This week is Jack Hobbs week on the Reverse Sweep to commemorate the release of a new biography on the Master by Leo McKinstry (buy it on Amazon here).
Quite simply the pair formed the best opening pair in the history of Test cricket. They amassed 3249 runs in only 38 innings with 15 century stands at a whopping average of 87.81. Individually they rank as two of the greatest batsmen in history, but together they were near impregnable - especially when the odds seemed stacked against them.
In the 1926 Ashes, with the series 0-0, the final test at The Master's home ground of The Oval would be timeless; meaning that whatever happened there would be a positive result. England had lost the last three Ashes series 5-0, 3-0 and 4-1 and hadn't won a rubber since before the Great War, so much was at stake.
England rung the changes, drafting in Percy Chapman (in place of the unfortunate Arthur Carr) as skipper, the 49 year old Wilfred Rhodes and the young tearaway Nottinghamshire fast bowler Harold Larwood. An expectant nation waited with bated breath.
Chapman did his first job by winning the toss on what looked like a prime batting wicket, but despite Hobbs (37) and Sutcliffe (76) providing a good start, England could only make 280 in their first innings. Australia then eked out a 22 run lead after recovering from 122 for six thanks to a quickfire 73 from Jack Gregory batting at eight.
The fate of the Ashes lay with Hobbs and Sutcliffe and all looked well as they made steady progress to close the day on 49 without loss. But then disaster as heavy rain overnight meant that the uncovered pitch turned into a treacherous sticky wicket. England were only 27 runs ahead and if they failed to prevent a collapse, then most of the demons would have probably left the pitch by the time Australia came to chase. And that would mean the Ashes would be lost again.
But Hobbs and Sutcliffe had other ideas, despite fearing that England would be lucky to even add another 80 runs to their overnight score. They put these fears to one side and with great skill, resolve and sheer grit they tackled the sticky dog and the crafty bowling of Richardson, Mailey and Grimmett to preserve their wickets and punish any bad balls.
Slowly but surely they grew their stand to 172 before Hobbs was out for exactly 100 just after reaching his milestone to rapturous applause from an excited crowd. Sutcliffe went on to make 161 and England 436.
By the time Australia finally started their second innings, further rain had fallen and they had no hope of getting the 415 they needed to retain the Ashes. Rhodes and Larwood took seven wickets between them, but it was Hobbs and Sutcliffe who were the heroes of the hour.
Hobbs and Sutcliffe shared 11 century partnerships in Tests against Australia, but this was undoubtedly the finest. Even more so then when they repeated the trick on another treacherous sticky wicket at Melbourne in 1928/29. That time they added 106 as England successfully chased down 332 to win. Sutcliffe again scored a brave matchwinning hundred.
That’s quite some statement and one that most cricket aficionados would vehemently (and quite understandably) disagree with.
However, if we take averages as our sole (and rather misleading) barometer and set the qualification criteria at a minimum of 20 Test innings, the 1st Test at Cardiff does feature statistically at least four of the best 22 batsmen in the history of the game (see full list here).
In 22ndplace is Mahela Jayawardene, who averages 53.82 from his 117 Tests.
Four places higher is Thilan Samaraweera, the current cricketer with the largest amount of shrapnel in their body. He averages 54.25 from 64 Tests.
Then moving past the likes of legends like Hutton, Hobbs and Tendulkar, we reach 12th place where Kumar Sangakkara averages 57.25 from 95 Tests.
But, top of the pile and behind only Bradman in the pantheon (as far as averages go at least) is Bob Willis’s favourite batsman Jonathan Trott, who will have to go some this summer to maintain or improve upon an average of 61.53 from his 19 Tests.
Only five batsmen in Test history who have more than 20 innings average over 60: Bradman, Graeme Pollock, George Headley, Herbert Sutcliffe and for the time being Trott.
As Mark Twain so rightly said “there are lies, damned lies and statistics”.
Despite England finally managing to win on Australia Day of all days, we are still not bothered too much by the never ending story that is the one-day series. Time to look back again, then…
With the notable exception of Jonathan Trott, England’s top six came into the Ashes series with doubts hanging over them after a collective poor return against Pakistan over the summer. Ian Bell, who had been injured for the Pakistan tests, was deemed a concern too given his previously poor record against Australia.
The man considered the biggest concern was Alastair Cook, with some pundits, including as shrewd a judge as Michael Atherton, calling for the opener to be dropped in favour of Eoin Morgan with Trott promoted to open. Thankfully, England’s selectors stuck with their man and Cook repaid them by transforming himself into a left-handed Herbert Sutcliffe to score more runs in a test series than any Englishman ever except Wally Hammond in 1928/29.
And it wasn’t just Cook. For those that grew up in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s, you will doubtless be familiar with Roy Castle singing “dedication is what you need…if you want to be a record breaker”.
Perhaps this tune was played alongside KP's favourite Carly Simon song on the dressing room stereo, as this is exactly the mantra that England’s batsmen followed during the series. Having all got into nick in the crucial warm-up matches prior to the 1st Test, England’s batsmen showed exemplary patience and good judgment throughout the series – except in the aberration that was Perth. But even though they left the ball much better than the Australians, England still managed to post a higher run-rate per over for the series – 3.5 to 3.1.
