10 OF THE BEST
As The Oval brings up its century of Test matches this week when England host South Africa, we look back at...
1882 ASHES ARE BORN
The game itself was exciting enough: Australia won by seven runs as england fell from 51 for 2 to 77 all out, reputedly causing one spectator to die of a heart attack. A mock obituary of english cricket appeared in the Sport
ing Times: ‘The body will be cremated and the Ashes taken to Australia.’ When Ivo Bligh led england’s revenge mission that winter and won 2-1, he was presented with a terracotta urn containing the ashes of a bail, a ball or a lady’s veil. Whatever it was, sport’s most famous contest was up and running.
1902 JESSOP’S MATCH
englAnd had already lost the Ashes, but were damned if they were going to lose the series 3- 0. Things were not looking good when they were reduced to 48 for five in pursuit of 263. But gilbert Jessop blazed 104 in 77 minutes from no 7, before george hirst and Wilfred Rhodes inched england over the line, adding 15 for the last wicket. legend insists hirst told Rhodes ‘We’ll get ’em in singles’ — a story too good to be disputed.
1948 FAREWELL DON
IT WAs the summer of Australia’s Invincibles, and the final Test for don Bradman,, who walked out to bat withh his side 117 for one. hee needed four runs for a Testt average of 100. Instead he e was bowled second ball byy eric hollies. did he have e tears in his eyes? And did d they impede his vision? noo one is sure. But when he returned to the dressing-room, he muttered: ‘That was a silly thing to do.’ his average would forever be 99.94.
1953 ASHES REGAINED
englAnd were getting desperate. It had been more than 20 years since their last series win against Australia, and four Tests had produced four draws. But nine wickets for Jim laker and Tony lock skittled the Aussies for 162 in their second innings, before england sealed an eightwicket victory. Brian Johnston’s commentary — ‘The Ashes! england have won the Ashes’ — was accompanied by a pitch invasion. eight years after the end of the war, the nation had cheered up: the Queen had been crowned, the Australians creamed.
1968 THE D’OLIVEIRA AFFAIR
When Basil d’Oliveira scored 158 against Australia, he set in motion a chain of events that went far beyond sport. england went on to win the game and square the series after derek Underwood took seven for 50 after spectators had helped mop up a downpour. The Cape Town-born d’Oliveira was then omitted from the tour to south Africa that winter, only to be chosen when seamer Tom Cartwright pulled out.
For south Africa’s apartheid government, the late selection of a non- white was a deliberate provocation, and the tour was cancelled. soon after, the country began its sporting exile, not playing a Test for 22 years.
1976 HOLDING SHINES
The long, hot summer of 1976 was not generally a time to be a pace bowler. The Oval was parched by the time West Indies arrived, and Viv Richards enjoyed himself to the tune of 291 in a total of 687 for eight.
Then Michael holding took over. gliding in with leonine grace, Whispering death picked up 14 english wickets, including 12 either bowled or lbw. West Indies won by 231 runs, and took the series 3-0, making a mockery of england captain Tony greig’s pledge to make them ‘grovel’.
1994 DEMON DEVON
IT dOesn’T much matter whether devon Malcolm really told south Africa’s fielders that they were, as legend has it, ‘history’. But it is clear that the blow england’s no 11 took on the head from Fanie de Villiers unleashed an unstoppable force. Malcolm produced the spell of his life to claim nine for 57 as south Africa collapsed to 175, before england romped home by eight wickets.
When england toured south Africa in 1995-96, nelson Mandela greeted Malcolm with the words: ‘I know you, you’re the destroyer.’
1998 MAGIC MURALI
These were the days when the sri lankans were patronised by england with a single Test at the end of the summer. The visitors’ confidence was not shaken by england’s first-innings score of 445 — they replied with 591, leaving england to tackle Muttiah Muralitharan on a bone-dry pitch.
They tackled him badly: 181 all out, with Murali’s unique offbreaks claiming nine for 65, and 16 for the game. When sri lanka next visited england in 2002, it was for a three-Test series.
2000 END OF THE HURT
englAnd led West Indies 2-1 by the time they reached the final Test of the series. One more win, and they would have their first series victory over their old tormentors since 1969. The game gripped the nation, and The Oval witnessed its first final-day sellout since that 1953 finale against Australia.
england won by 158 runs after Mike Atherton made 83 and 108, and Craig White took a firstinnings five- for, including Brian lara for a duck. It was heady stuff.
2005 KP GOES NUTS
hAs a draw ever been celebrated as much as this? england had not won the Ashes since 1986-87, but at lunch on the final day they were jittery: 133 ahead, and only five wickets left.
In his first Test series, Kevin Pietersen hit a masterful 158 that took england to safety and preserved their 2-1 advantage. Michael Vaughan’s team celebrated with an open-top bus ride and a trip to no 10, where Andrew Flintoff urinated in a rose bush. no one cared.