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The Third Test of the 1948 Ashes series was one of five Tests in a cricket series between teams representing Australia and England. The match was played at Old Trafford in Manchester from 8–13 July, with a rest day on 11 July. The match was drawn after the whole of the fourth day and the first half of the fifth day was washed out due to rain; England had the upper hand before the weather intervened. The draw maintained Australia's 2–0 lead in the series, which was established through victories in the first two Tests. As Australia were the holders of The Ashes, the draw meant that England could do no better than level the series 2–2 by winning the last two Tests, and thus Australia retained The Ashes. The Test started amid controversy following the omission of leading England batsman Len Hutton for performing poorly in the previous match. Having largely failed—apart from brief periods—to challenge Australia in the first two Tests, the hosts had made four changes to their team in an attempt to find a combination that could threaten the visitors' supremacy. Australia made their first change for the series, ending the Test career of veteran batsman Bill Brown after two poor matches. England captain Norman Yardley won the toss and elected to bat, but his team were quickly in trouble, with Denis Compton forced from the field after being bloodied in the head by a Ray Lindwall bouncer. At this stage, the hosts were at 33/2 with an injured player, and they batted defensively for a period to try and regroup. Having received treatment, Compton returned with England in difficulty at 119/5 midway through the day and proceeded to score 145 not out, aided by several dropped catches, helping England to recover to 363 all out on the second afternoon. England could have been in an even stronger position, but Compton and seamer Alec Bedser were involved in a mix-up, resulting in the latter being run out and ending a 121-run partnership. Lindwall was the most successful bowler, taking 4/99. During the England innings, Australian opener Sid Barnes, who had gained much attention throughout the season for fielding at point-blank range in front of the batsman on strike, was hit in the ribs by a Dick Pollard pull shot and had to be carried from the ground and hospitalised. In reply, Australia batted steadily to be 126/3 by the end of the second day, but then fell to be 172/6—effectively seven wickets down with Barnes unable to bat after collapsing again—before evading the follow on by reaching 221. Australia scored slowly through the innings, finding the hosts' bowlers difficult to negotiate; Bedser took 4/81 and Pollard 3/53. England began their second innings and were strongly placed on 174/3 at the end of the third day, an overall lead of 316 with seven wickets in hand. They had been aided by several dropped chances against Cyril Washbrook, who reached 85 by the close of play. However, rain meant that no play was possible on the fourth day and England did not have the opportunity to capitalise on their favourable position and set Australia a high runchase. Yardley declared on the final morning, but play did not start until mid-afternoon due to continuing inclement weather. The Australian batsman thereafter played for a draw; they batted slowly and reached 92/1 when stumps were drawn, not making an attempt to chase the 317 for victory. Arthur Morris made 54 not out, his second half-century of the match to go with his 51 in the first innings, registering Australia's top-score on both occasions. Despite the fact that 30% of the playing time was lost to rain, the match still managed to set a record for the highest attendance at a Test match in England, surpassing the mark set in the previous Test. == Background == Led by Donald Bradman, Australia had proceeded through the first two months of the their 1948 England tour undefeated. After winning 10 of the 12 games before the Tests, eight of these by an innings, they won the First Test by eight wickets.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.cricinfo.com/invincibles/engine/series/61329.html )〕 Before the Second Test, they defeated Northamptonshire by an innings before drawing with Yorkshire. Bradman's men then crushed England by 409 runs in the Second Test at Lord's.〔 Between Tests, they defeated Surrey by ten wickets and crushed Gloucestershire by an innings and 363 runs, having amassed 774/7 declared, their highest score of the season, and the second highest ever by an Australian team in England.〔 When the teams reconvened at Old Trafford for the Third Test, leading English batsman Len Hutton had been dropped. The reason was said to be Hutton's struggles with Lindwall's short-pitched bowling in the previous Test, during which he scored 20 and 13.〔Perry (2001), p. 224.〕 Observers noticed Hutton backing away from the fast bowlers. The English selectors believed such a sight would have a negative effect on the rest of the side—which was not in good batting form—as it was a poor example from a key player.〔Bowes, p. 190.〕 According to journalist and retired Australian Test leg spinner Bill O'Reilly, Hutton's second innings at Lord's had been the worst of his career and gave the impression he had been scared of the Australian pace attack.