Life of Hedley Verity, who died 70 years ago this week, puts talk of Ashes 'battles' in perspective

There has already been talk of "campaigns" and "battles" during the ongoing Ashes series.

And even the often sober Sydney Morning Herald referred to Australia's 347-run defeat by England in the second test at Lord's just over a week ago as a "slaughter".

Well, to borrow the words of German tennis great Boris Becker, after the then two-time defending champion's shock defeat by Australian journeyman Peter Doohan at Wimbledon in 1987, "nobody died" as a result of the tourists falling 2-0 behind with three to play against Ashes-holders England.

Yet, after last week's play at Lord's, Graeme Swann proved it was possible to have a sense of perspective without having seen active service when he paid tribute to a fellow England spinner of an earlier generation.

"Yesterday [Friday, July 19] was the 70th anniversary of Hedley Verity's mortal wounding in WWII. We forget how easy life is for us due to men like him -heroes," tweeted Swann, only the second England spinner since Verity to take five wickets in an Ashes test at Lord's.

Last Wednesday marked the 70th anniversary of Yorkshire left-arm spinner Verity's death, aged 38, after being hit by enemy fire and shrapnel while serving as a British Army captain during a second world war battle in Sicily in 1943 where, despite his injuries, he implored his troops to "keep going".

Verity, born in the Headingley district of Leeds that gives Yorkshire's headquarters its name, enjoyed a remarkable cricket career. He took 1,956 first-class wickets at an average of 14.90 as Yorkshire won seven County Championship titles in the 1930s. His haul saw him take all 10 Nottinghamshire innings wickets for just 10 runs, to this day a record, in a match in 1932. His test record was scarcely less impressive, with Verity taking 144 wickets in 40 matches at 24.37.