1950's England won a fantastic Edgbaston test by 120 runs to knock Australia out of the competition and set up a thrilling finale against the West Indies. A few weeks before, photographers and journalists were invited to Edgbaston to see a demonstration of their new pitch drying equipment.
Unfortunately it was redundant in the lead up to the game, as a spell of hot weather made conditions very dry before the start of the match. The wicket itself looked dry and dusty and appeared to be crumbling from one end, leading many to suggest it would not last the duration.
England won the toss and elected to bat on what Peter May expected to be the best of the conditions. He may have regretted his decision as England crumbled to 181 all out. Colin Cowdrey top scored with 44 with Dexter 43. Alan Davidson bowled superbly taking 3-47 with wrist spinners Iverson and Benaud also among the wickets.
Australias confidence was short lived however as they collapsed themselves. They slumped to 79 for 7 before Norm O'Neill hit 57 and helped Australia to a 1st innings total of 141 all out. Off spinner Bob Appleyard was the pick of the bowlers, taking for 5 for 31.
England fared slightly better in their 2nd innings, making 216 all out. May hit 86 and Jim Parks 76 not out as England recovered from 71 for 4. Parks batted superbly with the lower order to set up a match winning target of 256 for the Australians.
Mc Donald and Burke got Australia off to a flying start with them finishing Day 3 on 107-1. A tantalising final day was in prospect, but was quickly reduced to chaos as England ripped through the Aussie lineup. Fred Trueman took 4 wickets and Frank Tyson 3 as both made use of the wickets variable bounce. Australia lost 9 wickets for 39 to slump to 136 all out.
The final wicket was taken by Tyson just after lunch to give England a huge 120 run victory. Australia will feel aggrieved by the margin of victory as they were very much in the game until that last session. They are now eliminated from the tournament. As for England, they head off to Trinidad's Port of Spain, and face a West Indies team still buoyant from their own success against the Australians.
England 1950s: TW Graveney; MC Cowdrey; PBH May [c]; KF Barrington; ER Dexter; JM Parks [w]; R Appleyard; JC Laker; FS Trueman; JB Statham; FH Tyson
Australia 1950s: CC McDonald; JW Burke; PJP Burge; NC O'Neill; GB Hole; KD Mackay; R Benaud [c]; AK Davidson; GRA Langley [w]; RG Archer; JB Iverson
England 1950s 1st Innings 181-10 (69.2 Ov)
MC Cowdrey 44, ER Dexter 43, JC Laker 29, AK Davidson 3-47, JB Iverson 3-59, R Benaud 2-26
Australia 1950s 1st Innings 141-10 (61.5 Ov)
NC O'Neill 57, RG Archer 29, AK Davidson 29*, R Appleyard 5-31, FH Tyson 3-32, FS Trueman 2-39
England 1950s 2nd Innings 216-10 (88.3 Ov)
PBH May 86, JM Parks 76*, JB Iverson 5-53, AK Davidson 4-76
Australia 1950s 2nd Innings 136-10 (55.3 Ov)
CC McDonald 56, JW Burke 29, PJP Burge 26, FS Trueman 4-33, FH Tyson 3-42, R Appleyard 2-17
England 1950s win by 120 runs
Man of the Match: JM Parks
A brilliant unbeaten innings of 76 and 5 catches with the gloves made Jim Parks a worth man of the match
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