Herbert Collins's Australians retained the Ashes 4-1 in the long, hot summer of 1924-25, but the central story of the series was the bowling of Maurice Tate — 38 wickets in five Tests, then a world record for any bowler in an Ashes series — and the formation, finally, of the Hobbs-Sutcliffe opening partnership.
Arthur Gilligan, recovered enough to lead but not to bowl, took an MCC party to Australia in 1924-25 expecting the Tate-Gilligan new-ball pair to win them matches. The injury Gilligan had carried since the previous English summer reduced him to a containing role, and the Test cricket bowling burden fell almost entirely on Tate. He responded with one of the most punishing solo bowling efforts in tour history.
The first Test at Sydney was lost by 195 runs after Hobbs (115 and 57) battled almost alone. The second Test at Melbourne saw the Hobbs-Sutcliffe 283 partnership — but Australia won by 81. The third Test at Adelaide was the closest, Australia winning by 11 runs after Sutcliffe's 59 and 33 nearly carried the chase. The fourth Test at Melbourne was won by England by an innings and 29, Sutcliffe 143, Tate 6 wickets — England's only Test win on Australian soil between 1912 and 1928. The fifth Test at Sydney was won by Australia by 307 runs, sealing the series 4-1.
Tate finished with 38 wickets at 23.18, beating Sydney Barnes's 1911-12 record of 34. Sutcliffe scored 734 runs at 81 — the most by any English batsman in an Ashes series in Australia until that point. Hobbs added 573 runs at 64. Yet the depth of the Australian attack — Gregory, Mailey, the all-rounder Kelleway and the off-spinner Hartkopf — and Collins's calm captaincy proved decisive over five Tests.
First Test, Sydney: Australia win by 195
Second Test, Melbourne: Hobbs-Sutcliffe 283; Australia win by 81
Third Test, Adelaide: Australia win by 11
Fourth Test, Melbourne: England's only win, by an innings and 29
Fifth Test, Sydney: Australia win by 307; series ends 4-1
Dec 1924
First Test, Sydney — Australia win by 195
Jan 1925
Second Test, Melbourne — Australia win by 81
Feb 1925
Fourth Test, Melbourne — England's only win
Mar 1925
Fifth Test, Sydney — Australia complete 4-1
“Tate bowled like a man who could not stop. He had a small frame and a great heart, and Australia's batsmen feared him as they had feared no English bowler since Barnes.”
Sutcliffe was confirmed as the long-term opener; Tate became the senior English bowler; Collins was retained as Australian captain into 1926. England's 1926 home Ashes campaign would draw heavily on the lessons learned in 1924-25, especially the value of a settled top order.
1924-25 was the series in which England's batting recovered while its bowling did not: Tate alone could not match what Gregory, Mailey and Kelleway did between them, and Australia retained the Ashes for a third successive series.
Tate's 38 wickets in the series remained the most by any bowler in an Ashes series until Jim Laker's 46 in 1956. The Hobbs-Sutcliffe partnership, formalised at Melbourne in 1924-25, would carry English batting through the rest of the decade and into the 1930s.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.