Gubby Under Pressure

There was a week’s gap before the Second Test in Sydney and a two day match to play in Ipswich, about 25 miles outside Brisbane, against a Queensland Country XI. The prospect of some well-deserved quality time in Sydney was more appealing to Allen and he took the opportunity to sail there on the Otranto , a voyage of only 36 hours, while the rest of the party set off into the country. Ostensibly, Allen said he wanted to ask a doctor to have a look at his right knee but, as he managed to play several rounds of golf while he was there, the problem seems to have been a false alarm. There was also dinner and parties with friends and family, plus a long weekend at Palm Beach for recuperative swimming and sunbathing. Second Test success 12 At Sydney: 18, 19, 21 and 22 December, 1936. Second Test Match. ¹ England 426-6d [C.J.Barnett 57, W.R.Hammond 231*]: Australia 80 [W.Voce 4-10] and following on, 324 [J.H.W.Fingleton 73, D.G.Bradman 82, S.J.McCabe 93]. England won by an innings and 22 runs. Allen and his co-selectors made one change to the side for the Second Test: Sims came in for Worthington after inspections of the wicket suggested more spin might be required, particularly as Robins was not yet fully fit. Allen won the toss for the second time and England went out to face a McCormick fully recovered and once again mixing things up with a number of erratic short-pitched bouncers. One struck Fagg a glancing blow on the head and shortly afterwards he edged a ball fatally into the slips. But McCormick proved to be no Larwood and held fewer fears for the English batsmen. For the next two days the England innings was a series of partnerships with one batsman closing up one end while Hammond scored at the other. Rain came to end play early on the second evening and more fell on Sunday. On Monday morning, before play commenced there were torrents of rain and, despite Hammond still at the wicket not out with 231 runs, Allen decided this was no time to continue batting and immediately declared the innings closed. He told Pollock, ‘I hope they won’t be calling me the biggest damn fool in England.’ By half past two Australia were all out for 80, with most of the wickets falling again to the fast bowlers Voce and Allen. And Sydney was treated to seeing Bradman making his second duck in the series. With the wicket showing definite signs of improvement, Allen then had the difficult decision to make: either ask the Australians to follow on 346 runs behind, or bat again and hope to score another 200 to make the England position impregnable. It was not a clear-cut decision, but, with rain still about, Allen opted to put the Australians straight back in. Cardus was not happy and his verdict was that ‘Allen took a dangerous and unnecessary risk’. Poor old Plum Warner back home in England was horrified and in a later letter to his mother, Allen would write: ‘I was amused by one of Dad‘s letters in which he said Plum was so anxious after I had made the Australians follow on in Sydney Test. He was up all night telephoning the club. Please apologise to him for his loss of sleep. I will never think I made a mistake.’ The cricket 46