AN INVITATION THAT SHAPED MY LIFE

As I watched that remarkable third day of the Perth Test match, my mind slipped back to the summer of 1950-51. It was England’s second tour since the war, it was led by Freddy Brown, and I was at the age when youngsters are capable of absorbing lots of facts about things that captivate them.
I kept a scrapbook of the tour, which I still possess, I listened to the ABC broadcasts by Alan McGilvray,Vic Richardson and Johnny Moyes and I saw some of the games at the MCG.
What a glorious summer it was…..holidays on the beach at McCrae, swimming in the mornings and afternoons, tennis after tea at Min Ratcliffe’s and then those marvellous ice creams and milk shakes at the milk bar near the store.
And there was that amazing invitaton, out of the blue, to meet two of the English test team! The autographs came later but, apart from them, here is what appeared in our letter box one day in early February, 1951.......TO BE CONTINUED