Unforgettable memories of test cricket....!

Test cricket in all of its 130 year history has produced some fantastic cricketers, exceptional athletes, outstanding performances, mouth watering contests and immortal moments overall. Of course it is almost impossible to select a set of moments which is acceptable to everyone as the greatest in the history of the game. But I stick my neck out and embark on a venture back in time through the annals of the great game to select what I believe are the events, matches and moments that have shaped the game's glorious history. This involves players, achievements, matches, many a memorable series and so on..I shall come up with eleven such choices (surely the number is not a coincidence!)..I might definitely have missed some great ones in the course of this all too difficult endeavor but maybe you can fill them in..!

Photo below: The Ashes urn



1. The Ashes (1882)--> What started as a satirical journalistic criticism of England's inept performance against a not too strong Australian team in 1882 has gone on to become the most talked about and legendary contest between the two teams. It has produced innumerable classic moments not to mention some everlasting memories of great players. The Ashes urn is still the most famous trophy in the game and widely respected. Some glorious moments and players in the 120+ year history of the Ashes include the legendary pre war English pairing of Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe, the greatest batsman of all Don Bradman, Wally Hammond's legendary exploits, Douglas Jardine's unforgettable Bodyline series, Len Hutton's masterpiece at the Oval, Bradman's 'Invincibles' laying siege to England, Fred Truman and Frank Tyson terrorizing the Aussies, Jim Laker's 19/90 including the first all 10 wicket haul in a single innings, Lillee and Thomson destroying England, Botham's Ashes of 1981, Australia's dominance for 16 years, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath combining to pulverize England, the most memorable Ashes 2005, the whitewash in 2006...

Photos below:

Left- Sir Jack Hobbs- one of England's greatest pre war batsmen.

Right- Len Hutton, who scored 364 against Australia in 1938.






2. Birth of the Don (1908)--> In every sport there come along players who during their day and much after leave behind such an impact that they always seem larger than life and the game. Pele and Maradona in football, Micheal Jordan in basketball, Michael Schumacher in F-1 are examples. Don Bradman is one such player who has made everyone else look puny in cricket. He was born in 1908 in Cootamundra, Australia. His achievements and statistics are mind boggling to say the least. His unparalleled and never to be matched average of 99.94 is still the most famous and well known statistic in the game. 29 centuries in just 52 games with twelve 200+ scores and two triple centuries demonstrate his genius and insatiable appetite for runs. The very fact that England had to resort to the most controversial tactic of Bodyline to try and restrict this one man shows how he played on opposition minds. He captained a legendary team known as the 'Invincibles' in 1948 which toyed with a very good England team..The Don continues to be the name that pops up first when cricket and batting in particular is discussed as he set many a mark that are unlikely to be emulated ever...

Photos below: Sir Donald Bradman- The greatest batsman ever





3. Bodyline series (1932-33)-->England had suffered many a bout of 'Bradman bashing' in the preceding years, nothing more than in 1929 when he scored 974 runs in the series, still a record. Douglas Jardine, England's captain, who incidentally was born in Bombay, decided that playing the normal way would only get them butchered further. He devised a tactic known as 'leg theory' or colloquially as 'Bodyline'. This involved getting his fast bowlers to bowl from around the wicket on the body of the batsman whilst having upto 7 men catching on the leg side close to the batsman. The batsman either had to play the ball and risk getting caught or be ready to take the hit on the body which was not a very good idea considering that Jardine had at his disposal one of the fastest bowlers around in Harold Larwood. Larwood predominantly and his partner Bill Voce terrorized the Australians with some deadly attack on the body. Despite some heroic efforts from Stan McCabe, who made a glorious 187 at Sydney, the Aussies were routed 4-1. Bradman was kept down to an average of 56. But during the course of the series, there were numerous injuries which were very serious and threatened to disrupt the game. Bill Woodful, the Aussie captain remarked rather famously after being hit on the head. "There are two teams playing out there, Only one is playing cricket!". Bert Oldfield was struck on the chest and many more such injuries left a bad taste. Douglas Jardine, much to the annoyance of players and people said " I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to win the Ashes". After a lot of discussions and meetings, the tactics were banned and it was decided that there would be no repeat. The series still remains fresh in people's minds after many years for all the drama, the passion and not to mention the controversy surrounding the very theory of 'Bodyline'.

Photos below:

Left: Douglas Jardine, the controversial captain who devised Bodyline tactic.

Right: Bill Woodful, the Australian captain hit by Larwood.






4. The greatest test series ever (1960)--> By 1960 , Australia under Richie Benaud was a very formidable team and possessed some of the greatest players in Alan Davidson, Norman o'Neill and they played host to Frank Worrell's West Indian team. The West Indies till then had been on and off and occasionally produced some exceptional talents who could single handedly win games. Worrell, Walcott and Weekes or the three W's as they were known were world class players and in Garry Sobers, they had the man who would go on to become the game's finest all rounder. Their bowling, led by the fearsome Wes Hall made them extremely dangerous opponents.
Sobers initially in the tour games seemed to struggle against spin and people started thinking that the series was easy for the Aussies. The first test began at the Gabba in Brisbane and this would go on to become the greatest test ever. West Indies made 454 on the back of a glorious 132 from Sobers. Australia not to be intimidated replied with a monstrous 505. The Windies folded up for 284 leaving the Aussies to score 234, a seemingly easy task. But they collapsed in the wake of some hostile fast bowling by Wes Hall and Benaud and Davidson spared the blushes by putting on a century stand. Wickets fell regularly and at the end, in a dramatic last over bowled by Hall, there was a wicket, a drop catch and a quite remarkable run out effected by the brilliant Joe Solomon to seal a tie. This was the first ever tie in the history of the game and took its place rightfully as the finest test. Greater things were to follow. The Aussies won the next test in Melbourne and the Windies leveled at 1-1 in Sydney. The Aussie last pair held on for almost a full session to help them survive the next test at Adelaide and in the final test, the Aussies squeezed home by 2 wickets in another thriller. Thus concluded the greatest test series ending 2-1 in favor of Australia, but the real winner was cricket and this was definitely a shot in the arm for the game.

Photos below:

Left: Sir Frank Worrell, the legendary WI captain after whom the WI-Australia trophy is named.

Centre: Image of the run out that resulted in the tied test.

Right: Sir Garfield Sobers: The greatest all rounder to grace the game.








