Christmas dinner during the 1950-51 tour. Denis Compton, Arthur McIntyre, Eric Hollies, captain Freddie Brown (standing) , Bob Berry, Cyril Washbrook and Reggie Simpson.
Brown, Hollies, Berry (and Brian Close) sailed home while the rest flew back.
by Mayukh Ghosh
On September 14th 1950, the English squad sailed from Tilbury. P&O Stratheden, built in 1937 and used in the Second World War for the British Government, carried the team till Freemantle. They arrived there on November 9th and travelled to the Palace Hotel in Perth.
This was routine stuff. But then things changed.
They became the first touring team to undertake all travels within Australia by air.
It was estimated that it did shorten the length of the tour by roughly two weeks.
This was not welcomed by everyone. Freddie Brown, the captain of the England team, was not very happy with this development.
“I have nothing against flying. But a team might suffer from strain if it has to do too much. Many people take forty-eight hours to get over the effects of a long flight.”
Eric Hollies was reluctant to travel by air. Freddie Brown allowed him to travel terrestrially with scorer Bill Ferguson.
Brian Close, Bob Berry and Eric Hollies sailed home on board SS Strathaird from Melbourne before the rest of the team flew to New Zealand for the second leg of the tour.
Once they were done playing the matches in New Zealand, others, barring Brown, flew home by Pan Am and BOAC via Honolulu and San Francisco.
Brown picked up the SS Orontes bound for Marseille, toured Europe, and then returned home in May 1951.