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Bradman's dismissal and right after Bowes antics of running up stopping and changing his field had an electric effect on the crowd. Someone could have dug bits out of the silence with a spoon that morning at the MCG. "It was then that I noticed Jardine, "narrated Bowes. "Jardine, the sphinx had forgotten himself for the only time in his cricketing life. In his sheer delight at this unexpected stroke of luck he clasped both his hands above his head and was jigging around like an Indian doing a war dance."
Gubby Allen called it "almost the most dramatic five minutes I remember."
Bradman recalled later that he had never spoken to Jardine throughout the series, nary a word through the four Tests that he played in the 5 Test series.
But Bradman made suitable amends in the second innings, scoring an unbeaten 103 out of 191. Australia levelled and if there was any stage during the 5 Tests when a disapproval of England's methods might have been seriously evaluated, it was now. The evenness of the series, however, placated the fears of the Australian Board and the matter was glossed over much to the disappointment of the players.
But not for long. Jardine's three dimensional attack had far outgrown the original fast leg-theory concept which had fathered it; the deliveries that were bumped to fly high above the wicket were directed mainly with the batsman's head and body as their prime target, complemented by 7 fielders on the leg side, 5 in the arc from short fine leg to short mid on.
Allied to the uneven bounce in the pitches the effect was devastating. (To be continued)
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