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Hammond's biographer Ronald Mason recreated the innings of 240 against Australia at Lord's in 1938. A friend of his, having an examination at hand, could find no excuse in the entire day to leave. He remembered "how Hammond flexed his shoulders in an experimental cover drive, and how for several overs he would over and again let slip one of his patent off drives and tingle the palms of cover or extra cover or mid off; how Bradman dropped a man back on the crowd's toes at deep extra cover or mid off and how Hammond off the back foot cracked good-length ball after good-length ball after good-length ball at this man in the deep, great reverberating drives that whistled and thrummed with the power of his wrists and shoulders, drives my friend remembers for their individual beauty and power after nearly a quarter of a century-then how as he came to certainty of timing and found at last his effective direction, one cover drive at last cracked through the ringed field out of all possible reach and was followed at once by others like it, until the off side seemed as full of holes as a colander and though the fielders never abated their energy and courage he seemed at the end able to place the ball, and place it at an intimidating speed, precisely where he chose."
Hammond scored 240 in six hours with 32 boundaries. His one chance split Chipperfield's finger. "It was a throne-room innings," declared Cardus. "He deserved better bowling."
(To be continued)
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