5. South Africa's ban (1969-70)-->According to many, the South African team of the late 1960's could have easily gone on to become the greatest of all time but for the country's policies. They had amongst other stars, the brilliant Barry Richards who made batting ridiculously simple, the divine southpaw Graeme Pollock, the wonderful allrounder Mike Procter, Eddie Barlow and their captain Ali Bacher. They had just thrashed a very good Aussie team led by Bill Lawry 4-0 and just before they were duee to play England, the selection of one man Basil D'Oiviera (he was colored) for England led to a very big racist controversy and South Africa made a big hue and cry about this leading to the tour being scrapped and the South Africans being banned from cricket. Numerous greats lost their chance to play the game and had to seek a chance to play in leagues and rebel tours. What might have been the truly glorious phase of South African cricket had been nipped in the bud.

Photos below: Members of the unfortunate SA team

Left-The sublime and immensely talented Barry Richards

Centre- The elegant southpaw Graeme Pollock

Right- Wonderful all rounder Mike Procter









6. The glorious 70's-->The 1970's according to me and a lot more people was probably the most interesting decade of cricket. Many legends came to their own in these years and quite a few extraordinary performances were witnessed. India's conquest of England and the West Indies was a great beginning to the decade. India, under Ajit Wadekar, never quite dreamt of being able to compete, let along defeat the English and the West Indians in their own backyard. Aided by the legendary Bhagwat Chandrasekar's 6/38 at the Oval, India pulled off a remarkable win. In the West Indies series, a young man by name Sunil Gavaskar made his debut and left an indelible mark on the game. He scored an astonishing 774 runs at an astounding average of 154.8 and announced his arrival. India won at Port of Spain and this was truly a big boost for Indian cricket.


Photos below: Two legends of Indian cricket

Left: The technically perfect Sunil Gavaskar

Right: The great allrounder Kapil Dev






The 1970's also marked the debut of the Master Blaster Viv Richards and the great opener Gordon Greenidge at Bangalore in 1974. Also, other greats who made their entry were Ian Botham, Imran Khan, Richard Hadlee, Malcolm Marshall and a galaxy of stars which is what makes the 1970's the most exhilarating.

Photos below: The Aussie pace legends

Left: The complete fast bowler-Dennis Lillee

Right:The quickest-Jeff Thomson






The mighty Australians led first by Ian and then Greg Chappell dominated world cricket in the early to mid 70's. They had at their disposal two outstanding quicks in Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson. They destroyed England in 1974 and also wreaked havoc on the West Indies in 1975 when they triumphed 5-1. West Indies also lost to India in 1976 and then realized that spin was not the way to go. Clive Lloyd assembled a pace battery which has never been rivaled in the game's history.

Photos below: The great West Indians

Left: The scourge of bowlers the world over- Viv Richards

Right: 'Whispering death'- smooth n deadly Michael Holding against England 1976







The West Indies, especially Viv Richards and Michael Holding who was rightly known as 'Whispering Death' were rather incensed by a couple of comments of the English captain Tony Greig's comments which had a racist touch and they took it upon themselves to destroy England. Richards batted fantastically for 829 runs in the series and set a then record for the record number of runs in a calendar year. But the series will br remembered for Michael Holding's chilling hostility and deadly bowling which left England's players running for cover. His 14/147 on an Oval featherbed (Windies made 687 on that track) mus go down as one of the greatest fast bowling performances in history.

Photos below:

Left: Dennis Lillee appeals in the Centenary test at the MCG in 1977

Right: Kerry Packer, the man who changed cricket.






The centenary test was played the the MCG to commemorate test cricket's 100th anniversary. In a fantastic test remembered for Dennis Lillee's bowling, the five fours hit off Tony Greig hit by the fearless debutant David Hookes and Derek Randall's fighting 174, the match finished by the exactly same margin as 100 years earlier- victory by 45 runs to Australia.

The media tycoon Kerry Packer revolutionized the game by luring most of the greats to play a breakaway league after he was not given rights to telecast the cricket in Australia. Finally, the issue was settled and cricket resumed normally with players back to their countries. This had left quite a few teams totally weakened for 3 years though. The 1970's set the tone for another great decade of cricket.

7. Botham's Ashes (1981)-->Australia arrived in England in 1981 a much stronger outfit than the one England had walloped in 1980. Australia had most players back from the Packer years and were a very formidable unit. They took the lead in the first test and England managed to hold on to draw the 2nd test at Lords. Ian Botham, never the man who was inclined to captaincy resigned after an inglorious pair in the 2nd test. Mike Brearley, who many regard as the finest man manager and shrewdest cricket brain was recalled from retirement to captain his team. The return didn't begin well. The Aussies made 401 and bowled England out for 174 and enforced the follow on. Ian Botham had made 50 in the first innings. After following on, Botham was left standing alone when at 135/7, it seemed all over for England. Graham DIlley joined Botham and started playing a few shots and this seemed to fuel Botham and he proceeded to play one of the finest counter attacking innings under pressure. He had made a superb 149 n.o when the innings ended. The Aussies were set 130 to win and it seemed rather too low a target. Botham picked up the first wicket and after that, Bob Willis bowled the spell of his life picking up 8/43 and in quite remarkable circumstances bowled out Australia for 111. England had won after following on and this ahd turned the Ashes on its head. Botham's confidence was back and the morale of the Aussies was down. Yet, they were in a position to win the next test when they required about 30 runs with 5 wickets in hand when Ian Botham bowled a great spell grabbing 5/1 and snuffed out all the hopes of Australia. He then played a blinder at Old Trafford scoring 118 and starred in another win. The Ashes had been won from a near impossible situation and he was the toast of the nation. Not for nothing is this known as Botham's Ashes.

Photos below: Ashes 1981 heroes

Left: Ian Botham after his heroics at Headingley

Right: Bob Willis enroute to his 8/43.






8. The West Indian hegemony (1980's)--> By the mid-late 70's the West Indian's had discovered a pace battery that could terrorize rival teams and only the Packer drama came in between and slowed the onset of their dominance of world cricket. In the 1980's they were virtually unstoppable and destroyed anybody who played them. None more so than the hapless Englishmen in 1984 and 1985. They were blanked 5-0 both in England and in the West Indies. The highlights of these series were Greenidge's glorious double hundreds in England, West Indies chasing down 340 as if it were a stroll, Malcolm Marshall bowling with a fractured hand and annihilating England with 7/53, Viv Richards lashing England in an audacious display of batting to score the fastest hundred ever in tests at his home ground. The only real resistance the Windies had was from Pakistan who drew three test series 1-1 against them. Pakistan were also playing brilliant cricket and thrashed India and Australia in the early 1980's and they were led by the charismatic Imran Khan. The West Indies though had a steady supply of great fast bowlers including Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh who led their attack well into the next decade.


