Colin McCool with the Australian cricket team in England in 1948

Colin McCool was a member of Donald Bradman's famous Australian cricket team, which toured England in 1948. Bradman's men were undefeated in their 34 matches and this unprecedented feat by a Test side touring England earned them the sobriquet The Invincibles.
A frontline leg spinner and middle-order batsman, McCool was not prominent in the team's success. Although McCool started his Test career strongly, his form began to decline during the previous Australian season. After starting the tour in Bradman's first-choice team, a bloodied callus on his spinning finger troubled McCool. This prevented him from bowling for prolonged periods, and along with Ron Hamence, he was one of two squad members who did not play a Test on tour. Along with Doug Ring, the trio called themselves "ground staff" because of the paucity of their on-field duties in the major matches and they often sang ironic songs about their status.
During the tour, McCool took 57 first-class wickets at a bowling average of 17.82; he was the fifth most prolific wicket-taker and had the fourth best average among Australia's seven frontline bowlers. With England agreeing to have a new ball available after every 55 overs, more frequently than the old rule of replacing the ball after every 200 runs, fast bowling dominated over spin. As a result, McCool did not play in the Tests, but was used heavily in the tour matches so the leading pacemen could conserve their energy for the important matches. Outside the Tests, McCool had the fourth heaviest workload among the regular bowlers, although overall, he delivered the least overs because of his injured finger. McCool took five wickets in an innings three times, his best return being 7/78 against Cambridge University.
Although McCool also played as a frontline batsman during his career, his performances during the tour were far below his usual standards, scoring only 306 runs at a batting average of 20.40 with three half-centuries. However, he remained prominent with his fielding, taking 20 catches in 17 matches.
Background
Following the resumption of cricket after World War II, McCool had started his Test career strongly. After making his debut in a one-off Test against New Zealand in 1945-46, he played in all five Tests against England during the 1946-47 home season, scoring 272 runs at an average of 54.40 and taking 18 wickets at just over 27 apiece. ' said his batting featured "wristy cuts" and "vigorous hooks", adding that there were "few better players of spin bowling on a difficult pitch".
Early tour
Nevertheless, McCool gained selection as part of Australian team to tour England in 1948 under Donald Bradman. Australia had traditionally fielded its first-choice team in the opening match of the tour, which was customarily against Worcestershire.
McCool was rested for the second tour match against Leicestershire, which Australia won by an innings. McCool made three in the first innings as Australia replied to Yorkshire's 71 with 101. However, Australia lost no further batsmen and scraped home by four wickets. McCool's leg spin was used as Keith Miller and Bill Johnston bowled almost unchanged for the entire match.
McCool was rested as the Australians travelled to London to play Surrey at The Oval and won by an innings.
McCool was rested as Australia defeated Essex by an innings and 451 runs, its largest winning margin for the summer. He returned for the innings victory against Oxford University.
The next match was against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord's. The MCC fielded seven players who would represent England in the Tests, and were basically a full strength Test team, while Australia fielded their first-choice team. It was a chance to gain a psychological advantage, with Len Hutton, Denis Compton and Bill Edrich—three of England's top four batsmen—all playing. he had previously taken match-winning figures of 10/40 and 11/117 against Yorkshire and Hampshire respectively on rain-affected surfaces. In addition, McCool had been struggling with an injury on his spinning finger, and Bradman was worried McCool would not have the endurance required for a five-day Test, which was two days longer than a normal tour match. Johnston's inclusion at the expense of McCool was the only difference between the team for the First Test and those against Worcestershire and the MCC. Johnson, the only specialist spinner chosen, took 1/85. In the second match before the Second Test, against Yorkshire, McCool made only four and seven not out before Australia declared in their second innings. After not being bowled in the first innings, he took 2/33 in the last hour of the match as Yorkshire ended at 4/85 to secure a draw. McCool was overlooked for the Second Test at Lord's, where Australia fielded the same XI that had won the First Test by eight wickets. Bradman's men went on to complete a crushing win by 409 runs, and Johnson registered match figures of 3/75.
In the following match against Gloucestershire before the Third Test,
The match against Middlesex was the only fixture between the Tests. McCool toiled for 18 overs before snaring the last two wickets to end with 2/54 after the hosts had batted first. He made a duck as Australia scored 317 to take a 114-run lead. In the second innings, McCool took 3/54 including the wickets of John Dewes and Leslie Compton as the hosts lost 4/22 to be all out for 135. With only 22 runs needed for victory, Bradman let McCool and fellow leg spinner Doug Ring open the batting. The pair duly saw Australia home without losing a wicket, with McCool on seven.
