This Week in Sporting History: THE TIED TEST

Australia vs West Indies,1960/61 - 1st Test
Wooloongabba, Brisbane
December 9-14 1960

West Indies: 453 (Sobers 132, Worrell 65, Solomon 65, Davidson 5/135)
Australia: 505 (O'Neill 181, Simpson 92, Hall 4/140)
West Indies: 284 (Worrell 65, Kanhai 54, Davidson 6/87)
Australia: 232 (Davidson 80, Benaud 52, Hall 5/63)

MATCH TIED

The West Indies celebrate as Joe Solomon 

affects the most famous run-out in cricket history.

This week exactly fifty years ago saw the famous Tied Test, the first ever instance of a complete Test Match finished with both teams equal on the same total (constituting a TIE as opposed to the common DRAW occurring when the 5 days expire without a completed result) in the 498 match and 83 year history of Test Cricket up to that point. The story of this iconic match has gone down in legend, indisputably the greatest ever cricket match (not just for the final drama but on overall quality throughout the match) to anyone lucky enough to have witnessed it.

The wider context of this historic match has perpetuated its legend. As the 1950s wore down Test Cricket was becoming increasingly dull and was entering a period of extreme divisiveness, with the real danger of losing fans in their drones. Frank Worrell, now a West Indies legend perhaps more for his endearing personality than his cricket, led a star-studded West Indies team to Australia which for the first time ever, was rated a genuine chance of challenging and beating the hosts. Worrell had in recent times become the first ever black West Indian captain, a major milestone in the history of a predominantly anglo-centric sport (India were still young in their independence and retained white-anglo elements, and Pakistan had barely yet registered as an international force). Worrell's team and the Richie Benaud led Australians gathered in Brisbane in 50 years ago this week for the series opener, two of the game's greatest ever figures as captains going out for the opening toss. What ensued was not only five days of competitive Test Cricket and pure theatre of the highest order, but five whole Tests of similar quality, resplendent with vibrant aggressive play and in played in a spirit consigned forever to the realsm of fantasy in the modern age. Record crowd figured flocked to all five Tests, matches which in many views, single-handedly recharged Test Cricket into its popular heights of the next decade and beyond.

As for the actual match, The West Indies won the toss and batted. Some wonderful enterprising batting from the god-like genius Sir Garfield Sobers saw him make 132, an innings Benaud described as the greatest innings he ever witnessed. An astonishing 50 from fast bowling No.10 batsman Wes Hall then helped carry the total to beyond 400, the Windies making a strong 453, at a 3.37 run rate which would be impressive even by today's standards. But the Australians were equal to the task, making full use of the flat wicket to amass 505, spearheaded by a majestic 181 from Norman O'Neill, an innings criminally underrated in the annals of cricketing history. As the pitch began to show signs of wear, The West Indies fought hard to 284, on the back of another stodgy captain's 65 from Worrell. This left Australia little more than five hours on a patchy final day wicket to make 233. Hall was in his element and ripped through the Aussie top order, reducing an ominous top order to 5/57.

At 6/92 midway through the day captain Benaud joined Australia's bowling hero Alan Davidson and the rest is history. Eschewing conventional logic which suggested attempting to defend for the draw, Benaud made the decision to attack and the pair put together an epic partnership, which took Australia to within a whisker of victory. But with just seven runs remaining a suicidal call from Benaud ran Davidson out for a magnificent career best 80. Enter the final either ball over and Australia found themselves needing six runs to win, with three wickets left. After a single from wicket keeper Wally Grout, Benaud was caught behind of a wild barely controlled bouncer from the bounding Hall from 52. A thigh-smashing scrambled leg-bye and a woefully grassed catch by Hall later and 3 runs were needed from 3 balls. No.10 batsman proceeded to slog Hall beyond where any modern rope would stand, but a spectacular chase and direct hit throw (from upwards of 75 metres) from Conrad Hunte caught Grout short going for the 3rd and winning run. This brought in Australia's final man Lindsay Kline with the scores tied. Kline tapped the penultimate ball square and called Meckiff through for a scrambling single. From almost exactly side-on, with one stump visible, Joe Solomon's aim was true and Meckiff was run out. The West Indians jumped for joy, most presuming they'd won. Australian players and fans were unsure which team had won, if either, so implausibly unlikely was the concept of such a long form contest finishing tied. Finally once the confusion settled the astonishing reality became clear. Cricket's first tied Test. Half a century later the result has only been repeated once, between India and Australia in similarly dramatic circumstances in 1986.