Photos below:

Left: Gordon Greenidge- one of the finest openers

Right: Malcolm Marshall-arguably the greatest fast bowler ever

Centre: Imran Khan, the dashing and charismatic Pakistani captain







9.Lara, Sachin, Warne and a change of guard at the top (1990's)--> By the 1990's, the game had become quite fast. The influence of ODI cricket was seen in the pace of the game and the athletic saves on the field. The 1990's also saw the rise of three of the greatest players of all time. Brian Charles Lara of Trinidad and Tobago and the West Indies rose to prominence with a sublime 277 at Sydney. This was followed by a glorious run in 1994 when he made the record score of 375 eclipsing the 365* set by Sir Garry Sobers in 1958. He then scored 7 hundreds in 8 innings in first class cricket and a mammoth 501* for Warwickshire against Durham which is till the highest first class score. He had his fair share of ups and downs in the following years but rose when it mattered the most. In 1999, after capitulating 0-5 to South Africa and being bowled out for 51 against Steve Waugh's marauding Aussies, he proceeded to score 213 to win the next test at Kingston. Then, in an immortal display, he shepherded the tail including the notoriously inept Walsh, scoring a classic 153* and chasing down 308. He also played a glittering knock in the next test scoring a 100 off just 84 balls and had single handedly ensured that the West Indies were not embarrassed. Some more glorious performances of his in the next decade include scoring 688 runs ina 3 match series against Sri Lanka where he mastered the great off spinner Muralitharan, reclaiming his test record which had been eclipsed by Matthew Hayden by scoring a jaw dropping 400* against England.

Sachin Tendulkar had long been touted as India's next Gavaskar. But he did far more than that. He announced himself by playing two dashing innings against the powerful Aussies in 1991-92. His innings of 114 on a Perth flyer mus rank right up there in terms of skill. A remarkable figure of consistency and poise, he played great knocks everywhere and his mastery of Shane Warne in 1998 left watchers bewildered. Holder of the record for most 100's in tests and odi's, the highest aggregate test runs when he went past the West Indian genius Brian Lara, he has achieved almost everything there is and his simplicity on and off the field has been a revelation.

Shane Warne made his debut in rather forgettable circumstances with 1/228 at Sydney in 1991-92 when Ravi Shastri and Sachin Tendulkar put him to the sword. He turned it all around in the Ashes 1993 when he picked up 34 wickets including a bemused Mike Gatting with the 'ball of the century'. He made a fool of many a batsman with his outstanding repetoire of leg breaks, wrong un's, flippers and other variations. He proved to be a great match winner and appeared in the Wisden top 5 within 10 years of his debut which is testimony to his greatness and influence on the modern game.


Photos below: The 3 modern day legends

Left: The thrilling and mercurial Brian Lara essays a classic cover drive during his immortal 153* against Australia in 1999.

Right: The Little master Sachin Tendulkar acknowledges the cheers for yet another milestone in a glittering career.

Centre: Shane Warne celebrates after bowling a bemused Mike Gatting with the 'Ball of the century'.









The 1990's also saw a change of guard at the top of the world standings when Australia who had risen from the depths of the mid 1980's put it across the West Indians in 1995. Aided by a glorious 200 by Steve Waugh and 126 from his twin Mark Waugh, they went on to triumph in the unofficial test championship and ever since went on to dominate world cricket well into the 2000's. Led by Mark Taylor and then Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting, they played an aggressive brand of cricket characterized by ruthless efficiency and boasted of a galaxy of match winners such as Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and the exciting keeper batsman Adam Gilchrist. they took the world by storm and ruled the world for well over a decade. In a decade of great bowling performances, Anil Kumble's historic perfect 10 at the Kotla against Pskistan in February 1999 must rank as the finest performance by an Indian bowler.

Photos below:

Left: The Aussie juggernaut keeps rolling on..

Right: The entertainer par excellence Adam Gilchrist







10. Australia in India (2001)--> Steve Waugh's mighty Aussies had won 16 tests in a row and wanted to cap it off in India where they did not have a great record. Waugh called it the 'final frontier' and by the time the matches started their intensity was visible. They won the first test at Mumbai by 10 wickets after a stupendous innings from Adam Gilchrist. The 2nd test started at the Eden Gardens and in response to Australia's 445 India had been bowled out for 171 and were asked to follow on. It seemed like curtains for the Indians, when one VVS Laxman who had been promoted to number 3 after he made 50 in the first innings started timing the ball quite beautifully. Joined by Rahul Dravid who had till then been mesmerized by Shane Warne, the pair set about playing some gorgeous strokes. The Aussies tried everything but to no avail. The pair batted through the entire 4th day unbeaten and when Laxman finally fell for an unforgettable 281, the match ahd been turned head over heels. Rahul Dravid made a brilliant 180 and the Aussies were stunned by what had happened. They collapsed against Harbhajan Singh who bowled a dream spell and lost by 171 runs. The teams moved onto Chennai where the master Sachin Tendulkar played a great knock setting it up for India. Matthew Hayden was the sole performer for the Aussies and India had to chase just 165 to win. In a match full of twists and turns, the Indians showed their nerves and finally the unlikely heroes were Samir Dighe and Harbhajan himself who managed to get India past the line by 2 wickets in a humdinger. The win at Calcutta had shades of Botham's Ashes in 1981 when the team had come from follow on to win the match and then the series. It was undoubtedly one of the greatest test series of all time and stands firmly etched in the memory of all cricket lovers.

Photo below: Laxman and Dravid walk off after their historic partnership at the Eden Gardens against Australia 2001.




