Bradman’s farewell to England

Scarborough says goodbye

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On September 8, 1948, the Australians arrived at Scarborough as both conquerors and celebrants. For their fixture against Leveson-Gower’s XI, the tourists had requested that only six Test players take the field—a gesture of goodwill, a nod to the festival air, with its salt breezes and atmosphere of Edwardian leisure.

Don Bradman, the captain, had scored centuries in each of his previous two appearances on this ground, and his blade (as all are aware who know anything of his exploits in 1948) was still singing with the old music. At the toss, in a moment of comic theatre, Bradman rejected the coin proposed by his opposite number Walter Robins, and requisitioned one from a nearby pressman, whose wallet was evidently more fiducial. After and in spite of this, Robins won the toss and chose to bat.

The weather sulked and spat, the light as grey as a Yorkshire pudding too long in the oven, and England closed the first day at 94 for two. On the second, before a crowd of 15,000, Lindwall bowled with the fury of a man possessed, and England collapsed to 171 all out.

At lunch the game paused for ceremony. TL Taylor, President of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, presented Bradman with an honorary membership and a silver salver to commemorate his exploits at Headingley. The Don thanked the ground and the people with his practised grace. He would always remember the warmth of Yorkshire’s hospitality. At close of play, with Australia 140 for one, he was serenely unbeaten on thirty.

The third day brought the great man’s final flourish: his third consecutive Scarborough century, a masterclass of timing and temperament. It felt inevitable, more like a benediction than a conquest.

The match ended a draw, with England 75 for two in their second innings, but the result was incidental. What mattered was that Bradman had written his last stanza in the book of English first-class cricket. He departed with 102 centuries and an average of 96.63 in this country—a ledger of greatness unmatched in all the years since.