We asked you to pick out the greatest Test you had ever seen (or one you wished you had), and the responses ranged from the predictable to the not-so
Cricinfo staff22-Aug-2005
Warne in the days before the Ball of the Century © Getty Images
Warne and the Great Train Robbery
Omar Nawaz on
This match figures as one of the all-time upsets in Test cricket, and Allan Border called it the biggest escape since the Great Train Robbery. What was it like to a Sri Lankan, huddled in a French campsite – without television, TMS, nor internet cafés – to be rudely awakened by Sports Round-up on the BBC World Service to hear the dreaded news: “Australia has beaten Sri Lanka in the first Test in Colombo in one of the most dramatic…”My two children, five and three at the time, did not know what had hit their father. My groan and grunt, louder than that of Maria Sharapova, woke my camping neighbours, whose concerned queries were answered with “rien, rien”. How was I to tell them that Sri Lanka had lost by a mere 16 runs? That was easily translatable to French but I would have had trouble with “lost their last eight wickets for 37 runs”. I remember the incident vividly since it is almost 13 years to the day since Sri Lanka suffered one of its biggest humiliations, and launched Warne on the glory path in cricket – he took the last three wickets for 11 runs in 5.1 overs.Incidentally, Tom Moody, Sri Lanka’s present coach was a member of that infamous – to Sri Lankans – Australian team. I only hope he will do us justice and repair the damage by inflicting a bigger loss on his compatriots one of these days.King Viv and Javed at their very best
Khurram Jamil on As Old Trafford proved, there are some drawn Test matches that provide more thrills than a close one-day match, and Port-of-Spain in 1988 was one of them. Pakistan, lead by the mercurial Imran Khan, were riding on the back of away series wins in India and England the previous season, and had won the first Test of the rubber as well on the back of Imran’s 11 wickets and Miandad’s 100.But West Indies were ready to answer with Viv Richards and Marshall back in side after missing the first game. Put into bat by Imran, West Indies were sent packing for 174 in first innings, with none other than Viv top-scoring with 49. Imran was the best bowler with 4 for 38. In reply, Pakistan didn’t do too well themselves and were bowled out for 194. With over three days play left, there would surely be a result, and in the second innings West Indies were again in trouble at 81 for 4 before Richards and Dujan scored hundreds to set Pakistan a target of 372.Pakistan started the fifth day requiring 265 to win with seven wickets in hand, and Miandad scored his second hundred in as many matches to take Pakistan within 90 runs with five wickets remaining. But the real drama unfolded after tea as Pakistan lost three quick wickets. When Richards came on to bowl the last over of the day and got the ninth scalp, everyone in ground was hoping that King Viv would weave his magic with the ball as well. But the tenth-wicket pair survived the last five balls, to end a match that will forever be remembered for fighting performances from the champion players of their era.Gooch ends two decades of pain
Paul Dickson on
Gooch played an innings for the ages against one of the all-time great attacks © Getty Images
This was a very special Test for two primary reasons – it marked England’s first win over West Indies at home since 1969, and given the conditions, opposition and circumstances, it also showcased the finest innings by an English batsman in living memory, possibly ever.England had a very different team with Hick, Ramprakash and Watkin making debuts.Ambrose and Walsh knocked them over for under 200 in typical bowler-friendly Healingley conditions – swing, seam movement and bounce. But unlike previous encounters, England did not roll over. They bowled intelligently and accurately allowing the conditions to help them, and with some brilliant fielding – notably Ramprakash – and silly run-outs, they secured a small 26-run lead.Then came another devastating spell by Ambrose – first-ball ducks for Lamb and Smith – but Graham Gooch played the innings of his considerable career. He played with immense concentration, massive defence and the ability to dispatch the bad ball for four. Supported by Ramprakash and, amazingly, Derek Pringle, who both scored 27, he carried his bat for 154 as West Indies were left 278 to win. Achievable, yes, but hard if England bowled as well second time around.They got the perfect start – Simmons played a rash shot first ball and played on. Watkin (profligate), Pringle and de Freitas (accurate and miserly) got the job done, with more excellent catches – not least by the captain – and England won a well-deserved victory.Astle gives England the jitters
