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Name some of your best Test innings

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
And I don't mean innings you've played, either. :p I'm not fussed about forcing 10 into a list or limiting a list to 10, name as many of the innings you like that you think were some of the best, whether you've seen them or not. Far more interesting sorts of lists than best 10 this-and-that players.

For me, a few that come to mind, in no particularly remarkable order, are...

Don Bradman, 254, first-innings, Lord's, 1930 - by the batsman's own recollection, every single shot (even the one where he was out) went exactly where he aimed it, off three-hundred-and-seventy-six balls. :blink: I can't believe anyone has ever come close to that number of error-free balls consecutively.

Nathan Astle, 222, second-innings, Christchurch, 2001\02 - beyond doubt, the best innings I've ever seen. People say they were chasing 550 and had no realistic chance of a win - regardless, it takes quite something to score a chanceless 222 off 168 balls with the ball swinging, plenty, in the hands of Andrew Caddick and Matthew Hoggard. Everyone remembers the outrageous swings that comprised the last 60 or 70, and completely forgets the almost exclusively completely conventional batting that took him most of the way - he played-and-missed on just a few occasions. I'll be very surprised if I ever see a batsman look so "in the zone" for such a long time playing such a wide range of shots.

Victor Trumper, 104, first-innings, Old Trafford, 1902 - with his side leading 1-0 going into the Fourth Test of five, on a pitch so wet everyone knew it would be benign for only a session or so then batting would become a lottery, Trumper had to act fast. He did, scoring 104 in 115 minutes (which could easily have been over a-run-a-ball). After his partnerships with Duff and Hill, Australia were knocked-over quickly as the pitch dried. They won the match by just 2 runs, and with it the series, but had it been anyone but Trumper opening-up they would surely never have got enough runs in the first-innings before batting became difficult.

Brian Lara, 153*, second-innings, Kensington Oval, 1999 (*) - this innings will always come with an asterisk next to it, and not in the form of a not-out, because it's oft assumed Lara single-handedly won the game for his side. The truth is he was dropped with 10 runs still needed. Nonetheless, it was a sensational innings, and would still be considered so if Healy had taken the requistite catch. With West Indies having levelled the series against Australia (due in no small part to a 213 from Lara) in the previous game, they needed 308 for a lead-gaining victory. With a next-highest score of 38, it was a lone hand from the famous Trinidadian left-hander. And to even come so close to winning a game was a magnificent effort. As it was, the work wasn't wasted, Healy missing the chance, and Lara completing victory that put his side 2-1 up.

Sachin Tendulkar, 136, second-innings, Chennai, 1998\99 - find it impossible to mention the above innings without mentioning this one, a few months earlier. In India and Pakistan's first meeting in a Test for nearly a decade, on an exceedingly difficult pitch (it had been vandalised weeks earlier) India and Pakistan tussled it out on first-innings, and Pakistan eventually managed to set their hosts 271. With only 1 other score above 10 in the innings, it was mostly down to the man from Mumbai. And he chiselled it out brilliantly, coming so close to victory. Sadly for him, though, the chance he gave with victory in sight was taken, where for Lara it had been dropped. India collapsed and lost by 12 runs, but without Tendulkar they would have been flattened.

Maybe I'll think of more later...
 

pasag

RTDAS
Cough :p

Anyways, we were just discussing Nourse's 231 against Australia in the Trivia thread yesterday, which deserves a mention in any great innings list.
 

Flem274*

123/5
The ones that spring to mind for NZ are-

1. Nathan Astle's 222

2. Bert Suttcliffe's 80 not out in the 1955 tour after the disaster that killed a players wife back in NZ and the NZers were being smashed in the head by the yarpies.

3. Stephen Fleming's 274* against Murali and co. in Colombo.
 

Kriketer

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
Just pasting from the other thread. Kamran Akmal's inning in Karachi against India was the best knock under pressure I have ever seen in Test cricket. Pity that he lost his touch and now he's only sliding downwards. Second would be Ponting's 156 agisnt England in 2005. Australia was falling apart when Ponting played an excellent inning to secure a draw for his country.
 