11. The Ashes 2005--> Australia had dominated England ever since 1989 in the Ashes and English fans feared yet another repeat when the mighty Australians reached the shores of the Old Blighty. England made a fascinating start by bowling the Aussies out for 190 at Lords. Hopes were raised but were also brought down quickly to earth by the metronome Glenn Mcgrath. He destroyed England with a spell of 5 wickets as they folded up for 155 with only debutant Kevin Pietersen providing any resistance. Normal service resumed in the second innings with Michael Clarke making 91 and the Aussies set England a target of 420 and bowled them out for 180 winning by 239 runs.
The second test started at Edgbaston and England were granted a life line when Glenn Mcgrath was declared unfit to play because of a twisted ankle. The England openers made hay and only Shane Warne stood in the way. England made 407 and in a brilliant display of reverse swing bowling, the Aussies were bowled out for 308. England were then bowled out for 182 leaving the Aussies to get 282. At the end of the 4th day, England seemed to have the match in the bag with the Aussies tottering at 175/7. But England's nemesis Shane Warne had other answers. He in partnership with Brett Lee took Australia closer. Harmison removed Warne but Lee and Kasprowicz kept going and the situation became grim for England. They were just praying for a miracle when it came. Kasprowicz tried to get out of the way of a bouncer from Harmison but gloved it to a gleeful Geraint Jones. England had won by 2 runs in a fantastic game!!...But..this was only the precursor to a classic nail biting series.
At Old Trafford , McGrath was back but no where near his best and England piled on the runs scoring 444. They bowled the Aussies out for 302 with Simon Jones picking up 6 wickets. They then scored 280 setting an unlikely target of 423. Australia made a good start but soon the pressure was telling on them. The wickets continued to fall but the captin Ricky Ponting stood firm. He made an excellent 156 before being dismissed with 24 bals to spare. With just Glenn Mcgrath to come, the English thought they had it sealed. But Lee and Mcgrath resisted and held firm taking blow after blow for 4 overs and the Aussies lived to fight another day!..England were by now the more confident team and with Mcgrath missing again, they posted 477. They bowled superbly and bundled the Aussies for 218 and enforced the follow on. It was the first time in 17 years that Australia had followed on and England were right on top. Australia responded with 387 but England just had to chase 129. Enter Shane Warne, he flummoxed the batsmen with some quite brilliant leg spin bowling and England were staring down the barrel at 4 down for 57. Pietersen and Flintoff combined to raise the score past a 100 when Brett Lee struck twice to remove both. Warne removed Geraint Jones and it seemed like England didn't have it in them to win. Ashley Giles and Matthew Hoggard combined pluck with some luck and took England past the finish line albeit only just and the nation erupted. In the final test at the Oval, weather played a major part and Pietersen's lucky breaks when he was dropped thrice eary helped him score a superb 158 and save the test thus enabling his team to regain the Ashes. This was one of the most closely contested series and could have gone either way and left one hungry for more!...

Photos below: Ashes 2005 scenes

Left: Euphoric England after their fantastic win

Right: Amazing scene at Edgbaston. Amidst all the celebration, Flintoff consoles a valiant Brett Lee after the Aussies fall just short.






Ok then I have completed compiling my set of the greatest moments, episodes, players and matches from the glorious history of test cricket..Do have a read and let me know what can be included and your own list as well..!


Disclaimer: All images shown are for informational purposes only.

The finest team to grace the game!

Statistics and sports go hand in hand, even more so in case of cricket with the innumerable parameters that are a part of the game. Though statistics never quite tell the complete story, they quite often present a very fair analysis and allow one to make a sound judgment. In cricket, there have been many classic arguments and debates such as 'Who is the greatest batsman?', 'the greatest bowler', 'The finest team in history' etc. Reaching a conclusion on any of these debates can be extremely difficult and time consuming and having been involved in these arguments myself more often than not, I sure do know how best to approach these and what the focus is supposed to be on. As a cricket fanatic, I have always wanted to delve into the fascinating world of statistics and apply the findings to reach some conclusions. In this case, I am trying to find out which has been the greatest test team to grace the game. Numerous parameters and stats combined with some sound interpretation of these figures will undoubtedly stir the imagination of those not into cricket statistics and history and also prove to be a great source of information for those already in love with the game.

I have tried my best to interpret the stats in a very simple manner and though almost most of them are very self explanatory, wherever they require any kind of interpretation, I shall provide sufficient explanation and detail out any historical information and comparison that might help put things in perspective.

Test cricket has always been the most fascinating version of cricket and the only one that I quite truly consider capable of providing the right judgment on the calibre of a player. In the 130 odd years of test cricket history, there have been some glorious players who have been part of some brilliant teams. The ones that come to mind are the 'Invincibles' led by Don Bradman in the years just after the second world war, England's team in the mid 1950's led by Peter May, Frank Worrell's fantastic West Indian team of the early 1960's, the rather unfortunate South African team of the late 60's, Ian and Greg Chappell's Australian outfit of the early to mid 1970's, the Caribbean juggernaut of the 1970's and 1980's led by Clive Lloyd and later by Vivian Richards and then finally the all conquering Australian units led by Steve Waugh and then by Ricky Ponting. Of these, though it is very hard to pick just two for comparison, I ultimately and also logically decided to compare the performance of the West Indian teams of Lloyd and Richards and the Aussie teams led by Waugh and Ponting. The simple reasons I picked these two teams is that they have dominated every other team for a good part of a decade which is unprecedented in the history of the game and also because they are much more closely separated in time which makes it comparatively easier to apply similar metrics.

Firstly, it is very important to fix the time frame or the period of play for both teams before comparison. After considering quite a few factors, I have decided to compare the West Indian team's performance between 1980-88 (9 years) with the Australian team's performance between 1999-2007(9 years). Though the West Indian team was very strong from about 1976, they did lose some great players during the Packer series of 1977-78. Hence I have decided to focus on their performance from 1980. Also, Allan Border and Mark Taylor's teams of the 1990's were very good but were not as consistent and dominant like their successors Waugh and Ponting. Hence the period 1999-2007.

I have formulated set of metrics with a few of them being fairly straight forward, but I also have added a few other interesting factors which might prove to be helpful in coming to the conclusion as to which has been the greatest team. For the sake of ease of understanding, the way the points are allotted is very simple. The score is 1 point for whichever team has a better performance in each metric. In a case where there is any complex calculation, I shall provide the required information for the sake of clarification.

For every metric, the link to the source used for comparing (Cricinfo statsguru) or the stats are provided so that you can try and work out your own metrics and indulge in other very interesting comparisons.

1. Overall record (win-loss ratio): The West Indies during this period played 76 test matches and have an astounding record of 40 wins, just 7 losses and 29 draws. The win loss ratio comes up to be a remarkable 5.71. The remarkably high number of draws is generally because of the style of play in those days. Quite a few outfits preferred to play slow and draw rather than lose by trying to be aggressive.

When we shift the focus to Australia, their record is just as remarkable. They played 102 tests, winning 76, losing 13 and drawing 13. The lower number of draws is attributed to the exceptional scoring rate of the Australian teams who on an average scored close to 3.5-4 and over thus giving themselves enough time to bowl out the opposition. The Win-loss ratio of 5.84 is almost the same and there is hardly anything to choose at this stage. So, both teams get 1 point each.

The stats for West indies can be found here and the corresponding metrics for the Australian team can be found here.



2. Home and away records- Most teams in any sport tend to have an advantage when they play at home and this is something that very much applies to cricket as well. The team has a great idea about the home ground and pitch and is more often than not a step ahead of the opposition. The home record will present a clear picture as to how often the great teams have been able to drive home the advantage of playing in familiar conditions with home crowd support.

Away records present a great way of judging how well a team has been able to acclimatize to new conditions and whether they have found a way of dealing with the hostile and often partisan crowds.