In seven innings, England reached 500 four times. They hit their highest totals ever in Brisbane, Adelaide and Sydney, with the latter being England’s highest ever test total in Australia.
In those seven innings, England’s batsmen hit nine hundreds (Cook (3), Trott (2), Strauss, Pietersen, Bell and Prior) – with six being at least 135 or over, compiled 11 hundred partnerships and all of the top seven – with the exception of Paul Collingwood – comfortably averaged above 40 for the series.
The comparison with the Australians was stark. The home side only once passed 400 in ten innings, hit just three hundreds (Hussey (2) and Haddin), only had four century partnerships and three batsmen averaging over 40 for the series (Hussey, Haddin and Watson). And unlike Cook, Australia’s premier opener Watson was unable to even convert one of his several good starts into three figures. That meant that with Australia’s supposed best batsmen Ponting and Clarke having dreadful series', none of Australia’s top four registered even one hundred.
If that wasn’t enough proof of how much Australia were outgunned with the bat, how about the fact that their average runs per wicket lost in the series was 28.9 to England’s 51.1? Or even that England had Bell coming in at six instead of North or Smith. Now that is perhaps the most damning point of all!
But there were no guffaws this time. On the contrary, the borderline selections of Chris Tremlett and Tim Bresnan proved to be positively inspired.
They also stuck with Alastair Cook despite before the series the likes of Mike Atherton calling for him to be dropped in place of Eoin Morgan. Of course, Cook then repaid the selectors’ faith by becoming a left-handed reincarnation of Herbert Sutcliffe. The selectors also resisted the temptation to move Jonathan Trott down the order and retained the six batsmen-four bowler policy.
All of these decisions paid off spectacularly. As did the one to keep Ian Bell at six when Paul Collingwood’s form faltered. Moving Bell up the order would just have undermined Collingwood and perhaps even given the Aussies a bit of a fillip – the sight of an in-form Bell coming in at four wickets down must have been soul-destroying for the Australians at times.
The two changes that England made during the series also paid off in spades. Tremlett was a revelation with 17 wickets after replacing the injured Stuart Broad. And what must have been a tough decision to replace Steven Finn with Bresnan for the last two tests also proved correct. Finn may have been the leading wicket-taker in the series at that point, but his economy rate of 4.3 runs per over threatened England’s plan of containment. So out he went, and in came Bresnan, who probably even surprised himself with how well he performed.
Whilst the England selectors deserve a tick in every box, Australia’s were hopeless and clueless despite what that ridiculous excuse for a Chairman Andrew Hilditch thinks. Forced into naming a confused and elongated initial 17 man squad 10 days before the 1st Test by Cricket Australia’s Marketing Department, they then compounded their error by jettisoning incumbent spinner Nathan Hauritz before a ball had even been bowled.
They then panicked after Brisbane by dropping Mitchell Johnson for the clearly unfit Doug Bollinger. Whilst for Perth they concluded that despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Steve Smith was a number six Test batsman and that the out-of-form and technically deficient Phil Hughes should replace the injured Simon Katich. Admittedly they did get it right by sticking with Mike Hussey and the selection (albeit belatedly) of Usman Khawaja, but the overall picture they portrayed was one of poorly thought out plans, risky and ill-advised punts and a general sense of making it up as they went along.
Not only did England end nearly a quarter of a century of hurt down under by winning the series (yes, we're still gloating), but their selectors transformed from a bunch of bumbling incompetents into Gandalfesque shrewd soothsayars whilst somehow transferring their discarded 'attributes' to their Australian counterparts. That makes it even more satisfying.
Andrew Strauss copped quite a bit of tap for his third ball dismissal in the first innings, so to bounce back today with a hundred - especially with his side behind the eight ball at the start of play - exemplified hisimmense mental strength and resilience. The luck was with him as evidenced by his narrow escape to the first ball of the innings and Mitchell Johnson's butter fingers, but like Michael Hussey yesterday, Strauss deserved his slices of good fortune. He became the seventh Englishman to follow a 1st innings duck with a 2nd innings Ashes hundred - following in the footsteps of Vaughan, Botham, Randall, Sheppard, Woolley and Tyldesley. The ultimate zero to hero story.
Cook's hard work pays dividends
For a man that was supposed to be the weak link in England's batting line-up, Alastair Cook has had a remarkable match. A watchful fifty in the 1st innings and now a workmanlike hundred in the second. Cook's technique looked all over the place in the English summer but time at the crease during the tour seems to have corrected most of these glitches and given Cook the requisite confidence. Perhaps the most notable beneficiary of England's approach to playing three warm-up matches prior to the series?
Better than Hobbs & Sutcliffe?
Strauss and Cook's ninth century opening stand in their 82nd test innings together took them past the Jack Hobbs-Herbert Sutcliffe union to become England's most prolific opening pair in Test cricket (see full list here). A fantastic achievement, yes. But, Hobbs and Sutcliffe - arguably the greatest opening partnership of them all - managed their 3249 runs in only 38 innings with 15 century stands and an average of 87.81 - over double that of Strauss and Cook. But given their highest opening partnership of the ill-fated 2006-07 series was 45, their 188 run stand today was quite brilliant.
