Declared at 729

England chose to bat at Lord’s on 27 June 1930 and made 425. Australia declared at 729 for six on the third day, 304 ahead, bowled England out for 375, and needed 72. The card is a four-day Test, numbered 195, and the result line reads Australia won by 7 wickets, on the fourth day.

Four hundred and twenty-five

Jack Hobbs was caught behind off Alan Fairfax for 1. Frank Woolley made 41 from 46 balls, Wally Hammond 38, and Duleepsinhji, entered on the card simply as Duleep, made 173 from 321 balls in 292 minutes with 21 fours. It was his first Test innings against Australia.

Patsy Hendren made 48 and Maurice Tate 54 from 61 balls. England were 405 for nine at the close of the first day and 425 all out on the second morning. Fairfax took four for 101, Tim Wall three for 118.

Full scorecard: England v Australia, 2nd Test, Lord’s, 27 June–1 July 1930 →

The innings

Bill Woodfull and Bill Ponsford put on 162 for the first wicket. Ponsford was caught by Hammond off Jack White for 81 and Bradman came in on the second afternoon. Woodfull went before the close, stumped by George Duckworth off Walter Robins for 155, made from 391 balls in 323 minutes, with the score 393. At stumps Australia were 404 for two, Bradman 155 not out from an innings begun that day, Alan Kippax 7.

On the third day Bradman went to 254 from 376 balls in 341 minutes with 25 fours, and was caught by Percy Chapman off White at 585. Kippax was bowled by White for 83 three runs later. Stan McCabe 44 from 41 balls, Vic Richardson 30 from 30 with the innings’ only six, Bert Oldfield 43 not out, Fairfax 20 not out: 729 for six, declared, after 232 overs.

The bowling ledger

Gubby Allen, on debut, 34 overs, seven maidens, 115 runs, no wicket. Tate 64 overs, 16 maidens, one for 148. White 51 overs, three for 158. Robins 42 overs, one maiden, one for 172. Hammond 35 overs, one for 82. Woolley six overs for 35. Six bowlers, 232 overs, 729 runs, six wickets, and the extras were 19.

What the declaration bought

The lead was 304 with the third day not over. England were 98 for two at the close, Hammond 20 and Duleepsinhji 27 not out, and the fourth day was the last. Hobbs bowled by Clarrie Grimmett for 19, Woolley hit wicket to Grimmett for 28, Hammond 32, Duleepsinhji 48, Hendren 9: 147 for five, still 157 behind.

Chapman, the England captain, made 121 from 166 balls in 152 minutes with twelve fours and three sixes. Allen made 57 and the sixth wicket put on 125. Chapman was eighth out at 354 and England were all out for 375, 71 ahead. Grimmett bowled 53 overs and took six for 167. Bradman bowled one over for one run.

Australia needed 72. Ponsford was bowled by Robins for 14 at 16, Bradman caught by Chapman off Tate for 1 at 17, Kippax caught behind off Robins for 3 at 22. Three wickets for six runs, and 50 still wanted. Woodfull 26 not out and McCabe 25 not out made them in 28.2 overs, and the series line reads level 1-1.

What the card cannot say

It was not a record. England had made 849 at Kingston in the 1929-30 series, the winter before, and 903 for seven came from the same fixture eight years later. It was the innings Bradman, later, rated above the rest: "practically without exception every ball went where it was intended to go". He made 974 runs in the series, 334 of them at Headingley in the next Test, and Australia won it 2-1.

Duleepsinhji, whose 173 was the highest score for England, played twelve Tests in all before illness ended his career in 1932. His uncle was Ranjitsinhji. The card has him as Duleep, caught Bradman bowled Grimmett, ninth out at 387, and that catch is the one place on it where the two names meet.

What the card holds

A 425 answered by 729 for six declared. A 155 and a 254 in the same innings, with the third-highest score 83. Six bowlers and no wicket for the debutant in 34 overs. A captain’s 121 with three sixes to make Australia bat again. Three wickets down for 22 in a chase of 72, and a seven-wicket win inside four days.

••••••

No. 14 in Declared, a series of 15.

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