Cricket: A Long Wait For The "Dawn"

The year is 1948. The Australians were making their first tour of England since World War 2, and many thousands of young schoolboys throughout The British Isles were eagerly looking forward to seeing for the first time the great Australian players they had heard and read about for so long.

In Northern Ireland, the same enthusiasm prevailed, although the game was at a much lower standard than in England.

Bradman, Hassett, Miller, Toshack, Lindwall, Brown, Harvey & Johnson, were not only superb players, they reigned supreme. Head and shoulders above all : the one and only DON BRADMAN.

The visitors had humbled England in the Third Test Match at Headingley, Leeds and their next scheduled game was against The Gentlemen of Ireland at Ormeau Cricket Grounds, Belfast.

A posse of schoolboys, of which I was one, talked about nothing else for weeks beforehand, looking forward of course to seeing "The Don" bat. No television in those days, only press reports and newsreels in cinemas.

The "Aussies", having little insight to the strength of the game in Ireland sent across a full strength side and thereby hangs the tale !

The gates at Ormeau Cricket Ground closed an hour before the wicket was pitched, Austraia won the toss and decided to bat first. At the close of play they had scored 624 for 2 wickets, the opening batsmen had both scored centuries, with Hassett and Harvey the not out batsmen at the crease when Australia declared.

Bradman had not cause to even leave the pavilion !

Never mind we would see him the following day as Australia fielded. How wrong we were.

The great man had decided to let Lindsay Hassett captain the team using the 12th man to fill the vacuum, he had made the right decision, the match ended just after lunch with The Gentlemen of Ireland responding with 29 & 33.

Have you ever spent a long sleepless night with a raging toothache, hoping the dawn would bring relief with a visit to the nearest dentist ?

The subsequent extraction would cause extreme pain, nevertheless,this would pass and another dawn would bring a new day and new hopes for the future.

Alas, this was the one and only time Sir Donald Bradman paid a visit to Northern Ireland.