Ponting's gun fires blanks
Even though the pitch suited the batters, Ricky Ponting must be worried about his misfiring attack. Johnson was hopeless and Ben Hilfenhaus has only really been dangerous in the first over of each innings. Xavier Doherty has bowled tidily but for the most part has been unthreatening and Shane Watson looked a part-time option at best. Even Peter Siddle has looked a shadow of the bowler he was in the 1st innings. With England toiling for 158 overs in Australia's 1st innings, it would seem that the attack that most quickly finds the ability to take 20 wickets in a match will win this series.
Player of the Day
Alastair Cook - most of the attention will go to Strauss, but it was Cook that batted for the whole day and he now has just one run shy of 200 in both innings and has occupied the crease for over 10 hours in the match.
Zero of the day
Mitchell Johnson - for spraying the ball around like a sex-addicted rabbit on viagra and dropping an easy chance to reprieve Strauss. No wickets, a 19 ball duck, that drop and a comedy moustache - the joke is certainly on Johnson in this Test. Even Ponting seems to be losing the faith.
What happens next?
The draw seems the most likely result. But if England can push on, carve out a 300 run lead before tea and take a few wickets with the new ball, who knows? Just a note of caution for England fans though - in Adelaide in 2006 England were 97 runs ahead at the end of the fourth day and looked what happened then.
England and Australia have competed in 321 Test matches since the first acknowledged Test started on 15 March 1877. Australia have the edge in the oldest international sports contest with 132 wins to England's 99 and there have been 90 draws.
There have been many classic Tests in the battle for the little urn. In a three-part series, we have picked 25 of the best, which we will list chronologically.
The Oval, 28-29 August 1882 - Australia won by 7 runs: The birth of the Ashes with Australia winning a stunning victory after bowling out England for 69 having set them only 77 to win. Spofforth took 14 for 90 after declaring that "this thing can be done" and the dismissal of Grace saw England slide from 51 for two to a defeat considered so ignominious that Reginald Shirley Brook penned his mock obituary to English cricket in The Sporting Times.
1st Test, Sydney, 14-20 December 1894 - England won by 10 runs: An amazing come-from-the-dead victory for England after following on 261 runs behind. Ward hit 117 as England recovered to set Australia 177 to win - a target they appeared to be coasting to when 130 for two. But Peel took six for 67 and Australia lost their last eight wickets for 53 as England completed an unlikely victory. England eventually won the series 3-2 by chasing down 297 in the decider at Melbourne.
3rd Test, The Oval, 10-12 August 1896 - England won by 66 runs: It was all square going into the final and deciding test of the 1896 series, but with the home side being skittled for 89 in their second innings it seemed that with Australia only needing 111 victory the tourists had regained the Ashes. But on a wet pitch, they slid to 25 for nine and ultimately 44 all out.
4th Test, Old Trafford, 24-26 July 1902 - Australia won by 3 runs: Australia retained the Ashes in a match that swung one way then another. Trumper became the first batsman to score a hundred before lunch on the first day of a Test as Australia hit 299. England recovered from 44 for five thanks to a hundred from F.S Jackson and then bowled Australia out for 86 in their second innings. But then the hapless Fred Tate took over. Having dropped a skier to reprieve Darling, Tate was last man out and the urn had gone. The test is still known as Tate's Match.
5th Test, The Oval, 11-13 August 1902 - England won by 1 wicket: The Ashes may have gone in the previous match, but that didn't stop this Test from being a classic. Set 263 to win, England slipped to 48 for five before Gilbert Jessop bludgeoned a hundred in 75 minutes. Then Hirst and Rhodes - England's last pair - came together with 15 required and 'got 'em in singles' to record a famous win.
5th Test, The Oval, 14-18 August 1926 - England won by 289 runs: After a period of utter Australian dominance following the end of World War I, the 1926 series in England was a much tighter affair. In the decider at The Oval, England were just ahead near the start of their second innings before a thunderstorm rendered the wicket as a treacherous 'sticky dog'. All seemed lost, but Hobbs and Sutcliffe thought otherwise and compiled an opening stand of 172 (Hobbs 100, Sutcliffe 161). England set Australia 415 and Rhodes and Larwood did the rest. Ashes regained.
3rd Test, Melbourne, 29 December 1928 - 5 January 1929 - England won by 3 wickets: Hobbs and Sutcliffe reprised their heroics in the next series, where with England set 332 to win on another wet wicket they compiled another century opening stand. Jardine, Hammond and then Hendren also provided sterling support to Sutcliffe who anchored the chase with 135. Despite some late wickets, England made it home by just three wickets to achieve an unassailable 3-0 series lead.
5th Test, The Oval, 16-22 August 1930 - Australia won by an innings and 39 runs: Despite the utter brilliance of Bradman, who scored 974 runs at 139.14, the series was locked at 1-1 going into the timeless decider at The Oval. England won the toss and 161 from Sutcliffe helped England compile 405 in their first innings. But with Bradman around that was never going to be enough. The Don scored 232 with Ponsford hitting 110 and Jackson 73 in a crucial 243 run partnership with Bradman as Australia made 695. It was too much for England and they folded for 251 to hand the Ashes back to Australia.
