Lives in Cricket No 28 - Keith Carmody

80 The Victory ‘Tests’ and the Long Road Home me look after my children,’ he wrote. His three married sisters had ‘no room for accommodation of my family.’ By the end of the year he had remarried. * * * * * * * At venues as far apart as Eastbourne and Scotland the Australians had played 50 matches in Britain in 1945, mostly of one or two days’ duration: 16 by the RAAF separately; 12 by the Army, appearing as Australian Imperial Forces; and 22, including the ‘Tests’, by the composite Australian Services. As the season progressed, ‘invitations for more matches kept emerging,’ wrote Sismey, ‘for instance from the South African Commissioner in London for an Australian Services tour of South Africa on the way home’. The availability of shipping determined that instead a further extension of cricket would take place in India. Whereas Sismey had been a willing partner of Warner, Cochrane and others in planning the demanding itinerary in Britain, now it was the Australian government and military that insisted the Indian tour take place. At a farewell dinner at Claridge’s – attended by members of the British War Cabinet and chiefs of staff – the Australian Minister of External Affairs, Dr H.V.Evatt, 34 and the Australian Army’s London representative, General E.K.Smart, stressed to Sismey ‘that the party was returning to Australia as a Service unit and Service procedure and standing was [sic] to be observed at all times’. Manager Keith Johnson, a Flight Lieutenant, was subordinate to Squadron Leader Sismey, commanding officer of the unit, though not on-field captain. While it pleased Sismey that his orders underlined the independence of the touring party from the Australian cricket authorities – even though Johnson was an appointee of the Board of Control – the whole venture meant further unwelcome delay for the players. Carmody had played in 16 matches in 1945: seven one- day, six two-day and three over three days – plus keeping wicket as a substitute in the Fourth ‘Test’. After mainly disappointing performances it must have seemed unlikely his batting would flourish in India. But if his PoW experiences had affected him, either through the impaired concentration mentioned by Whitington or the lack of vitality asserted by Bullen, the next few months showed the effects were either short-lived or long-delayed. 34 Evatt was in London to attend a series of meetings of the Council of Foreign Ministers established at the Potsdam Conference – between Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin and new American President Harry Truman – in July and August 1945. Although the Conference had focused mainly on policies towards defeated Germany and other post-war European problems, Evatt was very active in his weeks in London in highlighting Asian issues, including Japanese atrocities.