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Which was the best decade of the twentieth century?

what was the best decade in the twentieth century?

  • 1900-1910

    Votes: 3 9.7%
  • 1910s

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1920s

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1930s

    Votes: 7 22.6%
  • 1940s

    Votes: 1 3.2%
  • 1950s

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1960s

    Votes: 1 3.2%
  • 1970s

    Votes: 12 38.7%
  • 1980s

    Votes: 8 25.8%
  • 1990s

    Votes: 13 41.9%

  • Total voters
    31

cover drive man

International Captain
Which was the best decade of the twentieth century?


O.k. every decade from the eighteen forties to the present day has seen big changes to the game of cricket. Although cricket was said to have begun around about the sixteenth century the first professional recorded cricket was played in the eighteen forties. But the game was made really famous when test cricket was introduced and the ashes were first played between England and Australia. So during the twentieth century cricket was a huge sport which kept us entertained and made us want to play. At the beginning of the twentieth century cricket had been established as a respected sport. At the end of this decade represantives from England and Australia and South Africa joined together to create the icc (The international cricket council) At this time the ICC was referred to and known as the Imperial Cricket Conference in nineteen sixty five it's name was changed into the International Cricket Conference up until nineteen eighty nine when it's name was changed to the international cricket council. At the time of nineteen o nine the membership was confined to members of the British empire.

From nineteen hundred and ten to nineteen hundred and nineteen the only ever triangular test series was played between three nations, Australia, England and South Africa. These were the only test playing nations at this time in history. Although this is the only ever test cricket triangular series it is not the only ever test series to have more than two countries play in it. The Asian test championship has only ever been played twice in which Sri Lanka and Pakistan won. T

The nineteen tens also saw the death of English crickets most famous player. "The doctor" W.G Grace was born William Gilbert Grace, he was said to have been the reason why cricket had became so popular. He developed a lot of the techniques of modern batting and was a household name. He played in an era of poor pitches and limited technique but that didn't stop from becoming one of the most famous cricketers of all time. Because of the time he was born he could only begin his test cricket career at the ripe age of thirty two. He scored one hundred and fifty two on his debut. A fantastic batter and skilled bowler for his nation (England) And his team (Glouctershire). Among his many achievements he won the Wisden cricketer of the year in eighteen nighty six. In first class matches he scored fifty thousand nine hundred and eighty runs and two thousand eight hundred and nine wickets. And in tests William Gilbert managed to score one thousand and nighty runs and nine wickets (Bearing in mind he was thirty two when he started.)

In the Nineteen twenties three countries joined the cricket scene these were India who had there board of control for cricket in India formed. This board is also known as the BCCI and is still ran today by president Shared Pawar who was elected on the twenty ninth of November two thousand and five. The BCCI Is the governing body of cricket in India it has the right to chose players and staff. The BCCI logo is derived from the emblem of the order of the star of India. India’s highest order of chivalry during the British Raj. West India and New Zealand both played their first ever test cricket matches in this decade although the west Indies failed to dominate cricket for a long time in the sixties the Windies took the cricket world by storm The twenties also saw the debut of test cricket’s greatest ever batsmen.

Sir Donald George Bradman (Born the twenty-seventh of August Nineteen o eight and died the twenty fifth of February two thousand and one) Was Australia’s most valued player during the “invincible’s” side. And was a fantastic captain. He has the highest test batting average in history nighty nine point nine four, an average which has not yet been beaten by any other player in his career. He scored six thousand nine hundred and nighty six test runs and twenty eight thousand and sixty seven runs. He also had a nighty five point one four first class batting average. He was named by the Australian prime minister “The greatest living Australian” He continued to play cricket after the second world war but was criticised as being “The Ghost of a Once Great Cricketer" But Bradman carried on until the fourteenth of August nineteen forty eight when he played his last test. Needing just four runs to make his average over one hundred Bradman scored a duck. Although he failed to make his average above one hundred his average is still Thirty eight point nine seven runs higher than the second highest average in test history.

