Cricket in the '50s: Discovering New Boundaries

The decade of the 1950s in Australian cricket takes us from the end of the Bradman Era' through to the beginning of the Benaud Era'. The game went through many trials and tribulations, there were issues of captaincy, losses in three consecutive Ashes campaigns, allegations of doctored' pitches, controversy over illegal bowling actions and the advent of television coverage. The 1950s was the decade where Australia ventured beyond its traditional boundaries, for the first time making visits to the West Indies (1955) then India & Pakistan (1956 and 1959/60). By the end of the decade, Australia had played official matches in every corner of the cricket world. In an era when players were also expected to hold down full time employment, Australia made eight overseas tours!New heroes emerged; Harvey, Benaud, Davidson, Simpson, Sobers and Trueman would soon become household names as cricket strove to maintain its popularity as the King' of summer games in Australia.