The 1932-33
Ashes
series is remembered as the 'Bodyline' series, where England captain
Douglas Jardine
and his fast bowlers led by
Harold Larwood
deployed aggressive bowling tactics to counter Australia's batting led by the legendary Don Bradman.
History is littered with stories from the contentious series, but one which is not perhaps as widely known as the others is about England batsman
Eddie Paynter
.
It was the fourth Test of the series, at the Gabba in Brisbane, when England batting line-up was in a bit of trouble in their first innings at 198/5.
At this point, Paynter was in a hospital, visiting there to get his tonsillitis looked at. But as soon as he heard the score on radio, the left-handed batter left the hospital on taxi to arrive at the ground in his pyjamas, according to the anecdote shared by ESPNcricinfo.
The resolute Paynter not just halted the fall of wickets but also reached stumps not out on 24. After the day's play ended, Paynter went back to the hospital for his treatment and returned to continue his innings the next day. He ended up scoring 83, which proved crucial in England taking a thin lead of 16 runs.
The visitors went on to win the match by six wickets and claimed the series 4-1.
English (US) ·