〔O'Reilly, p. 83.〕 The omission generated considerable controversy, and pleased the Australians, who felt Hutton was England's best batsman,〔 and thought he had been treated poorly by the selectors.〔 Former Australian batsman Jack Fingleton pointed out that while Hutton had batted erratically and appeared uncomfortable in the previous Test,〔Fingleton, pp. 128–130.〕 he also had a strong track record against the tourists, having made 52 and 64 for the Marylebone Cricket Club against Australia in the lead-up matches, and 94, 76 and 122 retired ill in his last three Test innings during the previous Ashes series of 1946–47.〔Fingleton, p. 126.〕 O'Reilly regarded Hutton's omission as punitive and vindictive.〔 He said if Hutton needed to be shielded from the new ball attack, then England should have reshuffled their batting order to place their beleaguered opener down the order.〔 O'Reilly said that as Hutton had a large range of attacking strokes, he was not a stereotypical, defensive opener who was mainly used to wear down the opening bowlers, and could be used in the middle order as an aggressor.〔O'Reilly, p. 84.〕 Hutton's opening position was taken by debutant George Emmett,〔 who made 43 and nine for Gloucestershire in Australia's preceding tour match. In that match, two of Australia's leading pacemen, Keith Miller and Bill Johnston, did not bowl.〔(【引用サイトリンク】Gloucestershire v Australians )〕 Despite scoring 76 and 92 in the preceding match against Warwickshire, Emmett was not having a prolific season; he ended the summer with an average of 36.11.〔(【引用サイトリンク】Player Oracle GM Emmett 1948 )〕 England made three further changes. Spinner Jack Young and paceman Dick Pollard replaced the spin pair of Doug Wright and Jim Laker in the bowling department, meaning England would only play one slow bowler. Wright and Laker had struggled to penetrate the Australian batting lineup in the Second Test, taking match figures of 2/123 and 2/128 respectively.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62686.html )〕 In contrast, Pollard had taken match figures of 4/85 for Lancashire in a match against Australia earlier in the season,〔(【引用サイトリンク】Lancashire v Australians )〕 and had taken 27 wickets in four county matches in the past fortnight.〔(【引用サイトリンク】Player Oracle R Pollard 1948 )〕 The selection was seen as being influenced by the fact the Test was being staged at Lancashire's home ground, where Pollard was familiar with the conditions, and the Australians had a high regard for him.〔O'Reilly, p. 86.〕 In the month since being dropped for the Second Test in favour of Wright, after taking 1/107 in the First Test, Young had returned to play for Middlesex, taking 27 wickets in five matches.〔(【引用サイトリンク】Player Oracle JA Young 1948 )〕 Alec Coxon, the Yorkshire allrounder who made his Test debut in the previous match at Lord's and opened the bowling, taking match figures of 3/172 and scoring 19 and a duck,〔 was replaced by Jack Crapp, a debutant batsman.〔 Crapp had scored 100 not out and 32 for Gloucestershire in the preceding match against the tourists. It was only the third century scored against Australia during the tour,〔Fingleton, p. 199.〕 and was part of a season in which Crapp had made four centuries and six half-centuries in 16 matches thus far.〔(【引用サイトリンク】Player Oracle JF Crapp 1948 )〕 Coxon's omission was believed to have been caused more by off-field events than sporting merit. There was a story that he punched Denis Compton—whom he disliked and considered self-important—in the dressing room, but Coxon always denied this. However, there was certainly an altercation and Coxon was never selected again.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title =Alec Coxon Player Profile )〕 O'Reilly interpreted the omission of the Yorkshiremen Hutton and Coxon at the expense of the Gloucestershire pair of Crapp and Emmett as symptoms of a regional bias in the English selection panel. He pointed out that only one of the four selectors—England captain Norman Yardley, who was also from Yorkshire—was from the north of the country.〔O'Reilly, pp. 85–86.〕 Australia dropped Bill Brown, who had scored 73 runs at a batting average of 24.33 in three Test innings during the season. Brown was Australia's reserve opener, but Bradman opted to play him out of position in the middle-order, instead of using a specialist.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62685.html )〕 Brown had also struggled in his unfamiliar position in the matches against Worcestershire and the Marylebone Cricket Club, scoring 25 and 26.〔(【引用サイトリンク】Player Oracle WA Brown 1948 )〕 According to O'Reilly, Brown had appeared out of place in the middle-order because he was used to the opener's classical role of defending against and wearing down the opening bowlers, rather than attacking.〔 He was replaced by the all rounder Sam Loxton,〔 who had hammered an unbeaten 159—including several sixes—against Gloucestershire,〔Fingleton, pp. 197–198.〕 and that innings was particularly noted for his quick footwork, which he used to charge and attack the off spin of Tom Goddard.〔Fingleton, pp. 198–199.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Third Test, 1948 Ashes series」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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