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No 8) Australia 1-2 South Africa, 2008-09
The stars
Graeme Smith led the charge with bat and balls, inspiring Dale Steyn, the leading wicket-taker in the series, to turn all-rounder and help JP Duminy play the innings of his life, while AB de Villiers announced himself as one of the modern greats.
Why it was special
Simple. Teams just didn’t beat Australia on their own patch. West Indies in 1992, by the barest of margins, had been the last to do it, and though South Africa had been Australia’s closest rivals in the 16-year interim and even halved a series in 1994 with a famous victory at Sydney, this was the moment it all came together.
The moment
The first Test win at Perth opened up the possibility, but Melbourne was the landmark. At Perth on a quick one in front of a large cohort of South African expats, Smith’s counter-assault against a rampant Mitch Johnson – who’d already claimed eight first-innings wickets – spread belief through the team.
After the skipper’s rattling 108, the almost impossible – hauling in 414 against the Australians – suddenly felt probable, and so it proved, as the for-the-ages middle order of Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, de Villiers and Duminy combined to get it done for the loss of just four wickets. AB’s unbeaten hundred, after 63 in the first innings, confirmed him as one of the game’s top players; two years later he would be No1 in the world.
The Melbourne miracle took hold only on the third morning, when Steyn joined Duminy for the ninth wicket with South Africa still 143 behind on first innings. Steyn back then was a proper tailender – going into the series, he’d batted 32 times in Test cricket, getting to double figures a total of nine times. But with the rookie Duminy stroking it around, he chanced his arm, and as Ponting’s limited arsenal wilted, the two kept on going long into the afternoon, batting for 238 minutes and 382 deliveries for a partnership of 180, the third-highest ninth-wicket stand in Test history. Duminy was last man out for 166. Never again would he touch such heights.
Together they transformed a likely deficit into a 65-run lead, after which Steyn went back to the day job, claiming his second five-bag of the match to cap one of the great all-round displays by an overseas player in Australia. Set 185, Smith smacked 75 to get his team almost to the line and himself to 1,656 runs for 2008 – the third highest in a calendar year. That night, Wisden reported that Smith, by then reasonably well libated, “led his team back to the middle of the arena, pointed to the empty grandstands and bellowed several renditions of ‘You’re not singing any more’.”
Flashpoints
As ever with an Australian reversal at home, the sky fell in. Matthew Hayden joined Brett Lee as post-series retirees. The selectors were nailed for bringing back the limited off-spinner Nathan Hauritz for the Melbourne Test. Ponting’s captaincy was savaged by various former skippers – though he had at least stood tall with the bat, making 112 and 99 at Melbourne. Sydney’s Daily Telegraph ran a mock burial of Australian cricket, slapping RIP AUSTRALIAN CRICKET on a tombstone.
The aftermath
Almost immediately the teams reconvened in South Africa, where a stung Australia, inspired by Johnson, reversed the scoreline, but the damage had been done. Australia’s aura of invincibility at home had dimmed. Two years later, even England beat them at home. For South Africa, however, their march to No1 was on. They would finally get there in the summer of 2012, with victory in England. Smith, the captain-slayer, would crown a decade in charge with his third England scalp; after seeing off Nasser Hussain (2003) and Michael Vaughan (2008), Andrew Strauss would be his final kill. Success, though, would be relatively fleeting: two years later, Smith, aged just 33, retired, and his briefly great team slowly disbanded.
No 7) England 1-2 Australia, 1930
The stars
Donald George Bradman. According to former England all-rounder Percy Fender, the 21-year-old right-hander from Cootamundra, who had just four Tests to his name, would struggle on English pitches. He scored 974 runs at 139.14. For the record: 8, 131, 254, 1, 334, 14 and 232. No one has got within 140 of that total in a series since.