We see that Cricinfo has invited its readers to pick their All-time Ashes XI. Given we have recently selected our own all-time Australia and England Ashes XIs, it seems apt to pick a composite Ashes XI from these 22 names:
Having selected five openers in our two sides – Len Hutton was picked at first drop in our England Ashes XI – we have a plethora of options here. But for the same reason that Hutton was pushed down to three, we see no reason to split up the immortal opening partnership of Hobbs and Sutcliffe. The dynamic duo had 11 opening partnerships of over 100 against Australia including two of the greatest in the history of the game at The Oval in 1926 and Melbourne in 1928/29.
Middle order
Bradman picks himself at three and is also our captain. Joining him in the middle order are Hammond – who other than in the 1928/29 series when he hit 905 runs was mostly overshadowed by the brilliance of Bradman. This leaves us with three tough, doughty fellows in Barrington, Border and Waugh. We opt for the middle of these, partly because as a left-hander he provides balance to the side, but also because he was equally as effective in a losing or winning side.
All-rounder
Choosing between two larger-than-life characters like Miller and Botham is no easy task - especially as we looked on as an awed child at the exploits of the latter in the unforgettable 1981 Ashes. But despite this, Miller seems to have the better of Botham with both bat and ball and also had his opponent’s ability to change a match single-handedly.
Wicketkeeper
Gilchrist’s superior batting versus Knott’s better ability with the gloves? In the end this was quite an easy choice because quite simply Gilchrist had an unbeatable talent for counterpunching when his side were in trouble or turning a positive position into one of utter dominance all in the blink of an eye.
Seamers
Barnes is arguably the greatest bowler ever and offers a potent variety of seam, swing and spin – the latter meaning that we need only select one specialist spinner in our XI. Due to our unashamed love of extreme pace, we opt for Lillee and Larwood over Bedser and Lindwall to join Barnes in our composite XI.
Spin
Having seen the exploits of Warne at first-hand, it is impossible to prefer O’Reilly or Verity above him. For balance, the left-arm spin of Verity is preferred to the leggie Tiger as our 12th man.
So, our all-time Ashes XI is: Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Bradman (C), Hammond, Border, Miller, Gilchrist, Larwood, Warne, Lillee and Barnes with Verity as 12th man.
We've already showed our hand by selecting Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe as the openers in our All-time England Ashes XI. Quite simply the pair formed the best opening partnership in the history of test cricket.
In 1926, with the series 0-0, the final test at The Oval would be timeless, which meant that whatever happened there would be a positive result. England had lost the last three Ashes 5-0, 3-0 and 4-1 and hadn't won a series since before the Great War, so much was at stake.
England drafted in Percy Chapman as skipper and having won the toss made 280 in their first innings (Sutcliffe 76, Hobbs 37 and Chapman 49) with Arthur Mailey taking six for 138. Australia then eked out a 22 run lead after recovering from 122 for six.
Hobbs and Sutcliffe made steady progress to close the day on 49 without loss, but heavy rain overnight and the following day meant that the uncovered pitch turned into a treacherous sticky wicket. England were only 27 runs ahead and if they failed to prevent a collapse, then most of the demons would have probably left the pitch by the time Australia came to chase. And that would mean the Ashes would be lost again.
But Hobbs and Sutcliffe had other ideas. With great skill and immense valour they grew their opening partnership to 172 before Hobbs was out for exactly 100. Sutcliffe went on to make 161 and England 436.
By the time that Australia finally started their second innings, further rain had fallen and they had no hope of getting the 415 they needed to retain the Ashes. Wilfred Rhodes and Harold Larwood took seven wickets between them, but it was Hobbs and Sutcliffe who were the heroes of the hour.
Hobbs and Sutcliffe shared 11 century partnerships for the first wicket in Tests against Australia, but this was undoubtedly the finest. Even more so when they repeated the trick on another stickywicket at Melbourne in 1928/29 in adding 106 as England chased down 332 to win. Sutcliffe again scored a brave and matchwinning hundred.
Don Bradman made his test match bow in the 1928/29 Ashes series, when an Australian team in transition was humbled 4-1 by an MCC side led by Percy Chapman, which was arguably the strongest that ever left English shores.
Despite the favourable impression Bradman made in that series with 468 runs at 66.85 plus the fact that he had scored the then highest first-class core of 452* for New South Wales in the 1930 season, many seasoned observers like Fender and Cardus expected the 21 year old to struggle on English pitches due to his unorthodox cross-bat style. Indeed, most pundits expected Bradman's NSW team-mate Archie Jackson to be the pick of the young Australian tyros selected for the tour.
We are currently reading 'Bradman and the Summer that changed Cricket' by Christopher Hilton. It provides a detailed and fascinating account of that 1930 tour and how Bradman transformedfrom a callow boy into a man and took the cricket world by storm. We knew the story of course, but the fact that Hilton takes you back to the time makes Bradman's feats all the more impressive. Here is how the story unfurled.