The West Indians have a truly world class record at home in that period. They won 15 , lost just 1 and drew 10 out of 26 tests played at home. Australia have en even more spectacular record playing 53 tests, winning 44 and losing just 2 whilst drawing 7. This gives them a stunning win-loss ratio of 22 which is higher than the rate of 15 for the West Indies. Though the West Indies have played fewer tests and whether they might have surpassed the Aussies if they had played more is something that cannot be determined. Going by the figures, Australia take the honours here and gain 1 point.

The home records for the West indies can be found here and those of Australia can be found here.

When it comes to the away records, it is seen that the Caribbeans emerge the better team with 25 wins and just 6 losses when compared to Australia's 29 wins and 11 losses. The West indies gain 1 point here.

3. Win percentage: The overall win percentage i.e. the number of matches won/total played is clearly in favor of the Aussies as they won 75% (76 of 102)of their games as opposed to the Windies winning a shade less than 60% (40 of 76). The Aussies gain one point and at the moment lead 3-2.

4. Number of series lost- This is a very good indicator of the dominance of the team against all opposition and shows how many teams have managed to stand up and triumph in the period of total domination. The West indies lost just 1 series and that too an ill tempered contentious one against New Zealand in 1980. The Aussies lost 1 against Sri Lanka in 1999 0-1 and then two more. The first of them against India 1-2 in 2001, best remembered for VVS Laxman's immortal 281 at the Eden Gardens and second was quite possibly the greatest series of this era 1-2 against England in 2005. So the West indies gain 1 point and the scores are level at 3-3.

Now we move on to some of the more detailed parameters and the comparison of these is very vital in order to reach the right conclusion. Detailed analysis and explanation along with the stats will be provided in the following sections.






5. Number of massive wins (ranging from an innings win to a win by 7 wickets) and a win by margin of runs>150--> (gives indicator of strength in batting & dominance).

The West Indian team won 33 matches out of its 40 (82.5%%) by a huge margin which is rather astonishing considering that it did come up against some very good teams in Australia (early 1980's), England and also India and Pakistan. The mighty Aussies won 57 games out of the overall 76 won by a huge margin i.e. about 75%. Though extremely close to call, the point goes to the West Indies also because of the quality of opposition. The Aussies did come up against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh which made huge wins lot easier to come by. Score is 4-3 in favor of the West Indies at the moment.

The stats for both teams can be found here and here.

6. Number of times match won after conceding lead- (indicator of bowling strength and second innings batting)

The West Indies in their heyday conceded the lead 17 times out of 76 and won 3 games and lost 5 of these whilst drawing 9. This gives a win loss ratio of 0.6 which is not very impressive.

Moving on to Australia, they have a more impressive record with 8 wins 5 losses and 8 draws out of the 21 times they conceded leads giving them a win-loss ratio of 1.6.
The score now stands level at 4-4.

The stats are available here and here for Australia and the West Indies respectively.


7. Number of times team has won chasing more than 200 in last innings and successfully defending less than 200-- (indicates great batting and bowling performance under pressure)

Quite remarkably, both the teams have won 6 times, lost thrice and drawn 4 times when they are faced with a target of over 200 in the 4th innings. The similarity is quite astonishing and reflects how close the two teams are when compared.

While defending a score of less than 200, Australia have never won, lost 4 times and drew once. This indicates two things, one that the team almost always set a high target and defended it easily but on the rare occasions that they set a low target, they have not been able to conjure up some magic to defend it despite some great efforts as against England at Trent Bridge in 2005 defending 129 and India at Chennai in 2001 while defending 155 losing by just 3 wickets and 2 wickets respectively on these occasions.

The Windies on the other hand also never won when the target was less than 200, lost 3 times and drew once. This is very slightly better and can be disregarded. So,the scores still remain level and the comparison gets even more interesting.

8.Number of times team dismissed less than 200 (indicator of frequency of top order not performing)

The West Indies team was dismissed for less than 200 12 times in the period i.e. 12 in 76 games while the Australians were dismissed for a score less than 200 12 times in 102 games. Though this difference can be attributed to the poor bowling quality of other teams playing Australia, this does show that the West Indian top order was a little less reliable than that of the Australian batting which rarely folded up for low scores. The score is now 5-4 in favor of the Australia.

The stats can be found here and here for the West indies and Australia respectively.


9. Performance of top batsmen of the team in the period (includes the centuries, averages) when compared with the overall fray.

Index: M-matches R-runs Avg-batting average 100-100's scored 50-50's scored

Read as: Batting average(number of matches played)

Player M R Avg 100 50 Average against top teams of period

Viv Richards: 72 4826 50.27 14 26 (Aus-46.76(17) Eng-56.4(24) Pak-58.35(9) India 44.15(15))


Gordon Greenidge: 69 4675 46.75 10 23 (Aus-43.5(16) Eng-47.2(23) Pak 24.27(6) India 56(14))


Desmond Haynes: 75 4478 39.62 10 25 (Aus-41.33(17) Eng-49.36(23) Pak 20.5(10) India 30.86(15))

Also provided are the performance of the great West indian batsmen against the leading bowlers of that era.

Index: no of dismissals(no of matches)

Bowlers: Kapil Hadlee Botham Imran Lillee/Lawson/Alderman

IND NZ Eng Pak Aus

Richards --------> 5 (15) 3 (7) 7 (19) 1(9) 3(4)/4(12)/4(9)

Greenidge--------> 5 (14) 6 (10) 5 (19) 5(6) 3(3)/8(11)/2(8)

Haynes --------> 6 (15) 6 (10) 6 (19) 6(10) 2(4)/4(12)/2(9)


Viv Richards and the other two batsmen also to an extent have performed fairly well against the top bowlers of the period. The rate at which the bowlers have got their wickets has not been high except in a couple of cases.

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When this is compared with the performance of the Australian outfit's top 3 batsmen, we can clearly observe the that the quality of bowling faced by Australia has been overall poorer. This is reflected by very high averages for the batsmen. Yet, it has to be accepted that the Aussie batsmen have been in the best form this decade and the points go to them. The score now stands at 6-4 in favor of Australia.


player M R Avg 100 50 average agst top teams of period

Ricky Ponting: 91 8306 64.38 31 31 (SA-67.73 (12) eng-52.81 (20) India 59.36 (12) )


Matthew Hayden: 85 7742 55.69 27 27 (SA-61.19 (12) eng-45.65(20) India 64.31 (12) )


Adam Gilchrist: 93 5478 48.91 17 25 (SA-47.12 (12) eng-45.12 (20) India 29.87 (15) )


Bowlers----> Muralitharan Harbhajan/Kumble Flintoff Ntini/Pollock

Ponting -----> 3(9) 6(6)/4(8) 5(11) 4(9)/3(8)

Hayden-------> 5(6) 7(8)/4(8) 6(11) 7(9)/2(8)

Gilchrist----> 4(6) 7(8)/8(11) 5(11) 2(9)/0(8)


In the case of performance against top bowlers, the Aussies seem to fall short. Ponting has been found wanting against spin most times and Gilchrist and Hayden have also been dismissed regularly by more than one bowler. In the ability to counter the best bowler from the opposition, the West Indies have performed better and gain one point. The score is 6-5 in favor of the Aussies.

