The best at their best

[subshakerz]

This is just a thread on the cricketing legends and their finest individual performances that define their careers. Just wanted to get your thoughts on their best innings and spells. I'll start with some obvious ones:

Richard Hadlee - 9/52 at the Gabba in 1985 - Yes, it may have been a sporting wicket against a weaker Aussie lineup, but Hadlee was at his most immaculate and accurate here, and hardly bowled a loose delivery.

Imran Khan - 8/60 in Karachi in 1983 - Imran was at his peak, combining pace with complete mastery over swing. His reverse swing spell of 5/3 in 25 balls broke the back of a strong Indian batting lineup of Gavaskar, Vengsarkar, Amarnath and Viswanath on a good batting wicket. Absolutely brutal, pace bowling of sheer devastation.

Brian Lara - 153* in Barbados in 1999 - What can I say that hasn't been said? Difficult run chase in the fourth innings against an all-time great attack. Genius.

Would be interested to know you choices for Murali, Warne, Tendulkar, Ponting, and other greats...

 

[Richard]

Murali impossible to say anything other than his 16-for at The Oval. Deck as flat as you'll see, England batting-line-up that was pretty good (Butcher, Hick, Stewart, Ramprakash, Crawley all featured), and no other bowler made the remotest of impressions in the game.

Tendulkar has to be his 155* in 1997/98 against Australia, his best in terms of wresting the initiative in a vital game. Though that one in the run-chase against England recently was damn good, obviously.

Warne would probably have to be one of his match-deciding efforts against South Africa in 1996/97 or 1997/98. Not sure which, really.

Stephen Waugh obviously that 199 in 1999 against West Indies, in the same game as the Lara 153* UIMM.

Ponting, probably that MCG Test in 2003/04 against India, where he made the difference between a first-ever home series defeat to India and a tied series.

Allan Border, undoubtedly that double at Queen's Park Oval in 1984.

Would suggest Lara's 277 was probably superior to his 153* too. Phenomenal knock though that was, if Healy had taken the catch that would have dismissed him with WI 7 runs short of the target, it'd not be recalled anywhere near so fondly as it was. Flat deck or not, that 277 was virtually faultless according to almost all who witnessed it.

 

[GIMH]

I'd go for Ponting's 156 V England at OT, though it may be a case of rating an innings against my own team higher because of the interest I had in it

Freddie (yeah yeah, not a 'great' but meh) I'd go for his ton at trent Bridge 05 with the bat and his 4fer against Saffa with the ball just because of how mesmerising his bowling was on that day...might be a case of picking a favourite over true 'greatness' though

Are we talking Tests only? If not, Gilchrist in the WC Final in 07 for him, absolutely amazing

 

[Richard]

Gilchrist's best Test knock would undoubtedly be the one in his sophomore game, the 149* to put on that collossal stand with Langer and make a target that seemed essentially impossible when he came to the crease into a doddle. His knock at the SCG in 2002/03 was pretty amazing, but a) ultimately fruitless and b) undoubtedly not as good as the Bellerive '99/00 one.

Ponting's 156 at Old Trafford probably has a fair case, but ultimately it was in vain. Even though they scraped a rain-assisted draw there, they still lost the series.

And if we were going for purely our favourite players even if they're not up with the best ever... Graham Gooch, well, no real dispute his 150-odd* at Headingley in 1991, one of the best knocks ever; and Dominic Cork, obviously his game at Lord's in 2000 - played the biggest part by miles in a win which turned the series and led to England's first Wisden Trophy win for 31 years.

 

[subshakerz]

Ponting's 156 at Old Trafford probably has a fair case, but ultimately it was in vain. Even though they scraped a rain-assisted draw there, they still lost the series.

I think its a tad unfair to downgrade his rating of that innings based on the series result. It was a good attack, tough situation and unbelievable pressure, moreso than any other major innings of his career IMO.

 

[Richard]

MCG '03/04 was hardly a cakewalk. Australia were 1-0 down at home to India, who they'd never (and still never have FTR) lost a series to at home. Ponting's knock basically saved them from that ignominy, and it's not as if India's attack was a "prank" one, though it was indeed hardly outstanding and nowhere near the calibre of the Flintoff-Jones-Giles axis of Old Trafford 2005.

I'd say the situation of MCG '03/04 was even tougher than OT '05, if not the attack.

 

[subshakerz]

Murali impossible to say anything other than his 16-for at The Oval. Deck as flat as you'll see, England batting-line-up that was pretty good (Butcher, Hick, Stewart, Ramprakash, Crawley all featured), and no other bowler made the remotest of impressions in the game.

Tendulkar has to be his 155* in 1997/98 against Australia, his best in terms of wresting the initiative in a vital game. Though that one in the run-chase against England recently was damn good, obviously.

