Their captain Don Bradman had publicly expressed his ambition of going through the tour without defeat, and Australia won 10 of their 12 lead-up matches, eight by an innings.

Only twenty minutes of play was possible before the lunch break on the first day due to inclement weather, but it was enough for Miller to bowl Hutton with a faster ball.

Johnson made 21 before being bowled by Laker, and Tallon took 39 minutes to compile 10 before hitting a return catch to the left arm orthodox spin of Young.

[7][9] Nevertheless, the English had the better of the late afternoon period, scoring 82 runs together in 70 minutes, including one 14-run over bowled by Miller where Hutton struck consecutive boundaries.

[6] Compton brought up his third consecutive century at Trent Bridge, aided by a 57-run partnership with his captain before Johnston held a return catch to dismiss Yardley for 22.

Miller bowled a fast bouncer at Compton, who moved into position to hook before changing his mind and attempting to evade the ball.

[6] Wisden opined that "No praise could be too high for the manner in which Compton carried the side's responsibilities and defied a first-class attack in such trying circumstances".

[6] Australia progressed steadily to 38 before Bedser bowled Morris for nine and then dismissed Bradman for a duck, again caught by Hutton at short fine leg.

[19] Bradman was on 89 and heading towards a century in his last Test innings at Lord's when he fell to Bedser again, this time because of a one-handed diving effort from Edrich at slip.

[10] Further showers breathed extra life into the pitch, and Lindwall and Johnston extracted steep bounce with the new ball, troubling the English batsmen.

A run out was narrowly avoided from the first ball, and Washbrook and Emmett appeared to be uncomfortable on a surface that offered early assistance to the bowlers.

Compton combined with the gloveman to add 75 runs for the seventh wicket in 70 minutes, before Lindwall removed Evans to leave England 216/7.

Bradman advised Lindwall not to bowl any bouncers at Edrich, fearing that it would be interpreted as retaliation and lead to a negative media and crowd reaction.

Yardley declared at the start of the fifth day, leaving Australia a victory target of 317, but the rain kept falling and the entire first session was lost.

[24] Young removed Johnson for six to leave Australia 10/1, but the tourists thereafter batted safely in a defensive manner to ensure a draw.

Toshack bowled Crapp for five and after Compton and Yardley added 26 for the sixth wicket, the former edged Lindwall and Saggers had his first Test catch to leave England at 473/6.

[32] If England were to remove the pair, they would expose Australia's lower order and give themselves an opportunity to win by taking substantial lead.

He was dismissed by Yardley for 58 attempting another six, when an edge bounced off Evans' head and was caught by a diving Edrich at short fine leg.

Harvey ended with a century on his Ashes debut, scoring 112 from 183 balls in an innings noted for powerful driving on both sides of the wicket.

Fifteen runs later, Yardley bowled Loxton for 93, while Saggers only managed five in his first Test innings before being stumped after being lured out of his crease by Laker.

Lindwall hit out, scoring 77, an innings marked by powerful driving and pulling,[37] dominating in stands of 48 and 55 with Johnston and Toshack respectively.

[12] Batting into the final day allowed Yardley to ask the groundsman to use a heavy roller, which would help to break up the wicket and make the surface more likely to spin.

Australia had only 345 minutes to reach the target, and the local press wrote them off, predicting that they would be dismissed by lunchtime on a deteriorating wicket expected to favor the spin bowlers.

Morris promptly joined Bradman in the counter-attack, hitting three consecutive fours off Len Hutton's bowling as Australia reached lunch at 121/1.

[30] Upon resumption, Morris severely attacked Compton, who had been bowling in an attempt to exploit the spin, aided by a series of full tosses and long hops that were easily dispatched for runs.

Australia had won by seven wickets, setting a new world record for the highest successful Test run-chase, with Bradman unbeaten on 173 in only 255 minutes with 29 fours.

[13] Lindwall dismissed Compton after Morris had taken a diving catch,[43] and Miller then removed Crapp without scoring after a 23-ball innings, leaving England at 23/4.

[13] The innings ended at 52 when Hutton leg glanced and was caught by wicket-keeper Tallon, who grasped the ball one-handed at full stretch to his left.

Edrich joined Hutton and the pair consolidated the innings to close at the end of the second day on 54/1 due to bad light.

Only ten runs were added, with Hollies being removed for a golden duck, skying a ball to Morris, immediately after Yardley was the ninth man to fall.