The Best Ball Ever Bowled......

[Barney Rubble]

.......That Wasn't Bowled By Shane Warne. That makes it a bit harder, doesn't it?

I'll start by nominating Harmy's slower ball to Clarke, and Freddie's ripping out of Haydos' leg-stump after setting him up for it for about three overs, and those are just the ones I can think of from this summer.

There's been a fair few Waqar inswinging yorkers which deserve a nomination, and some from Wasim, and I'm sure Murali's bowled a fair few unplayables in his time.

[Hazza]

I'd say that Holding's famous over versus Boycott had some crackers in it.

[Tom Halsey]

Harmison's slowie was very good yes, but not as special as everyone made out. I'd say Jonah's at Kasper at Trent Bridge in the 1st Innings would have got most top order batsmen out, was a bit special, but there are definately others over the years which were better.

Also, the best ball ever bowled is likely not to have got a wicket, because it's likely to have been played at and missed, and so not remembered.

[Blaze]

Steve Waugh said the best ball he faced was a delivery from Richard Hadlee where he got bowled. He said 9 times out of 10 it would have bowled him and the 10th he would have got an edge. Haven't seen the ball myself but it must have been a beauty.

[open365]

^very true.

My favourties are the one where a batsman gets set up then looks clueless when he gets out,the most recent one i can remember is Collymore getting Clarke out in the first AUS-WIN test.

Anderson's inswinging yorker in the 03 world cup was pretty special but i cant remember many atm.

Brett Lee's slower ball that got Strauss looked great but i think that had more to do with Straus completely missing it.

[Smudge]

Originally Posted by Blaze

Steve Waugh said the best ball he faced was a delivery from Richard Hadlee where he got bowled. He said 9 times out of 10 it would have bowled him and the 10th he would have got an edge. Haven't seen the ball myself but it must have been a beauty.

I know the one - I think it was in the 1985/6 series in Aussie. The ball pitched on about middle to middle-and off and seamed ever so slightly away, clipping Waugh's off-bail. Quite funny that you posted this as I was about to suggest it.

[luckyeddie]

I'll vote for Harmison's slower ball to Michael Clarke as the only candidate in the last year, purely because of circumstances in which it was produced.

Nobody expected it - not the batsman, not the crowd, not the commentators, and judging from their reaction, not his team-mates. It was the defining moment of the entire summer.

[Jamee999]

Maybe this one?

0.2 Harmison to Langer, no run, just short of a good length once more,
this time on the stumps, Justin Langer takes his eyes off the ball
and cops a nasty blow on the arm, just above the elbow
Langer in a bit of pain there. The ball hit him just above where
the forearm protector ends. That is a painful blow. Errol Alcott
the Australian physio has run on

Or this one perhaps?

10.4 Harmison to Ponting, no run, and it is Ponting's turn now! Short
ball, Ponting goes for the pull and cops a nasty blow on the grill
of the helmet
Another disruption in play here as the helmet seems to have jammed
on Ponting's face and caused a bit of bleeding
It looks a bit gory there as the blood pours down Ponting's cheek,
but it's not as bad as it looks
The physio has come onto the field and is attending to Ponting

Not strictly a ball, but this was nice

Let's cut to the chase and get straight to the news that is coming
to us from Edgbaston
Australia have won the toss and chosen to bowl

These might tickle your fancy

17.6 Warne to Trescothick, SIX, tossed up just a bit more and outside
the off, Trescothick goes for the big hit and makes clean contact!
Huge six back over Warne's head!

43.4 Harmison to Clarke, OUT: slower ball on the middle stump, Clarke is
completely fooled by this one. What a ball to bowl at the end of a
day like this! Clarke is flummoxed and clean bowled!

Or what about this

64.3 Harmison to Kasprowicz, OUT: short ball banged in, Kasprowicz tries
to get out of the way but just cannot manage, the ball balloons up
towards the keeper and Geraint Jones takes the catch

Australia 279/10, Partnership of 59
MS Kasprowicz c GO Jones b Harmison 20 (31b 3x4 0x6)
B Lee 43* (75b 5x4) SJ Harmison 17.3-3-62-2 (1w 1nb)

This incredible Test match comes to an end with England winning by
two runs
End of one of the great Test matches of all time

This always brings a smile to my face:

56.3 McGrath to Vaughan, three runs, There it is! Century for Michael
Vaughan. That is the first 100 of this Ashes series! fullish and
on the stumps, Vaughan drives through midwicket

Carn Vaughanie!