Herbert Sutcliffe, the England opener, was the next highest scorer with 436 at 87.20. Clarrie Grimmett, Australia’s Dunedin-born leggie, snaffled 29 wickets (14 more than the next man, England’s Maurice Tate) with his teasing mixture of top-spinners and wrong ’uns. In the decisive final Test, left-armer Percy Hornibrook, a “lanky dentist from Queensland” according to the Daily Express, took 7-92 on a turning track at The Oval.
Why it was special
This was the series in which Bradman announced himself to the world. He’d made his debut at the start of the 1928-29 series, which England had won 4-1. In 1930, England were once again led by the inspirational Percy Chapman and though he wouldn’t last the series, they won the first Test at Trent Bridge – Chapman’s ninth successive win as captain. At Lord’s, Bradman scored 254, the innings he rated as his best, in Australia’s 729-6dec. Grimmett’s second-innings six-for helped Australia to a seven-wicket win. The rain-affected draw at Leeds was notable, to put it mildly, for Bradman’s 334; 309 of which came on the first day, still the most in a single day’s Test cricket. At 21 years and 318 days, he was the youngest triple-century-maker until Garry Sobers in 1958. Old Trafford was even wetter and another draw set up the Oval finale when England ditched their captain and lost the Ashes.
The moment
Just after 3.55pm on August 23, his 33rd birthday, Bill Woodfull, captain of Australia, grabbed a stump and set off for the pavilion, navigating his way through the thousands of spectators who had flocked on to the Oval outfield. The England selectors had taken the astonishing decision to ditch Chapman, the skipper, on the eve of the Test, and put Bob Wyatt in charge. Sutcliffe scored a big century, alongside Jack Hobbs in his final Test, but England’s 405 was dwarfed by Australia’s 695 (Bradman 232) and Hornibrook did the rest. Wally Hammond was dropped by his nemesis Bradman at long-off before being last man out for 60. England went down by an innings and 39.
Flashpoints
When even the deposed captain’s wife has her say, you know a scandal has reached fever pitch. Chapman was popular and successful but he was also in thrall to the bottle, in increasingly poor condition and his devil-may-care tactics were being questioned. Fleet Street was unimpressed with his sacking and so was Gertrude, Chapman’s New Zealand-born wife. “I am keenly disappointed,” she said with inter-war understatement. “Naturally I was looking forward to Saturday, and it was all so unexpected... I don’t think the chances of winning would have been any less with my husband in the team.”
The aftermath
In the final Test at The Oval, Fender thought he detected a chink in Bradman’s armour (notwithstanding the double ton) when facing quick bowling. He alerted his Surrey colleague Douglas Jardine, who would be named captain for the 1932-33 Ashes tour. To this, we shall return ...
No 6) South Africa 1-2 England, 2004-05
The stars
Andrew Strauss was still in his first year as a Test player but stroked 656 runs at 72.88, including three centuries. His opening partner Marcus Trescothick chipped in with 448 at 44.80. Jacques Kallis countered with 625 runs at 69.44. Two pace bowlers on either side took more than 20 wickets. For England, Matthew Hoggard (26 at 25.50) and Andrew Flintoff (23 at 24.95); for South Africa, Makhaya Ntini (25 at 25.08) and Shaun Pollock (21 at 23.95).
Why it was special
England’s first Test series win in South Africa for 40 years was also their first five-Test overseas victory since the 1986-87 Ashes. It was the fourth successive series win under Michael Vaughan’s captaincy and the most significant indicator yet that they were a team to be reckoned with. The gruelling tour schedule attracted plenty of criticism. England played matches in Namibia and Zimbabwe before arriving in South Africa where five Tests were crammed into 40 days. England’s seven-wicket win in the first Test at Port Elizabeth – built around a century and an unbeaten 94 from Strauss, and notable also for the debuts of Dale Steyn and AB de Villiers – was their eighth victory on the trot, surpassing Percy Chapman’s magnificent seven in 1928-29. They came close in a weather-affected draw at Durban and were hammered in the third at Cape Town before a remarkable win in the fourth Test at Johannesburg. A rainy draw at Centurion sealed the deal.
