Memorable Cricket Matches You Have Attended In Person

[tony p]

As someone who has attended cricket matches since 1982/83,( Sheffield Shield at the old T.C.A. ground in Hobart.), I have witnessed a number of games which stick in the memory. I have probably seen live around 200 first class games in aust. and england, and 100+ limited overs games.

Do you have games that you recall that you attended, for whatever reason that were memorable. Could be a great finish, a great batting or bowling performance, record innings or partnership, or just because it was at your favourite venue.

I have a list, Please Don't Nod Off.

1987/88- Bicentenary Test At S.C.G., Not the greatest game actually, but because I won a competition to see it, it is memorable for me.( i was the Tasmanian winner of the living legends competition where you needed to pick an Aust. & Eng team of living players of the day), i had 21 out of 22 players, can't remember the one i didn't get, but i took my Dad with me to Sydney. Hospitality was better than the game, Marque's and long lunches prevailed.

1989- Aust v Eng@Old trafford, Boonie hit the winning runs as we won the Ashes, with a so called worst team ever to tour England.

1989- Alan Oakman's xi v Derek Underwood's xi@Hastings. Last game ever to be played at the ground, it is now a shopping centre. It was a very famous ground and there were grown men and woman with tears in their eyes, I'm glad i attended.
The match was on 1st October a 35 overs per side, featuring a number of old players like, Snow, Suttle, Jim Parks, Luckhurst, A. Ealham, etc

1990/91- W.A. v N.S.W@W.a.c.a. Mark and Steve Waugh Partnership of 464 unbeaten, saw every ball, match ended in a Draw though.

1993- Surrey v Lanc@Oval, (B.& H. Cup), Biggest choke in a run chase in one day history. The match was just meandering along and Graham Thorpe had just brought up his Century. With 5 overs left Surrey were 1-212 chasing 237, They somehow managed to lose 9-18 and lost by 6 runs. Until then it was just another game.

1993-Aust v Eng@Lords, Smashed the Poms, Taylor,Slater,Boon all centuries, M. Waugh at number four 99, Big innings Win.

1993 Lanc v Glam@Old Trafford, A TRAVESTY, Off joke bowling Glen Chapple scored 109* off 27 Balls in 21 minutes. Fielders were just letting balls go to the fence or over. It was terrible, and I don't want to see it ever again.Memorable for the wrong reason.

1997- Aust v Eng@Old Trafford, Steve Waugh century in each innings, a masterclass where most others struggled. We won easily

1997- Hants v Worc@Southampton, Hick 303*, Moody 180*, partnership of 438 for third wkt, best I've ever seen, Better than the Waugh's.

2011- Eng v India@Oval, Only Test I've watched with Aust not involved, Some wonderful Batting with Bell 235, Pietersen 175, and Dravid 146*. Eng win comfortably.

2011- Lanc v Hants@Liverpool, As i wrote on my scorecard, Lanc Won with 4 Minutes to spare, Simon Kerrigan 9-51 to bowl them to victory. Huge Crowd.

2014-Glos v Worc@Cheltenham, My favourite venue, Last Wkt partnership of 137 for Glos by Norwell 78, and Miles 62*, breaking a 91 year old record by 6 runs. Glos still lost though.

2018-Glam v Warw@Colwyn Bay, Superb setting, made enjoyable by an Ian Bell masterclass of 204, even if the match finished a day early.

2019-Glos v Worc@Cheltenham, Glos 354 & 184 d Worc 293 & 232 by 13 runs. Best contested match I've seen live and sadly THE LAST MATCH I HAVE SEEN SINCE THE CORONA VIRUS.

I have the Benefit of keeping all my Scorecards and Little comments i put on them. I Haven't any T20 Matches Listed because I haven't been to a decent one yet.

Over to you.

 

[Kirkut]

India vs England 2016 Mumbai test final day. The match got over in 20 minutes though with Ashwin cleaning up the tail.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

It was a four day game. Guyana versus the Leewards. Carl Hooper versus Stuart Williams. It was in. 2001-02 if I'm not mistaken. The venue was my home ground.

What was at stake? A first innings lead would see either team enter the final of the competition.

Hooper had a monster season prior to this game, and he went even better in this game, scoring a double century...as Guyana ended their first innings with a total over 400.

The task was an uphill one for the Leewards, but their captain was firm as ever battling along.
He got to his hundred, his 150, his double century, at the end of the third day...with his team nearing our score.

Some time during the night rain came... and it was pelting down. As the sun came out in the morning, I had to go to school that day.
I remember walking towards the public road and passing the ground looking at the scoreboard (the same one I would operate a few years later), seeing Williams unbeaten on 220-something.
It stuck with me as I headed towards school. The sun was blazing, play was inevitable.

It just so happened that school was dismissed early that day because of the game, and for a lesser reason that it rained a bit at around noon.

