Best ever test series IYO?

[Hurricane]

I think my favourite was England vs New Zealand circa 1980. England had Botham, Randall, Gower, Willis, Boycott - and of course Botham ran out Boycott.

What an introduction to tests watching a Boycott innings.

 

[morgieb]

Yeah and NZ got robbed in the days before DRS in the deciding test in 2001/2 at Perth

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6UlqoVovU9M

If that had been given we would've won and could've easily won the 1st test too

Only because of a very generous declaration. Was it not for rain the first two Tests would've been comfortable enough wins for Australia I feel.

 

[wpdavid]

^I really wish at least one veteran of the 90s team (Gough, Ramprakash and Thorpe were realistically the only players still a chance of selection right) had been part of the 05 team, they really deserved to taste ashes success after literally losing how many series in a row? At least 6 or something. Imagine if Stewart or Athers had lasted til 05. Would have made a great moment even greater IMO

Thorpe was unlucky, as his back was no longer fit for purpose by then so he missed out. I suppose there's a bit of a 'what if' there, because if he had been fit, and given Bell averaging over 200 against Bangladesh immediately before the 2005 ashes, would Pietesen have even been picked? Gough was gone by then. Ramps would almost certainly have scored more runs than Bell had he been brought in to replace the youngster mid-series, but I don't recall any sort of clamour for that. Perhaps it's a shame that Stewart had retired a couple of years earlier. He probably wouldn't have missed as many chances as Geraint Jones, and he'd been in seven unsuccessful ashes campaigns going all the way back to 1990/91.

 

[Red]

Thorpe was unlucky, as his back was no longer fit for purpose by then so he missed out. I suppose there's a bit of a 'what if' there, because if he had been fit, and given Bell averaging over 200 against Bangladesh immediately before the 2005 ashes, would Pietesen have even been picked? Gough was gone by then. Ramps would almost certainly have scored more runs than Bell had he been brought in to replace the youngster mid-series, but I don't recall any sort of clamour for that. Perhaps it's a shame that Stewart had retired a couple of years earlier. He probably wouldn't have missed as many chances as Geraint Jones, and he'd been in seven unsuccessful ashes campaigns going all the way back to 1990/91.

Yeh, Stewart and Thorpe would've been the two guys who I'd have liked to have seen get that success. The last selection in the English team was a choice between Thorpe and Pietersen and I think KP gave England a bit of spark and self belief that'd been missing from their team. Perhaps Thorpe could've played in place of Bell.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Yeh, look, fair enough, but...



2/1 India's way is hardly "destroyed" especially in Indian conditions, although India's wins in the first two tests were fairly comprehensive.



Once again, 2/1 in India. But yeh, fair point.



Yeh, we won those.


I think of the Australian period of dominance beginning in 95 in the Windies series and going through til around the end of Ponting's captaincy. I get that we lost a few series in that time, but what I meant was we were the clear #1 side in the world for a long time. I might've been clearer in what I meant I guess.

Being pedantic a bit here, but you guys didn't win 03/04.

I know what you meant btw. I'm just annoyed that the western media love to portray the 05 ashes as the only time Australia were challenged in ages, and the Indian media do the same for 01. It's easy to ignore that Australia were put on the back foot numerous times by some top class teams, and on the rare occasion, they did get beaten. Making them out to be this unstoppable bulldozer that rammed through everyone all the time (which admittedly did happen for a long time) ends up discrediting the Aussies, because what made them probably the ATG team, was that everytime they were beaten or taken to the brink (India 01, 03/04, Ashes 05, 97 vs SA at home, 99 in WI), they responded in the very next series with a devastating win (04 India, 06/07 Ashes, 97 in SA, 00/01 vs WI).

 

[wpdavid]

Other great series ....

I was reading the other day about the 1894/95 Ashes. I barely know a thing about that series, but it was supposed to be a classic.

1974/75 India vs WI was an interesting one. I think it finished 3-2 to WI, and saw the emergence of Richards, Roberts and, I think, Greenidge longside established stars like Lloyd and Kallicheran against India's spin greats.

I was pleased to see someone mention Pakistan vs WI in 1988. Again, I don't know much about it, but I gather it was pretty titanic.

Another really interesting series between those two was in the Caribbean, I think early in 1977. It was the first series when Croft and Garner played alongside Roberts. I think Holding might have been injured, but I'm doing this from memory so who knows really. Apart from the impact of the WI quicks, the interesting thing is how well Pakistan stood up to them. I think it finished 2-1 to WI, but it was very close.