Warne would probably have to be one of his match-deciding efforts against South Africa in 1996/97 or 1997/98. Not sure which, really.

Stephen Waugh obviously that 199 in 1999 against West Indies, in the same game as the Lara 153* UIMM.

Ponting, probably that MCG Test in 2003/04 against India, where he made the difference between a first-ever home series defeat to India and a tied series.

Allan Border, undoubtedly that double at Queen's Park Oval in 1984.

Would suggest Lara's 277 was probably superior to his 153* too. Phenomenal knock though that was, if Healy had taken the catch that would have dismissed him with WI 7 runs short of the target, it'd not be recalled anywhere near so fondly as it was. Flat deck or not, that 277 was virtually faultless according to almost all who witnessed it.

Some interesting choices. Murali's 16-wicket haul was fantastic, but I might pick his ten-fer last year against India or the 7-fer in India in 2005, given the opposition. Tendulkar and Warne are tough calls. But I must disagree with Waugh's and Lara's. Waugh's knock of 200 in 1995 when the series was in the balance against a peak Ambrose and Walsh was by far his finest. And Lara's 277, terrific knock though it was, was scored in a dull draw on a batting paradise. The 153*, dropped catch and all, won WI the match.

 

[Richard]

Waugh only got that 200 because Junior Murray was ill, and his replacement, that waste of space Courtney Browne, dropped an easy catch. Regardless of the situation, Waugh simply batted better in the 1999 equivalent than the 1995 one. Ambrose and Walsh were no different in either series, they were a tough proposition regardless, and neither pitch was a tea-party one.

As I say - much as West Indies won the game eventually, if Healy had taken that catch I doubt people would praise Lara any more than they do Tendulkar for that 136 at Chennai that, like Lara, almost won the game (and, absurdly, Tendulkar seems to get more criticism for that 136 than praise, despite the fact it's up with his own best knocks as well). For me, a near-faultless knock, insanely flat deck or not, comes-up trumps over just about anything.

 

[subshakerz]

MCG '03/04 was hardly a cakewalk. Australia were 1-0 down at home to India, who they'd never (and still never have FTR) lost a series to at home. Ponting's knock basically saved them from that ignominy, and it's not as if India's attack was a "prank" one, though it was indeed hardly outstanding and nowhere near the calibre of the Flintoff-Jones-Giles axis of Old Trafford 2005.

I'd say the situation of MCG '03/04 was even tougher than OT '05, if not the attack.

Not nearly as tough. In 03/04, Ponting came in at 30-1 after India had scored a pretty decent 366. In 05, Australia were staring down the barrel on a last day and would have definitely have lost if not for Ponting's one-man show. The pressure of a crucial test in an Ashes series is immense.

 

[Richard]

I realise that. But the difficulty (not "pressure", that's not a word I'd be inclined to use, as it depends on the individual to a large extent and is not generic) of staring at a home loss to a team you've never before lost at home to is also immense.

 

[zaremba]

Botham - You'd have to go for Headingley '81, I imagine, all things considered.

 

[Richard]

Yet arguably for Botham the batsman Old Trafford '81 was better, and for Botham the bowler Edgbaston '81 was undoubtedly better.

[/contrary]











(And if one were being exceedingly contrary one would also argue that Botham was a great all-rounder only for 4 years anyway )

 

[Hurricane]

He is not a great - but Martin Crowe's best was his 299 vs Sri Lanka. Dismissed trying to run the ball down to third man and getting caught behind instead.

 

[Richard]

What is "a great" anyway? Vague and sacred term, a very-much-not-ideal combination.

Martin Crowe is undoubtedly topped only by relatively few batsmen who have played cricket.

 

[HMas]

Akhtar 5 fer against Aussies in Sharjah.

 

[subshakerz]

I guess 'great' is a pretty nebulous term. I pretty much meant any worldclass player, Shoaib and Crowe would both count.

 

[nightprowler10]

Imran Khan - His 12-fer at the SCG (1977) to tie the series. Probably not his best ever but certainly him at his best. Bowled almost half the overs in the first inning. Ripped his bowling arm sleeve right off.

 

[Spinksy]

Matthew Hayden's 380 against Zimbabwe is one for the ages imo.

 

[SpeedStar]

Richard Hadlee's 10 for 100 in the 77/78 series against England, i wasn't even alive but have it on video, my Mum got it for me for my 4th birthday in the late 90's LOL.

 

[subshakerz]

Imran Khan - His 12-fer at the SCG (1977) to tie the series. Probably not his best ever but certainly him at his best. Bowled almost half the overs in the first inning. Ripped his bowling arm sleeve right off.

Perhaps his most important bowling effort, since it was Pakistan's first victory in Australia and established him as a pacer. I wouldnt put that as his best though since from what I've read it was pure pace rather than swing or seam that did the Aussies in.