Harry Boyle to Ted Peate, The Oval, 1882: it is the match that gave birth to the Ashes. Indelibly associated with Frederick ‘The Demon’ Spofforth, it was actually Harry Boyle who claimed the final wicket of Ted Peate. The Sporting Times published an obituary of English cricket,
and from a little urn grew the mightiest of cricket contests.Len Braund to Joe Darling, Old Trafford, 1902: of the 412 men with a single Test appearance, Fred Tate is probably the most notorious one-cap blunder. With Australia 16 for three in the second innings, Tate dropped their captain Joe Darling off Len Braund, who with Syd Gregory went on to set a target of 124. England lost by three runs and Australia’s win gave them a fourth successive Ashes triumph.
Harold Larwood to Bill Woodfull, Adelaide, 1932-33: when Larwood felled Australia’s captain Bill Woodfull in the Bodyline series, the England captain Douglas Jardine loudly offered the loaded verdict: ‘Well bowled, Harold’. Wisden initially said Jardine captained ‘like a genius’, before revising its opinion a year later.
Eric Hollies to Don Bradman, The Oval, 1948: Bradman lorded over the Ashes like a colossus, with 19 centuries in 37 matches and five series wins. In his final innings he needed four runs to finish with a Test average of 100. But he was bowled second ball by a googly from Eric Hollies. In a sense, the failure immortalised Bradman and 99.94 became one of sport’s most evocative numbers.
Arthur Morris to Denis Compton, The Oval, 1953: the Ashes has more memorable first deliveries than final ones. The exception is 1953, when Denis Compton pulled trundler Arthur Morris for four to give England their first Ashes triumph in 20 years. Wisden, giddily hyperbolic as ever, said it was a ‘most welcome victory in Coronation year’.
Jeff Thomson to David Lloyd, Perth, 1974-75: this was cricket in the raw. When David Lloyd was hit in the middle order by Jeff Thomson, he went down like a man who saw parenthood flashing before him, and had to retire hurt. Lloyd called it ‘a crisis in the Balkans’. There was certainly a crisis Down Under: England were thrashed 4–1.
Craig McDermott to Ian Botham, Edgbaston, 1985: in many ways, nothing summed up Botham’s superheroism and hold over Australia better than this delivery in 1985. Botham came to the crease with England 572 for four, and monstered his first ball down the ground for six. His seven-ball 18 humiliated Australia; they lost five wickets that evening, and with it, in effect, another Ashes series.
Shane Warne to Mike Gatting, Old Trafford, 1993: Shane Warne’s Ball of the Century is a reminder that you can often judge the brilliance of something by the levels of incredulity and confusion it engenders. With one delivery, he set up camp in the subconscious of English cricket.
Shane Warne to Andrew Strauss, Edgbaston, 2005: one seldom-discussed ball at Edgbaston in 2005 summed up England’s approach throughout a summer in which they almost always took the risky option. After England had got off to a flyer, Warne was brought on to restore order. Andrew Strauss charged down the track and dumped him back over his head. It didn’t affect Warne’s influence on the series, but it showed that England were no longer afraid of Australia.
Steve Harmison to Justin Langer, Brisbane, 2006-07: in 2005, Harmison had hit Justin Langer on his right arm with the second ball of the series; 16 months later, he bowled the first delivery straight to Andrew Flintoff in the slips. Australia were on top before a legal delivery had been bowled and went on to record the first Ashes whitewash for 86 years.
-With New Age input
