subshakerz
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
What series where the wicket or run output wasn't that high but that series performance doesn't get enough credit for that player?
-
Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.
Low scoring or low wicket taking series that should be rated higher
- Thread starter subshakerz
- Start date
sayon basak
Cricketer Of The Year
Feel like this series is not mentioned enough.
subshakerz
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Up to you bro
Johan
International Coach
Colin Cowdrey in Australia in 1954-55 is a good shout. He averaged 35 and made only 319 runs in 9 innings, and it would be presented as a failiure in modern times but the wickets that series were minefields, other than the first match, the Run-per-wicket of the series was 23.5, very low. Cowdrey was also 21 year old when the tour started, and it was a high preassure tour, Len Hutton had declined and it was his final Ashes, The First Australian Ashes since England regained the Ashes in 1953, after 2 decades.
The first game, Hutton was trying out the four pacers strategy and sadly, he didn't bring Fred Trueman as they had a pretty iconic beef with each other and MCC voted against Trueman due to his "rowdy behaviour", so at Brisbane, Hutton had the pace attack of Bedser, Statham, Tyson and Bailey. Problem being, he lacked the pace of Trueman and Bedser had shringles and was sent home after that game, Tyson did not hit the right line and length, Statham was economical but not effective and Bailey was frankly not a great bowler. Denis Compton hurt his hand and accidentally cut himself to the bone at a billboard while fielding and therefore Compton came to bat at 11 and 10 respectively. Australia put 601/8 Dec, a monumental disaster. In response, England managed to make 190 and 257, just like that, due to Bedser's illness and the absence of the best English bowler, Hutton's gamble had backfired, Australia had beaten one of the best English teams in history, by an inning and 157 runs, with Cowdrey coming in at 25-4 in his first test inning and managing 40 runs. The First Ashes game since English Cricket was reborn at the Oval in 1953, was an astronomical Australian victory.
The Second game, a spicy Sydney wicket and the attack of Raymond Lindwall, Keith Miller, William Johnston and Alan Davidson meant England were bowled out for just 154 runs, in response, the Australians put 228 runs on the board. Now, on a good pitch, a 74 runs lead doesn't mean much but on this? with this bowling lineup? the game was as good as over. The Second English inning, for just 55 runs, Hutton/Graveney/Bailey had fallen, now the fate of the Ashes was in the hands of the 21-year-old Michael Colin Cowdrey and the 25-Year-Old Peter May, Cowdrey was playing his second Test, May was a 37 averaging youngster with 19 Tests. From this point onwards, on that fearsome wicket, May and Cowdrey put on a 116 run partnership, Cowdrey made 54 runs in 189 balls and May went on to make 104 runs, May played one of the greatest innings but it was Cowdrey who partnered with May to take the team to an effective total of 97/4 rather than the effective -19/3 they were at, a pivotal fifty. Frank Tyson summoned a storm, took 6 wickets for 85 runs, Statham took 3 for 45, none of the Australian bats except Harvey even crossed 16 runs, Harvey was left heartbroken on 92* as England won the game by 38 runs, Thanks to May and Tyson as main roles, but the contribution of Cowdrey cannot be understated.
The Third game, played on another fiery Melbourne wicket against the ridiculous lineup of Raymond Lindwall, William Johnston, Ian Johnson, Keith Miller, Ronald Archer and Richie Benaud. England batted first and were reduced to 41-4, The ones dismissed were Len Hutton, Peter May, Denis Compton and William Edrich. England managed to to make a grand total of 191 runs, 9 of them were extras, so practically the Batsmen managed to make 182 runs total...of those 182, Colin Cowdrey made 102 runs, making one of the best hundreds ever. Cowdrey made 102, while the next best couldn't cross 30. The Inning was termed by Tiger O'Reilly as the best he ever saw, and the inning motivated Frank Tyson greatly. Australia came out and put 231, then England, due to another masterful 90 from Peter May managed to put a grand total of 279, giving Australia the defendable 240 as the target before another storm by Frank Tyson, who took 7 wickets for 27 runs. England won by 128 runs and made the Ashes 2-1. Without Cowdrey, I doubt there's a fighting game here as England get bowled under 100.