70.2 Gillespie to Vaughan, FOUR, now one the other side of the field,
on-driven in fine style through midwicket to bring up the 150!

Another great moment:

51.5 McGrath to Strauss, FOUR, short one, pulled away to the midwicket
fence to bring up Strauss' 6th Test hundred, his first against
Australia

This was pure class:

100.1 Warne to Flintoff, one run, full and down the leg side, Flintoff
puts bat to ball, working the ball down the leg side to get to a
century that is cheered loud and long by a capacity crowd at Trent
Bridge!

Dampening some spirits

117.5 Warne to SP Jones, FOUR, fullish and outside the off, lofted well
over mid-off, one bounce and over the ropes
117.6 Warne to SP Jones, FOUR, flatter and quicker, Jones squeezes this
very well through cover

Superman!

42.2 Flintoff to Gilchrist, OUT: just short of a good length, outside
the off, the ball moves away after pitching, Gilchrist edges,
Andrew Strauss dives full length to his left and takes a stunning
one-handed catch!

Wahoo!

News has just come in that England have indeed enforced the follow-
on

This is also a nice piece

31.5 Warne to Giles, two runs, THAT'S IT! England have done it! full and
on the pads, flicked through the on side for two of the most
valuable runs Ashley Giles has ever scored in his life!
England have scored a famous victory here at Trent Bridge! And
after years and years of waiting English fans can celebrate being
ahead in an Ashes series!

Very nice one here as well

58.2 Lee to Strauss, FOUR, driven well through midwicket to bring up a
century for Andrew Strauss! That is a 7th Test hundred for Strauss
and boy oh boy is this South London crowd appreciative

This takes the cake though

62.2 Tait to Pietersen, FOUR, short of a length and outside the off,
driven well through extra cover! Hundred for Kevin Pietersen! That
is a top class knock under pressure on a big, big stage

But, the winner(of 3 cakes and a biscuit) is

0.4 Harmison to Langer, legbye: FOUR, another short one, Langer takes
evasive action, off the shoulder for four leg byes over the keeper
The umpires have offered the light to Langer and Hayden and they
have accepted it.
This is not quite the end of play though
The players have walked off the field, but will have to come back
out in case the light situation improves. But that is unlikely to
happen this time of the year.

Match State: Delay - Day 5 - Bad light stops play

The covers are coming on now
We're being told the match officials and representatives of both
teams are talking, discussing whether this game can be called off
at this stage
That's probably the commonsense way forward so that the England
team and indeed most of the country can celebrate a great victory
The umpires walk out now and are purposefully striding to the
middle
The bails come off, the stumps are pulled out of the ground and
officially this match is drawn and England have won the Ashes 2-1
It's a huge moment for this team, the celebrations can now
officially begin!
Handshakes all round between the two teams, that's good spirit
between the two sides
The England team are gathered on the pavilion steps and they are
now led out by Michael Vaughan ... the crowd roars!
There's plenty of waving and gesturing to the crowds. There are
songs in the air and thunderous applause. Soon the presentation
ceremony will begin.
The Man of the Match is Kevin Pietersen for his magnificent 158 in
the second innings that seasled the match for England
'It's a fantastic day. It's special to me personally to win the Man
of the Match on the last day of a series where we won the Ashes,'
says Pietersen.
The Man of the Series is Andrew Flintoff. He has had a great series
and richly deserves the award.
This was the award for the English Man of the Series, chosen by the
Australian coach John Buchannan
Similarly Duncan Fletcher picks out Shane Warne as Australia's
player of the series. Another great cricketer, another award
richly deserved.
'It's been one of those series ... it was an amazing series.
England were just too good for us in this series, and you have to
hand it to them,' says Warne
'I always enjoy playing in England. The crowds in all the Tests
have been sensational. It's just a pleasure to play here.'
Now the Australian team comes up, in batting order, to the podium
Finally Ponting comes up to have a word
'It looked early on that the game would be set up well. But England
played great cricket all summer. They've outplayed us in every
Test match other than the first one. Congratulations to Michael
Vaughan and Duncan Fletcher,' says Ponting
'We had a few chances but did not take them. Kevin Pietersen played
magnificently. This was one of the best series I have ever played
in.'
There's a new award instituted this series. It's the Compton-Miller
award for the player of the series. Picked by Trevor Hohns and
David Graveney, that man is Andrew Freddie Flintoff
'It's been a great summer. Today is really special,' says Flintoff.
'We've played great cricket over the past five weeks. You've got to
pinch yourself to know you're not dreaming. To play a part in
winning the Ashes for England is something you dream about as a
kid.'
Now the England team comes up, in batting order, to the podium
Huge roar from the crowd as Michael Vaughan comes up to the podium
to recieve a replica of the famous Ashes urn. There's also a
trophy from the sponsors for Vaughan to collect.
'It's been an incredible series. Full credit to Australia and the
way they have played,' says Vaughan '
'Winning the toss and batting on four out of five occasions
certainly helped.'
'We've all aged a few years in the course of this series. The
support we have received has been fantastic and we appreciate
this.'
Vaughan now holds that famous little urn up in the air and the
crowd roars with great gusto
The confetti flies, the bubbly is uncorked, Team England bask in
the adulation as the celebrations begin in right earnest!
That brings us to the end of the coverage of this Ashes series, as
England take a lap of honour around The Oval
It has been a pleasure and a privilege bringing this series to you.
We hope you enjoyed our coverage as much as we enjoyed bringing it
to you!

