Lives in Cricket No 16 - Joe Hardstaff

the Second Test, at Sydney. This time Voce was replaced by Smith and, once again, Joe was twelfth man in a match which ended in another defeat for England. Before the Third Test at Melbourne, Joe played in two of the three minor matches, batting in only the first game. For this Test the selectors named twelve players, omitting Joe and replacing Smith with Langridge. Swanton felt that Fishlock, fit once again, should have replaced Ikin in order to strengthen the outfielding. Joe’s selection would, of course, have had the same effect. In the event Fishlock was completely ignored, Langridge was unfit and Joe became twelfth man once more, having to spend many hours in the field substituting for the injured Edrich and Voce. This time England managed to draw the match. Then it was on to Tasmania where Joe reappeared in a first-class match. He responded by scoring three and 60 against a Combined XI at Hobart. During the Tasmanian innings Joe slightly misfielded a ball – a most unusual lapse on his part. In forthright Australian manner he was told to ‘get a bag’. After tea Joe went out with a small shoe bag in his pocket. After a while a ball came slowly towards him which he appeared to miss. Immediately the barrackers told him to ‘get a bag’. Joe took the bag from his pocket, showed it to the crowd, saying, ‘What’s this?’ He was a firm favourite with the crowd in that area for the rest of the match. 55 The next match was against Tasmania at Launceston. Batting first, MCC made 467 for five, with the highlight of this innings being a 181-minute partnership of 282 between Joe, who made 155, and Denis Compton who made 163. Joe’s 155 contained one five and 10 fours and he batted for 233 minutes. Tasmania were dismissed for 103 and were 129 for six in their second innings when rain brought matters to an end. Norman Preston, who was the Reuters and Exchange correspondent and who was the author of the Wisden tour report, felt that Joe was in splendid form and that he would be seriously considered for a place in the team for the Adelaide Test. He went on to say that his batting in Tasmania ‘should restore any confidence he may have lost through spending so many idle hours in cricket pavilions since leaving home.’ Joe played in the next match, against South Australia at Adelaide, contributing 13 to an MCC total of 577 followed by an unbeaten 40 94 Post-War Years, 1946-1948 55 According to Alec and Eric Bedser in Twin Ambitions this incident occurred during the first Australian innings in the Adelaide Test, but in his diary of the tour, Paul Gibb places the incident in the Tasmanian match.