Bradman started as he meant to go on with 236 in the tour opener at Worcestershire. Hethen followed this up with centuries against Leicestershire (185*), Surrey (252*) and Hampshire (191) to become the youngest and only the fifth batsman at that time to have scored 1,000 runs by the end of May.
Amazingly many commentators at the time including Surrey captain Fender still felt that Bradman would struggle once it came to the test matches when he would face a full-strength England attack. At first it looked like Fender and the other doubters could be proved correct when Bradman played on to a low one from Maurice Tate to be dismissed for only 8 in the first innings of the first Test at Trent Bridge.
But the first slice of the biggest humble pie in cricket history was served in the second innings when The Don hit a patient 131, which whilst he was at the crease looked like it would steer Australia to their daunting 429 target. However once Bradman had gone, a relieved Chapman saw his side ease to a 93 run victory. 1-0 to England.
The 2nd Test at Lord's saw a very different story when Bradman played what he adjudged to be his finest test innings. Responding to England's 425, Bradman walloped 254 as Australia totalled 729 for six declared to continue their good run at Lord's to win by seven wickets - even then England couldn't beat Australia at HQ. 1-1.
The country boy from Bowral had well and truly arrived at the centre of the Empire, but this proved to be the mere hors d'oeuvre to what happened in the next test at Headingley. Coming in on the first morning after the early departure of Jackson, Bradman tore into the England attack to become only the third man to hit a test hundred before lunch. Given that the previous two were his great Australian predecessors Victor Trumper and Charlie Macartney, Bradman was in the finest of company. He didn't stop there either as he hit another hundred between lunch and tea and then reached his triple century before the close. At the end of the first day, Australia were 458 for three and Bradman was unbeaten on 309*. Incredible. He went on to 334 the next day but rain ensured England escaped with the draw.
In the next test at Old Trafford, Bradman showed he was at least part mortal as after struggling against leg spinner Ian Peebles and failing to pick his googly, Bradman was dismissed for only 14 in his only innings. Again rain ruined the game and it was 1-1 going into the decider at The Oval, which as it would be a timeless test meantthere had to be a victor. How many runs could Bradman score in a timeless test? 500? 1000?
So spooked were the England selectors by Bradman that they panicked and replaced the adventurous Chapman as captain with the more conservative Bob Wyatt. Wyatt did the first thing right, which was winning the toss and thanks to a big hundred from Herbert Sutcliffe, England totalled 405. Unfortunately for England, Bradman chose to unveil another masterpiece to hit a magnificent series-clinching 232 and with Jackson added 243 for the fifth wicket in the decisive partnership of the game.
Australia had regained the Ashes and Bradman had scored an incredible 974 runs at 139.14 in the series. Three of his four hundreds had been doubles and one of those a triple. This was run-scoring that had never been seen before and has never been seen since. Even Bradman, although he came close, was not able to top this in the remainder of his glittering career.
Cricket had changed for ever and a watching Douglas Jardine who witnessed a passage of play where Larwood and Hammond had Bradman and Jackson hopping around arrived at a cunning and controversial strategy aimed at wresting the Ashes back two years later.
Yesterday, we commenced our all-time Ashes XIs by naming our Australian opening pair (see here). Today, it is the turn of their English counterparts.
A number of great English openers have graced Ashes encounters stretching all the way back to the good Doctor himself in the Victorian era. This left us with a lengthy initial long-list comprising the aforementioned WG Grace, as well as Jack Hobbs, Herbert Sutcliffe, Len Hutton, Geoff Boycott, Graham Gooch, Michael Atherton, John Edrich and Michael Vaughan.
Gooch and Atherton were quickly discounted as despite both being very good batsmen, they met their respective nemeses' when facing the Australians. Atherton probably still wakes up with the sweats when Glenn McGrath features in his nightmares and the same is probably true for Gooch when the grinning face of Terry Alderman appears. As such, Gooch only averaged 33 in Ashes encounters and Atherton a touch under 30.
Grace was also discounted as by the time test cricket came around, the good Doctor was arguably a bit past his peak and in any case he saved his best for the Gentlemen versus Players matches, which probably were considered more important in his era.
Vaughan was ruled out too as he only had one series as an opener against the Australians. That said it was a phenomenal one with three hundreds and 633 runs at 63.33, which is why he deserves mention. But the others remaining have far more lengthy legacies. Finally, we considered that Edrich fell into the 'very good' rather than 'great' category, so he is missing from our final short-list too.
That leaves us with four English openers that certainly fall into the 'great' category - Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Hutton and Boycott. Along with Walter Hammond, Hobbs is arguably the greatest English batsman ever, so he has to be one of the two names. Certainly, The Master's record against Australia was superlative with more runs (3,636) and more tons (12) than anyone else and with an average in the mid-fifties. So, who should join him?
One of our earliest memories was of Boycott scoring his 100th hundred in the Headingley test of 1977 and he certainly has a decent enough record against the Australians. But the fact that more often than not self came before country as evidenced by his decision to opt out of the 1974/75 Ashes, rules out the opinionated one on this occasion.