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10. Bowling (performance against all opposition and dependency of team on bowlers i.e. performance in absence of frontline bowlers).

Given below are the stats of the star bowlers who took these teams to great heights. It is said that test matches are won by bowlers and this has been proven true by these legends.

Index: M-matches W-Wickets Avg-bowling average 5&10-no of 5 & 10 wicket hauls.

M W avg 5 10 average against top teams of period

Malcolm Marshall: 78 373 20.42 22 4 (Aus-22.51 (19) Eng-19.18(26) Pak-20.7 (12) India 19.26 (14))

Michael Holding: 45 184 23.38 9 1 (Aus-15.67 (10) Eng-24.63 (17) India 27.73 (11))

Joel Garner: 49 210 20.62 7 0 (Aus-22.24 (14) Eng-17.93 (19) Pak-19.2 (4) India 43.00 (3))


In the matches not involving the lead bowlers, the performance of the West Indies does drop. When all 3 were missing, they lost 2 and won 1. When Marshall, their best bowler was missing, the win-loss ratio fell to 1.5 from the amazing 5.7 overall. When all 3 were playing, they had a win loss ratio of 16 which is quite unbelievable and shows that they were true match winners.

Not involving lead bowlers:

Malcolm Marshall: played-18 won-6 lost-4 draw-8

Marshall, Holding and Garner missing-- 1 win and 2 losses in 5 games.

all 3 present----> won 16 lost 1 in 26 games

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M W avg 5 10 average against top teams of period

Glenn Mcgrath: 80 364 20.67 18 3 ( SA-26.52(9) Eng-20.62(18) India 17.65(10) )

Shane Warne: 78 395 25.92 23 6 ( SA-27.27(12) Eng-23.01(19) India 39.40(9) )

both players missing---> won 8 lost 2 out of 12 games

without Glenn Mcgrath--> won 16 lost 4 out of 22 games (notably lost 3 out of 3 against Eng and 1 of 3 against Ind)

without Shane Warne----> won 18 lost 4 out of 24 games (2 against India)


Though Australia's performance is better than West Indies statistically, the facts are that they lost all 3 tests to England when Mcgrath was missing and they also lost to India twice when Warne was not around. This does show that they had the bench strength but were able to put it across relatively poorer attacks which were not even as good as the replacement attack of Australia. Hence the scores remain the same.







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11. Performance of wicket-keepers

Both the teams had fantastic batting wicket keepers who were exceptional behind the stumps and also contributed handily with the bat on more than one occasion. Though Jeff Dujon was a good player, Adam Gilchrist was a once in a generation batsman who could fit into a team purely as a batsman and had a quite jaw dropping strike rate of 82. A match winner par excellence, he had the ability to turn the game on its head in a session. He played many an important knock that stunned the opposition. His fantastic keeping to both Mcgrath and the legendary Shane Warne wins the points. The Aussies lead 7-5.

Here are the stats for the keepers.

Wicket Keepers:

M Runs Avg 100 50 Catches/Stumpings

Jeff Dujon 38 2747 38.15 5 14 182/5

Adam Gilchrist 93 5478 48.91 17 25 362/37

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12. Performance of the bowlers against the top opposition batsmen of their period.

A key factor that goes into the great performance of top test teams is the fact that the bowlers are able to dismiss the leading opposition batsmen cheaply. This goes a long way in establishing a position of strength. The stats below show how the great bowlers of the West indies and Australia fared against the great batsmen from other teams.

Performance of bowlers against top batsmen of period


Malcolm Marshall---> England (Gooch (16) Lamb (13) ,Botham (7) Gatting (7) Gower (5))
Australia (Border (11) Boon (10))
Pakistan (Imran(5) Javed Miandad (3))
India (Gavaskar (7) Vengsarkar(10) Amarnath (6))


Michael Holding ---> England (Gooch (7) Boycott (6) ,Botham (5) Gower (5))
Australia (Kim Hughes (7) Border (5) Greg Chappell (4))
India (Gavaskar (7) Vengsarkar(4) Shastri (6))

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Glenn Mcgrath---> England(Atherton(6) Stewart(6) Vaughan(6) Trescothick(6) Pietersen(5))
South Africa (Smith(5) Gary Kirsten(4) Gibbs(3) Kallis(3))
Pakistan (Inzamam(3) Mohammed Yousuf(3))
India (Tendulkar (5) Dravid(5) Laxman(5))
West Indies(Brian Lara(8) Chris Gayle(4))


Shane Warne ---> England (Trescothick(8) Strauss(8) Flintoff(7))
South Africa (Prince(11) Boucher(9) Gibbs(6) Kallis(5))
Sri Lanka (Jayawardena(4) Sangakkara(4))
India (Dravid(5) Laxman(4))
West Indies(Brian Lara(3) Chanderpaul(2))



This is a clear illustration of the fact that in both cases, the bowlers managed to snap up the leading batsmen quickly thus creating a vice like grip on the match. There is almost nothing to separate the two teams. Hence the points are shared. The score is 8-6 to Australia.

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13. Funnily though, I retained this for the last. Both the West Indies and Australia had fantastic opening pairs. They set up many a match and helped chase down numerous targets easily. They faced the best of bowlers and came out on top more often than not. Undoubtedly, the teams owe much of their success to the world class opening pair they had.

The records of the opening pair are given below.

M R Avg 100 50
Gordon Greenidge/Desmond Haynes (WI)--> 148 6482 47.31 16 26
Matthew Hayden/Justin Langer (Aus(----> 111 5655 51.88 14 24

Again as it has been so far in this incredible statistical venture, it is too close to call. Ultimately, I have to give it to the Caribbean pair because they came up against much better bowlers in their time than the mighty Aussies who did not really have many a great bowler to contend with most times. This does not diminish their aura in any way but just shows that a team's strength is best measured by its opposition. The score is 8-7 in favor of Australia now.

14. Performance against leading teams of era (comparing with performance of other teams also in period to reflect how far ahead the team was)-> The West Indians and the Australians strode the world like lords and conquered every team. They had an exceptional record in almost every situation and consistently triumphed both home and away.

The performance of the Calypso kings of the 1980's against each team can be found here.

The Aussies also conquered all opponents quite easily but also had weak teams like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh and also faced the declining West Indies team. Their stats with Zimbabwe and Bangladesh filtered out can be found here.