McCool was again overlooked for the Fourth Test at Headingley, in which Australia posted 3/404 in the second innings to win by seven wickets, setting a world record for the highest successful run-chase in a Test. Immediately after the Headingley Test, McCool made 31—batting at No. 8—as Australia amassed 456 against Derbyshire. After taking 0/45 in the first innings, McCool bounced back as Australia enforced the follow on. A 100-run second wicket partnership by Arnold Townsend and Denis Smith took Derbyshire to 1/110. McCool removed Townsend for 46 and quickly dismissed the next two batsmen to leave Derbyshire at 4/116. He returned with the score at 5/163 and took three further wickets in close succession to dismiss the hosts for 182, sealing victory by an innings. McCool ended with 6/77 from 29 overs.
In the next match against Glamorgan, McCool neither batted nor bowled in a rain-affected draw that did not reach the second innings. In the following fixture against Warwickshire, McCool did not bowl in the first innings and scored 19, before taking 4/56 in the second innings, helping to set up a win by nine wickets. However, it was fellow leg spinner Ring and not McCool who was called in. Australia crushed England by an innings and 149 runs to take the series 4-0. He then took 2/13 as the hosts were skittled for 51. Forced to follow on, Kent were bowled out for 124 to lose by an innings, but not before attacking McCool and taking 42 runs from his five wicketless overs. He returned for the next match against Somerset. Promoted to fourth drop, McCool could only make six as Australia declared at 5/560. Somerset reached 2/63 in reply before McCool took four quick wickets amid their collapse to 7/68. McCool ended with 4/21 as the hosts folded for 115. Forced to follow on, Somerset reached 3/49 before McCool took four of the next five wickets as the hosts fell to 8/66, and eventually 71 all out, handing Australia victory by an innings and 374 runs. In the following match against the South of England, McCool batted at No. 8 and made five as Australia declared at 7/522. McCool toiled for 36 overs in taking 2/89 as the hosts were bowled out for 298 when rain caused the match to end in a draw.
Australia's biggest challenge in the post-Test tour matches was against the Leveson-Gower's XI. During the last tour in 1938, this team was effectively a full-strength England outfit, but this time Bradman insisted only six current England Test players be allowed to play. After the hosts had complied, Bradman selected a full-strength team, with the only difference from the Fifth Test team being Ring's omission for Johnson, so McCool was left out. After Australia had taken a 312-run first innings lead, the match ended in a draw after multiple rain delays.
The tour ended with two non-first-class matches against Scotland. In the first match, McCool came in with Australia 4/91 and put on 109 with Arthur Morris to consolidate the innings. When McCool was out for 52 and Morris for 109, the Australians collapsed and lost 6/36 to end with 236. McCool took 1/19 and 1/20 as Australia enforced the follow on and completed an innings victory. In the second match, McCool took 3/31 as the hosts made 178 after batting first. He opened the innings with the bat and made 108 in three hours, with 13 fours. Australia declared at 6/407 and McCool took 0/19 in seven overs as Australia wrapped up the tour with another innings victory.
Role
A frontline leg spinner and middle-order batsman, McCool was not prominent in the team's success. Although he had started his Test career strongly, McCool's form began to decline in the previous Australian season of 1947-48. In his first full Test season in 1946-47, which featured five Tests against England, McCool batted at No. 6 and scored 95 and 104 not out. He also took five wickets in an innings on two occasions. However, in the following season he made only 46 runs and took only three wickets in three Tests against India before being dropped. As a result, Bradman felt compelled to leave him out of the Test matches, feeling that his finger would not be able to handle the necessarily long bowling spells. This decision was aided by England and Australia's agreement to allow a new ball to be used every 55 overs, instead of the incumbent regulation of permitting a new ball for every 200 runs scored, which usually took longer than 55 overs. This meant the ball was in a shiny state more often, and therefore more conducive to fast and swing bowling, so Bradman relied heavily on his pacemen. For the rest of his career, McCool was troubled by the skin rubbing off his spinning finger. The cricket writer Alan Gibson, who knew McCool well in his later cricket career at Somerset, said the omission "distressed him greatly at the time, though he could be philosophical enough about it later".
McCool took 57 first-class wickets at 17.82; he was the fifth most prolific wicket-taker and had the fourth best average among Australia's seven frontline bowlers. McCool had the worst economy rate among the regular bowlers, but he took his wickets at a faster rate; his strike rate was second only to paceman Ray Lindwall. McCool remained prominent with his fielding, taking 20 catches in 17 matches.<ref name=fc/>

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