For the record Australia won the 5 Test series 2-1, after 25 days of supreme Test cricket and thanks largely to a miraculous draw in the 4th Test where Ken Mackay and that poor No.11 Kline again, batted for nearly two hours at 9 wickets down, preventing the West Indies from taking the final wicket to win the match.

FINAL REPORT: Pietersen stars in unprecedented thrashing

Australia vs England, 2nd Test - Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Thursday December 2-Monday December 6 2010.

Australia - 245 (Hussey 93, Haddin 56, Watson 51, Anderson 4/51)
England - 5 dec 620 (Pietersen 227, Cook 148, Trott 78, Bell 68 n.o)
Australia - 304 (Clarke 80, Watson 57, Hussey 52, Swann 5/91)

England won by An Innings and 71 runs


MotM - Kevin Pietersen (Eng)
England lead 5 Test series 1-0 after 2 Tests


Full Scorecard here.

 A pained and perturbed Ricky Ponting forced 

to face the media music again.

What to say and where to turn as an Australian cricket fan? The four and a bit days of horror which transmitted out of Adelaide this week felt as close to watching a friend die as any arbitrary frivolous sports game could ever possibly feel. I personally, with the typical sleeping pattern of my age (and it must be said of a lover of worldwide sport) found myself accidentally slumped in a post-late night stupor on my couch at 11am EST this past Thursday. After my fleeting nap I jerked awake to see AUS 3/2 on the screen in front of me. Never has missing the start of an important cricket match felt so good. All in all, for all the consistently good bowling of England on Day 1, for all the heroics of Cook and Pietersen with the bat, and for all the final morning wiles of Graeme Swann, in reality I missed the decisive point of the Test match. The stunned silence and general sense of amazement that filtered through from the generous Adelaide crowd (a post Bodyline-record) and the commentary box gave off an air of exasperated desperation, as if the death of the modern golden age of Australian cricket was playing out in front of our eyes. It was the way it happened too. Simon Katich run out for an astonishing diamond duck after yet another woeful misunderstanding with Shane Watson in the first over of the match. Next ball the trump card Ponting gone and Australia 2/0. Then at 2/2 Michael Clarke gave yet another sign of his immature impetuosity, and general inability to make vital runs in pressure situations. The airiness with Clarke swatted a James Anderson full ball, inevitably edging to slip, was enough to fry the blood.

From 3/2 Australia started to dig itself out of the hole, but any time it got close to some sort of comfort another wicket fell. Watson and North both threw away solid starts at crucial times. Michael Hussey led the Australian recovery again with another beautiful innings. But he was snuffed out on 93 by a gem from Graeme Swann. This was the end of any meaningful resistance. Brad Haddin was last man out for a well made 56, but the damage was done, Australia out inside a day for a paltry 245, paltry on such a flat batting beauty of an Adelaide wicket. After Day 1 the dialogue from the Australians to the press was that batting was not as easy as it was made out and a similar tight bowling display to the English could keep the match competitive. When Andrew Strauss left the third ball of Day 2 to go through to the keeper and was bowled by Doug Bollinger for 1 there were fleeting hopes of fight. But Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott, extending their Brisbane vigil, showed the true virtue of the pitch, adding another 173 to their unbeaten 329 from the week before. Trott fell for 78 to Ryan Harris, the only Australian bowler to maintain any sustained pressure, but that only brought Kevin Pietersen to the crease.

