Published: Aug 30, 2015, 11:28 AM (IST)
Edited: Aug 30, 2015, 01:46 PM (IST)
January 11, 1929. Back from the 79 and 112 in only his second Test, Don Bradman came back to play for New South Wales in Sheffield Shield. The experiment of using him as an opening batsman was not successful. In this series, Arunabha Sengupta lists several of the firsts of Bradman’s career.
Bill Ponsford had broken his finger during Australia’s first innings in the second Test at SCG. The gutsy Vic Richardson had been used as the partner of Bill Woodfull at Melbourne. The results had not been too encouraging. Richardson had snicked Harold Larwood for 3 in the first innings and had lost his stumps to the same bowler for 5 in the second. Don Bradman Firsts Part 1: Don Bradman plays for the Shield side for the first time — in his civilian shoes
Now England led 3-0 in the Test series, and Ponsford was ruled out for the remainder of the season. Australia were looking for a partner for Woodfull at the top of the order. And young Don Bradman had sent the nation into ruptures of hopeful delight with his 79 and 112 at Melbourne. He had scored those runs from No. 6, but could he be pushed up the order to open the innings? Don Bradman Firsts Part 2: Don Bradman’s First-Class debut
Alan Kippax, skipper of New South Wales, was asked to find out. The State team travelled to Adelaide to take on South Australia. Kippax won the toss and elected to bat. He sent in 19-year-old Archie Jackson and 20-year-old Don Bradman to start things off. Don Bradman Firsts Part 3: Don Bradman run up to the first Test
Starting the operations for the home team was Tim Wall, the schoolteacher who was soon to be acknowledged as the best Australian fast bowler during his brief tenure at the top. He would be making his Test debut during the last match of the ongoing series. Don Bradman Firsts Part 4: His disappointing Test debut
In his second over Wall got the ball to rise awkwardly. Bradman went back, but could not quite keep the ball down. Clarrie Grimmett at square-leg held the catch. The youthful legend, soaring on his Test success, found himself back on the ground with a thud. His ten-minute stint at the crease had got him just 5. Don Bradman: 15 lesser-known facts about the 99.94 dude
At the other end, Jackson played beautifully, giving rise to the sobriquet ‘Rupert Brooke of Australian batsmanship’. Sadly, he would be afflicted by tuberculosis and die young, and all the grace of his willow-work, along with the ephemerality of the innings of his life, would induce David Frith to refer to him in his biography as ‘The Keats of Cricket’.
On this day, however, Jackson was full of the promise of youth and life. And when Kippax joined him at 60 for 2, and they went on to add 221 for the third wicket, it was poetry from both ends. Jackson’s 162 and the captain’s 107 saw New South Wales total 402.
Alan Fairfax and Charles Nichols soon had the home side batsmen hopping, and South Australia were staring down the barrel at 146 for 6 and then 205 for 8, before Grimmett and Wall, with their less celebrated abilities with the bat, resurrected the innings with a partnership of 93. The score of 304 gave the visitors a lead of 98.
So Bradman and Jackson went in again after lunch on the third day. And Wall bowled The Don for 2 in the very first over. This was the first of the only two times Bradman was dismissed for single digit scores in both innings of a First-Class match.
Jackson, however, batted delightfully yet again, scoring 90, as New South Wales set a target of 412. It sealed his place in the Australian side as the partner of Woodfull for the fourth Test at Adelaide. For the hosts, Colin Alexander and Douglas Mackay fought gamely, but the challenge was ended at 351. New South Wales emerged victors by 60 runs.
That was the end of the short experiment with Bradman as the opening batsman. He was back to his favoured No. 3 position when New South Wales took on Victoria a week later. Well, he scored 340 not out in that match, which effectively answered every question about his ideal place in the batting order.
Brief Scores
New South Wales 402 (Archie Jackson 162, Alan Kippax 107; Tom Carlton 4 for 95) and 313 (Archie Jackson 90, Cassie Andrews 87, Bert Oldfield 48; Tim Wall 4 for 78) beat South Australia 304 (Clarrie Grimmett 71*, Tim Wall 43; Alan Fairfax 4 for 54) and 351 (Colin Alexander 79, Douglas McKay 74) by 60 runs.
(Arunabha Sengupta is a cricket historian and Chief Cricket Writer at CricketCountry. He writes about the history and the romance of the game, punctuated often by opinions about modern day cricket, while his post-graduate degree in statistics peeps through in occasional analytical pieces. The author of three novels, he can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/senantix)
