The Ashes: When Fred Trueman refused to run around the boat – England’s last trip by sea

Following the launch, the question arose of how to fill the days at sea.

“In my case, you eat,” says Larter. “Honestly, I have never experienced such a sustained and amazing eating spell before or since.

“The referees loved us. They would bring these great carts full of great food and they knew we would eat them.”

With plenty of food and the Ashes series to prepare for, the players needed to stay fit.

“We’d do a training session in the morning, then the badminton courts would be set up for us. We’d push weights, jump up and down and do things like that,” says Larter.

The British administration wanted to take things one step further.

Luckily, Dexter found British athlete Gordon Pirie was on board. Pirie won the 5,000 meters silver medal at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne.

“He was invited to organize us,” says Larter. “He showed up in his shorts and decided the best exercise was to run around the boat.

“It’s a pretty long way around one of those big boats, but I did as I was told.”

Not everyone in the touring band was as well-adjusted as Larter. Never one to shy away from speaking his mind, Trueman bowled more than 1,100 overs during the English summer.

“Fred voiced an opinion that meant he wasn’t messing around at all,” says Larter. “That’s not what we did to stay fit. We played cricket to stay fit.

“Fred said he had been through all those extremes throughout the season and that he wasn’t going to run around a boat for anyone. The Gordon Pirie thing ended after that.”

For Larter, the trip was not only his first tour of England, but also his first time out of the country. He mingled with wealthy travelers on the upper deck, and encountered Poms migrating to a new life below.

“We found that the biggest reception was downstairs,” he says. “There were people migrating or moving for all kinds of reasons. Most of them were young and trying to start new lives. It was interesting to meet them. There were more than a few decent bars and you could have a quiet beer.”

The journey was not a direct passage to Perth. Remarkably, England prepared for their tour of Australia by skipping over to Sri Lanka to play a match in Colombo.

“We went out on the field and Ted Dexter said I would open the bowling,” says Larter.

“I determined to run, I ran and fell flat on my face. A real mess. I picked myself up, turned around, went back in and did the same thing.”

“I lost my land legs. They weren’t going where I wanted because I was on the boat.

“Ted came up to me and said, ‘What’s the problem?’ he said. So I said it didn’t work! He took me. Barry Knight had to finish the job all over again.

“The British Army hosted and looked after us. They threw a big barbecue for us on the beach. How do you get from a small town in Suffolk to that? On the Sri Lankan coast with such lovely people. Just being there was an eye-opener.”