party. It required courage to drop himself at Sydney. It would have been far more judicious act of courage to have refused the captaincy of the touring side to Australia when it was first offered to him. Frank Tyson The great shock of the Fourth Test was that Mike Denness became the first Test captain to drop himself for poor form. Percy Chapman had dropped himself for the Fifth Test in 1928–29 because of flu and Wally Hammond in 1946–47 due to fibrositis, but in both these cases the series had already been decided. England could still win the series by winning the last three Tests, or hold onto the Ashes by winning two and drawing the other. Denness had made only 65 runs (10.83) so far in the series and was desperately out of form, but his replacement Keith Fletcher was hardly a better bet with 45 runs (11.25) and had been dropped for the Third Test. The vice-captain John Edrich was put in charge, an old pro who had captained Surrey since 1973, but was unlikely to fire up the team or take any chances. Geoff Arnold replaced the injured Mike Hendrick, but Chris Old was made twelfth man and England went into the match with just two fast bowlers on a lively green wicket that made Frank Tyson "worry about the safety of the English batsmen". Australia made a change to their line up with the opener Wally Edwards being dropped after making 68 runs (11.33) in the first three Tests. He was replaced by the tall, athletic Rick McCosker who had made four consecutive first class centuries that season and 52 and 56 for NSW against the tourists. Unfortunately, this left Australia with only one opening batsman and McCosker was sent in with Ian Redpath on his debut, though admittedly on his home ground. Ian Chappell won the toss for the fourth time in a row (Edrich called heads, while Denness had always called tails) and chose to bat regardless of the help the wicket was due to give the bowlers. Australia – First Innings Whether or not Walter's misfortune put The Hill in bad way I can't say, but what with the beer and the overcrowding and the heat the denizens thereof had one of their noisiest, most refractory days. E.W. Swanton The first ball was a leg bye to bring Rick McCosker on strike