A vision of the leisurely pace of yesteryear - but
with an undercurrent of excitement and expectation
- beams from this rare picture of the straw-boatered
England cricketers as they prepare to sail to Australia
in the autumn of 1894. The leader, A. E. Stoddart
(standing above the lifebuoy), returned as a hero
seven and a half months later, having won a thrilling
series 3-2
Colin Milburn, the fat man everyone loved, smacks
a bouncer from Graham McKenzie to the boundary in
the second Test at Lord's in 1968. A hailstorm had
made the pitch treacherous, and batsmen on both sides
were hurt. Jolly Milburn's stirring 83 was punctuated
by big hits to his body as well as from his bat. His
career was ended a year later when a car crash cost
him an eye
Tears of joy really did flow when England recaptured
the Ashes after 19 years in 1953. Here in the decisive
fifth Test at the Oval, Ray Lindwall has dug one in
and Len Hutton loses his cap (the one he had worn
during his record innings of 364 in 1938). I may have
been the only youngster in the world at the time who
was trying to bat like the artistic Hutton and bowl
like the kindly Lindwall
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