From Ashes to smashers
GIDEON BROOKS selects his Top 10 England Tests from the 999 games played
AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND MELBOURNE, 1877
AUSTRALIA won by 45 runs An Australian Aborigines team were the first organised overseas cricketers to tour England in 1868 but the first Test match took place between a professional touring side captained by James Lillywhite and a combined Australia XI in March 1877.
ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA THE OVAL, 1882
AUSTRALIA won by 7 runs A rivalry formalised with a ferocious spell of bowling from Frederick ‘The Demon’ Spofforth. Needing just 85 to win, the Aussie quick reduced the hosts from 51-2 to 77 all out with a spell of 7-44. The famous obituary ‘in affectionate remembrance of English cricket’ appeared in the Sporting Times the next day.
AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND ADELAIDE, 1933
ENGLAND won by 338 runs Douglas Jardine and Harold Larwood’s Bodyline theory almost sparked a riot, striking Australia captain Bill Woodfull in the heart and, later in the Test, fracturing the skull of Bert Oldfield. The reverberations shook relations between teams and supporters – and two governments.
ENGLAND v WEST INDIES OLD TRAFFORD, 1976
WEST INDIES won by 425 runs A match (pre-helmets) memorable for the granite tough bravery of Brian Close, brought back aged 45 as selectors wrapped regular opener Bob Woolmer in cotton wool. Along with Bill Edrich, himself 38, Close was peppered with short balls by an aggressive West Indies attack for two and a half hours, scoring one.
ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA HEADINGLEY, 1981
ENGLAND won by 18 runs From a position of desperation, following on seven down and 92 behind, Ian Botham, with 149 not out, and Graham Dilley with 56 threw the kitchen sink at Australia to leave them needing 130 for the win. Bob Willis, with an inspired 8-43, did the rest.
ENGLAND v WEST INDIES THE OVAL, 1984
WEST INDIES won by 172 runs The fifth Test of a 5-0 series whitewash – the first by a touring side anywhere – was secured with a victory by 172 runs as Michael
Holding and Malcolm Marshall blew away England. The Windies’ dominance stretched to the end of the decade.
PAKISTAN v ENGLAND KARACHI, 2000
ENGLAND won by 6 wickets The green shoots of recovery under captain Nasser Hussain and coach Duncan Fletcher continued to sprout with the first defeat for Pakistan in Karachi. In gathering gloom and with the hosts wasting time, Graham Thorpe brought home their first series victory against Pakistan in 37 years.
ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA EDGBASTON, 2005
ENGLAND won by 2 runs The Test that put an electric bolt through a flat-lining series and turned it into one of the greatest of all time. Australia were heading for a 2-0 lead and needed just two runs for victory when Steve Harmison had Michael Kasprovicz caught down the leg side by Geraint Jones. Never mind that it was incorrectly given out, it sparked a run to The Oval that electrified the nation.
INDIA v ENGLAND MUMBAI, 2012
ENGLAND won by 10 wickets Having lost the first Test in Ahmedabad, Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook, with a double-century third-wicket stand, kick-started a brilliant turnaround to land a first series win (2-1) in India for 27 years as Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann spun out the hosts.
SOUTH AFRICA v ENGLAND JOHANNESBURG, 2015
ENGLAND won by 7 wickets A remarkable spell from Stuart Broad, the fast bowler taking 5-1 in 31 balls and 6-17 in all, left South Africa in tatters and secured a series win. It was the sixth time Broad had taken five wickets in a single spell. England won by seven wickets.