1930 Australian Cricket Team Signed Photograph

1930 Australian Criket Team, official team photograph, taken by T. Bolland, titled 'The 1930 (17th) Australian Test Team', signed to mount by the entire team, 17 signatures - W.L.Kelly (manager), Archie Jackson (scarce - he died of Tb in 1933), Tim Wall, Ted A'Beckett, Percy Hornibrook, Alec Hurwood, Clarrie Grimmett, T.Havard (official), Alan Fairfax, Bill Ponsford, Stan McCabe, Victor Richardson, Bill Woodfull (captain), Alan Kippax, Don Bradman, Bert Oldfield & Charlie Walker, overall 46 x 51 cm. England were favourites to win the 1930 Ashes series, and if the Australians were to exceed expectations, their young batsmen, Bradman and Jackson, needed to prosper. With his elegant batting technique, Jackson appeared the brighter prospect of the pair. However, Bradman began the tour with 236 at Worcester and went on to score 1000 first-class runs by the end of May, the fifth player (and first Australian) to achieve this rare feat. In his first Test appearance in England, Bradman hit 131 in the Second innings but England won the match. His batting reached a new level in the Second Test at Lord's where he scored 254 as Australia won and levelled the series. Later in life, Bradman rated this the best innings of his career as 'practically without exception every ball went where it was intended to go'. In terms of runs scored, this performance was soon surpassed. In the Third Test, at Leeds, Bradman scored a century before lunch on 11 July, the first day of the Test match, to equal the performances of Victor Trumper and Charlie Macartney. In the afternoon, Bradman added another century between lunch and tea, before finishing the day on 309 not out. He remains the only Test player to pass 300 in one day's play. His eventual score of 334 was a world-record, exceeding the previous mark of 325 by Andy Sandham. Bradman dominated the Australian innings, the Second-highest tally was 77 by Alan Kippax. The match ended in anti-climax as poor weather prevented a result, as it also did in the Fourth Test. In the deciding Test at The Oval, England made 405. During an innings stretching over three days due to intermittent rain, Bradman made yet another multiple century, this time 232, which helped give Australia a big lead of 290 runs. In a crucial partnership with Archie Jackson, Bradman battled through a difficult session when England fast bowler Harold Larwood bowled short on a pitch enlivened by the rain. Australia won the match by an innings and regained the Ashes. The victory made an impact in Australia. With the economy sliding toward depression and unemployment rapidly rising, the country found solace in sporting triumph. The story of a self-taught 22-year-old from the bush who set a series of records against the old rival made Bradman a national hero. The statistics Bradman achieved on the tour, and in the Test matches in particular, broke records for the day and some have stood the test of time. In all, Bradman scored 974 runs at an average of 139.14 during the Test series, with four centuries, including two double hundreds and a triple. An almost identical (but larger format) signed photograph brought $6,100 (incl. Bp) in our Nov.2015 auction.