A couple of great shorter series were the Aus vs SA exchanges in the mid-1990s.

 

[mr_mister]

yeah SA brought excitement with them wherever they went in the '90s


Their '99 World Cup team at full strength was ridic talented

 

[Fuller Pilch]

When I was a kid I remember NZ's 1-1 draw with the Windies - 1986/7

Gordon Greenidge got a double in one test and they had Haynes, Richie Richardson, Viv, Marshall and the other quicks

against Hadlee, Martin Crowe, John Wright, Coney, Ian Smith & co.
Perhaps the two greatest bowlers of all time along the master blaster, NZ's best ever bat and a few other top players.

The 2 best teams of the 1980s (although Pakistan were close to NZ for 2nd)

 

[weldone]

When I was a kid I remember NZ's 1-1 draw with the Windies - 1986/7

Gordon Greenidge got a double in one test and they had Haynes, Richie Richardson, Viv, Marshall and the other quicks

against Hadlee, Martin Crowe, John Wright, Coney, Ian Smith & co.
Perhaps the two greatest bowlers of all time along the master blaster, NZ's best ever bat and a few other top players.

The 2 best teams of the 1980s (although Pakistan were close to NZ for 2nd)

Both Pakistan and India had very good teams in the 80s.

 

[Hurricane]

Both Pakistan and India had very good teams in the 80s.

By memory their bowling was a bit average. Kapil Dev was very very good. I have no idea who else they had - Cheetan Sharma perhaps.

Pakistan were better. India did have Azza. And had he played today people would be gushing over him.

 

[fredfertang]

I never thought I'd see a better series than the 1981 Ashes - I was wrong then, but I really do doubt whether I'll ever need to change my mind again - 2005, and by a fair distance if I'm being totally honest

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Both Pakistan and India had very good teams in the 80s.

That is true, but NZ were unbeaten in series at home for the entire decade, won series away in Australia, England and Sri Lanka and were the only team to beat the Windies in the 1980s (1-0 in 1980) and in 10 tests against the Windies in the 80s won 2, lost 3, drew 5. (1 series win each plus a drawn series)

 

[Xuhaib]

The last test was very memorable. Not sure about the rest of the series

Might not be among the best series ever but still was a great one. Malik vs Warne in that series is some of the best quality of cricket you will ever see.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

The 1981 Ashes. The quality of cricket didn't match the 2005 series, but the way it unfolded like a comic strip or far fetched movie plot made it unique.

 

[Hurricane]

The 1981 Ashes. The quality of cricket didn't match the 2005 series, but the way it unfolded like a comic strip or far fetched movie plot made it unique.

We all know what happened but relive it for us anyway. Want to hear someone tell it who watched it,

 

[Xuhaib]

When I was a kid I remember NZ's 1-1 draw with the Windies - 1986/7

Gordon Greenidge got a double in one test and they had Haynes, Richie Richardson, Viv, Marshall and the other quicks

against Hadlee, Martin Crowe, John Wright, Coney, Ian Smith & co.
Perhaps the two greatest bowlers of all time along the master blaster, NZ's best ever bat and a few other top players.

The 2 best teams of the 1980s (although Pakistan were close to NZ for 2nd)

Pakistan was generally regarded the best team after the Windies in the 80's though yeah its splitting hairs between Pak and NZ.

 

[wpdavid]

I never thought I'd see a better series than the 1981 Ashes - I was wrong then, but I really do doubt whether I'll ever need to change my mind again - 2005, and by a fair distance if I'm being totally honest

At the time, I managed to miss all the best bits of 1981 as my travels around Europe started on the rest day of the Leeds test and ended after the Manchester one. The only English paper I could find in Zurich was the Financial Times, whose coverage of the 4th day at Leeds was rather brief.

Playing devil's advocate, I have previously argued that although the best bits of that series were extraordinary, they only amounted to about three days in total. The last two and a bit sessions at Leeds, the last couple of sessions at Edgbaston and Botham's innings at Old Trafford. The rest of 1981 wasn't great, whereas nearly all of 2005 was unmissable.

 

[OverratedSanity]

I have the Calypso Summer DVD which covers the 60/61 West Indies-Australia series. It's awesome. Anyone who's seen that series should consider themselves incredibly lucky.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Yeah I guess from what I've heard it has to be the 81 Ashes or this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoRcbWSJZOY

 

[watson]

This series was pretty good, Tied Test and all that.

Didn't realise that the MCG held 90,000 back in the 60s.