The Fourth game, as expected another fiery wicket at Adeliade, Australia put a very good 323 on board, in response England had two batters who performed very well, Leonard Hutton and Colin Cowdrey, Hutton made 80 and Cowdrey 79, dragging the English total together to 162-3, Cowdrey made it 232-3 before disaster, a grand total of 341 runs were made by England, only Cowdrey and Hutton crossing 50. Now, Another storm but this time all the English bowlers fired, taking 3 wickets each and Australia were bowled out for 111, setting the target of 97, Cowdrey was out for 4, England were at 18-3 but Compton and May stabilised the inning, England won by 5 wickets, had either Cowdrey or Hutton not played the way they did, very probably England loses and the Ashes comes at 2-2. But The Ashes was won as England were up 3-1.
The Fifth game, another one at Sydney, was very much a dead rubber, Cowdrey was out first ball but he also came to bat at 188-2, after that, England managed to make 371 runs for 7 dismissals before declaration on a slightly wet green wicket, Graveney made a great hundred. After that, Australia, the courtesy of Johnny Wardle, were bowled out for 221...game on. Following On, Australia were 118/6 during stumps, rain and so forth ended the match in a classic Sydney style draw, not enough time to bowl Australia out and return the inning defeat. At the end, England had triumphed in Australia for the first time since Bodyline, The Ashes was won 3-1.
Cowdrey ended his debut series with only 319 runs in 9 innings, averaging 35 odd, 1 hundred and 2 fifties but anyone suggesting the series was a failure or dissapointment for Cowdrey could not be further from the truth. Great example of when averages don't tell the full story.
The first game, Hutton was trying out the four pacers strategy and sadly, he didn't bring Fred Trueman as they had a pretty iconic beef with each other and MCC voted against Trueman due to his "rowdy behaviour", so at Brisbane, Hutton had the pace attack of Bedser, Statham, Tyson and Bailey. Problem being, he lacked the pace of Trueman and Bedser had shringles and was sent home after that game, Tyson did not hit the right line and length, Statham was economical but not effective and Bailey was frankly not a great bowler. Denis Compton hurt his hand and accidentally cut himself to the bone at a billboard while fielding and therefore Compton came to bat at 11 and 10 respectively. Australia put 601/8 Dec, a monumental disaster. In response, England managed to make 190 and 257, just like that, due to Bedser's illness and the absence of the best English bowler, Hutton's gamble had backfired, Australia had beaten one of the best English teams in history, by an inning and 157 runs, with Cowdrey coming in at 25-4 in his first test inning and managing 40 runs. The First Ashes game since English Cricket was reborn at the Oval in 1953, was an astronomical Australian victory.
The Second game, a spicy Sydney wicket and the attack of Raymond Lindwall, Keith Miller, William Johnston and Alan Davidson meant England were bowled out for just 154 runs, in response, the Australians put 228 runs on the board. Now, on a good pitch, a 74 runs lead doesn't mean much but on this? with this bowling lineup? the game was as good as over. The Second English inning, for just 55 runs, Hutton/Graveney/Bailey had fallen, now the fate of the Ashes was in the hands of the 21-year-old Michael Colin Cowdrey and the 25-Year-Old Peter May, Cowdrey was playing his second Test, May was a 37 averaging youngster with 19 Tests. From this point onwards, on that fearsome wicket, May and Cowdrey put on a 116 run partnership, Cowdrey made 54 runs in 189 balls and May went on to make 104 runs, May played one of the greatest innings but it was Cowdrey who partnered with May to take the team to an effective total of 97/4 rather than the effective -19/3 they were at, a pivotal fifty. Frank Tyson summoned a storm, took 6 wickets for 85 runs, Statham took 3 for 45, none of the Australian bats except Harvey even crossed 16 runs, Harvey was left heartbroken on 92* as England won the game by 38 runs, Thanks to May and Tyson as main roles, but the contribution of Cowdrey cannot be understated.
