Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

provided by

This black-and-white clip presents cricket as an important part of Australian life in the early 1930s. Sequences include a toddler with a miniature cricket set, a group of boys playing a street game and the Australian test team in action. The accompanying narration describes the way cricket is important throughout childhood, starting from infancy. Bill Woodfull, the 1931 Australian Test captain, accompanied by six members of the 1931 Australian Test team, speaks directly to the camera, explaining their intention to share the skills of the game in the film.

Educational value points

• The language of the narration in this clip presents the game of cricket as an important element in Australian identity and the national character. A cricket loss is ‘almost as serious as a national calamity’ and Australian children’s love of cricket ‘seems to be an inherent quality’. Cricket captain Bill Woodfull (1897–1965) is introduced as a ‘national figure’ and refers to the future generation of cricketers who will have to ‘uphold Australia’s honour’ on the cricket pitch.

• This is an early example of sports promotion in which Test captain Bill Woodfull and six members of the successful Australian team are featured as sports ‘stars’. The novelty of such promotion is reflected in the high degree of formality and awkwardness that surrounds the appearance of the players for the camera and in the spoken message by Woodfull, who seems to be enunciating carefully and speaking lines memorised from a script.

• The clip contrasts the inner-city cricket game with the Australian team in a way that suggests that the boys may be able to rise above their circumstances through sport, but success is seen here in terms of manners, language and class. The boys’ rough vernacular is an amusing contrast with the stilted formality of the members of the Australian team. Their poor clothing and argumentative manner also contrasts with the well-dressed ‘gentlemanly’ demeanour of the team.

• Bill Woodfull and his teammates seen here played in one of the most successful cricket sides in Australia’s Test history. The batting exploits of the young Don Bradman (1908–2001) and the regaining of the Ashes the previous year had lifted the nation’s spirits during a period of economic depression. Records were set that remain unbeaten. Woodfull, captain from 1930 to 1934, became known for his dignified conduct and leadership during the Bodyline series of 1932–33.

• Director Ken Hall (1901–94) uses a combination of mildly humorous narration, staged sequences, documentary footage and direct statement to camera to create variety and engage viewers. The alley game sequence reveals Hall’s skill in using a staged scene with a group of boys in a poor inner-city setting to add action, humour and a sense of realism.

• Both the visuals and spoken commentary in this clip allude to ‘Australians’ as being of the male gender, most evident in the narrator’s introduction of the young boy to represent ‘every Australian’. While the lack of women in the clip is understandable at a time when cricket was seen as a male domain, this use of ‘Australian’ as ‘male’ is evidence of the way language hid or subordinated the role of women.