It can be noted that their W/L ratio comes down a touch to 5.30, still and exceptional record.

Again, it is very important to read into the stats and not look at them superficially. The West Indians had more draws but against the leading teams, they performed quite brilliantly. Pakistan were probably the only team to challenge them and they dominated England and Australia easily. Australia on the other hand did not have any tough opposition other than India. They lost a total of 9 games to these opponents and did not really manage to conquer the sub continent especially India. Here, the West Indians were different as they did not lose a single series after the controversial defeat to NZ by 1 wicket in 1980. Australia did lose a couple of test series to India and England which blemishes their overall record somewhat. The final score now stands at 8-8.



Also, when we have a detailed look the performance of the other top teams (among themselves except matches against WI) of the respective periods, i.e. by comparing their W/L ratios, we can make some interesting observations. In the 1980's, the closest any team got to West Indies was Pakistan with 16 wins and 9 losses (W/L of 1.77), followed by England (1.00), New Zealand (0.91), a comparatively poor Australia (0.85) and India (0.71).

I use a metric to calculate the average W/L of these teams which works out to be 1.05, a difference of 4.66 when compared to the West Indies (5.71).

Taking the case of Australia (again, for all teams calculations are done after eliminating the minnows), they have a W/L ratio of 5.30. The South Africans also proved to be terrific during this period and have a great W/L of 2.32 followed by England with 1.75, Pakistan with 1.09, India with 1.05 and Sri Lanka (due to an exceptional home record but a very ordinary away record) have a W/L of 0.90. When these ratios are averaged out, the value is 1.42, a difference of 3.98 when compared to the Aussies.

This shows that the West Indies in their heyday were more dominant in world cricket i.e. the difference between them and the rest of the fray was larger than in the case of Australia In the latter case, South Africa, India and also England did have great runs and narrowed the gap a touch. The final score is WI-9 and Aus-8.

The final conclusion is the West Indies of the 1980's were probably the slightly better outfit when compared to the great Australian team under Waugh and Ponting due to their overall dominance and the fear they induced in opponents. Whatever chinks they had in their armour were swiftly eliminated the moment they took the field. Their approach was exciting and made test cricket such a pleasure to watch.

There may be numerous more factors that can be compared and argued about. After a long and hard effort grinding through all the stats and history, I believe that the West Indies were a top heavy team whilst the Aussies had a little more depth. The Wicket keeper in Adam Gilchrist was world class and of colossal importance in their victory streaks. They also played a very aggressive brand of cricket and made the test game very interesting to watch. West Indies had a set of fast bowlers who have never been matched nor will ever be in the game. Australia in Shane Warne had a bowler for the ages and this spin factor gave them more variety and along with Glenn Mcgrath, he provided a lethal combination which ruled the game.

The West Indies was the team that set the tone for what was to follow. It has been the team every person loves and has produced the most charismatic cricketers ever. Finally, if I were to choose a team I would love to watch, I would choose the West Indians any day over Australia because despite their chilling efficiency and professionalism, the Aussies can never hope to match the joy that watching the Calypso kings brings to the cricket lover.

We have been rather fortunate to witness such fantastic teams grace the beautiful game and this has been one of my best journeys through the most interesting and absorbing field of cricket statistics and I sure do hope to do it once again!

The mother of all humdingers!

Australia and South Africa faced off for the second time in the World cup 1999 tournament, this time in the semi finals at Edgbaston. Given the history of clashes between the two great teams, few would have bet against another classic but the match went way beyond expectations and turned out to be one of the most fascinating modern day matches. Coming into the match, the teams were pretty much even. The Aussies were probably a little more confident given that they had beaten the Proteas in their must win clash in the super six stage at Headingley thanks to their captain Steve Waugh's magnificent century. Australia had started the tournament pretty badly with defeats against Pakistan and New Zealand but had found their feet later and proved to be a resurgent unit after that winning every game to reach the semis and set up this mouth watering contest. The Proteas on the other hand had performed extremely well in the tournament except for a shock defeat against Zimbabwe and then a loss against Australia. Their batting was fairly strong and the bowling led by Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock backed up by the fantastic fielding ability of Jonty Rhodes and Herschelle Gibbs who surely was looking to make amends for his blunder at Headingley when his premature celebration on snapping Steve Waugh's catch resulted in a drop catch and eventually cost the match.

The Australian form had been more or less patchy with no one being consistent throughout. Micheal Bevan and Steve Waugh were the in form players and the bowling led by Glenn Mcgrath and Shane Warne was just peaking. This match had all the ingredients for being a classic and it did not disappoint one bit. Here's a recap of that surreal encounter.

Australian innings:

South Africa won the toss and put Australia in to make use of the pace friendly conditions. They were rewarded very early when the star Aussie opener Mark Waugh was caught behind off Pollock. This start boosted the Proteas who were rather infamously known for their ability to choke in big games. Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist combined in an aggressive stand, with the highlight being Ponting's excellent pull shot for six off Steve Elworthy. The partnership was looking rather dangerous when Allan Donald was introduced in the attack. He struck immediately when, with the score on 54, Ponting played an extravagant drive and was held in the covers by Gary Kirsten. Disaster struck for the Aussies when Darren Lehmann was caught behind by Boucher off a beauty from Donald which just seamed away a touch. The Proteas were well and truly on top a bit later when Gilchrist was caught down at third man trying to upper cut a Jacques Kallis delivery. With the score on aa rather shaky 68/4, the captain Steve Waugh was joined by Michael Bevan who was the orchestrator of many a rescue act previously.

Waugh and Bevan started off a little cautiously but soon opened up and played some great shots. When Lance Klusener was brought into the attack, Waugh lofted him straight for a boundary and a little later for a six. Bevan also started playing some confident shots. The match had taken a sudden twist and the South Africans were playing catch up. But, just as it seemed that the Aussies would wrest the initiative, Shaun Pollock came back for a spell and removed Steve Waugh for 56 caught behind by Mark Boucher who was having a great game thus far. The pair had added an invaluable 90 runs for the fifth wicket and helped the Aussies recover from a precarious position. Pollock was bowling beautifully and trapped Tom Moody plumb in front just three balls later and the see saw game was well and truly now swinging the way of the Proteas.

The great leg spinner Shane Warne joined Bevan to help consolidate. Warne did get away aith a few lucky edges and managed to help add some quick runs when with the score on 207, he was completely foxed by a great slower delivery by Shaun Pollock and Hansie Cronje, the South African captain clung on to the skier at short mid wicket. Allan Donald followed this up with two crackers to bowl Paul Reiffel and Damien Fleming and all of a sudden, when it looked like Australia would post a cmpetitive target of 225, they were 207/9. Michael Bevan who had reached 50 earlier, swung a boundary to mid wicket off Pollock before being caught behind trying to repeat the same shot. The final score was 213, one that the Proteas must have fancied to chase down quite comfortably..or so they thought.


