Most under-rated test innings?

[Top_Cat]

Langer's 50 odd on debut against a WI attack including Ambrose, Walsh and Bishop in Adelaide was an incredibly gutsy innings. IIRC he was hit in the head by Bishop, looked up and saw three of him running in. He pulled away and had the (at that time) self-absorbed and idiotic Lara yell out "He's scared Bish, he's scared". Boony wanted him to retire hurt, but he refused.
Alas, his innings came to nought - WI won the test by one run.

http://aus.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1992-93/WI_IN_AUS/WI_AUS_T4_23-26JAN1993.html

Dammit, was going to mention to mention that one! I watched every ball of that last day. That whole Test is still the most tense one I've ever seen but that last day was something else. The last-wicket partnership between May and McDermott was craziness. I still have the Inside Edge magazaine where, on a photo of him, they plotted how many times and where he'd been hit. There were so many spots on the photo, you could barely see him. haha

Actually speaking of under-rated knocks, Tim May's 42* in that match on his 31st birthday must surely be right up there. Just for the sheer improbability of it.

Another one which rarely gets any press is Mohammed Azharuddin's 102 in Adelaide of the 1991/92 series. He had bugger-all runs coming into that match and just went for his shots. 11 4's in his 50 and shots all-round the wicket. India were trying to save the match but he scored so quickly, they were a chance of winning it.

Speaking of under-rated knocks in dire circumstances, I'm led to believe Nathan Astle's 200 against England was a decent knock yet you barely hear about it any more.

 

[Beleg]

Excellent performances, but maybe if those games deserved Test status we could consider them a little more seriously.

Speak for yourself please.

 

[dave.a7x]

glenn mcgraths 61 in brisbane. i loved that innings =D

 

[Flem274*]

Uh sorry, you can't post that innings here. At CW we like to conveniently ignore the times Hayden has scored runs in tremendously difficult conditions.

So we shall.

Alrightly, time to be biased....

Nathan Astle 222
Martin Crowe 299
Stephen Fleming 274*
Time Southee 79 or whatever it was batting with Chris Martin
Mathew Sinclair 200 odd on debut
Jamie How 139 at quicker than a run a ball in an ODI
Chris Martin 12*

Should I go on?

Oh and Strauss's recent ton vs us to save his career was pretty good. At Napier but he had to get that ton.

 

[Richard]

Speak for yourself please.

I speak for myself and most, in that respect.

 

[Richard]

Speaking of under-rated knocks in dire circumstances, I'm led to believe Nathan Astle's 200 against England was a decent knock yet you barely hear about it any more.

It was an unbelievable innings, I've never seen anything remotely like it, though it's true the Sehwag 319 was closer than some things. Seriously, Vivian Richards never played an innings that good. Everything he hit, pretty much, came off the middle of the bat. He played and missed once or twice early on, but that's it. And this was no tea-party - most people remember best the end of the innings where he knew the game was gone and was just swinging, fairly randomly (still damn impressive the number that he connected with mind, he never so much as missed any of these fairly-random-swings). But for the first 120-130 runs he was playing almost all proper shots - not all along the carpet, but all of the middle of the bat and none anywhere near the fielders. Only time there was ever any remote likelihood of him being out was when he hit one into short-leg and it bounced up, but even that ended-up well out of Ramprakash's reach.

Beyond question the best innings I've seen and I'll be amazed if I ever see a better one.

 

[Richard]

Uh sorry, you can't post that innings here. At CW we like to conveniently ignore the times Hayden has scored runs in tremendously difficult conditions.

Nah, but we do like to point-out that he rarely if ever did. This game, for example, may have seen difficult heat but like near enough all the time around then the pitch was flat, the bowling abysmal and a catch went down (on 40-odd IIRR).

That wasn't that good an innings in any way other than defying the heat. Pakistan weren't knocked-over cheaply because of a difficult pitch, they were knocked-over cheaply because their batting was, twice, execrable.

 

[Ikki]

Nah, but we do like to point-out that he rarely if ever did. This game, for example, may have seen difficult heat but like near enough all the time around then the pitch was flat, the bowling abysmal and a catch went down (on 40-odd IIRR).

That wasn't that good an innings in any way other than defying the heat. Pakistan weren't knocked-over cheaply because of a difficult pitch, they were knocked-over cheaply because their batting was, twice, execrable.

I remember Waqar saying that the pitch was difficult.

