Test Cricket Returns…….
1st test v New Zealand at Lords today….nice to be back to the traditional
June start.
Five of the most memorable Tests at Lord’s
England v Australia, 1896. England won by six wickets WG Grace’s last Test at Lord’s. The crowd were packed so close that they spilled on to the playing field, Joe Darling unable to catch Stanley Jackson in the deep because the spectators were in the way. Australia were skittled for 53 in just 75 minutes on the first morning, but then made 347 in their second innings to leave England needing 109 on a tricky pitch, sticky after overnight rain. Wisden described their eventual victory as “sensational” and “bewildering”.
England v Australia, 1930. Australia won by seven wickets Don Bradman’s first Test at Lord’s. He scored 254, which he later described as “the best innings of my life”. England managed 800 across two innings themselves, and still lost with a day to spare after Australia scored 729 for six declared. Twenty-five years later the Guardian’s Neville Cardus picked it as the one game he most wished he could watch all over again: “This game could be laid in heaven, the platonic idea of cricket in perfection.”
England v West Indies 1963. Match drawn Best remembered as Colin Cowdrey’s match, though it may as well have belonged to Basil Butcher, who made the game’s only century, or Wes Hall, who bowled one of the great spells from the Pavilion End on the last afternoon. All four results were possible before the last ball, and England finished nine down with six needed to win, with Cowdrey, his broken arm pressed against his chest, watching from the non-striker’s end.
England v West Indies, 2000. England won by two wickets Lord’s 100th Test, and a turning point for two teams. The West Indies took a 133-run lead in the first innings but collapsed to 54 all out when 21 wickets fell on the second day. England only needed 188 but they had to do it against Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. It all came down to an unlikely eight-wicket stand between Dominic Cork and Darren Gough, who put on 31 together to win one of the narrowest victories in the history of the ground.
England v Australia, 2023. Australia won by 43 runs Four days’ play that could fill thousands of words. Steve Smith peeled off a hundred, Australia bounced England out, and Nathan Lyon came out to bat even though he could barely walk because he had torn a calf. Then Alex Carey stumped Jonny Bairstow as he wandered out of his ground and all hell broke loose. A scrap broke out in the Long Room while Stuart Broad openly ridiculed the Australians out in the middle and Ben Stokes clobbered an incandescent 155.
The Guardian.
…
Big at 7 pm though..Somerset v Glamorgan at Taunton.A bash the ball to all parts game.
Live on Sky.
June start.
Five of the most memorable Tests at Lord’s
England v Australia, 1896. England won by six wickets WG Grace’s last Test at Lord’s. The crowd were packed so close that they spilled on to the playing field, Joe Darling unable to catch Stanley Jackson in the deep because the spectators were in the way. Australia were skittled for 53 in just 75 minutes on the first morning, but then made 347 in their second innings to leave England needing 109 on a tricky pitch, sticky after overnight rain. Wisden described their eventual victory as “sensational” and “bewildering”.
England v Australia, 1930. Australia won by seven wickets Don Bradman’s first Test at Lord’s. He scored 254, which he later described as “the best innings of my life”. England managed 800 across two innings themselves, and still lost with a day to spare after Australia scored 729 for six declared. Twenty-five years later the Guardian’s Neville Cardus picked it as the one game he most wished he could watch all over again: “This game could be laid in heaven, the platonic idea of cricket in perfection.”
England v West Indies 1963. Match drawn Best remembered as Colin Cowdrey’s match, though it may as well have belonged to Basil Butcher, who made the game’s only century, or Wes Hall, who bowled one of the great spells from the Pavilion End on the last afternoon. All four results were possible before the last ball, and England finished nine down with six needed to win, with Cowdrey, his broken arm pressed against his chest, watching from the non-striker’s end.
England v West Indies, 2000. England won by two wickets Lord’s 100th Test, and a turning point for two teams. The West Indies took a 133-run lead in the first innings but collapsed to 54 all out when 21 wickets fell on the second day. England only needed 188 but they had to do it against Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. It all came down to an unlikely eight-wicket stand between Dominic Cork and Darren Gough, who put on 31 together to win one of the narrowest victories in the history of the ground.
England v Australia, 2023. Australia won by 43 runs Four days’ play that could fill thousands of words. Steve Smith peeled off a hundred, Australia bounced England out, and Nathan Lyon came out to bat even though he could barely walk because he had torn a calf. Then Alex Carey stumped Jonny Bairstow as he wandered out of his ground and all hell broke loose. A scrap broke out in the Long Room while Stuart Broad openly ridiculed the Australians out in the middle and Ben Stokes clobbered an incandescent 155.
The Guardian.
…
Big at 7 pm though..Somerset v Glamorgan at Taunton.A bash the ball to all parts game.
Live on Sky.
61-69, M
