August 14th, 1948, The Fifth Test of the 1948 Ashes series between England and the Invincible Australians at The Oval..

With Australia having wrapped up the Ashes series 3-0 with a record run chase on the final day at Headingley, the final Test at The Oval in London served as the scene for the final Test match of Australian captain Don Bradman’s distinguished career, having smashed just about every batting record in Test cricket, save for the most Test runs in a career, which was held by his English contemporary Wally Hammond.

England captain Norman Yardley won the toss and batted first on a rain-affected pitch, with the foul weather delaying the start of the match until the afternoon, and once play began the decision to bat first went down in flames, as the English were summarily destroyed by all-rounder Ray Lindwall, who played the conditions perfectly and took 6-20 to bowl England out for 52, which still stands as England’s lowest Ashes total in the last 120 years.

Yardley wouldn’t be the last English captain to make a stupid decision at the toss in an Ashes Test, while Lindwall’s figures after lunch were spectacular; 8.1 overs, four maidens, 5 wickets for 8 runs.

A spell Scott Boland would be proud of.

Once Australia came out to bat that afternoon, Sid Barnes and Arthur Morris surpassed England’s total with ease and went on to put on 117 in 2 hours of play, until Barnes fell to spinner Eric Hollies for 61…

So at 6pm, out walked Donald George Bradman to a rousing reception from the English team and the Oval crowd, requiring just 4 runs to reach 7,000 Test runs and finish his career with an average of 100.

A slightly distracted Bradman defended the first ball from Hollies…

Then on the second ball, he played forward again and was completely deceived by the googly from Hollies, and amazingly, the almighty Bradman was clean bowled for a duck.

Bradman b Hollies 0 (2)

Given Australia were so far ahead in the match, that second-ball duck would turn out to be Bradman’s final Test innings, as Australia went on to make 389 led by 196 from Morris, and completing the carnage, England were bowled out for 188 in their second innings on Day 4 to hand Australia victory by an innings and 149 runs, winning the series 4-0 in another chapter of the Invincibles tour.

Thus, Bradman’s final career average would famously stand at 99.94, one of the greatest statistical dominations in international sport.

Other fun facts about that day:

– Eric Hollies would later have The Hollies Stand at Edgbaston named in his honour for his 25 years of service to Warwickshire, the stand itself becoming known worldwide for being populated by the members of the Barmy Army too rowdy to tour other countries.

– The Australian Broadcasting Corportation later made their national posting address GPO Box 9994, as a nod to Bradman’s average.

– The Oval Test wasn’t actually the last match of the Invincibles tour, as the Australians still played 7 more matches through to September to complete the moniker of Invincibles:

vs Kent at St Lawrence on August 21-23 (won by an innings and 186 runs)

vs Gentlemen of England at Lord’s on August 25-27 (won by an innings and 81 runs.) – This was Bradman’s last match at Lord’s

vs Somerset at Taunton on August 28-30 (won by an innings and 374 runs)

vs South of England at Hastings on September 1-3 (match drawn)

vs HDG Leveson-Gower’s XI at Scarborough on September 8-10 (match drawn) – Bradman’s last match in England, he bowled the last over of the match, as the Australians became the first Test team to complete an entire tour of England unbeaten

vs Scotland at The Grange in Edinburgh on September 13-14 (won by an innings and 40 runs) – The match did not have First Class status

vs Scotland at Abderdeen on September 17-18 (won by an innings and 87 runs) – Bradman top-scored with 123 in his last match in Britain, though the match did not have First Class status

But there we go, the most famous duck in the history of cricket, in the words of John Arlott on the BBC:

“Bradman, bowled Hollies, naught.”