THERE HAVE been some bloodthirsty battles in southern Essex. In 1016AD a mighty scrap took place at Ashingdon, near Rochford, in which King Canute emerged victorious over Edmund Ironside. And at Maldon in 991 the Vikings had given Byrhtnoth's Saxons a hammering. But neither was the biggest massacre in the area. That came in 1948AD, when the invading King Bradman's Antipodeans came to Southend and made very short and messy work of Tom Pearce's local tribe.

It is still easy enough to find locals who were at Southchurch Park that May 15. Not too many recall it with any fondness, though. How many is enough runs in a day for a spectator? How many is too many? Certainly 721 by the opposition is. Even Keith Miller, the great Australian all-rounder, found the non-contest a bore. He let himself be bowled first ball, turned to the wicket-keeper and said `Thank God that's over.'

 Bradman's team was a quite a draw, and the 32,000 spectators on the game's two days made a record of their own. And yet Jack Fingleton wrote that `the afternoon sun was not long on its downward path before boundaries were being received in complete silence'.

Openers Bill Brown and Sid Barnes put on 145 in 95 minutes. Bradman batted for two hours for 187, his highest score of the tour, which included 32 of the day's 87 boundaries: he added 219 in 95 minutes with Brown. Then, to cap it all, Sam Loxton and reserve keeper Ron Saggers put on 166 in 65 minutes for the sixth wicket.

The weather was good and the pitch true and fast. Essex's bowling was accommodating – it lacked penetration and sent down 129 overs in 348 minutes. Trevor Bailey had come down from Cambridge in the same coach as the tourists, but might have regretted it: apart from the 128 runs he conceded in 21 overs, he broke a finger on his left hand early on. Perhaps Miller was feeling sorry for his travelling companion – it was a Bailey delivery which he let go. Later contests between this pair would become a little more serious. The humiliation hardened Bailey's attitude. He realised he would never be a genuinely fast bowler in the highest company and would sometimes have to fall back on a steady line and a defensive field.

Don's day: Bradman faces Peter Smith at Southend

 Miller felt that lesser lights should have been given a game. Bradman, though, recognised after this that his team was a very special combination. For the first time, he saw that his farewell tour had the potential to be a real triumph.

Sceptics back in Australia suggested the ground was small. Bradman rightly felt it was average size, although the straight boundaries are closer than those on the side. Australians still, seem to relish Southchurch Park. Just last summer I watched Stuart Law savage a demoralised Derbyshire attack there. His 157 followed 125 the previous season, and Mark Waugh's magnificent 173 on the same ground in 1995.

Back in 1948, ten-man Essex (depleted by Bailey's injury) were dismissed for 83 and 187. They were only 451 runs short of making the tourists bat again.

 Bailey was able to claim some kind of revenge 16 years later, when he led his beloved county to a six-wicket win over Bobby Simpson's Australians at Southend. It was only Essex's second victory over the Aussies, and they will have to wait at least until 2001 for their next one. The basis for the win was a brilliant first-day batting display. They didn't quite get 721, but the crowd never tired of cheering the boundaries as Essex raced to 425 for 6 by the close.

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