Editing The Ashes (section)

===1934 to 1953===
On the batting-friendly [[cricket pitch|wickets]] that prevailed in the late 1930s, most Tests up to the Second World War still gave results. It should be borne in mind that Tests in Australia prior to the war were all played to a finish, with many batting records set during this period.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.sportstats.com.au/zArchive/1930s/1930EA/1930EA.htm
| title = Test Cricket Tours - Australia to England 1930 - Series Averages
| website = Sportstats.com.au
| access-date = 3 May 2025
}}</ref>

The 1934 Ashes series began with the notable absence of Larwood, Voce and Jardine. The MCC had made it clear, in light of the revelations of the bodyline series, that these players would not face Australia. The MCC, although it had earlier condoned and encouraged<ref>{{Cite book|last=Frith|first=David|title=Bodyline autopsy: the full story of the most sensational test cricket series: Australia vs England 1932-33|publisher=ABC Books for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation|year=2002|isbn=0733311725|location=Sydney|pages=47}}</ref> bodyline tactics in the 1932–33 series, laid the blame on Larwood when relations turned sour. Larwood was forced by the MCC to either apologise or be removed from the Test side. He went for the latter.

Australia recovered the Ashes in 1934 and held them until 1953, though no Test cricket was played during the Second World War.

As in 1930, the 1934 series was decided in the final Test at The Oval. Australia, batting first, posted a massive 701 in the first innings. Bradman (244) and Ponsford (266) were in record-breaking form with a partnership of 451 for the second wicket. England eventually faced a massive 707-run target for victory and failed, Australia winning the series 2–1.<ref>Harte, pp. 356–357.</ref> This made Woodfull the only captain to regain the Ashes and he retired upon his return to Australia.

In 1936–37 Bradman succeeded Woodfull as Australian captain. He started badly, losing the first two Tests heavily after Australia were caught on [[sticky wicket]]s. However, the Australians fought back and Bradman won his first series in charge 3–2.

The 1938 series was a high-scoring affair with two high-scoring draws, resulting in a 1–1 result, Australia retaining the Ashes. After the first two matches ended in stalemate and the Third Test at Old Trafford never started due to rain, Australia then scraped home by five wickets inside three days in a low-scoring match at Headingley to retain the urn. In the timeless Fifth Test at The Oval, the highlight was [[Len Hutton]]'s then world-record score of 364 as England made 903-7 declared. Bradman and [[Jack Fingleton]] injured themselves during Hutton's marathon effort, and with only nine men, Australia fell to defeat by an innings and 579 runs,<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/6109836.stm |title=Classic Ashes clashes – 1938, The Oval |website=BBC Sport |date=5 November 2006 |access-date=12 June 2023 |archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402131542/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/england/6109836.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> the heaviest in Test history.

The Ashes resumed after the war when England toured in 1946–47 and, as in 1920–21, found that Australia had made the better post-war recovery. Still captained by Bradman and now featuring the potent new-ball partnership of [[Ray Lindwall]] and [[Keith Miller]], Australia were convincing 3–0 winners.

Aged 38 and having been unwell during the war, Bradman had been reluctant to play. He batted unconvincingly and reached 28 when he hit a ball to [[Jack Ikin]]; England believed it was a catch, but Bradman stood his ground, believing it to be a bump ball. The umpire ruled in the Australian captain's favour and he appeared to regain his fluency of yesteryear, scoring 187. Australia promptly seized the initiative, won the First Test convincingly and inaugurated a dominant post-war era. The controversy over the Ikin catch was one of the biggest disputes of the era.

In 1948, Australia set new standards, completely outplaying its hosts to win 4–0 with one draw. This [[Australian cricket team in England in 1948|Australian team]], led by Bradman, who turned 40 during his final tour of England, has gone down in history as ''The Invincibles''. Playing 34 matches on tour – three of which were not first-class – and including the five Tests, they remained unbeaten, winning 27 and drawing 7.

Bradman's men were greeted by packed crowds across the country, and records for Test attendances in England were set in the [[Second Test, 1948 Ashes series|Second]] and [[Fourth Test, 1948 Ashes series|Fourth Tests]] at Lord's and Headingley respectively. Before a record attendance of spectators at Headingley, Australia set a world record by chasing down 404 on the last day for a seven-wicket victory.

The 1948 series ended with one of the most poignant moments in cricket history, as Bradman played his final innings for Australia in the [[Fifth Test, 1948 Ashes series|Fifth Test]] at The Oval, needing to score only four runs to end with a career [[batting average (cricket)|batting average]] of exactly 100. However, Bradman made a second-ball duck, bowled by an [[Eric Hollies]] googly<ref>{{Cite news|date=27 May 2009|title=1948 – Bradman's final innings duck|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/8036237.stm|website=BBC Sport|access-date=12 June 2023|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402185229/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/8036237.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> that sent him into retirement with a career average of 99.94.

Bradman was succeeded as Australian captain by [[Lindsay Hassett]], who led the team to a 4–1 series victory in 1950–51. The series was not as one-sided as the number of wins suggest, with several tight matches.

The tide finally turned in 1953 when England won the final Test at The Oval to take the series 1–0, having narrowly avoided defeat in the preceding Test at Headingley. This was the beginning of one of the greatest periods in English cricket history with players such as captain Len Hutton, batsmen [[Denis Compton]], [[Peter May (cricketer)|Peter May]], [[Tom Graveney]], [[Colin Cowdrey]], bowlers [[Fred Trueman]], [[Brian Statham]], [[Alec Bedser]], [[Jim Laker]], [[Tony Lock]], wicket-keeper [[Godfrey Evans]] and all-rounder [[Trevor Bailey]].