Sporting Bygones: Rain saves day for England but only for short time before Australia triumph

Those were the days when a Test match offered the chance of a great social day out as much as an opportunity to watch the best players in the game trying to come to terms with a pitch that one year would seam, the next would promote spin. The mystery was part of the fun for all but those who had to bat next.

We could walk round the track encircling the pitch, stop for a chat with someone last seen 12 months earlier in exactly the same seat; there was no need for excessive stewarding then.

There was plenty of banter, especially as people arrived at the ground after work – those were the days when county membership guaranteed entry to the Test – and joined their mates in the standing area between the main stand and the pavilion.

Rain was inevitable it seemed but sometimes it added to the fun – as when the pitch was livened and brought the best out of people like Derek Underwood and Phil Edmonds. At least once, it saved England from ignominious defeat.

That was in July of 1934 when, inevitably, Don Bradman was the centre of attention. The master had not enjoyed his usual success in the preceding Tests of that summer's Ashes series, compiling innings of 29, 25, 36, 13 and 30 as the series stood level 1-1 but he gave warning that his form was returning with an impressive knock for the tourists against Yorkshire at Bramall Lane in the build-up to the Headingley encounter, the fourth of the series in an era when four days was deemed long enough for a Test match to be concluded.

The game began disappointingly for those who had crammed into Headingley – with the rebuilt main stand open to the public for the first time – as England, without the injured Herbert Sutcliffe, crumbled against the spin bowling of Bill O'Reilly and Clarrie Grimmett. From the comparative comfort of 135-2 they were all out for 200, Cyril Walters, from Worcestershire, top-scoring with 44.

Australia's response started sedately but the throng were lifted when Yorkshire's fast-bowling hero Bill Bowes suddenly struck. He bowled Bill Brown with the total on 37 then had Bert Oldfield, sent in as nightwatchman, caught behind by Les Ames and to, to the delight of every Yorkshireman in the ground, fired an express delivery through the defence of Bill Woodfull.

Taking three wickets without conceding a run and leaving Australia 39-3 overnight, Bowes had given England a chance. Similar success the next morning, when Bradman was due to bat, could open up the series for the home side.

Bradman knew the pressure was on him, so much so he declined an invitation to have dinner with Neville Cardus that evening, telling the great writer that he wanted a quiet night to concentrate his thoughts on the task facing him the next day.

His intention was immediately clear as he played two immaculate back-foot straight drives for four from the opening two deliveries by a fired-up Bowes. The mood had been set; Bradman and Bill Ponsford (Australian parents in those days were obviously rather short of imagination when it came to choosing Christian names) batted for virtually the rest of the day in putting together a stand of 388.

Ponsford was eventually dismissed just before the close, trampling on his stumps as he hit Hedley Verity to long-on.

He had made 181 but the serene Bradman carried on plundering the following day, taking his total to 304 – his second successive triple-century at Headingley – before he fell at last, Bowes claiming a measure of revenge and finishing the innings with figures of 50-13-142-6, five of his wickets, including that of Bradman, being clean bowled.

Bradman had batted patiently for 430 minutes and included two sixes and 43 fours in his innings.

Australia were dismissed for 584 and it was clear England were again having trouble against Australia's spinners as their second innings floundered. They were 229-6 with Maurice Leyland unbeaten on 49 when the match was ended; a 10-minute deluge, which began at precisely one o'clock, saturated the playing surface and umpires Arthur Dolphin and Joe Hardstaff had no alternative but to abandon play.

England had been saved from defeat but would not be so fortunate in the last match of the series.

Bradman (244) and Ponsford (266) shared a stand of 451 in 316 minutes as Australia piled up 701 in their first innings and England could muster only 321 in reply, Leyland top-scoring with 110. Bradman contributed 77 to Australia's second innings before England capitulated on the last day, managing only 145 against Grimmett (5-64) and the match was lost by 562 runs.

Australia had regained the Ashes so contentiously lost in the infamous "Bodyline" series two years earlier and Bradman was a step nearer immortality. His affection for Headingley – and Yorkshire's admiration for him – had been confirmed.