South African Innings

The openers Gibbs and Kirsten made their way out and by now the spectators knew they were in for a feast. Gibbs started off extremely positvely including a glorious backfoot drive off Damien Fleming and also essayed a couple of gorgeous straight drives. Kirsten meanwhile was looking as solid as ever and the Aussies realized it was time for a change. 'Cometh the hour cometh the man' is a popular phrase but it has never been more perfectly applicable than to the wily genius of Shane Warne who was handed the ball by his captain with the SOuth Africans on 48 after 12 overs. Back in the 1996 edition , with Australia staring down the barrel in the semi finals against the West Indies, Warne grabbed 4 wickets to spin Australia to victory in a thriller at Mohali. This time around he was bowling toa much more confident pair of openers. The second ball of Warne's first over was an absolute peach. It drifted towards leg stump and drew Gibbs forward before spinning viciously to take the of stump. It was in some ways reminiscent of the 'ball of the century' he had bowled at Old Trafford in 1993 to Mike Gatting. As David Gower put it so perfectly on commentary, it was absolutely exactly what Australia wanted.







Shane Warne was pumped and playing him now required some skill and resolve. Gary Kirsten had been solid thus far, but played a rather uncharacteristic slog sweep at Warne who was turning it big now. The stumps were pegged back and Warne roared. He knew that getting that wicket was vital. Two balls later, Warne had Cronje driving and the edge flew to Mark Waugh at slip. Replays showed that the ball had come off the foot but the umpire had thought otherwise and by now the Aussies sniffed the chance. They tightened the screws and runs dried up and with the score on 61 in the 22nd over, Daryll Cullinan was run out by a direct hit from Michael Bevan after being slow to respond to a call from Kallis. South Africa were now in dire straits and they badly needed aa partnership. Kallis and Rhodes started finding the gaps, Rhodes in particular looking very aggressive. He played a couple of unorthodox sweep shots off Moody and then swept Mark Waugh for six. The score had moved along to 145 in the 41st over when Rhodes fell trying to pull Paul Reiffel and holed out to Bevan at deep mid-wicket. Shaun Pollock came in and smote Warne for a huge six over long on. But, Warne had the last laugh when he had the top scorer Kallis caught at cover by Steve Waugh when he tried to chip over the infield.

The tension was now palpable and both spectators and the thousands of viewers were on tenterhooks at this stage. The commentary duties were entrusted to the vocal and highly excitable Aussie Bill Lawry and the equally enthusiastic South African Mike Procter. Things just could not have been better!. Fleming came back to bowl and castled Shaun Pollock off an inside edge and the Aussies were on cloud nine. 30 runs more to get and just 4 overs remained. It seemed like the match was all but Australia's. The man of the tournament till then Lance Klusener had other ideas. He had been in scintillating form and continued it by hitting boundaries to third man and mid wicket and keeping the Proteas in the hunt. Glenn Mcgrath came on to bowl the 49th over and the tension was unbearable now. The atmosphere had reached fever pitch and the commentary provided the extra bit of excitement. Off the second ball, Mcgrath bowled a near perfect yorker to castle Boucher and with it, one wondered- the South AFrican hopes of winning. Steve Elworthy walked in and just 2 balls later he was run out after a brilliant throw from Reiffel in the deep was deflected by Mcgrath onto the stumps at the non striker's end when Elworthy attempted a second run. At 198/9 it seemed like the Proteas were dead and buried considering that the next man in Allan Donald was pretty much the perfect tailender. Klusener smashed the next delivery which was a low full toss to Reiffel at long on who should have held on to a fairly simple chance but he grassed it and worse still, he tipped it over the ropes. This was a massive moment and Klusener pushed a single to deep quare leg to keep the strike. 9 runs were required off the last over now which was to be bowled by Damien Fleming.



Fingernails were being chewed, players couldn't stand and watch, spectators were off their seats and tv viewers were just enthralled and the fascinating contest was approaching its grand finale. It almost seemed like the only way these teams be able to decide a contest between them but no one was prepared for this thriller. Lawry and Procter watched as Fleming bowled the first ball. Klusener crashed it to the cover boundary and the ball sped on the turf and even before the sweeper moved, it was gone. Now it was 5 required off 5 balls. The next ball was a yorker, but Klusener whacked it again and Mark Waugh, one of the finest fielders could not even get a sighter of it at long off. The extraordinary game had just turned again. Procter was going crazy and Bill Lawry, still hopeful suggesting that a tie, now a definite possibility would see Australia go through by virtue of their earlier win at Headingely. Steve Waugh, cool as ever, brought all his fielders into the circle enticing Klusener to go for a big hit which is all the Aussies could hope for now given that 1 run to get from 4 balls was not a difficult task. Fleming, realizing his mistake switched to over the wicket and bowled a short ball which Klusener mistimed to mid on where Lehmann fielded and threw at the non striker's end where Allan Donald had backed up too far. The throw missed the stumps by a whisker and Donald looked to the heavens. And as Procter put it, the ball missing was the difference between a world cup final berth or nothing!..The players and the crowd waited with bated breath for the next ball. Surely this was going to be SPuth Africa's day they thought. The next ball which was fuller on the stumps was squeezed down the ground past the bowler by Lance Klusener and he set off immediately for the run which would clinch it, but Donald wasn't sure where the ball was and in that moment of horror he didn't run and the throw was relayed by the fielder to the bowler who then threw the ball to Gilchrist and the keeper whipped off the bails to leave Donald stranded, Klusener stunned and Hansie Cronje devastated. Australia had gone through because the match had ended ina a tie. The most unlikely of results when the match started became quite a possibility as the game went on and finally when it happened, it left people looking for words and the sheer excitement of every minute of that nail biting thriller left the spectators and viewers alike believing that they had been treated to a match of epic proportions, and a contest between bat and ball which is unlikely to be rivalled in the years to come.



At the end of the match and even after years, cricket lovers ponder about the last over and what could have been. Shane Warne's magical spell, Bevan and Steve Waugh's grit, Klusener's great hitting have all become a part of cricket folklore and this magnificent cricket match will undoubtedly rank right up there as the greatest ODI ever played.


The detailed scorecard of this classic world cup encounter can be found here.


Trivia:

• This was the first ever tie in the history of the world cup.
  
  
• This match was also the last time that Australia did not go on to win a World cup match. They have won all games ever since.
  
  
• Lance Klusener was dismissed only twice in the entire world cup averaging over 140 and finished as Man of the series.
  

The highlights of this match can be found here.