In this decade the oldest ever player to score a test century achieved this record. Aged forty six years and eighty two days sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs became the oldest person to score a test century. Born the sixteenth of December eighteen eighty two Jack Hobbs played sixty one test matches in a career which lasted over twenty two years. He was popularly nicknamed and referred to as “The master” And was the only English test player and opening batsmen to be named as one of the top five Wisden cricketers of the twentieth century which also included Don Bradman, Viv Richards, Gary Sobers and Shane Warne.

The nineteen thirties saw New Zealand play their first ever test match against England although they were formed in nineteen thirty it took them twenty six years to win a test. On the eleventh of January nineteen thirty the second best batsmen in West Indian cricket played his thirst test. Born nineteen o nine in the republic of panama, George Headley is often referred to as the “Black Bradman” In a career which lasted over twenty four years George Headley played one hundred and three first class appearances and twenty two test match appearances. In both forms of cricket he made averages which were over sixty. He scored ten centuries in tests and thirty three in first class cricket. Also in this decade India made it’s first test appearance.

But the nineteen thirties cricket history is mostly remembered for the shocking events in the 1932-33 ashes series otherwise known as “the bodyline series”. Bodyline or Leg theory was a tactic invented by England captain Douglas Jardine devised an awful but within the laws plan to stop Donald bradman and his Australian team from winning the ashes against England. The bowler would deliberately bowl the ball so it would bounce up and hit the batsmen’s head and leave the batsmen no choice but to hit the ball to the leg side were most of the fielders were and hope no one would make the catch. England won the series but were hardly treated like heroes. The series caused so much controversy that the laws of cricket were changed to ensure that no team under any circumstance would use this technique ever again. The thirties also saw the thirst ever women’s test cricket match which was played between England and Australia the women’s average test match is one day less than the men’s.

Unfortunately due to the second world war international cricket was scarce. But after the war cricket was resumed. The forties saw the birth of India’s greatest opening batsmen Sunil Gavasker. Born in Bombay Gavasker played one hundred and twenty five test matches and one hundred and eight one dayers. Nicknamed Sunny Gavasker averaged fifty one point one two in tests and thirty five point one three in one day internationals. Gavasker temporarily held the honour of scoring the most test match runs scoring ten thousand one hundred and twenty two. He is mostly noted for tremendous technique and ultimate concentration. On several occasions he captained his nation.

The nineteen fifties saw Jim Laker take nineteen wickets in a test match. The nation of Pakistan joined in with the test scene when they played their first test match against India in nineteen fifty two. Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards was born in the fifties possibly the most confident and powerful batsmen in history.

After a nineteen year drought of ashes victory regained the ashes (The longest gap in ashes history) This was also the decade were the great Sir Ian Terence Botham was born. Born on the twenty fourth of November nineteen fifty five Ian Bothams most notable achievement was leading his side to victory in the nineteen eighty one ashes tour also called “Bothams Ashes” Ian Botham stared in that tournament and has been one of England’s most famous ever players. Although he shone as a player he was also quite controversial, this controversiality reached it’s peek when he was suspended for smoking cannabis and accused of ball tampering and racism by Pakistani Imran Khan. He has been arrested for assault and has had a extramarital affair. Ian Botham has also been involved in many charity money raisers and is estimated to have raised over ten million pounds. But what fans remember him for is his cricket.

Moving on to the nineteen sixties this was the decade when the first ever tied test match occurred between Australia and the West Indies. In nineteen sixty six the Pakistani Wasim Akram who helped his side to victory in the nineteen nighty two world cup and is considered by many experts, player and loyal fans of the game as one of the greatest fast pace bowlers in the history of cricket.

Another legend of the game who was born in this decade was the great Brian Charles Lara who is nicknamed “The prince of port-of Spain”. Lara is a fan favourite who has only recently retired. He retired during the two thousand and seven Icc cricket world cup in West India. He is also recorded as the only player to score a quadruple century in a test match (four hundred runs) . He achieved the colossal achievement the twelfth April two thousand and four against England.