Alright so I was heading towards the cricket right after school...I got there right after 'lunch'.

Williams was on 252* and they needed about 20 (?) to get us when I arrived...and that was when the heavens open up again. Rain. Hard rain.
It wouldn't stop...parts of the ground were inundated.

The rain finally stopped at 4:00PM... the grounds men couldn't get the ground in order...and play was called off. We got into the final.

I don't have any memory of the final.

Disclaimer: parts of this passage were grainy: players score, how much we made, when the rain came., when it stopped, etc.

 

[Tom Flint]

England Australia headingly 2019 (day 3)
West Indies vs England Kensington oval 2015
England new zealand lords 2015
Middlesex Yorkshire lords 2016

 

[Flametree]

Astle's 200 at Christchurch. I went to days 1, 2, and 4. So missed the Flintoff-Thorpe batfest on day 3.

Walsh's 13-for-very-few against NZ at the Basin in 1995.

Pretty much all the England-NZ test series in 1999, so Tudor's 98 not out after the miserable batting of earlier days, Horne's 100 and Cairns' slower ball to Read at Lords, then his rally to give NZ a chance at the Oval with England's tail of Caddick, Tuffnell, Mullally, Giddins.

In non-NZ matches, I was at Adelaide when Pat Symcox batted 11 for South Africa (8-10 were McMillan, Pollock, Klusener) and Mark Waugh held out on day 5 for a draw.

 

[honestbharani]

Tied Test 1987 (I was 3 but I was there, apparently )
1996 WC QF (The only neutral game I attended I think, was a volunteer with access to the media area. Met David Boon. )
Anwar 194.
1999 Sachin Test (Awesome)
2004 BG Test Last day rained off to rob its awesomeness (had pavilion seats - Warne broke the record for wickets, had pavilion seats, managed a decent convo with Warney on cricket along with a few others - whatever be his faults guy can talk well about cricket and especially spin bowling)
Sehwag 319 Vs RSA - Loved this game and had access to a LOT of the practice. Was fun.
A random Ind Vs Windies ODI in 2007 - But managed to watch Lara at his spin conquering best.

Also there was a camp for Indian side before they went to SL where we got Mendis'd. Managed to speak to a lot of the players then, was fun.

 

[_Ed_]

My favourite five:

5. India (200-9) beat NZ (199-9) by 1 wicket, Auckland, 2003 - early NZ collapse, then Bond hit some massive sixes to get us to respectability. Sehwag scored an amazing ton on a difficult pitch, and then a flurry of late wickets set up an exciting finish.

4. Zimbabwe (274-9) beat NZ (273-9) by 1 wicket, Auckland, 2001 - Andy Flower (81) and Heath Streak (79*) pulled off a pretty amazing chase.

3. NZ Women (136-6) beat India (135-6) by 4 wickets, Auckland, 2019 - the first women's game I've seen live, and it was an absolute thriller that went down to the last ball. Wonderful game to watch.

2. NZ (350-9) beat Australia (346-5) by 4 wickets, Hamilton, 2007 - Matthew Hayden smashed 181*, and then we recovered from 47-4 for an incredible win, thanks to McMillan (117) and McCullum (86*)

1. NZ (299-6) beat South Africa (281-5) by 4 wickets (D/L), Auckland, 2015 - obvious number one. Elliott's six.

 

[NZTailender]

NZ vs England at Eden Park the other year. Arrived in the evening after Boult destroyed them. Attended the final session when we won.

 

[SteveNZ]

2002 NZ v England at Eden Park. Just had everything. I will never forget the unbridled joy of being there as we batted under floodlights, watching fielders duck and dodge the ball while McMillan, Harris, Astle and co pounded it.

Then knocking England over to draw the series.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

2015 World Cup definitely provides the main highlights for me as well ... Grant Elliott six vs South Africa, Martin Guptill 237* vs West Indies, Southee and McCullum destroying England ...

But also a few that spring to mind are:

1992 World Cup NZ vs England at the Basin, a big victory to NZ after a winless series of pain vs England earlier in the summer

1993 NZ vs Aus ODI at the Basin, Martin Crowe scores 91 not out on a slow pitch and Australia crumble in a big 88 run win for NZ (also Shane Warne's ODI debut)

2002 Shell Cup final Wellington vs Canterbury at the Basin and Mayu Pasupati takes an amazing catch for the Firebirds to win for the first time in yonks

2007 NZ vs Aus ODI at Westpac Stadium, Bond fiver with a sensational caught and bowled off Cameron White, and Fleming and Vincent blaze away to hand Aus their only ever 10 wicket loss

Easily the worst: Boxing Day test 2019 lol

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

One from each format:

England vs Sri Lanka, Headingley 2014.
The one where Moeen batted all through Day 5 to save the Test, only to be left stranded as England lost their last wicket two balls shy of the draw.