Pup Clarke

Cricketer Of The Year
Kumar Sangakkara 100* at Christchurch 06/07 against an attack consisting of Bond, Martin, Oram and Franklin on a seaming track.

Was the best live innings I've ever seen.
 

iamdavid

International Debutant
Laxman's 281, Steve Waugh's SCG hundred in 02/03, Lara's 150odd against Australia in 1999, Trescothicks 80 or 90 odd at Edgebaston in 05.
 

Fiery

Banned
Astle's 222 was the best I've seen personally as far as sustained demolition of a bowling attack goes. It was the cleanest hitting I have ever seen and will ever likely see again.
 

NZTailender

I can't believe I ate the whole thing
Lou Vincent vs Warne, McGrath, Lee, Gillespie. Some of the cut shots he played against Warne were just beautiful to watch. Did it on debut as well, in an unfamiliar position, in Australia, the world champions against two of the greatest all time bowlers arguably at their peak.

There's a reason why I rate him the way I do.:happy:
 

Fiery

Banned
Lou Vincent vs Warne, McGrath, Lee, Gillespie. Some of the cut shots he played against Warne were just beautiful to watch. Did it on debut as well, in an unfamiliar position, in Australia, the world champions against two of the greatest all time bowlers arguably at their peak.

There's a reason why I rate him the way I do.:happy:
That swallow didn't make a summer
 

Salmon Butt

Cricket Spectator
I love watching SRT's 116 against Aus at Melbourne '99.Lee's debut match.He didn't put a foot wrong when everyone around him was struggling to put bat to ball.Quality innings.
 

Top_Cat

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Lara's 277 at Sudney in 1992 was one of the best knocks I've seen. Even though it didn't result in a win (rain-affected Test), it probably turned that series because the WI looked fragile to that point and they dominated in the ODI series and rest of the Test series after it. Just had everything for the purist; most of his (numerous!) boundaries were hit cleanly into the gap with no slogging at all. Before he was run-out, didn't look like getting out.

From an Aussie perspective, Michael Slater's 176 against Endland in 1994 was one of the best knocks in Australia for many years. Set the tone for the series. Possily equalled by Adam Gilchrist's ton in Hobart in 2000.

Aside from those, Glenn McGrath's 61. As far as the ability-to-results ratio goes, this one was off the charts. Not least of all because of the slog-swept six over mid-wicket. :D
 

Barney Rubble

International Coach
There's too many innings I've seen on TV for me to choose, so I'll just go with the few great innings I've seen in person.

Pietersen's Oval hundred in '05 is difficult to match for magnitude. It was far from the best innings you'll ever see with all the drops and near misses, but just because of the sheer audacity of it, it's one of my favourite innings of all time.

I was also present for a magnificent 183 from Herschelle Gibbs at Lord's in '03, and a very un-characteristically fast and ODI-style 2nd innings ton from Michael Vaughan against the WI in '04. Both were a real privilege to watch, for entirely different reasons.
 

Somerset

Cricketer Of The Year
The ones that spring to mind for NZ are-

1. Nathan Astle's 222

2. Bert Suttcliffe's 80 not out in the 1955 tour after the disaster that killed a players wife back in NZ and the NZers were being smashed in the head by the yarpies.

3. Stephen Fleming's 274* against Murali and co. in Colombo.
Agree with all three as some of the best from a NZ perspective.
 

iamdavid

International Debutant
I love watching SRT's 116 against Aus at Melbourne '99.Lee's debut match.He didn't put a foot wrong when everyone around him was struggling to put bat to ball.Quality innings.
I agree that knock was brilliant.
There were 3 absolutely superb knocks in that series, hard to split them, Steve Waugh at Adelaide, Tendulkar at Melbourne and Laxman at Sydney.
 

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