The moment
With England five down on the final morning at the Wanderers and only 189 in front, an England victory was not on the cards. The draw was favourite with South Africa also fancying their chances. But Trescothick galloped to 180 and when he was last out Vaughan set South Africa 325 in 68 overs, a notional figure given the bad light that had dogged the Test. In the first innings, Hoggard had, he later recalled, bowled “like a shower of shit”. In the second, with the chants of “Barmy Army, Barmy Army” ringing in his ears, he took the first six wickets to fall with an exquisite display of swing bowling before finishing the match with just 8.3 overs left. His 7-61 added up to match figures of 12-105, the best for England since Ian Botham at Mumbai in 1980.
Flashpoints
Vaughan had been grumpy about the umpires’ attitude to bad light in the second Test at Durban. At Johannesburg, he went off like a highveld electric storm. In England’s second innings, with the floodlights on, South African fielders complained they couldn’t see the ball properly. When Steve Bucknor took the players off, Vaughan flipped. He was fined his whole match fee (around £5,500) and match referee Clive Lloyd later publicly called the England captain “dismissive and rude”.
The aftermath
With the Ashes just a few months away, this was the result that the ‘new’ England, under Vaughan and Duncan Fletcher, wanted and needed, proving to themselves and others that they were a serious side with skill and resilience. In the one-day series that followed, Pietersen announced himself with two unbeaten hundreds. Five months later, he was parachuted into the Ashes. In the Guardian, the South African writer Neil Manthorp described the series “as dispiriting a defeat as South Africa have suffered in the modern era”. The old-school coach Ray Jennings, who had contrived to concuss captain Graeme Smith in a fielding drill during the fourth Test, would carry the can. He was replaced a few months later by Mickey Arthur.
No 5) England 0-5 West Indies, 1984
The stars
The Reading-born opener Gordon Greenidge hit 572 runs at 81.71 including two double centuries. The dogged left-hander, Larry Gomes, compiled 400 at 80. Four West Indies bowlers (including spinner Roger Harper) took their wickets at less than 23 apiece. Malcolm Marshall, despite breaking a thumb in the third Test, took 24 wickets at 18.20 and the towering Joel Garner 29 at 18.62. Allan Lamb provided a one-man resistance movement for England, scoring a remarkable three centuries and 386 runs at 42.88 overall.
Why it was special
“Blackwash”. This is still the only instance of an away team winning all five Tests of a series. It was West Indies’ eighth successive series win and the first clean sweep in England. This Windies side is central to any discussion about the greatest of all time. Two Tests were won by an innings, another by 172 runs and the other two by eight and nine wickets.
The moment
On the fourth evening of the second Test at Lord’s, England had a lead of 341 but then came off for bad light. It was a decision described as “psychologically weak and tactically timid”. Skipper David Gower declared overnight and West Indies won by nine wickets with eight overs to spare. Greenidge scored an unbeaten double century that contained shots of eye-watering brilliance and stomach-churning brutality. “It just got to a stage where it was inevitable. We couldn’t stop him,” said England opener Graeme Fowler. Gower admitted: “It was a mighty humbling day ... the wheels came off.”
Flashpoints
England opener Andy Lloyd’s Test career lasted all of 33 minutes until he was hit on the right temple by a bouncer from Marshall that fractured his eye socket. Later in the series, Hampshire’s Paul Terry broke his forearm. This was the price of doing business with the all-conquering Windies. Tempers rarely flared and opposition players didn’t complain about the barrage but some old-time writers baulked at what they perceived as overly aggressive tactics. On the final day at The Oval, Jonathan Agnew, England’s not-out batter, said he was “terrified” after losing his bat, helmet and gloves on the way back to the pavilion. Lloyd said: “Our Brixtonian friends were a bit over-enthusiastic.”
The aftermath
England completed their summer with a one-off Test at Lord’s against Sri Lanka which was expected to provide some light relief. The opposite was true and even though it was a draw, the visitors took the plaudits. Gower survived as captain and, curiously, then led England to one of their most successful periods of the dismal 1980s: winning from behind in India (without Botham) and then hammering Australia the following summer. But when they toured the Caribbean in early 1986, the 0-5 drubbing was replicated in even more brutal circumstances. West Indies continued to bestride the world game and would not lose a series for another 10 years.
