Seven wickets fell in 96 overs
20 boundaries took 414 balls
A man laboured 344 minutes to score 74
Marcus North bowled seven overs for 14 runs
Two men who can't bat knocked away, missed and left 69 deliveries
No-one won
And Test cricket proved, once again, the greatest game on earth. Ain't life gloriously strange?
What a weird day. Beaten at lunch, no chance at tea. Ecstasy at full time.
ReplyDeleteI think the "great escape" in the 4th innings has to be the best motif in Test cricket. It leaves a significant group in the audience hoping for no result, which would seem antithetical to the point of a sport. Recall Federer's comment near the end of his marathon final against Roddick: there had to be a winner, and a loser. Well, in cricket, not so -- brilliant.
ReplyDeleteOne day, following a coup held in Dubai, such matches will be decided by a bowl-off.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the heroic Monty may well find that that was his last Test action for a while.
ReplyDelete@Brit.
ReplyDeleteYou might be right.
The innings reminded me of Danny the Dwarf Morrison's rearguard partnership with Astle in 97 to save a test against your mob.
And that was his last test too.
A local radio cricket commentator had this as his status on f/b yesterday...
ReplyDelete15.59 "What an exciting day. Just touched the wall with my finger - and yes the paint is now dry!
16.14 "Given up on the cricket. Watching the golf now instead..."
Absolutely no irony intended....
Ceci, I trust that man is sans job this morning...?
ReplyDeleteBloody hell, LB, and that was only Nathan's second best rearguard against England...!
TOB,
ReplyDeleteWrong. That was Astle's best rearguard by a mile. It saved a test.
The other one was just a bit of fun in a test that was already lost. Once he passed the 200 and the target got under 100 and the impossible became a remote possibility he started playing properly.
And was out immediately.