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.
Brisbane was the fourth Test of the 1932-33 series. Bodyline tactics had won England the first three Tests after losing the first; an Australian win at the Gabba would have made the final Test a decider amid mounting diplomatic tension.
Paynter had been hospitalised on the second day with a high fever and severe tonsillitis. He listened to the match on the radio in his ward and, on hearing England slide to 216 for 6, demanded a taxi. He arrived in his dressing gown, changed into whites and walked out at the fall of Voce's wicket.
Woodfull set him a Bodyline-light field — Australia's bowlers were Bill O'Reilly, Bert Ironmonger, Stan McCabe and the off-spinner Don Blackie. Paynter, weak and pale, played carefully for two hours, then more freely as he settled. He was 24* overnight and resumed the next morning, eventually out for 83 having added 92 with Hedley Verity. England's first-innings deficit was a single run.
Australia were bowled out cheaply in their second innings by Larwood and Allen. Chasing 160, England reached the target with Paynter striking the winning six off O'Reilly. The Ashes were England's, 3-1 with one to play.
Paynter hospitalised with acute tonsillitis on day two.
Listens to the wireless, hears England 216-6.
Taxi from hospital to Gabba in dressing gown and pyjamas.
Walks out at fall of seventh wicket.
24* overnight; resumes weak and feverish.
Out for 83 in 240 minutes; England trail by one run.
Strikes winning six off O'Reilly to clinch the Ashes.
11 Feb 1933
Paynter admitted to Brisbane hospital with tonsillitis.
14 Feb
Hears England 216-6; calls a taxi.
14 Feb
Walks out in pyjamas under whites; 24* at stumps.
15 Feb
Out 83 in 240 min.
16 Feb
Hits winning six; England retain Ashes.
“If they wanted me, I had to go.”
Paynter was discharged formally only after the match. England won the final Test in Sydney by eight wickets to take the series 4-1. The Australian press, exhausted after the diplomatic row over Bodyline, treated Paynter's effort as one of the few feel-good stories of the tour.
One of the most romantic Ashes innings — a sick-bed-to-pavilion act of will that decisively swung the Bodyline series.
The 'sick-bed innings' became part of Ashes folklore. Wisden listed it among the most dramatic individual contributions of the inter-war years. Paynter's plain Lancashire courage — he refused a runner — was held up afterwards as a counter-example to the Bodyline tactics that had dominated the rest of the series.
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
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.
South Africa v England
1939-03-03
Played from 3 to 14 March 1939, the Durban 'Timeless Test' between South Africa and England ran for ten days and an aggregate of 43 hours and 16 minutes before being abandoned as a draw because the England team had to catch the boat home. With 1981 runs scored across four innings, it remains the longest Test ever played and effectively ended the timeless-Test format.