No 4) Australia 1-4 England, 1932-33
The stars
And so, we arrive at Bodyline. Douglas Jardine was the hard-nosed bastard whose contempt for Australians unburdened him of any lingering concerns about his tactics. Harold Larwood, as fast as any bowler who ever drew breath, was his willing spearhead, whose unswerving loyalty to Jardine saw him bowl himself into oblivion. And Eddie Paynter was the folk hero who got off his sickbed to make the runs that sealed the series. Bill Woodfull, the dour, easily scandalised Australian skipper who argued that “only one team was playing cricket out there”. The quiet, unassuming Stan McCabe, who singlehandedly took on the short stuff at Sydney to make 187 not out, perhaps the greatest innings in Ashes history. Australia’s craggy opening bat-cum-journalist Jack Fingleton, professional Bradman-despiser, who did such a sterling job of providing a “measured” (some would say contrarian) account of it all. And the Don himself, of course, without whom this whole farrago would never have been conceived. It was his bloody genius that caused all this.
Why it was special
Not many Test series can lay claim to their own TV series, or to having spawned a new addition to the dictionary. But this was not just a cricket series. It was the story of two nations, bound by the roots of imperialism, almost wrenched apart by what David Frith saw as “the revered Mother Country playing dirty”. A mere cricket tactic, involving the deployment of short- pitched deliveries directed at the body, at one point threatened to bring down the whole international game, while putting serious strain on relations between two sovereign states.
The moment
For all the uproar, the series was still alive halfway through the fourth Test at Brisbane. With England spluttering to 216-6 in reply to Australia’s 340, Paynter discharged himself from hospital where he was being treated for tonsillitis, sauntered to the crease, refused Woodfull’s offer of a runner and batted through to the close, only returning to his sickbed that night before resuming his innings in the morning. His 83, featuring a partnership of 92 with Hedley Verity for the ninth wicket, gave England a small lead. Larwood and Gubby Allen then shared six wickets to set up the chase, leaving the stage for Paynter to hit the winning runs that regained the Ashes.
Flashpoints
A few. Bradman missed the first Test at Sydney – Jardine claimed with a nervous breakdown – where England overcame McCabe’s masterpiece to win by 10 wickets, but returned for the second at Melbourne. Bradman was bowled by Larwood for a duck in the first innings, but took on the short stuff in the second to make an unbeaten hundred in Australia’s victory. It would prove to be his only hundred of the series. With the teams locked at 1-1, the third Test at Adelaide was a firestorm. In the third over of Australia’s reply on day two, Larwood felled Woodfull with a blow just above the heart. “Well bowled, Harold!” called Jardine, as Woodfull staggered to his feet. As the two faced up again, Jardine immediately set the bodyline field. The crowd of 50,962 made their feelings clear.
Worse was to come in the second innings, when Australian wicketkeeper Bert Oldfield top-edged a hook from a conventional Larwood short-pitcher, the blow fracturing his skull. Larwood apologised immediately but with the crowd turning feral, England’s fielders prepared to arm themselves with stumps for the anticipated riot. Oldfield later claimed it was his own fault, and Jardine secretly sent a telegram of sympathy to Oldfield’s wife, but the die was cast.
That evening the Australian board of control sent the following cable to the MCC: “Bodyline bowling assumed such proportions as to menace best interests of game, making protection of body by batsmen the main consideration. Causing intensely bitter feeling between players, as well as injury. In our opinion is unsportsmanlike. Unless stopped at once likely to upset friendly relations between Australia and England.” Five days later, the MCC returned their own message. It began: “We, Marylebone Cricket Club, deplore your cable.” You can imagine the rest.
