England v Australia - Series Summary

Australia's retention of the Ashes was ultimately deserved; whilst they were fortunate to escape on level terms the last time the two teams met Down Under, the quality of their cricket in another drawn series here exceeded that of their hosts in all but the final game. Woodfull and Lawry provided the stability at the top of the order that has been lacking for so long, and although Bradman faded alarmingly after hitting 177 in a resounding first Test victory, there were enough contributions from Border, McCabe and Miller to ensure that Australia's batting rarely faltered. No one bowler stood out for the tourists, but with Lindwall, Miller, Benaud, Davidson and Alderman all reaching double figures in the wickets column there was little respite for the English batsmen, and Australia profited from this consistency.

England's bowlers on the other hand were rarely able to exert any pressure, that is until the return of Laker in the final Test on a tailor made track at his home ground of The Oval. Laker had been dropped after a disappointing first Test, and one is left to wonder whether this was a knee-jerk reaction that could have cost England dearly, especially given Laker's good form on the winter tour of New Zealand. Larwood bowled well in fits but there was little else for England, and by the end of the series Fred Trueman had been dropped for the first time in his career after becoming embroiled in a beamer controversy at Trent Bridge. Ken Barrington's batting won him England's man of the series award, and both Hammond and Hobbs contributed two centuries apiece without being at their dominating best, but Hutton and Gower both endured lean times, and with Botham failing to shine on recall, there may be further changes ahead before England's demanding tour of India and Sri Lanka.

England Batting
KF Barrington 445 runs @ 55.63, JB Hobbs 375 @ 53.57, WR Hammond 443 @ 49.22, DI Gower 208 @ 29.71, L Hutton 250 @ 27.78

England Bowling
JC Laker 14 wkts @ 14.29, H Larwood 11 @ 36.36, AV Bedser 12 @ 39.00, FS Trueman 7 @ 57.14, IT Botham 5 @ 80.20

Australia Batting
AR Border 373 runs @ 62.17, WM Woodfull 432 @ 54.00, SJ McCabe 299 @ 49.83, DG Bradman 379 @ 47.38, WM Lawry 368 @ 40.89

Australia Bowling
RR Lindwall 18 wkts @ 26.17, KR Miller 19 @ 27.26, TM Alderman 13 @ 31.38, AK Davidson 14 @ 34.93, R Benaud 16 @ 38.19

SERIES DRAWN 1-1

Players of the Series: KF Barrington & WM Woodfull