Editing Ted Dexter (section)

==Tour of Australia and New Zealand 1962–63==

<blockquote>
''After his thunderous Melbourne display Dexter was a magnet; the first thing people wanted to know about a team selection was: "Is Dexter playing?"...Batting against [[Southern Redbacks|South Australia]], he lifted the ball onto the high roof of the [[Adelaide Oval|members stand]] – a tremendous hit. Some of his drives along the ground just could not be stopped, even when they went straight to a fieldsman.''
:Tom Goodman<ref>Moyes and Goodman, p. 169</ref>
</blockquote>
{{Main|English cricket team in Australia in 1962–63}}
He made 481 runs (48.10), the most runs by an England captain in Australia, and this remains a record. The team manager was [[Bernard Fitzalan-Howard, 16th Duke of Norfolk]], [[Knight of the Garter|KG]], [[GCVO]], [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|PC]], [[Earl Marshal]] and [[Chief Butler of England]], and it was joked that "Lord Ted" could only be controlled by a duke. In fact, the Duke was the President of [[Sussex County Cricket Club]], had been instrumental in Dexter's appointment as county captain, shared his interests in [[horse racing]] and [[golf]] and was very popular with the Australian public. In the tour match between the [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] (MCC) and an Australian XI Dexter hit 102 in 110 minutes, including 2 sixes and 13 fours. John Woodcock  of ''The Times'' wrote "I doubt if it is possible to hit a cricket ball any harder than Dexter did today. Melbourne is a huge ground and no one who hits a six here is likely to forget it. Against Veivers, an off-spinner, Dexter twice cleared the sight screen, once by a good 20 yards."<ref>Woodcock, John (10 November 1962) ''The Times''.</ref> At the [[Adelaide Oval]] Dexter included "a six from a gigantic hit onto the roof of the stand – one of the biggest hits ever seen at the ground."<ref>Moyes and Goodman, p. 75</ref> He was the main draw in the England team and over a million spectators came to see the tourists, the most since [[English cricket team in Australia in 1936–37|1936–37]]. The tour returned a record profit for the [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] (MCC) of [[English pound|£24,000]], beating the [[English pound|£17,000]] of [[English cricket team in Australia in 1946–47|1946–47]].<ref>Swanton, pp. 129–130</ref> Dexter continued his good run of form to equal [[Patsy Hendren]]'s England record of six consecutive Test 50s (85 and 172 against Pakistan and 70, 99, 93 and 52 against Australia), which he soon shared with [[Ken Barrington]] and more recently [[Alastair Cook]]. His powerful innings enlivened the First and Second Tests and gave England a 1–0 lead in the series. Australia came back to win the Third Test at [[Sydney Cricket Ground|Sydney]], where Dexter had preferred to keep his [[fast bowling]] attack from the Second Test even when [[Fred Trueman]] volunteered to stand down in favour of a second spinner to [[Fred Titmus]]. In the end the unsupported Titmus took 7/79 in the first innings and Australia won by 8 wickets, [[E. W. Swanton]] and others thought that if either [[David Allen (cricketer)|David Allen]] or [[Ray Illingworth]] had been in the team England would have won [[the Ashes]]. Even so, the match might have been saved if Dexter had not conceded 27 runs off 26 balls so that the teams would not have to return the next day to finish the game. The last few overs were played in the rain and it rained for most of the fifth day, so England might have won [[the Ashes]]. Dexter's negative field placings and lack of urgency failed to regain [[the Ashes]] and the painful draws in the Fourth and Fifth Tests particularly spoilt the atmosphere, as [[Richie Benaud]] was determined to hold onto [[the Ashes]] and Dexter was content to draw a series in Australia. In mitigation the Adelaide pitch was flat as a pancake. The Sydney ground was so saturated in the days before the match that mowing was impossible before the start. The "square" was like one large bunker and the outfield like a meadow. Barely a ball reached the boundary. Benaud was an advocate of "go ahead" captaincy and Dexter for "brighting up" cricket and their reputations were unfairly tarnished.<ref>Trueman, pp. 281–282</ref><ref>Moyes and Goodman, pp. 101–102</ref><ref>Swanton, pp. 124–125</ref><ref>Titmus, pp. 102–103</ref>