Lives in Cricket No 6 - Bill Copson

innings. Bradman made a rather dour 212 in 437 minutes, hitting only fourteen fours. The sides were now level at two games all in the five match rubber and all would depend on the final encounter at Melbourne. The MCC team next played two minor matches against country sides at Geelong and Canberra. Copson played in the second of these games at Canberra, the new Australian capital city, which had been officially ‘opened’ as recently as 1927, by the Duke of York. It has been the custom in more recent times for English touring sides to play a Prime Minister’s XI in the federal capital, but on this tour the opponents were the Southern Districts of New South Wales. Copson, ‘though not working up his full pace’ had great success accomplishing his best performance of the tour in taking seven wickets for 16 runs in the home team’s second innings when they were dismissed for 78, with MCC winning the game very comfortably by an innings and 140 runs. The side arrived at Ushers Hotel in Sydney for their second match against New South Wales, where they gave a most disappointing display. Devastating bowling by Lush and Chilvers dismissed the tourists for only 73 in their first innings after the home side had made 231. They were set 405 runs to win the match in the fourth innings and, although Barnett played another splendid knock of 117 and MCC reached a score of 200 for the loss of only three wickets, their final seven went down for only 99 runs. Copson took three wickets in the second New South Wales innings. Copson was selected for the last state match of the tour, versus Victoria, but the match was badly affected by rain and ended in a draw. On an easy paced pitch, he took two wickets in a distinctly moderate spell of bowling in which he conceded sixty four runs in nineteen eight-ball overs, with no maidens. If he was to break into the side for the final Test match, Copson needed to impress in these two matches against the strongest state sides. He didn’t, and so Allen, Voce and Farnes took the quick bowlers’ places. All was set now for the deciding Test Match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. England never looked like making a contest of this game. Australia most conveniently won the toss and batted over into the third day to score 604 runs. This was then the highest innings total made by Australia against England in Australia. Centuries were scored by Bradman, McCabe and Badcock. A thunderstorm on the fourth morning of the match did not help Australia and New Zealand 39