Four hundred and four for three

England were 362 for eight at the close of the fourth day at Headingley in July 1948, 400 ahead. Yardley batted on for three runs on the fifth morning and declared at 365 for eight. Australia needed 404 to win in what was left of the day. The card’s result line reads Australia won by 7 wickets.

The first three innings

England chose to bat and made 496, Cyril Washbrook 143, Bill Edrich 111, Len Hutton 81, Alec Bedser 79 from number four as nightwatchman. Australia replied with 458, Neil Harvey 112, Sam Loxton 93 with five sixes, Ray Lindwall 77.

England’s second innings was 365 for eight declared, four men past fifty and Godfrey Evans 47 not out, with Bill Johnston taking four for 95. Lindwall took two, Miller one and Ian Johnson one, and the declaration left Pollard the only man not to bat.

Full scorecard: England v Australia, 4th Test, Headingley, 22–27 July 1948 →

The ledger of the chase

Lindsay Hassett, caught and bowled Denis Compton, 17, at 57. Morris, caught Pollard bowled Yardley, 182, at 358, from 291 minutes with 33 fours. Keith Miller, leg before to Ken Cranston, 12, at 396. Bradman, not out 173, with 29 fours. Harvey, not out 4. Extras 16. Total 404 for three in 114.1 overs, at 3.53 an over.

The second wicket put on 301. Morris and Bradman came together at 57 and were parted at 358, which is the whole chase but for the first hour and the last few minutes.

The days

The card’s close-of-play lines run: England 268 for two; Australia 63 for one; Australia 457 for nine; rest day; England 362 for eight; end of match. Five days of play in six dates, and the whole of the last one given to a single innings. Yardley’s declaration came three runs into the fifth morning, so that the 404 had to be made in what the day left, which was 345 minutes.

Australia went at 3.53 an over to get them. In England’s first innings the rate had been 2.58, and in Australia’s 3.35. The chase was the fastest scoring of the match, on the fifth day, against seven bowlers.

The bowling

Bedser 21 overs for 56, no wicket. Dick Pollard 22 for 55, no wicket. Cranston 7.1 for 28, one. Jim Laker 32 overs, eleven maidens, 93 runs, no wicket. Yardley 13 for 44, one. Compton 15 overs for 82, one. Hutton four overs for 30. Seven bowlers, three wickets, and the two front-line spinners on the card, Laker and Compton, went for 175 between them from 47 overs.

The declaration

A captain who declares 403 ahead on the last morning is offering a draw with a chance of a win. What Yardley’s declaration produced was the highest fourth-innings total ever made to win a Test, and it stood for twenty-eight years, until India made 406 at Port of Spain. The card does not call it a record. It gives a target and a total, and the total is bigger.

The card’s series line reads Australia led 3-0. The Test is number 302, England had chosen to bat, and the umpires were Frank Chester and Herbert Baldwin. Ron Saggers, who kept wicket, was on debut.

What the card holds

Four hundreds in the match, two of them in the chase. A 79 from a nightwatchman. A declaration at 365 for eight that set 404. A stand of 301 for the second wicket on the fifth day. Thirty-two overs for 93 and no wicket from a bowler who would take nineteen in a Test eight years later. And a result that was a record for a generation, recorded as seven wickets and nothing more.

••••••

No. 11 in Declared, a series of 15.

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