That leaves a choice between Hutton and Sutcliffe. This is a very difficult decision. On the one hand there is Hutton, who captained England twice to Ashes glory, hit the highest score ever in Ashes battles at the Oval in 1938 and who averaged over 56 against England's greatest foe. Then there is Sutcliffe, who averaged a phenomenal 66.85 against Australia, hit eight centuries in 27 Ashes tests and who formed perhaps the greatest opening partnership of them all with Hobbs.
And it is this last point that tips the scales in Sutcliffe's favour and sees him reunited with The Master in our all-time England Ashes XI. One only has to look at their opening stand of 105 on a treacherous wet wicket at Melbourne on the 1928/29 tour to see the benefit of pairing these two together. It may have not been their biggest stand in terms of runs, but it was probably the best century partnership in Ashes history given the state of the pitch. On this occasion, Hobbs was out first for 49 and Sutcliffe steered England to within touching distance of their victory target of 332 before falling for a stupendous 135.
If Andrew Strauss is going to lead England to retaining the Ashes this winter then he is going to have to defeat history as well as Ricky Ponting's Australian side. Of course having regained the Ashes at The Oval last summer, England only have to draw the series to keep the little urn. But this is something they have never done when defending the Ashes in Australia.
Indeed since 1900 (England pretty much dominated the Ashes until then), England have only managed to retain the Ashes four times down under.
Retaining the Ashes
In 1928-29, a star-studded England side ably led by Percy Chapman and containing the likes of Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Hammond, Hendren, Larwood, Tate and Jardine overwhelmed an Australian side going through a period of transition (a certain Donald Bradman made his test match bow in this series) by four matches to one.
Then in 1954-55, Len Hutton's England side recovered from a heavy defeat in the first test at Brisbane to win the series 3-1, with Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson propelling them to victory with some fearsome fast bowling. Fast forward over 20 years to 1978-79, where an Australian side decimated by defections to World Series Cricket were hammered 5-1 by Mike Brearley's England.
Finally, in 1986-87, Mike Gatting captained an England side that was tagged as the team that 'can't bat, can't bowl and can't field' before the series to a 2-1 series victory with Chris Broad hitting three hundreds and with Botham and Gower also to the fore.
Since then of course, Australia have dominated, winning the subsequent series' by margins of 3-0, 3-1, 3-1, 4-1 and infamously 5-0 four years ago.
Regaining the Ashes
It's not as if England have been any better at regaining the Ashes on Australian soil. Again, they have only done this four times since 1900. In 1903-04, Pelham Warner's side won an exciting contest by three matches to two. Johnny Douglas repeated the trick eight years later when his England team triumphed 4-1.
After losing to a Bradman inspired Australian side at home in 1930, Douglas Jardine masterminded an immediate return of the little urn into English hands in the 1932/33 series - arguably the most infamous test series of them all. History should remember however that the runs of Hammond, Sutcliffe and Paynter amongst others were just as decisive as the venomous fast bowling of Larwood, Voce and Allen.
The last time that England regained the Ashes down under was in the elongated seven match series of 1970/71 when Raymond Illingworth's side triumphed by two tests to nil in another series marred with bad feeling and controversy.
Can England do it again in 2010/11?
History may be against them but this settled and talented side has the best chance of any England team of the last twenty years of returning to Heathrow Airport with the Ashes in their possession. And one possible omen in Strauss' favour is that Brearley and Gatting, the last two England captains to return triumphant also played county cricket for Middlesex - albeit more often.
Last year we wrote a post for World Cricket Watch, where we named our top 20 batsmen of all time. As we explained yesterday, now seems a good time to revisit this. Firstly, so we can extend the list this time to 30. But secondly, because we are prepared to admit that we erred somewhat last time in placing Sachin Tendulkar behind Ricky Ponting in the all-time batting pantheon. Given that the Ashes were on at the time, we must have done it out of fear that Ponting would inspire his side to retain the little urn.
Today, we count down numbers 20 to 11, before concluding tomorrow with the top 10. If you missed yesterday's post check out numbers 30-21.
20. Kumar Ranjitsinhji(England) – 15 tests, 2 100s, 6 50s, average 44.95, HS 170 - An Indian prince and giant of Victorian and Edwardian cricket, Ranji was credited with bringing several new strokes into the game including the late cut and was an early exponent of back foot defence. Widely considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all time prior to World War I, Neville Cardus described the stylish and unorthodox Ranji as "the midsummer night's dream of cricket".
19. Allan Border(Australia) - 156 tests, 27 100s, 63 50s, average 50.56, HS 205 - Gritty, durable and determined. A.B was all of these, but he was also reputedly Australia's best player of spin for over 50 years. World Series Cricket allowed him an early opportunity in the test side and he didn't relinquish his chance and played a remarkable 153 consecutive test matches. As we were growing up, we certainly remember Border piling on the runs against England and also of course the way he captained the side to comprehensive series wins in 1989 and 1993. Unfortunately, 1985 became a distant memory after that.
