Australia's first Test match after the war, at the Gabba in late November 1946, ended in an innings-and-332-run hammering of England — the largest defeat in Ashes history. A pre-monsoon thunderstorm on the third evening turned the wicket into a glue-pot, and Keith Miller (7 for 60) and Ernie Toshack (6 for 82) made it unplayable for an England side already wrung out from chasing Bradman's 187 and Hassett's 128 in a total of 645. The match is also remembered for the bump-ball decision that kept Bradman in on 28 — itself filed under a separate iconic-moment entry — and for Miller's emergence as a Test cricketer of the highest class.
Bradman had not played a Test in eight years and was on 28 not out when umpire George Borwick rejected an Ikin caught-at-slip appeal — a decision that has its own entry. He went on to 187.
England, captained by Wally Hammond and including Hutton, Edrich, Compton, Washbrook and Voce, won the toss and put Australia in. By stumps on day one Australia were 292 for 4 with Bradman 162; he went on to 187, his first Test century since 1938. Hassett's 128 and Miller's 79 took Australia to 645.
The Brisbane sky had been heavy all afternoon on the third day. At about 4:15 pm a violent storm broke; within thirty minutes the outfield was a lake and water was almost level with the picket fence. Photographs taken from the press box show players wading shin-deep. The Gabba's drainage at the time was crude but the drought-stricken Queensland sub-soil drank most of the water overnight, and a hot Sunday rest day baked the surface to a sticky wicket of the worst kind.
When play resumed on Monday, Miller and Toshack found vicious lift. England were 117 for 5 when Bradman, in a famous moment of captaincy, took Toshack to mid-pitch to point out the cracked patch he wanted bowled at; Toshack hit it. England were 141 all out, Miller's 7 for 60 the figures of his career to that point.
A second storm overnight refreshed the surface. England fared a little better second time around — Edrich made 89 — but Toshack's 6 for 82 wrapped the innings up at 172. Australia won by an innings and 332 runs, then the largest victory margin in Ashes history.
29 Nov 1946 — Hammond wins toss, puts Australia in; Bradman 162* at stumps
30 Nov - 1 Dec — Bradman 187, Hassett 128; Australia 645 all out
3 Dec, evening — thunderstorm floods Gabba
4 Dec — Miller 7/60; England 141 all out
Second storm overnight
4-5 Dec — Toshack 6/82; England 172 all out
Australia win by an innings and 332 runs
29 Nov 1946
Test begins; England put Australia in
30 Nov 1946
Bradman 187; Hassett 128
3 Dec 1946 (eve)
Thunderstorm floods ground
4 Dec 1946
Miller 7/60; England 141
4-5 Dec 1946
Toshack 6/82; England 172; Australia win innings + 332
“It was the worst wicket I ever saw in a Test match. The ball stood up like a hand grenade.”
“Hit that spot and they're gone.”
The result echoed through the rest of the series. England, demoralised, lost the second Test at Sydney by an innings and 33; the Ashes were retained at Adelaide. Hammond, ill with fibrositis, played his last Test at Sydney in February 1947.
A heavyweight start to the post-war Ashes that confirmed three things at once: Bradman could still make Test runs; Miller was a fast bowler of class; and the Gabba's sub-tropical weather would shape Test cricket in Australia for decades.
Until Australia's innings-and-360 victory at Brisbane in 2002, this was the largest margin in any Ashes Test. The phrase 'Brisbane sticky' became cricket shorthand for an unplayable surface; subsequent Gabba pitches and drainage works were judged against this match.
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.