Bit more than a ball really, but that doesn't matter

[Tom Halsey]

Originally Posted by Jamee999

Maybe this one?



Or this one perhaps?



Not strictly a ball, but this was nice



These might tickle your fancy





Or what about this



This always brings a smile to my face:



Carn Vaughanie!



Another great moment:



This was pure class:



Dampening some spirits



Superman!



Wahoo!



This is also a nice piece



Very nice one here as well



This takes the cake though



But, the winner(of 3 cakes and a biscuit) is



Bit more than a ball really, but that doesn't matter

Best. Post. Ever.

[simmy]

Originally Posted by Tom Halsey

Best. Post. Ever.

Ah... It really was!

[nightprowler10]

The best delivery? In my biased view?

Akram bowling to Gilly in the first round match of the 1999 WC, the inswinging delivery that missed Gilly's bat and arm just barely and knocked off his bails. Gilly just stood there wondering what the hell just happened.

Another one would be in the final of the same WC. I remember watching it with 50 other people in a restaurant in Chicago. Akram to Ponting, ball bounces up and in at the speed of light, Ponting tries to glide it down third man but edges it to Moin Khan. The reason it was so great was that, at that moment, everybody in the room had forgotten about the humiliating defeat Pakistan was heading towards and everyone had the same look of wonderment on their faces.

[Samuel_Vimes]

Gilo to Martyn, third Test.

In all seriousness, I haven't seen too many, so won't say anything.

[Slats4ever]

Originally Posted by open365

^very true.

My favourties are the one where a batsman gets set up then looks clueless when he gets out,the most recent one i can remember is Collymore getting Clarke out in the first AUS-WIN test.

Word... I remember one Gillespie over he bowled to Lara... That was an amazing collection of six balls. All on the off stump cutting away and the last one slightly outside, left alone by Lara then cutting back in and hitting the off stump

But then again I liked Simon Jones ball to get rid of Clarke in that test we drew (I forget what number it was... but it was the one where Ponting got bucketloads to save us)

[Barney Rubble]

Originally Posted by Slats4ever

Word... I remember one Gillespie over he bowled to Lara... That was an amazing collection of six balls. All on the off stump cutting away and the last one slightly outside, left alone by Lara then cutting back in and hitting the off stump

But then again I liked Simon Jones ball to get rid of Clarke in that test we drew (I forget what number it was... but it was the one where Ponting got bucketloads to save us)

I nearly nominated that Jones ball, too, that was awesome.

[Neil Pickup]

Third Test, Old Trafford

Not sure what I'm going to recommend - plenty of things have already been covered, so I'll add a suggestion from this summer in the Devon Youth Leagues... U13 Cup Semi Final between Culmstock U13 and Exeter U12. Culmstock wobbling a little at 20-1 but their best batsman's just come in at three. His first ball is crashed to the midwicket fence. Our bowler runs in, pitches it on/just outside leg stump... and hits the top of off. Culmstock 85 all out. Unfortunately, 11 year olds + U13s bowling quickly at them = Exeter 75 all out. Culmstock got walloped in the final by the invincible Sidmouth.