And the rest of your denigration is just non-sense. But we've been through that plenty and your stance on Hayden is quite famous here.

EDIT/ADD:

On Matthew Hayden's innings:

"Well, he is as good as anyone in the world at the moment."

Waqar Younis on the reasons for the defeat:

"Well, we didn't bat well, in fact we batted poorly. The pitch was not easy to bat on and we also have a very inexperienced side. Youngsters were given a chance as Inzamam and Yousuf Youhana were nursing injuries while Wasim Akram and Saeed Anwar opted out. We just have to get on with the youngsters and give them maximum chance to perform.

 

[honestbharani]

It's an impossible question to answer with any pretence at authority because there must be literally dozens of gutsy knocks from the early days of cricket than posterity, fickle mistress that she is, hasn't seen fit to garland.

Of the games I've seen I'd say that Alec Stewart's monumentally brave 9* in the abandoned test at Sabina in 98 is worthy of recognition way above & beyond the runs scored. Ambrose & Walsh were charging in on a pitch that was disintegrating almost from the first ball. Alec must've been hit three or four times but typically didn't flinch.

I remember that... Thought was a very good effort too and I think it was talked about a fair bit by the commentators for that test, at least.....

 

[honestbharani]

That West Indies attack in 1974 was thoroughly mediocre though.

An innings which is often overlooked is Azharuddin's century in the third test against South Africa in India in the mid-90's. It was the deciding game in a 3-match series against a strong SA team and batting conditions were difficult. One of India's best series wins and probably Azhar's finest innings.

I don't think he played any such knock...... In the 96 series, his innings was in Kolkata in the first dig and it was in a losing cause..... In the 99 series too, his 100 was in a losing cause....

 

[honestbharani]

Think Sachin's 136 in Chennai against Pakistan is rather under rated. I know Lara's 153 was better but this was reasonably close to it and doesn't seem to get the attention it deserves simply because 10 other batsmen in the side screwed up.....

 

[Son Of Coco]

Dean Jones 210 or however many it was whilst throwing up and having the green apple splatters in India.

 

[Dasa]

I don't think he played any such knock...... In the 96 series, his innings was in Kolkata in the first dig and it was in a losing cause..... In the 99 series too, his 100 was in a losing cause....

Talking about this one, I think.

 

[Richard]

Think Sachin's 136 in Chennai against Pakistan is rather under rated. I know Lara's 153 was better but this was reasonably close to it and doesn't seem to get the attention it deserves simply because 10 other batsmen in the side screwed up.....

And because Lara was let-off just before the winning runs were scored. If Tendulkar had been too, his innings would, rightly, be ranked as every bit as good as Lara's.

 

[Marius]

Darryl Cullinan's 94 against England at the Oval, in '94, SA only made about 190-odd. Devon Malcolm's match, when he took 9/57, and won the game for England. I think Cullinan was the only one not to fall to Malcolm (I think Gough got him).

 

[Dissector]

Dasa,
Yeah that's the one. Looking at the scorecard it's even more amazing than I remember. Azhar scored 163 not out in the second innings and the next highest score in the match was 61 by Tendulkar. The other three innings scores were 237,177 and 180.

And it says something that even someone as knowledable as Honestbharani doesn't remember the innings. Would love to see highlights of that knock again.

 

[Dasa]

I didn't see that knock, but reading the scorecard it looks even more remarkable seeing the pace at which Azhar scored - barely anyone else was able to score at a strike rate over 50, let alone over 70 as he did.

 

[funnygirl]

Think Sachin's 136 in Chennai against Pakistan is rather under rated. I know Lara's 153 was better but this was reasonably close to it and doesn't seem to get the attention it deserves simply because 10 other batsmen in the side screwed up.....

No ,it is not .It is regarded as one of the finest innings played by Sachin .

 

[Flem274*]

Dean Jones 210 or however many it was whilst throwing up and having the green apple splatters in India.

That sounds really enjoyable..

Reminds me of an Astle innings when he had some sort of illness. Can't remember who it was against though.

Think the pioneers into the subcontinent from other countries had lots of fun with batting whilst sick as well.

 

[subshakerz]

And because Lara was let-off just before the winning runs were scored. If Tendulkar had been too, his innings would, rightly, be ranked as every bit as good as Lara's.

Actually, Moin Khan missed a stumping off Tendulkar early in his innings. So they both got let-off, except Lara still went on to win the match.