England	2	4		29	16	7.25			1
Lock, G.A.R.	England	2	3		21	9	7.00			3
J.C. Hill	Australia	2	4	2	12	8*	6.00			1
R. Benaud	Australia	5	5		15	7	3.00			1
Tattersall, R.	England	1	1		2	2	2.00			2
W.A. Johnston	Australia	3	6	6	22	9*
Statham, J.B.	England	1	1	1	17	17*				2

Bowling averages

source

Player	Team	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Best Bowling	Average	5 Wt	10 Wt
A.R. Morris	Australia	3.5		15	1	1/5	15.00
Bedser, A.V.	England	265.1	58	682	39	7/44	17.48	5	1
R.R. Lindwall	Australia	240.4	62	490	26	5/54	18.84	3
Lock, G.A.R.	England	366	61	165	8	5/45	20.62	1
Compton, D.C.S.	England	3		21	1	1/21	21.00
Trueman, F.S.	England	26.3	4	90	4	4/86	22.50
J.C. Hill	Australia	66	18	158	7	3/35	22.57
Laker, J.C.	England	58.5	11	212	9	4/75	23.55
R.G. Archer	Australia	69.3	27	95	4	1/12	23.75
Wardle, J.H.	England	155.3	57	344	13	4/7	26.46
A.K. Davidson	Australia	125	42	212	8	2/22	26.50
Tattersall, R.	England	28	5	81	3	3/22	27.00
K.R. Miller	Australia	186	72	303	10	4/63	30.30
F.R. Brown	England	52	11	135	4	4/82	33.75
T.E. Bailey	England	143	33	387	8	3/71	48.37
Statham, J.B.	England	43	10	88	2	1/40	44.00
W.A. Johnson	Australia	174	67	343	7	3/94	49.00
D.T. Ring	Australia	43	7	127	2	2/84	63.50
R. Benaud	Australia	68	19	174	2	1/51	87.00
R.N. Harvey	Australia	3	2	2		0/2
A.L. Hassett (c)	Australia	1		4		0/4
G.B. Hole	Australia	17	8	33		0/0

Ceylon

The Australians had a stopover in Colombo en route to England and played a one-day single-innings match there against the Ceylon (later Sri Lanka) national team, which at that time did not have Test status.[9]

References

1. p42, p56, p68, Ashley Brown, The Pictorial History of Cricket, Bison Books, 1988
2. Walmsley, Keith (2003). Mosts Without in Test Cricket. Reading, England: Keith Walmsley. p. 356. ISBN 0947540067.
3. "Australians in England, 1953". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1954 ed.). Wisden. pp. 234–237.
4. "Australians in England, 1953". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1954 ed.). Wisden. pp. 239–242.
5. "Australians in England, 1953". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1954 ed.). Wisden. pp. 245–248.
6. "Australians in England, 1953". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1954 ed.). Wisden. pp. 249–252.
7. Ralph Barker & Irving Rosenwater. England v Australia: A compendium of Test cricket between the countries 1877-1968 (1969 ed.). B.T. Batsford. p. 220.
8. "Australians in England, 1953". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1954 ed.). Wisden. pp. 258–262.
9. "Ceylon v Australia 1953". CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 June 2014.

Annual reviews

• Playfair Cricket Annual 1954
• Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1954

Further reading

• Bill Frindall, The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877-1978, Wisden, 1979
• Harte, Chris; Whimpress, Bernard (2007) [2003]. The Penguin History of Australian Cricket. Andre Deutsch. ISBN 0-670-04133-5.
• Robinson, Ray (1975). On top down under : Australia's cricket captains. Cassell Australia. ISBN 0-7269-7364-5.