page_title: English cricket team in Australia in 1946–47
section_title: Top order batsmen
hierarchical_section_title: English cricket team in Australia in 1946–47 / Batting / Top order batsmen
caption_attribution_description: English: England Cricketer Denis Compton putting on his pads
context_page_description: The English cricket team in Australia in 1946–47 was captained by Wally Hammond, with Norman Yardley as his vice-captain and Bill Edrich as the senior professional. It played as England in the 1946–47 Ashes series against the Australians and as the MCC in their other matches on the tour. They were regarded as a sound team which was just as strong as Australia, but due to the Second World War they were an ageing side and their bowling depended heavily on Alec Bedser and Doug Wright, who were overused and exhausted as a result. Australia beat England 3-0 in a five-match series to retain the Ashes; England suffered the worst defeat in a Test series since losing 4–1 to Australia in 1924–25. Since 1881, Tests in Australia were played to finish. That rule was changed for this series, and for the first time in 65 years, a test played in Australia ended in a draw when the third test was drawn.
  The MCC saw Hammond leading a "Goodwill Tour" of Australia to re-establish sporting relations after the Second World War, and was told that good sportsmanship was more important that winning the series, an attitude that prevailed into the 1950s and 1960s.
context_section_description: S/L Bill Edrich had been a bomber pilot during the war and won the DFC in the "RAF's most audacious and dangerous low-level bombing raid" of 1941. A gutsy batsman he was "almost indifferent to his own safety. No bowler is too fast to hook; no score too large to defy challenge" and stood up to the bouncers of Lindwall and Miller. Returning to England in 1947 he became an amateur and made a record 3,539 runs (80.43) with 12 centuries, a total only exceeded by his Middlesex Twin Denis Compton who made 3,816 runs (90.85) and 18 centuries in the same season. Compton was the golden boy of post-war cricket "illuminating the seemingly impossible stroke and playing shots which are so late that they appear to be afterthoughts." He was restricted by Hammond's orders to stick to the crease as he liked to walk down the pitch to upset the slow bowlers – relying on his quick eye to keep him out of trouble – and was a shadow of himself until the Fourth Test when he ignored the captain's advice and made two centuries. His most famous stroke was the "Compton Sweep" in which he would pivot and drive the ball to long leg. Many others tried to copy this "backward drive" with fatal results, it was a product of Compton's own genius. Young Joe Hardstaff was the son of Joe Hardstaff of Notts and England and was a noted stylist "all ease and elegance" He had toured Australia in 1936–37, but failed to make a century and his Test career was stunted by the enmity of Gubby Allen. His selection was based on an innings of 205 not out against India in the Lords Test, but he had an otherwise poor season and failed on the tour.
caption: "Success never spoiled Compton and his cheery face out there on the boundary made him very popular with the crowd.".[32]
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