Australia v England
Thebarton Oval, Adelaide: 27th – 30th December 1968
The two skippers walked out to the middle of Thebarton Oval on 27th December 1968, under a clear Adelaide sky in what was already a hot Australian summer, one of the hottest on record. England’s Rachael Heyhoe won the toss and had no hesitation in batting. In such conditions Muriel Picton would have made the same choice.
Enid Bakewell, on debut, opened the batting with Audrey Disbury, who’d opened her series account with a century against WA. The new ball combination of Anne Gordon and Joyce Goldsmith opened proceedings, but there was little joy for the Australians as they got their first look at the sheer class of Bakewell, the batting prodigy from Nottinghamshire.
A solid defence was her hallmark as a youngster, but Enid became more adventurous as she progressed through the ranks. She narrowly missed selection when the Australians toured in 1963 and again against New Zealand in 1966, on account of being pregnant.
It was obviously a difficult decision to leave her two year old daughter at home with her parents when Enid chose to tour Australia with the England team. It didn’t seem to halt her batting against the Australians at Thebarton.
It was Miriam Knee finally who got the breakthrough, bowling Disbury for 20, when the score was 48, but that merely brought Rachael Heyhoe to the crease and both she and Bakewell stepped up the pace. The England captain and the debutant blazed away in a stand of 127 runs before Patsy May removed Heyhoe for 76.
Knee instantly removed Edna Barker for a duck and Lynn Denholm picked up Anne Sanders for 3. All of a sudden the Aussies were back in it with England stumbling at 4/182. However the force at the other end was continuing uninterrupted.
As Bakewell marched towards a century on debut, Miriam Knee was picking up wickets at the other end, removing Moorhouse, Watmough and Clark. Eventually Enid Bakewell herself succumbed, clean bowled by Patsy May for 113, a marvelous knock in just her first innings in Test cricket.
“I remember fielding in front of the wicket and her bat looked to be getting wider and wider as the match went on. She showed us her strokes and her hooks and drives were perfect for such a small player.” – Anne Gordon
Apart from Bakewell’s century and the captain’s 76, the next best score was 22, just highlighting how important that second wicket partnership was. England were all out for 270 at good clip from 81 overs. Miriam Knee was the best of the bowlers with 5-49 from 22 overs.
Australia lost Elaine Bray to a runout just on stumps, leaving Denholm and Parker not out with the score at 1/15. Parker left early the next day, which brought bowling heroine Miriam Knee to the crease, and together with Denholm did exactly what Bakewell and Heyhoe did to the Australians and chalked up a 109 run partnership, before Knee departed with a well-made 55.
Dawn Newman came to the crease and picked up where Knee left off, scoring 76 on debut. Along the way Denholm fell agonizingly short of her century, with 93, while Joyce Goldsmith also scored a half century on her debut. A solid contribution from Anne Gordon of 26 before she was stumped and Muriel Picton declared the Australian innings at 7/339, 69 runs ahead of England. After the solid opening fire from England, it was a most emphatic response from the locals.
Knee again was among the wickets as England worked away the deficit, removing both openers, but time was the winner as England had no real endeavor to set Australia a target and were 7 down for 192 at stumps, 129 in front with three wickets in hand ending the Test in a draw. Both teams had come into the Test with new blood and limited Test experience, so were understandably cautious.
Scores
England 270 (Bakewell 113, Heyhoe 76, Knee 5/49) and 7/192 (Heyhoe 68, Knee 3/19) drew with Australia 339 (Denholm 93, Newman 76, Goldsmith 58, Knee 55)