The aftermath
Bodyline would change the game forever. Short-pitched bowling at the body would be normalised. A new ruthlessness would take hold of a game which had never quite deserved its reputation for fair play and decency anyway. The MCC were suitably spineless. Initially unrepentant, only when it became clear that Australian fury threatened the very future of international cricket did they shift position. Seeking censure and needing a scapegoat, the quiet soul from the Nottingham pit village would do just fine.
Larwood was summoned to Lord’s and told to publicly apologise. When he refused, the game closed ranks against him. Larwood never played for England again. Friends of his in the game turned their backs. Jardine disposed of him with typical ruthlessness. Embittered and isolated, Larwood left the country for, yes, Australia. He worked in a Pepsi factory, living out his days in a Sydney suburb with his family. He liked the place, it offered him the respect and affection he’d been deprived of elsewhere. Only Bradman held out against him, even going so far as to label him a chucker in his notoriously sour autobiography. The Don was not the forgiving sort.
No 3) England 0-4 Australia, 1948
The stars
The Don’s last stand and final retort. Teak-tough opener Arthur Morris made 696 runs to Bradman’s relatively modest 508. Ray Lindwall and Bill Johnston, with 27 wickets apiece, were the enforcers. Keith Miller brought the post-war dash and swagger. For England, Denis Compton and Cyril Washbrook both averaged 50-plus. It mattered not a jot.
Why it was special
Bradman, the old rascal, had already declared in the run- up that he expected his team to honour his final tour by going undefeated. No touring team of England had ever done so. Across 34 matches, of which 31 were considered first-class games, they did just as the boss demanded. The end of the first-class tour concluded with a match against an HDG Leveson-Gower’s XI. In 1938 the fixture had featured a full-strength England XI but in this instance Bradman insisted that no more than six England players should be made available. The Don made 153, Australia drew, and the title of the Invincibles was bestowed.
The moment
England were not a bad side, and despite being 0-2 down going into the fourth Test at Leeds, they held the upper hand after three innings, finally declaring eight wickets down to set Australia 404 to win. No team had ever chased down such a target before, yet Morris and Bradman made a mockery of it, sharing a 301-run partnership as Australia cruised home by seven wickets. Bradman was not out 173, rounding out his Headingley average to 192.6 from four Tests.
Flashpoints
Bradman elicited a grudging respect from his weary opponents, who turned in on themselves instead. Controversy raged when Leonard Hutton, considered to be England’s best batter, was dropped for the third Test after a poor game at Lord’s, with the suggestion being that he didn’t fancy Ray Lindwall’s short-pitched bowling, a claim that Hutton hotly denied, as well he might.
The aftermath
Following his famous duck in his final innings at The Oval, Bradman retired. With him, went an era of Australian dominance. They retained the Ashes easily enough in 1950-51, but Hutton’s team of 1954-55 were a much stronger proposition. Spearheaded by Frank Tyson’s thunderbolts, England reclaimed the urn by three Tests to one.
No 2) India 0-3 New Zealand, 2024
The stars
All of them. From the seamers Tim Southee, Matt Henry and the lethal rookie Will O’Rourke, to the spinners Ajaz Patel, Mitch Santner and Glenn Phillips – the trio sharing 36 wickets between them – to Rachin Ravindra, Will Young and the skipper Tom Latham with the bat. Heroes all.
Why it was special
Before New Zealand showed up, India had lost 14 games at home this whole century.
The moment
Bangalore, first Test. First morning of play (day one having been washed out). Coin goes up, Rohit Sharma calls correctly. It’s green and misty. He chooses to bat. The seamers get loose. Southee cleans up Rohit with a banana ball. India last 31.2 overs. All out for 46, Henry 5-15, O’Rourke 4-22. The wildest heist of this century is on.
Flashpoints
The series passed by without major incident, save for some half-hearted DRS controversy in the third Test against Rishabh Pant, but the fallout was far-reaching, with numerous grandees turning on those responsible for the pitches that India play their Test matches on. Harbhajan Singh was one such voice, arguing that bad pitches make India’s batters look ordinary, and that India relinquish home advantage by preparing them. It was pointed out that when Santner took his seven-for in the second Test at Pune to bundle the hosts out for 156 on the second morning, he became the sixth visiting spinner since 2020 to take his maiden five-for in Test cricket in India. The idea set in that bad pitches were not just hastening the decline of Sharma, Virat Kohli and the rest, but stymying the skills of the next generation.