It seems astonishing to think that Pietersen's fear factor was paramount in 2005 and 2006, and that the last 18 months of scratchy form had consigned this supposedly to the history books. After all his iconic efforts in helping England win that special series in 2005 however, nothing came close to his achievements in Adelaide. His second career double century, a career best 227, batting from late on Day 2 until the 4th morning. KP's effort even put Alastair Cook in the shade, despite the fact that he made another 148 following on from Brisbane's unbeaten 235. Cook now has a ridiculous aggregate of 350 runs in 3 innings at an average of 175. One stat I know doesn't exist is the scoring of a double century in every match of a 5 test series. Would you rule it out on the Australian bowling evidence presented thus far?

So after compiling all of 620 runs for just 5 wickets lost, England saw fit to declare on the 4th morning and set about their first innings win over Australia in 24 years. Shane Watson looked good for 57 (his dismissal on such scores is fast becoming tiresome) and Simon Katich fought hard for 43 through an Achilles injury that has proved fatal to his series. But all in all Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey (with a little help from some ominous grey skies) looked like they might just give us a chance of getting away with the impossible, and heading to Perth still locked at zero in the series. Then Michael Clarke padded an amicable little dolly from Kevin Pietersen straight to the short leg fieldsman, Cook no less, in the last over of the day. Going to sleep on the final evening all looked lost after that final blow but you never know, there's fight to come in the batting order and rain to be showered. But the feeble resistance showed by as stoic fighters as Hussey, North and Haddin

The post-mortem was as swift and decisive as it was predictable. Former English captain Duncan Fletcher stated that Australia's worst case scenario was a 3-0 series defeat.

"The only ground I can see Australia getting a draw at is Melbourne. If the wicket there is as flat as it has been in previous years then Australia should be able to bat out the match." Fletcher said writing for The Guardian.

Comparisons to the lowest depths of Australian cricket in living memory, namely the early to mid 80s period of Allan Border led struggle and revival, are coming thick and fast. Perhaps inevitably, but still somewhat astonishingly, the calls for Shane Warne's return are louder than ever. Respected Australian journalist and noted Warne-basher Peter Fitzsimons leads the crusade, saying that the emergency need to save and win the Ashes is more important right now than any longer term considerations. Always looking on the bright side, The Courier Mail's Robert Craddock expressed a view that such a hiding may be what is needed to push Australian cricket in a positive direction.

"Sometimes a serious kick up the backside can do far more good than harm. Losing the Ashes in 2005 was one of the best things that happened to Australia in recent times."

I can't help but feeling however that is clutching at straws to an extent, the long term prognosis is far more dire than it was in 2005 and it seems unlikely that any real substantive rebirth in Australian prospects is less than a few years away at best. Malcolm Conn's ironic comparison to Australia's last innings defeat at the hands of England, in 1986-87, also presents as a veneer of false hope. But perhaps it is too presumptuous to say a 4-0 Australian victory in England in 2013 isn't out of the question. Or perhaps it isn't.

For all the much deserved Australia bashing however, credit must go to England. They played perhaps their most complete near-perfect Ashes Test in decades. Brisbane showed the potential for batting dominance but in Adelaide in some ways, considering how many more questions were raised about the attack, it was the fantastic bowling performance, particularly of James Anderson and Graeme Swann that really stole the show.

The question for Australia now is what to do with their team for Perth. Panicky wholesale switching would do little to anybody's confidence and have no greater effect than sticking with the same 11. However in all likelihood Marcus North and Xavier Doherty at least must go, joining Simon Katich on the sidelines. Katich's replacement is the easy part. Selectors are likely to go straight for their default of Philip Hughes, despite the fact that older, more experienced both domestically and internationally and more technically sound Western Australian opener Shaun Marsh has been in epic Sheffield Shield form, with statistics dwarfing those of Hughes.

