Gubby Under Pressure

Preparation for the final Test A week later Allen was more like his old self, finding good reasons to believe that England might pull off a final victory after all: ‘I am all right and not too depressed by our defeat in Adelaide. We undoubtedly threw the match away by our bad batting in the first innings and never really recovered from the shock. I personally think, funny though it may sound, that that match showed us that we can win the last battle for the following reasons, given reasonable luck: 1 Fleetwood-Smith was new to us and nowwe have learned himwe will not be on the defensive against him next time. 2 That Bradman is the only danger. He has made two big scores against us so far and they have both been on the really slow wickets and the Melbourne wicket should be faster than any of the others on which we have played. 3 That O’Reilly still can’t bowl. 4 We were not a fit side in Adelaide. Weeks later, when the series was over, Allen changed his view again and let off steam to Pollock saying: ‘It was just damn silly that an England team could not make more than 573 in two innings at Adelaide, with nothing amiss with the wicket except ordinary wear and tear.’ 20 At Geelong: 6 and 8 February. Not first class. MCC 282 [J.Hardstaff 94, L.E.G.Ames 51*, J.Collins 5-36] and 251 [M.Leyland 53]: Victorian Country XI 161 [R.W.V.Robins 5-36]. Match drawn. There were two country matches and two state matches to play between the Fourth and Fifth Tests, plenty of time for MCC to lick their wounds and play themselves into form for one final effort. Allen decided to miss the first one, preferring to stay in Melbourne visiting family and friends, even though injuries and fatigue meant that MCC could not field a full eleven and the manager, Rupert Howard, had to be drafted into the side for the country matches. 21 At Canberra: 10 and 11 February. MCC 380 [J.Hardstaff 67, R.E.S.Wyatt 51, M.Leyland 67, L.E.G.Ames 82, C.Jackson 5-143]: Southern Districts of New South Wales 162, and following on, 78 [W.H.Copson 7-16]. MCC won by an innings and 140 runs. Because of injuries, the MCC side again included the tour manager, R.Howard. The team’s visit to Canberra and the various official receptions planned for them there meant that Allen had to be present, even though he decided not to play in the match, and he was drawn unwillingly into all the public relations performances that he had come to hate. Under pressure again, he was stung into making a rash forecast in one of his speeches: ‘Before we landed, I can now reveal, I didn’t think we had a monkey’s chance. But now I think we’ll take the Ashes.’ 22 At Sydney: 13, 15, 16 and 17 February, 1937. ¹ New South Wales 231 [J.M.Sims 4-46] and 246 [J.H.W.Fingleton 60, S.J.McCabe 93, K.Farnes 4-59]: MCC 73 [J.G.Lush 6-43, H.C.Chilvers 4-2] and 299 [C.J.Barnett 117, J.Hardstaff 64, L.E.G.Ames 60, J.G.Lush 7-72]. New South Wales won by 105 runs. The cricket 56