The Spin | Bradman’s greatest hour: how Australia came from 2-0 down to win the Ashes
By the time you read this, day one of the third Test will have gently unfolded/catastrophically unspooled.You will already have some inkling of how (un)likely it is that England will be able to haul in Australia’s 2-0 lead and claw back the urn.As you also probably know, only one side has overcome a 2-0 deficit to win a series, and that side was Australia, and that Australia included Don Bradman.The year was 1936.England boarded the Orion at Southampton docks in gabardines and trilbies to sail away on their first Ashes tour since Bodyline.
The MCC had done its best to smooth over relations with Australia, including sending a side over the previous winter on a friendship mission, but sensitivities were still heightened.There was certainly no Bodyline meal at the Piccadilly Hotel this time around.The father of leg theory, Douglas Jardine, had pretty much retired from cricket in 1934, and in his place as England captain was the top-notch establishment man Gubby Allen.England were also without Harold Larwood who, top of the national averages with 119 wickets that 1936 summer, had refused to apologise for Bodyline.His partner in crime, Bill Voce, did make the voyage, however, after Allen persuaded him that it would be worth his while to atone for past sins.
(Larwood was briefly furious with his friend – and later turned down an opportunity to go to Australia as a journalist with the Sunday Dispatch,)The squad of 17 players on Allen’s “tour of peace” also included Wally Hammond, Hedley Verity, Maurice Leyland, Les Ames and George Duckworth, plus a baggage man and a manager,Len Hutton, too young, and Herbert Sutcliffe, too old, were left at home,Despite the boredom of a four-week voyage and an iffy settling-in period, England started the series with a bang, winning the first two Tests,Bradman, the captain who had collected 38, 0, 0 and 82 in his first four innings was under intense scrutiny for his leadership, his man-management and his form.
In hindsight, that falling off of runs was more than understandable: Bradman’s first-born son had died only six weeks before the series began.“In the lives of young parents, there can scarcely be a sadder moment,” he later wrote in his autobiography Farewell to Cricket.Neville Cardus was covering that tour for the Manchester Guardian, his beautifully written reports later gathered together within the pages of Australian Summer.In his own cracking book The Great Romantic, Duncan Hamilton reports that Cardus told Allen the night before the third Test: “For heaven’s sake clinch the rubber at once.Bradman cannot go on like this much longer.
”Cardus’s premonition was right.The third Test was at Melbourne, where, similar to the recent pink-ball Test at Brisbane, playing the conditions was as important as playing the ball.Thick, fat rain started to fall late on the first day and into the second, and the players were presented with a classic sticky dog.Bradman declared at 200 for nine and England were soon all in a tangle.With wickets falling quickly, and desperate not to have to bat again that afternoon, Bradman instructed his bowlers to send the ball wide of the wicket and dispatched his prowling close catchers away into the outfield.
The next day was to be a rest day and the weather forecast was for hot sunshine.But Allen refused to gamble on bowling Australia out for a second time.He pressed on, and on, till England had lurched to 76 for nine, batting out precious overs as he did so.Bradman then pulled out all his trump cards.He feigned ignorance of Allen’s declaration, politely insisting that the umpires went up to the English dressing room to confirm it, eating up precious minutes as they went.
Then he instructed his tail-enders to pad up and sent them out to protect himself and the rest of the top order,Australia only had to bat for 18 balls before bad light closed the curtains,Thirteen wickets had fallen in three hours,It would be the pivotal day of the series,More than 87,000 people crowded into the MCG when the Test resumed, and Bradman eventually came to the crease with the Australian lead 221.
By the time he left it seven hours and 38 minutes later he had 270 runs to his name, he and Jack Fingleton had put on a world-record 346 for the sixth wicket and England needed 689 to win.Reader, they didn’t make it.Allen had been out-thought by a master tactician.He deflated miserably, confidence now crumbs on the tea table.Already dismissive of the northern professionals he had to put up with, he dipped his pen in poison and in letters home dismissed his own side as “rotten”, Voce as a “fat pig” and complained about having to “give up almost all private parties just before or during big matches”.
Bradman went on to dance to a glorious 212 in 437 minutes at Adelaide, where Australia’s 148-run win drew them level,And a triumphant 169 in their innings and 200-run thrashing of England in the final Test completed Australia’s comeback,In 2001, Wisden,com announced Bradman’s 270 as the greatest innings of all time (beating Brian Lara’s 153 not out against Australia at Bridgetown in 1998-99 into second place, with Graham Gooch’s unbeaten 154 against West Indies at Headingley, third),Cardus, by now totally in love with Australia, summed things up.
“The failure, as Australians realistically perceived and as they frankly stated – though in different words, was, at the pinch, a failure as much of character as of technique.”Bradman never did lose a series as captain.This is an extract from the Guardian’s weekly cricket email, The Spin.To subscribe, just visit this page and follow the instructions.
