runs, and Voce again utilised a rain-affected pitch in the second Test with match figures of seven for 76, including three wickets in four balls. After taking seventeen wickets in the inaugural two Tests, Voce did not keep up his form in the last three due to a back problem. He still finished with 26 wickets to be the leading bowler for the series. 1937, however, was wiped out by a serious injury mid-season, and, even when fit again in the following two years, Voce was troubled by illness and had lost the venom of earlier in the decade. He failed to reach 100 wickets in either season, and joined the armed forces during World War II. Post-war career In 1946, at the age of thirty-seven, Voce played little cricket, but one excellent performance in a Test trial led him to be picked for his third tour of Australia for the 1946–47 Ashes series. Having arrived from a country that had had seven years of rationing Australia was a 'land flowing with milk and honey' and he soon put on two stone (28 lbs) in weight. Whilst his classic action remained, he had none of the venom of old, was overweight and medium-paced, and in a controversial umpiring decision Bradman was given not out after being caught for 28 off his bowling in the First Test. Voce failed to take a Test wicket on the tour and played his last Test match against Australia at Melbourne in 1947, soon after which he announced his retirement from cricket to become county coach. However, so weak was Nottinghamshire's bowling attack, that he played five more matches for them, the last as late as 1952. Voce played in twenty seven Tests, scoring 308 runs at an average of 13.39, and taking 98 wickets at an average of 27.88. Even though he toured Australia three times, he never played for England against Australia in England. Right up to his death in 1984 at the age of 74, Voce was reluctant to discuss the Bodyline series, though it is known that he privately considered Bodyline to be wrong. References Smith, Martin (editor). The Promise of Endless Summer (Cricket Lives from the Daily Telegraph). Aurum (2013). External links 1909 births 1984 deaths England Test cricketers English cricketers English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 Nottinghamshire cricketers Combined Services cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Players cricketers North v