The Third game, played on another fiery Melbourne wicket against the ridiculous lineup of Raymond Lindwall, William Johnston, Ian Johnson, Keith Miller, Ronald Archer and Richie Benaud. England batted first and were reduced to 41-4, The ones dismissed were Len Hutton, Peter May, Denis Compton and William Edrich. England managed to to make a grand total of 191 runs, 9 of them were extras, so practically the Batsmen managed to make 182 runs total...of those 182, Colin Cowdrey made 102 runs, making one of the best hundreds ever. Cowdrey made 102, while the next best couldn't cross 30. The Inning was termed by Tiger O'Reilly as the best he ever saw, and the inning motivated Frank Tyson greatly. Australia came out and put 231, then England, due to another masterful 90 from Peter May managed to put a grand total of 279, giving Australia the defendable 240 as the target before another storm by Frank Tyson, who took 7 wickets for 27 runs. England won by 128 runs and made the Ashes 2-1. Without Cowdrey, I doubt there's a fighting game here as England get bowled under 100.
The Fourth game, as expected another fiery wicket at Adeliade, Australia put a very good 323 on board, in response England had two batters who performed very well, Leonard Hutton and Colin Cowdrey, Hutton made 80 and Cowdrey 79, dragging the English total together to 162-3, Cowdrey made it 232-3 before disaster, a grand total of 341 runs were made by England, only Cowdrey and Hutton crossing 50. Now, Another storm but this time all the English bowlers fired, taking 3 wickets each and Australia were bowled out for 111, setting the target of 97, Cowdrey was out for 4, England were at 18-3 but Compton and May stabilised the inning, England won by 5 wickets, had either Cowdrey or Hutton not played the way they did, very probably England loses and the Ashes comes at 2-2. But The Ashes was won as England were up 3-1.
The Fifth game, another one at Sydney, was very much a dead rubber, Cowdrey was out first ball but he also came to bat at 188-2, after that, England managed to make 371 runs for 7 dismissals before declaration on a slightly wet green wicket, Graveney made a great hundred. After that, Australia, the courtesy of Johnny Wardle, were bowled out for 221...game on. Following On, Australia were 118/6 during stumps, rain and so forth ended the match in a classic Sydney style draw, not enough time to bowl Australia out and return the inning defeat. At the end, England had triumphed in Australia for the first time since Bodyline, The Ashes was won 3-1.
Cowdrey ended his debut series with only 319 runs in 9 innings, averaging 35 odd, 1 hundred and 2 fifties but anyone suggesting the series was a failure or dissapointment for Cowdrey could not be further from the truth. Great example of when averages don't tell the full story.
Last edited:
subshakerz
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Hayden in SA 2005.
ABD in India 2015.
ABD in India 2015.
PlayerComparisons
International Captain
Dravid in NZ in 2002
Other than Ntini, RSAs bowling was rubbish in 2006.
capt_Luffy
Hall of Fame Member
Sobers kinda won it for England as a captain
subshakerz
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Ntini was very very good though.
Coronis
Hall of Fame Member
This makes me think - what would players records look like without Bodyline?
Bradman 6600 @ 104.76
McCabe 2363 @ 49.23 (minus his greatest innings though ofc)
Woodfull 1995 @ 48.66
Ponsford 1981 @ 52.13
Fingleton 1039 @ 47.23
Voce 83 @ 28.02 SR 66.98
Larwood 45 @ 34.84 SR 81.04
Allen and (obviously) Verity weren't bowling bodyline. Even Larwood and Voce didn't bowl it all the time.
Ok by that theory then we shouldn't excuse Bradman for becoming mortal and "only" averaging 56.57 as he faced half as many balls as Woodfull
Coronis
Hall of Fame Member
I don’t think anyone’s handwaving away the impact Bodyline had. But yeah Woodfull faced only 996 balls the entire series, many of which were not to a bodyline field.
What are you talking about only 996 balls lol.
Basically that means Woodful faced about 100 balls per innings opening the batting against Larwood and Voce, the opening bodyline bowlers so would have faced more bodyline bowling than anyone else (McCabe faced next most balls primarily batting 5 for 647 balls then Richardson with 597)
Last edited:
Coronis
Hall of Fame Member
Yes, he faced 996 balls. Doesn’t mean he played 996 balls of bodyline bowling. They weren’t bowling bodyline all the time. Yes he likely faced more balls of it than any other Aussie. He just didn’t face 996 balls of bodyline.
subshakerz
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Yeah fits the bill.