Captaining England in his first Ashes home Test in charge, Wally Hammond made 240 at Lord's in June 1938 — at the time the highest score by an England captain against Australia and an innings widely rated alongside his 336* at Auckland and his 251 at Sydney as the finest of his career.
Hammond had become an amateur in November 1937 and was appointed England captain for the 1938 series. The Lord's Test was his first home Ashes Test as captain.
Australia, set 422 to bat last, drew with eight wickets down. The shape of the match was Hammond's. England, batting first, were 31 for 3 against McCormick when their captain came in. He stayed for six hours, hitting 32 fours, driving McCabe and O'Reilly through extra cover with the precision that defined his style.
Wisden's report described the cover-driving as 'almost mathematical' and the off-side placement as such that Australia repeatedly had to bring the ball back through the field. Hammond reached his hundred before tea on the second day, his 200 before lunch on the third, and was eventually caught at deep mid-off for 240, made out of 494 in 367 minutes.
England declared at 494; Bradman's 102 not out saved Australia from following on, and Bill Brown's 206* in the second innings carried Australia to safety. The match was drawn but the personal duel — Hammond 240, Bradman 102* — defined the series.
England 31-3 against McCormick; Hammond in.
Hundred before tea on day two; 200 before lunch on day three.
Out 240, c Fingleton b McCormick, 367 min, 32 fours.
England declare 494; Australia follow-on saved by Bradman 102*.
Brown's 206* second innings draws the match.
24 Jun 1938
Australia tour to Lord's for second Test.
24 Jun
Hammond in at 31-3 v McCormick.
25 Jun
100 before tea.
26 Jun
200 before lunch; out 240.
28 Jun
Match drawn after Brown 206*.
“He drove with a precision that was almost mathematical.”
The performance that, with Bradman's twin, set the 1938 series as a stand-off between cricket's two finest batsmen.
The Lord's 240 is among the most quoted innings of the inter-war period and the canonical Hammond performance — orthodox, unhurried, executed by a player whose first-class average against Australia at home topped 70.
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.