Richard Mackey on As an England fan, I’d always wanted to experience an overseas tour and had eventually got together enough money to travel to New Zealand to follow the 2002 series. The first test was at Christchurch, where a drop-in wicket was used for the first time. My choice of tour wasn’t looking so good after the first over, which was a double-wicket-maiden from Chris Cairns. It was clear that the pitch was doing plenty, and that 200 would be a decent score. Thanks to a typically gritty century from Nasser Hussain, England got to 228.The second day saw the raw young swing bowler, Matthew Hoggard, rip through the New Zealand batting in a session and a half – he took seven wickets and NZ were out for 147. I remember a loud chant of ‘you can score that in snooker’ from the Barmy Army at the mid-innings interval.At this point I was expecting a tight finish; perhaps in three days. But by now, the wicket had flattened out completely, and that serial underachiever, Andrew Flintoff, (batting average of 12.95 at this point) smashed a run-a-ball century. Graham Thorpe was dropped second ball by Nathan Astle and went on to get his only Test double-hundred. England declared before close on the third day with a lead of 550.Despite watching England surrender the initiative and winning positions in countless Tests over the previous ten years, I was feeling pretty confident when I turned up for the fourth day. The new Zealanders batted respectably, and reached 300 with eight wickets down. Astle had partially redeemed his dropping of Thorpe with a century, but was left with Ian Butler and an injured Cairns for company. At this point, he must have thought ‘I’ve got nothing to lose here; I might as well try to hit every ball for six’.I can remember sixes over square leg, an edge over the slips going for six, square cuts going for six and a straight-drive that went straight over the Richard Hadlee stand and out of the ground. After a couple of overs, every fielder apart from the wicketkeeper was on the boundary and still helpless to stop the flow of runs. His second hundred came up in less than 40 balls; in all this was by far the quickest double-century of all time. It eventually ended with Astle caught behind for 222, but that final hour was the best piece of batting I’ve ever seen – and I suspect it’s likely to remain so.Indomitable Inzi spares Pakistan’s blushes
Imran Ali on
Inzamam shepherded the tail to a nail-biting victory © Getty Images
Bangladesh had not won a match before in their Test history, and came into the match with the series already sealed in Pakistan’s favour. Although they had lost in Karachi and Peshawar, their performances were morale boosting. Bangladesh survived the first day to make 281, and a dismal performance by Pakistan meant they had a lead of 106. But disaster struck Bangladesh when they were then bundled out for 154 with Umar Gul and Shabbir Ahmed taking four each.However, the innings was marred by controversy, with Rashid Latif claiming a false catch and subsequently being suspended. But more twitches were yet to come. Pakistan starting their innings with a difficult target of 261 to chase, and after an opening stand of 45, they slumped to 152 for 6 with just Inzamam standing between Bangladesh and their first Test victory.The fourth day started with Inzamam on 53 not out, but he soon lost Saqlain with Pakistan still needing 97 to win. The inevitable seemed obvious. The prospect of Bangladesh claiming their first victory over Pakistan, and the thought of endless replays showing their dismal performance on rival TV networks was too shameful for the country to imagine.But there was one man who saved Pakistan from unending jeers and mockery in the cricketing world. Inzamam, batting on his home ground, shared stands of 41 with Shabbir and 52 with Gul. But just when victory was in sight, calamity struck and Yasir Ali, the debutant, Ali found himself at the crease with four needed for victory. He survived four deliveries from Mahmud to give Inzamam the last ball to face. And Inzamam enlivened the memories of the Karachi Test against Australia with a four behind square, taking Pakistan to a face-saving victory with tearful eyes. The immense talent of one man had saved not only a team, but also a nation from embarrassment.We welcome you to pick your own greatest Test and send us a paragraph on it. The best written entries will win one of these DVDS: India v Aus 2001, Edgbaston 2005 or Botham’s Ashes, 1981.
