Cricket: Australian Invincibles had more fun

Bradman's 1948 Invincibles played on dodgier wickets than today's Australian cricketers, without the benefit of helmets, shorter boundaries or high-tech bats.

They also had more fun.

And the clincher? They were a better side.

That is the view of at least a couple of the six remaining Invincibles, who hope to return to England to watch the Lord's test next month more than half-a-century after their unbeaten 1948 tour.

"I still think we were better," said left-handed batsman Neil Harvey, who is on record as saying the all-conquering sides of the Steve Waugh-Ricky Ponting era aren't even as good as Ian Chappell's team of the 1970s or Richie Benaud's'58 side, let alone the 1948 team.

Harvey said modern bats were "10 times better" than the ones he used, and it made him "sick to the stomach" to see boundary ropes 30m in from the fence at the MCG.

Asked whether modern players had as much fun as his generation, he replied: "How can you when you're abusing each other? There was no such thing as a sledge in our day."

Harvey's Invincibles teammate, all-rounder Sam Loxton, added: "These are professionals, we were amateurs.

"Neil Harvey was on leave without pay from the Melbourne City Council electricity supply on five shillings a week.

"I was a bank clerk on leave without pay.

"It's a different game altogether.

"We readily admit this is a wonderful team. But if you would like to compare them individually [with the 1948 side] they would have the job ahead of them."

Harvey and Loxton appeared at a media conference in Sydney yesterday with 1948 team-mates Bill Johnston and Bill Brown ahead of a fund-raising dinner.

They are not alone in their views on the merits of Bradman's great team, for when Australia's cricketing sages picked their 20th-century Dream Team five years ago, Invincibles filled half the side while there was room for only one present player - Shane Warne.

"We were devoid of mobile telephones, so I don't know if he would have fitted in," Loxton quipped yesterday.

The Invincibles might rate their side higher, but they have little doubt Ricky Ponting's team will continue Australia's dominance in the upcoming Ashes series.

"England are supposedly on the way up, and Australia may be a little bit on the way down," Harvey said. "But in my judgment Australia will win at least 4-1."