the Dominions". According to Noble, his sportsmanship, including his grace and cheerfulness in defeat, made him a perfect English gentleman and an "Empire builder". After Australia won the first two Tests, Parkin, writing in England, once more criticised Gilligan's leadership in the press and provoked a minor controversy by suggesting that Jack Hobbs should assume the captaincy. The third Test was much closer, although England were severely hampered by injuries to three bowlers, including Gilligan himself. These injuries may have affected the outcome of the series. Australia won by the small margin of 11 runs, though Gilligan helped to take his team close to victory with a restrained innings of 31. England won the fourth Test, their first victory over Australia since the war but lost the final game. Critics judged that the team played well and did not suffer disgrace, despite the result. Gibson notes that the tour "was successful in everything but victory, and this was sensed by the English public, who assembled in large numbers to welcome the side home". In the Test series, Gilligan took 10 wickets at an average of 51.90 and scored 64 runs at 9.14. Gibson judges that most of his wickets were good batsmen, and many bowlers had poor figures in a series that produced a large number of runs, so this record is not as poor as it appears. In all first-class games on tour, Gilligan took 28 wickets at 38.39 and scored 357 runs at 17.85. He did not play in any more Tests. Political concerns The MCC tour took place against a background of social disturbance in Australia. There were concerns within Australian society over the growing influence of communism and, according to the historian Andrew Moore, some commentators hoped that the tour would help to ease tension. It was expected that Gilligan's influence and popularity would further assist this process. However, during the tour, the Commonwealth Investigative Branch were informed by the London authorities that Gilligan and the MCC tour manager Frederick Toone were members of the British Fascists. Although the organisation never achieved the same level of influence in Britain as the British Union of Fascists, which formed in 1932, the British Fascists were popular for a short time during the mid-1920s. The primary focus of the organisation was to oppose communism, but MI5 considered its threat serious enough to warrant placing leading members under surveillance. In