Sadly I wasn't there for the drama on Day 5, but I saw Matthews hit his majestic 160 and then Prasad wreck the English top order on Day 4.

South Africa vs New Zealand, Edgbaston, World Cup 2019
NZ looked like they were going to fail to chase a lowish score but Kane Williamson cut loose in the final over to bring up an unbeaten century and win the game.

I've seen KW bat thrice in person and seen him make a duck and two tons. Love the guy.

Surrey vs Birmingham Bears, The Oval, 2017 T20 Blast Quarter Final
Another tense last over finish with Kiwis to the fore: Elliot and de Grandhomme the heroes as the Bears chase down 205 to win.

Extra fondness for me as a Warwickshire fan attending with my Surrey supporting friend.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

South Africa vs New Zealand, Edgbaston, World Cup 2019
NZ looked like they were going to fail to chase a lowish score but Kane Williamson cut loose in the final over to bring up an unbeaten century and win the game.

I've seen KW bat thrice in person and seen him make a duck and two tons. Love the guy.

I remember watching this match on the broadcast...what an innings that was. Under pressure.

 

[Gnske]

All in Brissy bar two exceptions.

Australia vs South Africa 2006 T20I - I can't remember anything about this but looking at the team sheet and maybe Pollock bowling to Martyn, despite the innings Martyn played. I think being in my first stadium confused my 10 year old mind.

Australia vs Sri Lanka 2013 ODI - The one where Kulasekara killed Australian cricket until it was killed again in India. The entire crowd left at the dinner break with 15 runs or so to get.

Middlesex vs Warwickshire 2014 Lords - Was freezing, Sam Robson got bowled, forget the rest. The TV doesn't do the Lords slope enough credit.

Australia vs England 2014 ODI - Faulkner's one. The highlight was this character next to me hurling abuse at Gary Ballance walking around the sideline, stopping to ask me what his first name was, not believing his first name was actually Gary, then repeating all the abuse he had hurled before but with Gary shoved into it.

Wellington vs Otago 2016 Queenstown - Had the pleasure of watching Woodcock and Papps deadbat an entire morning on a ground the size of a backyard.

Australia vs Pakistan 2016 Test - Was there on the night that never ended.

 

[vandem]

NZ v Aus, 3rd test, Eden Park, 1986. Full of test match moments. Tight NZ bowling pegs back a good Aust start (1-193 to 314 all out), NZ middle order collapse (0-73 to 5-107) then counter-attack (Coney 93 from 129 balls). Tight bowling from Chats (18-9-19-3), good captaincy from Coney and destructive bowling from Braces (22-8-32-6) means NZ needed to chase a tricky 160 on a turning pitch to win. Edgar out for 1, and Rutherford struggling made for some nervous early moments.

Back-to-back domestic 50 over games. ND vs Otago and Wellington , 1st and 3rd Jan 1995. Picnic lunch with Christmas ham sandwiches. Both games go to the final over 244 vs 238, 264 vs 258.

Vs Otago, 36 year old Barry Cooper 63 (39) and a young Alex Tait 48 (22) thrill the crowd, Mark Richardson plays a middle order backbone innings 53 (62) but 19 year old medium pacer Scott Styris takes 3 late wickets to give ND a 6 run win.

Vs Wellington, bowling-allrounder Richard Petrie hits 7 downwind 6s in 85 (59), Michael Parlane gives ND a blazing start with 58 (30), but canny captaincy and bowling from Gavin Larsen (10-52-2), assisted by Roger Twose (10-43-2) slow the run rate. Styris batting at #9 hits 3 boundaries in 20 (14) but was run out trying to keep strike on the last ball of the 49th over, and ND fall 6 runs short. Larsen and Twose were in discussions at the end of each over, and this was the game that pursuaded me that Twose could have have been the white ball captain for NZ in a period where Fleming had a heavy workload.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Lots of the England v West Indies series in 2000 when we finally beat them after so many years including the final couple of days of Oval test and the Old Trafford test the day Alec Stewart got a 100 on the Queen Mothers 100th birthday in his 100th test match.

Every day of Edgbaston 97 ashes test.

Edgbaston 85 when Gower caught the ball after it bounced up off Lamb's ankle/boot.

 

[Line and Length]

When I was a boy living in England, I would visit my aunt in St Annes (Lancashire) each year. She took me to watch the visiting West Indies team playing Lancashire. It was the beginning of my love affair with the game.
The match itself was incredibly one sided. The Windies batted first and declared at 7 for 454. Opener Allen Rae made a century and fellow opener Jeff Stollmeyer a half century but it was the batting of Everton Weeks and Clyde Walcott that caught my fancy. Then Alf Valentine routed the local team for 103 by taking 8 for 26.
Following on Lancashire fared little better with Valentine taking 5 more and the visitors won by an innings and 220 runs. My only disappointment was Sonny Ramadhin not playing.