Usman Khawaja coming in for Marcus North is not as simple as it sounds, especially as Khawaja has very little experience batting so low down the order. Nathan Hauritz chose this week's vital match for NSW against WA to score a rather unexpected maiden first class hundred rather than taking any wickets. However he took an impressive five wickets on a test-reminiscent Perth pitch very recently and must be a safer option than Steven Smith (although he at least would bolster our fledgling tail). The questions are endless? Do we bring Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus back? Should the selectors bite the bullet and breed Khawaja, Ferguson, McKay, George, Copland, or countless other youngsters. Maybe Warne should come back. It would at least be less complicated and although I am not convinced that he could truly weave his old magic, his mere presence might be enough and certainly his tactical nous would improve the situation. It has been quite astonishing to see how freely and easily Warne has been able to pick holes in Ponting's tactics live in commentary and suggest more interesting options, and how often his suspicions tend to turn out right.

Maybe you'll consider it Shane? It would be spectacularly newsworthy if nothing else.

Highlights
*** - It's hard to think of any out of such a disaster. Michael Hussey must come instantly to the surface though. His form and timing still look impeccable and if we are to somehow stay in the series more big hundreds will help the cause, if we can't then at least Aussies have one shining light. His rash shot to start the rout early on the final day has left quite a big scar on the match for him though.

** - Ryan Harris. He may only have 2 for 84 to show for his work at the Adelaide Oval, but this is substantially better than any of his front line counterparts, all of whom conceded more than 100 runs. Aside from Siddle's first innings heroics in Brisbane a decade ago it now feels like, Harris is the only bowler available who really deserves to play in Perth at all. Ben Hilfenhaus surely must also return as he I felt did very little to deserve being dropped in the first place and certainly couldn't perform any worse than Doug Bollinger did in Adelaide.

* - As unusual as it may be to see me giving praise to Michael Clarke, his second innings 80 was a tough fighting knock at a time when Clarke didn't look to be any right state form wise to provide such an innings. It also could have gone partially the way in silencing those who say he doesn't make scores in pressure situations, if he hadn't of thrown it away on the last ball of the day. Nevertheless it gives hope that he might be able to put some sort of runs together in coming Tests.

Lowlights
*** - It's difficult to know where to begin. Yet when you consider that the last two English innings have cost 1037 runs for just 6 wickets, it isn't really. Five fast men, and a woefully underused Shane Watson, have tried and none have effectively succeeded in stopping the terrifying flow of runs from English bats. With every pitch in Australia usually playing decidedly flat, and with every logical fast-bowling option tried already, its impossible to think how we're going to stop them and frighteningly rational to wonder if England will just keep racking up 500,600,700 in every first innings.

** - Ricky Ponting. Today I will not speak of his captaincy, primarily because his shortcomings are now so visibly self-evident that I have little need to say anything. It is his batting which is really letting us down. For all the talk of being past his best (which he may be in terms of consistency at least), Ponting showed in India that his actual skills and talents have not diminished one bit. Watson is batting solidly enough, and Hussey so beautifully, that if Ponting could put some big innings together under pressure (as opposed to superfluous knocks like Day 5 at the Gabba) it would make a huge difference, not just in the obvious way but mentally for the whole team. Ponting is the talisman. Advancing he may be in age but he remains that golden prized wicket everyone wants. Like Pietersen, it doesn't really matter what form Ponting is in, you know he can take the game away from you and lift the whole team with him. If he can score a few hundreds now he might just save his place in the team post-Ashes even if his captaincy is beyond salvation.

* - Xavier Doherty. It may be harsh to give him his own star, particularly after all my praise for him as recently as Brisbane. But this star is more earned by the selectors and whoever is running the spin bowling program in Australia in general than for Doherty himself. For all his admirable effort and through my general enthusiastic support of him, must however go, he has shown with figures of 1 for 158 in 27 overs that he really isn't up to Test standard. Some may say that Shane Warne started similarly and faith should be shown? Yes it should be but only when all prevailing evidence says so. The faith should have been in Nathan Hauritz in the first place. Even if he comes back for Perth it's impossible to know how his sacking has affected his confidence.