The aftermath
While Ravindra – whose magical 134 at Bangalore was one of the knocks of the year – and O’Rourke, who touched 94mph at times, were being talked about as potential world-class stars, India’s creaking legends, having overseen a first home defeat in 12 years, were last seen staggering to the exit door. Ravichandran Ashwin would retire a few months later, while it seems distinctly possible that Sharma (37) and Kohli (36) have also played their final Test matches on Indian soil.
No 1) Australia 2-3 England, 1894-95
The stars
Andrew Stoddart, England’s brilliant captain-manager, who also led his country at rugby union. His 173 in the second Test was England’s highest score at the time. He met a grisly end, shooting himself in the head in 1915, aged 52. Hard lines for Australian all-rounder George Giffen, who was the leading run-scorer (475 at 52.77) and wicket-taker (34 at 24.11) but still finished on the losing side. England’s leading batter was opener Albert Ward (419 at 41.90) but the real stars were the great bowlers, Bobby Peel and Tom Richardson. Peel, the well- refreshed Yorkshire slow left-armer, took 27 wickets at 26.70, and Richardson, the tireless Surrey seamer, took 32 at 26.53.
Why it was special
“The first great Ashes series,” according to Anglo-Australian expert David Frith. Without WG Grace, and bringing a touring party of only 13, England won the first Test after following on, went 2-0 up, were pegged back in staggering heat in Adelaide before the Aussies levelled the series in a two-day affair at Sydney, dismissing England for 65 and 72. England clinched the thrilling Melbourne decider by six wickets thanks to a third-wicket stand of 210 between Ward and John Brown, the Yorkshireman whose 28-minute fifty remained the fastest (in terms of minutes) in Test history until 2007. Brown finished with 140.
Coverage in the Pall Mall Gazette, made possible by the expansion of the undersea cable network, meant followers back home were apprised of events down under faster than ever before. The series caused huge excitement, and even Queen Victoria followed England’s progress.
The moment
In the first Test at Sydney, England were faced with a mountainous task after Australia scored 586 in their first innings with Giffen (161) and Syd Gregory (201) leading the way. England followed on 341 behind, mustered 437, and set Australia 177 to win. At the close of the penultimate day, Australia were two down for 113 but torrential overnight rain transformed the pitch for the final day. After a heavy drinking session, Peel had to be sobered up by the skipper with a cold shower. “Gi’ me t’ball, Mr Stoddart. Ah’ll get t’buggers out before lunch,” Peel is believed to have said. He was true to his word, finishing with 6-67 as England completed their astonishing victory by 10 runs. Not until 1981 at Headingley would a side win a Test after following on.
Flashpoints
“It’s the worst wicket I’ve ever seen, absolutely the worst,” said Stoddart of the fourth Test pitch at Sydney. Bill Lockwood, Richardson’s less-robust Surrey seam partner, was a liability: he nearly drowned at one point and was almost taken by sharks at another. He was unable to bat in the fourth Test because of a gashed hand caused by an exploding soda bottle.
The aftermath
“The players return home loaded with honours and delighted with their trip,” reported Wisden. This was still the era of England’s overseas tours essentially being privately run, with arrangements conducted between Stoddart and the Melbourne Cricket Club. Stoddart might have been an amateur but that didn’t stop him withdrawing from the England side in 1896 over a row about remuneration. Shortly before his suicide in 1915, against a backdrop of mounting debts and declining health, a request for his MCC membership to be reinstated was denied and his death went unrecorded in the club’s minutes.
This is an article from the latest issue of Wisden Cricket Monthly. Click here to get a digital subscription to Wisden Cricket Monthly and get your first issue for just 99p.