In the nineteen seventies South Africa found themselves excluded from cricket because of their racial views saying that they would only play sides with all white players these laws was also known as Apartheid.

The seventies also saw the birth of “the little master” Sachin Tendulkar. Born on the twenty fourth of April nineteen seventy three Tendulkar has played one hundred and thirty seven test matches and three hundred and eighty four test matches. He still plays today but is often criticised for not have retired yet.

The nineteen seventies also saw the beginning of a new game one day international cricket in which the teams have fifty overs each to score as many runs as they can. It also saw the birth of the world cup in which England hosted the first three tournaments. And the West Indies won the first two. The world cup is still played today most recently in West India.

Moving on to the nineteen eighties the eight ball over was abolished and all around the world started playing the six ball over. Another rule that was abolished was underarm bowling. In the nineteen eighties the world bared witness to the nineteen eighty one Ashes series also known as Bothams ashes in which Ian Botham led his side to victory in Australia.

And finally the nineteen nightys saw the great Shane Warne make his debut in international cricket although his debut in test cricket was nothing eye opening but his debut in ashes cricket was spectacular when he bowled the famous gating bowl. After this Shane Warne became an instant household name. He holds the record for the most number of wickets taken by any player, seven hundred and eight. He has now retired from international cricket but still plays for his county Hampshire. The most infamous incident of the nineteen nightys was when umpire Darrell Hair no balled Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan seven times for throwing. Hair was branded as racist but was allowed to carry on umpiring. And finally Viv Richards became Sir Vivian Richards when he was knighted in his native Antigua. So what was the greatest decade in the twentieth century for cricket.

Note: Very little of this is copy and pasted and I have done tonnes of research please take it seriously.
 
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Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
:blink:

I promise I will read that in a bit, but well... fair effort, that's resemblent of me!
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Cripes, you're a considerate lad.

Don't like to think how long it'll take to paragraph that...
 

Burgey

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Well done CDM - a lot of work in there.

Will be interesting to see if people plum for the decades which they have seen, particularly the decade they may have grown up with.

Very thought-provoking. Good stuff PF too.
 

kof98

U19 12th Man
That is a good summary cmd. The only thing that I could think of that was missing was perhaps a definition of what the ashes actually are. That is, the event that lead to England and Australia playing for the ashes. I know the details of these events but I think that this is quite a significant part of the timeline and should be included.
 

Craig

World Traveller
Very good work for CDM. Nailed on for the Afridi at this stage IMO.

For me I'm going for the 90's and post 96/97 when I started to be interested in cricket after watching Aravinda da Silva bat as I can only really comment on that.
 

wpdavid

Hall of Fame Member
I'd tend to rule out any decade with only two reasonable sides as the best decade of the 20th century, which pretty much takes care of everything pre-WW2, although obviously there was some Ashes stuff I'd love to have seen. The 1950's saw three good sides for the first time and a truckload of ATG players. But there were still some poor sides, and I don't think we had a genuinely great side. Also, some of the cricket played (SA vs England anyone?) was funereal. Ditto the 1960's.

I think the 1970's would have been right up there if Packer hadn't intervened at a time when Aus, WI & Pakistan were superb. Plus you had India bringing their own very different attributes to the mix. The 1980's were good in parts, but there were a lot of poor sides as well.

The 1990's may well be the best of the lot. Lots of good sides, no sides that were out of their depth and no political interference for the first time since SA started playing test cricket. Good contests between bat & ball, with great spinners as well as quicks, and numerous genuinely world class batsmen. We probably didn't know how lucky we were.
 

oz_fan

International Regular
Great work cdm I can tell you've put a great deal of effort into that.

I'm too young to have seen any of the decades mentioned apart from a bit of the 90's. I think the 70's and the 90's were the best of the past 50 years. Before that I think the 30's would have been a great time to be a cricket fan with Bodyline and Bradman at his peak.
 

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