18. Greg Chappell(Australia)– 87 tests, 24 100s, 31 50s, average 53.86, HS 247* - The best Australian batsman of the seventies and early eighties, Chappell allied steadfast concentration with attractive stroke making. Despite his excellent Test record, perhaps his best batting was during the World Series Cricket schism where he made 621 runs at 69 in five ‘Super Tests’ versus the mighty West Indies in the Caribbean in 1979.
17.Javed Miandad(Pakistan)– 124 tests, 23 100s, 43 50s, average 52.57, HS 280* - The greatest Pakistani batsman ever, Miandad was a precocious teenage prodigy scoring a century on debut and in the same series breaking George Headley’s record as the youngest player to score a Test match double century. His non-textbook style, pugnacity and ability to rile bowlers made him a thorn in the side of most opponents during a long and glittering career.
16.Graeme Pollock(South Africa) – 23 tests, 7 100s, 11 50s, average 60.97, HS 274 - Of those that have played at least 20 Test match innings, Pollock holds the second highest average after Bradman, who described the South African as the best left hander along with Sobers that he had ever seen. Widely recognised as his country’s best ever player, Pollock’s Test career was cut short abruptly at the age of 26 due to the sporting boycott of South Africa.
15. Ricky Ponting(Australia) - 144* tests, 39 100s, 51 50s, average 55.22, HS 257- After Tendulkar, the outstanding batsman playing the game today, Ponting is widely acknowledged as the best Australian batsman since Bradman – high praise indeed. One of Ponting’s main strengths is his versatility in that he can score quickly, counter-attack or tough it out when the situation demands. Other strengths include his consistency and his habit of playing match winning innings. Last year we placed him at sixth, above Tendulkar, but we have now revised this view. Ponting is great, but not that great.
14.Sunil Gavaskar(India) – 125 tests, 34 100s, 45 50s, average 51.12, HS 236* - Gavaskar was one of the best openers of all-time and the pre-eminent Indian batsman before Tendulkar – the man who broke his record of most Test match centuries. A brilliant batsman against fast bowling, Gavaskar scored a superlative 13 centuries at an average of 65.45 against the formidable West Indies side of the seventies and eighties.
13.Everton Weekes(West Indies) – 48 tests, 15 100s, 19 50s, average 58.61, HS 207 - The highest ranked of the immortal ‘three Ws’, Walcott believed that Weekes was the best all-round batsman of the three. An attacking batsman with a vast array of strokes, Weekes made an electric start to Test cricket, reaching 1,000 runs in only his 12thinnings, one fewer than Bradman. During this run he also scored five centuries in five consecutive innings against England and India – still a Test record.
12.Leonard Hutton(England) – 79 tests, 19 100s, 33 50s, average 56.67, HS 364 - Despite World War II robbing him of six years of cricket from the age of 23, Hutton is still considered amongst the giants of English batters. Before the War and at the age of 22, he scored the then highest Test match score of 364 against Australia. Afterwards, he continued to amass runs for Yorkshire and England and became the first professional player to captain his country.
11. Herbert Sutcliffe(England) - 54 tests, 16 100s, 23 50s, average 60.73, HS 194 - Sutcliffe’s name always seems to be inexplicably left on the margins when discussions as to who is the best ever English batsman. Perhaps this is because he opened the batting with Hobbs and played in the same era as Hammond. Whatever the reasons, Sutcliffe deserves recognition in his own right - the fourth highest Test match batting average of all-time for players with at least 20 innings, a fantastic record against Australia and prodigious run scoring for country and Yorkshire alike.
Continuing from Part 1 yesterday, which counted down the best batsmen from 20-11, here are numbers 10-1 in reverse order, with an additional comment at the end for those Test countries not represented in my list:
10. Victor Trumper (Australia) – 48 Tests, 8 100s, 13 50s, Average 39.04, HS 214*
Widely acknowledged as the best Australian batsman before Bradman, Trumper was both stylish and versatile with a penchant for playing match-winning innings on treacherous wet wickets. After scoring 135 not out against England at Lord’s in 1899, Grace gifted Trumper his own bat with the inscription "From the present champion to the future champion."
9. Herbert Sutcliffe (England) – 54 Tests, 16 100s, 23 50s, Average 60.73, HS 194
Sutcliffe’s name always seems to be inexplicably left on the margins when discussions as to who is the best ever English batsman. Perhaps this is because he opened the batting with Hobbs and played in the same era as Hammond. Whatever the reasons, Sutcliffe deserves recognition in his own right - the fourth highest Test match batting average of all-time for players with at least 20 innings, a fantastic record against Australia and prodigious run scoring for country and Yorkshire alike.
8. Brian Lara (West Indies) – 131 Tests, 34 100s, 48 50s, Average 52.88, HS 400*
The man with the highest Test and First Class scores of 400 not out and 501 not out respectively, Lara is the fourth of six West Indians on the list. When he started his career, West Indian dominance was on the wane. By the time he finished it, his side was in the doldrums and as a result he spent most of his time trying to keep the West Indies afloat making his record even more impressive. Perhaps his best achievement was in 1999 in the home series against Australia, when he single-handedly won the second and third tests with scores of 213 and 153 not out after his side had been obliterated in the first test. He scored a century too in the fourth and final test, but couldn’t prevent Australia squaring the series.
