The Summer Field

88 Australia by MCC to the first Australian telegram of protest about bodyline, ‘for I realised that the time had come once again when Englishmen had the guts to say what they really think.’ Not only could England do no wrong; in the absurd self-image of some; the English, conquerors of the world’s largest empire, were modest to a fault. It is intriguing that The Field in July 1934 described England as ‘the mother country of games playing’, because such Australian players as Archie Jackson and Hanson Carter were born in Britain. Pride demanded, as did The Field in July 1934, that England kept its original lead in games. Just as Australians accepted England’s self-image as the ‘mother country’, so Australians took the English at their word that games mattered. In a supplement on Australia in The Times in March 1963, Jack Fingleton wrote: “National sporting prestige means much to the average Australian and this is understandable I think in a young and under-populated country.” As early as 1926, English cricket was defining itself in terms of series victory over Australia. The Nottinghamshire diarist Thomas Pickbourne, having turned 66, was watching more first-class cricket than he ever had. He wrote on August 19 of the final Test, ‘a very exciting one in the annals of cricket’: As the match stood on Tuesday night we were in our second innings and had a lead of about 300 runs. Australia of course were to have their second innings. So I went up to the Oval in London yesterday and saw England by dogged persistence put up a total of 436 all out. Then in came Australia and to the astonishment and I may say the almost delirious joy of 30,000 people present there came an ignominious collapse. These giants of the cricket world followed one another back to the pavilion all caught out or bowled. And when I left seven men The Australian touring team of 1921, unbeaten in Tests, which prompted one of many bouts of English self-questioning.