Bat commemorates Bradman's 309 in one day at Headingley
A COUP for Yorkshire came just before Christmas 2006 with the announcement from Bowral, New South Wales, that the Bradman 1930 Headingley bat on loan in the East Stand Long Room was to remain there until after the end of the 2007 season.
The bat was to have been returned in January after a summer on Sir Donald's favourite hunting ground in England. It was at Headingley in 1930 that Sir Donald, pictured, hammered 309 in a day on his way to the then world-record individual Test score of 334.
Bowral's extended gesture to Yorkshire came on the eve of a big night in the Long Room, when the bat and a stock of Bradman memorabilia were the focus of a lecture by John Grimsley, UK Representative of the Bradman Bowral Museum. Yorkshire are indebted to John and to David Wells, Bowral Curator, for the extended loan of the bat - which is filled with signatures, and is an impressive Who's Who of the great players of the 1930s.
This is a first for Headingley...the bat does not normally leave Australian shores. It arrived at the ground in conditions of high security, and the fact that it has been loaned to Yorkshire is a tribute to the county's unique relationship with the greatest player the game has known.
Bradman's achievements in his four Headingley Tests - 1930, 1934, 1938 and 1948 - were phenomenal, and when the county accorded the Australian captain its highest honour in 1948 - Honorary Life Membership - this broke the mould of Yorkshire history.
His 334 in 1930 - 105 before lunch, 115 between lunch and tea, and 89 in the final session - was followed by a Hammond century. England followed on, but the four-day match was left drawn. Four years later he managed only 304 (Bill Ponsford 181 not out) and rain on the last afternoon saved England from probable defeat by an innings.
Don's 103 in 1938 was arguably his most important Test innings at Headingley, because it settled the destiny of the Ashes until after the Second World War. On a damp pitch and worsening light he refused to come off, and Australia went one up. It neutralised in advance Sir Leonard Hutton's 364 and England's monumental victory in the timeless Test at The Oval.
The last act came in 1948 with mission impossible. Bradman's 173 not out (Arthur Morris 182) on a dusty track made for spinners saw Australia to 404-3 and a victory for which the England selectors, bowlers and fieldsmen were roundly condemned...but the Ashes already had been retained.
This is not the bat with which The Don struck 334 - but as well as the signatures of the England and Australian teams at Headingley of July 11-15, 1930, it was signed by the 1932 Indian team in England, the 1933 West Indies and the 1935 South Africans, and is valued at £2,500.
On the front are the signatures from the 1932 Indian tour of England, the 1933 West Indies and the 1935 South Africans. The back carries the England v. Australia 1930 names, and signatures from Yorkshire and Lancashire. Test players who signed later included Sir Leonard Hutton.
THE INSCRIPTIONS
Where signatures have not been positively identified this is indicated in the following lists:
FRONT OF BAT
Left-hand side: 1932 Indians at Harrogate - not identified (end of signature is Singh), Phiroz Palia, Cottari Nayudu, BE Kapadia?, Sorabji Colah, Mahomed Nissar, not identified, Lall Singh, not identified, Syed Nazir Ali, Ladha Amar Singh, not identified, Jeoomal Naoomal, Mohammed Jahangir Khan (father of Majid Khan who represented Pakistan), Janardhan Navle, not identified.
Right-hand side: West Indies July 6, 1933, at Harrogate - George Grant, George Headley, Edward Hoad, C Wiles, Cyril Merry, Emmanuel Martindale, Cyril Christiani, Ben Sealy, Ellis Achong, Ivan Barrow, Vincent Valentine, Clifford Roach, Oscar Da Costa, Learie Constantine?
Lower area: South Africans 1935 - Herbert Wade, Horace Cameron, Ivan Siedle, Robert Crisp, Denis Tomlinson, Alex Bell, not identified (manager), R Williams, Bruce Mitchell, Eric Rowan, Kenneth Viljoen, Arthur Langton, Cyril Vincent, Xenophon Balaskas, Eric Dalton, Scorer W Ferguson.
BACK OF BAT
England v. Australia at Headingley 1930, when Sir Donald recorded the scoreline:
DG Bradman, c Duckworth b Tate 334.
Left-hand side: Clarrie Grimmett, Maurice Tate, Alfred Freeman, Wilfred Barber, Emmott Robinson, RES Wyatt, Richard Tyldesley, Alf Wood, Arthur Mitchell, Maurice Leyland, Herbert Sutcliffe, not identified, not identified, Andrew Sandham, Jack Hobbs, Kumar Duleepsinhji, Leslie Ames, John Hopwood, William Keeton, JB Mitchell, Wilfred Rhodes, Douglas Jardine, Arthur Mailey, Cyril Walters, Hedley Verity, William Bowes, Brian Sellers, Nawab of Pataudi, Percy Fender, not identified, Arthur Gilligan, George Brown, Philip Mead, Herbert Strudwick, Tiger (Ernest) Smith, Frank Woolley, J Cox?, not identified, John Clay, Maurice Turnbull.
Right-hand side: Tony Webster, William Woodfull, Vic Richardson, Percival Hornibrook, George Duckworth, Thomas Wall, Stan McCabe, Edward a'Beckett, Allan Kippax, Don Bradman, Harold Larwood, Archie Jackson, Walter Hammond?, Walker?, George Geary, Arthur (Percy) Chapman, not identified, Walter Hammond (Could have signed twice), Ben Barnett, Leslie Fleetwood-Smith.
SIGNIFICANCE
India: These signatures were collected at Harrogate in 1932, the year of their inaugural Test match at Lord's on June 25, 27 and 28. England won this, the only Test of the tour, by 158 runs - the only Indian score of note being a half-century by Amar Singh. India's captain was CK Nayadu.
West Indies: These signatures were collected at Harrogate during their 1933 tour - when England won the three-Test series 2-0, the Old Trafford game being drawn. The series was spiced with controversy:
Bolton, of the Lancashire League, refused to release West Indies star Learie Constantine to play in the first Test. Then, at Manchester, the West Indies bowled Bodyline, and George Headley - known as the black Bradman - scored a superb 169 not out.
South Africa: The tourists won the 1935 five-Test series by virtue of a 157-run victory at Lord's. Bruce Mitchell with 164 not out in the second innings and Xenophon Balaskas with nine wickets in the match were the main architects of their triumph. The bat, which carries a Wainwright, Leeds, brand, has a thin, whipped handle, some cloth reinforcement to the lower back of the blade, and overall a heavy coating of varnish.