7. George Headley (West Indies) – 22 Tests, 10 100s, 5 50s, Average 60.83, HS 270*
Like Brian Lara over 60 years later, Headley had to keep a struggling side afloat. He managed this scoring a staggering ten centuries in his 22 Tests with his scoring feats leading to him being dubbed the ‘Black Bradman’. Headley was noted for his phenomenal back foot play and the time he seemed to have to play the ball, with such a shrewd judge as Len Hutton declaring that he had never seen a batsman play the ball later.
The outstanding batsman playing the game today, Ponting is widely acknowledged as the best Australian batsman since Bradman – high praise indeed. One of Ponting’s main strengths is his versatility in that he can score quickly, counter-attack or tough it out when the situation demands. Other strengths include his consistency and his habit of playing match winning innings.
5. Vivian Richards (West Indies) – 121 Tests, 24 100s, 45 50s, Average 50.23, HS 291
Regarded by cricket aficionados as probably the most devastating batsman in the history of the game, King Viv was absolutely unstoppable on his day. His style was a mixture of swagger and intimidation and most bowlers seemed to visibly cower when faced with an on-song Richards. It is befitting that he is the scorer of the fastest-ever Test century, from just 56 balls against England in his home island of Antigua during the 1986 tour.
4. Jack Hobbs (England) – 61 Tests, 15 100s, 28 50s, Average 56.94, HS 211
Popularly referred to as ‘The Master’, Hobbs scored more runs (61,760) and more centuries (199) than anyone else in the history of the sport – and but for the Great War these figures could have been more spectacular still. His opening partnership with Herbert Sutcliffe is considered to be the best England and maybe the game has seen. Hobbs made his first class debut against a side captained by W.G.Grace who presciently observed that "He's goin' to be a good'un". Even the learned Doctor could not have realised how ‘good’ Hobbs would become.
3. Walter Hammond (England) – 85 Tests, 22 100s, 24 50s, Average 58.45, HS 336*
Throughout his career, Hammond was often compared to Bradman, which is testament to what a great player he was, and he was included in the Don’s all-time XI. His seven Test double centuries has only been surpassed by Bradman and Brian Lara, and Hammond certainly had an ability to get big scores. His most notable series came on the tour of Australia in 1928-29 when he scored an incredible 905 runs at 113.12 in the five Tests. This has only been surpassed once – by Bradman, of course.
2. Garfield Sobers (West Indies) – 93 Tests, 26 100s, 30 50s, Average 57.78, HS 365*
Widely regarded as Cricket’s greatest all-rounder, Sobers was so good with the bat that he also ranks behind only the immortal Bradman on this list. Sobers mixed elegance with power and for a long time held the record for the highest Test score until he was usurped by his fellow West Indian Brian Lara. Perhaps his best innings though came for the Rest of the World against Australia in 1972 when Sobers played an innings of 254 which was described by Bradman as "probably the greatest exhibition of batting ever seen in Australia".
1. Donald Bradman (Australia) – 52 Tests, 29 100s, 13 50s, Average 99.94, HS 334
Who else? No self-respecting list of the greatest batsmen ever could have anyone else at its head. Has anyone dominated their sport as much as Bradman? It almost defies belief that his average of 99.94 is almost 40 runs higher than the second best for 20 completed innings (Graeme Pollock at 60.97). Of his many staggering batting feats, here are three examples. First, his consecutive triple centuries at Headingley in the Ashes tests of 1930 and 1934. Second, his 974 runs in five tests during the 1930 Ashes series in England including three double centuries – both records. Finally, his second innings knock of 270 during the Third Test at Melbourne during the Ashes series of 1936/37, which was rated by Wisden as the best test match innings of all time in 2001. It enabled Australia, who were two down in the series, to win the match and they duly completed a remarkable turnaround by winning the fourth (Bradman making 212) and fifth (Bradman, 169) tests – still the only time a team has come back from two down to win a test match rubber, and Bradman was the captain of course.
So, there we have it. Six West Indians, six who represented England, four Australians, two Indians and one each from South Africa and Pakistan. Obviously, a number of great players failed to make the cut and as I said yesterday it was an agonising process to get down to the final 20. Indians, South Africans and Pakistanis may feel aggrieved that their nations do not have a higher representation. Rest assured that Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Dudley Nourse, Barry Richards (ruled out by the virtue of having only played four tests), Zaheer Abbas and Inzamam-ul-Haq were all there or thereabouts.
From England, no place could be found for Denis Compton, Ken Barrington, Peter May, Ted Dexter or David Gower. On the other side of the World in Australia, Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Neil Harvey, Stan McCabe and Adam Gilchrist all failed to make the cut. And those swashbuckling West Indians Frank Worrell, Gordon Greenidge and Clive Lloyd also deserve a mention.
For those countries not represented, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Aravinda da Silva were all considered from Sri Lanka, as was Andy Flower from Zimbabwe and Martin Crowe, Martin Donnelly, Glenn Turner and Bert Sutcliffe from New Zealand. Bangladesh have yet to produce a great batsman, but undoubtedly they will as they continue to improve in the Test match arena.
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