All about the baby cheeses: how to curate a festive cheeseboard to remember
What should I serve on my Christmas cheeseboard?David, via emailIt will come as no surprise that Mathew Carver, founder of Pick & Cheese, The Cheese Barge and Rind, eats a lot of cheese, so in an effort to keep his festive selection interesting, he usually focuses on a specific area or region: “Last year, for instance, I spent Christmas in Scotland and served only local cheese.” Wales is up later this month. “I’m a creature of habit and tend always to go back to the cheeses I love, so this strategy makes me try new ones,” he explains – plus there’s nothing to stop you slipping in a classic such as comté in there too, because, well, Christmas.Unless you’re going for “the baller move” of just serving one glorious cheese, Bronwen Percival, technical director of Neal’s Yard Dairy, would punt for three or four “handsome wedges, rather than slivers of too many options”. After all, few have “the time or attention for a board that needs a lot of explaining”
How to make nesselrode pudding – recipe | Felicity Cloake's Masterclass
A luxurious iced dessert stuffed full of boozy dried fruit, candied peel and frozen chestnut pureeThis festive, frozen chestnut puree dessert is often credited to the great 19th-century chef Antonin Carême, even though the man himself conceded that this luxurious creation was that of Monsieur Mony, chef to the Russian diplomat Count Nesselrode (albeit, he observed somewhat peevishly, inspired by one of his own chestnut puddings). It was originally served with hot, boozy custard – though I think it’s just enough as it is – and it makes a fabulous Christmas centrepiece,Prep 15 min Soak Overnight Cook 20 min Freeze 2 hr+ Serves 6125g currants, or raisins or sultanas50g good-quality candied peel, finely chopped75ml maraschino, or other sweet alcohol of your choice (see step 2)1 vanilla pod, split, or 1 tsp vanilla extract600ml whipping cream 4 egg yolks 50g caster sugar 45g flaked almonds 125g whole peeled cooked chestnuts, or unsweetened chestnut pureePut the fruit and peel in a bowl. Mony’s recipe is reported to have contained currants and raisins (though other vine fruit, or indeed any chopped dried fruit you prefer, will work), as well as candied citron, the peel of a mild, thick-skinned citrus, which is available online, as are other candied peels that are far nicer than those chewy, greasy nubs sold in supermarkets.Add the alcohol: maraschino, an Italian sour cherry liqueur, is the original choice, but Claire Macdonald uses an orange triple sec, Victorian ice queen Agnes B Marshall brandy and noyaux, an almond-flavoured liqueur made from apricot kernels, and Regula Ysewijn mixes maraschino with dark rum. Madeira, sherry, port, etc, would surely be good, too
Festive food for less: Christmas dinner with all the cost trimmings
Figures show that the total cost of the all-important Christmas dinner is up 5% on a year ago, with the price of important elements such as pigs in blankets and stuffing up by 7%.With the cost of living still biting, however, a supermarket price war is taking some of the sting out of high food costs – with Aldi and Lidl selling the ingredients for a main Christmas meal for eight for less than £12.According to exclusive data prepared for Guardian Money by the analysts Assosia, the price of a frozen extra-large turkey is up 10p a kilogram to £3.70 (a 3% rise on a year ago) – which for an 8kg bird works out at £29.60
The 12 condiments of Christmas
Salt, sweet, bitter, acid, umami. While we don’t think to use too much “sweet” before dessert, it can counterbalance and enhance other flavours. Maple syrup is my sweetener of choice during the holidays because it just tastes cozy. Add it to roasted root vegetables or a poultry glaze, and it’s especially tasty in drinks, from hot apple cider to eggnog and even mulled wine.I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like butter, or ooh and ah at a homemade one
‘Every chef should train here’: Turkish restaurant ranks fourth on list of London’s top food spots
On a list of London’s best restaurants, you would expect to see the usual Michelin-starred suspects such as The Ledbury, Ikoyi and The Ritz. But high among these culinary heavyweights sits a humble salonu tucked away in the depths of north London.Neco Tantuni, a small Turkish eatery specialising in the foodie delights of Mersin, a city located on the southern coast of Turkey, has been crowned the fourth best restaurant in London by Vittles, the trendy food magazine that has become a bible for those looking for the best (and more off-the-radar) grub in the capital.“I’m totally shocked,” says Eren Kaya, whose parents hard graft has resulted in their restaurant, situated in a far-flung corner of Enfield, being placed near the top of the 99-strong list.The small shop, which was a greasy spoon cafe before being transformed into the hugely popular food hotspot, hasn’t fully shed the character of its former self
Ho, ho, Hamburg: bringing the flavours of a true German Christmas market home
From glühwein to lebkuchen, bratwurst to stollen, recreating the delicacies I sampled in the city’s festive markets is wholly achievable. Plus, a new digital cookbook for a good cause Sign up here for our weekly food newsletter, FeastWithout wanting to sound tediously Scrooge-like, the German-style markets that have become seasonal fixtures in many British cities over the last few decades never make me feel particularly festive. What’s remotely Christmassy – or German – about Dubai-chocolate churros and Korean fried chicken, I grumble as I drag the dog (who enjoys all such things) around their perimeters.Hamburg’s markets, however, which I was myself dragged around last weekend, are a very different story. For a start, the city has many of them, mainly fairly small – and some, such as the “erotic Christmas market” in St Pauli, with a particular theme
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Striking resident doctors are digging in. History suggests this will go on and on