What is the best innings you have ever seen

[Top_Cat]

On TV, Adam Gilchrist's 152 against England in 2001 or 140-odd against Pakistan in Hobart 1999. At the ground, Dravid's 233 against Aus in Adelaide was a very, very good knock.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Dravid's 233 against Aus in Adelaide was a very, very good knock.

You would've gotten reasonably pink that day, was a belter of a sun for that match iirc.

 

[Perm]

Ian Botham at Headingley in 1981 - so brutal and unexpected - couldn't describe it as the best batting I have ever seen but I found it utterly compelling to watch and know I will never see a more memorable knock

Sums up my feelings on Gilly's record-breaking century in the last Ashes series.

 

[Top_Cat]

You would've gotten reasonably pink that day, was a belter of a sun for that match iirc.

Hmmmm...... I don't recall it being all that brutal. Hot, sure, but not intolerable. This day, on the other hand, was immense;

http://aus.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/...S/SCORECARDS/AUS_ENG_VBS_ODI11_19JAN2003.html

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Maybe I'm just remembering the sun here during that match. I remember sitting on the couch with a beer during the last day of that Adelaide game in so much pain from my beach trip the day before that moving was agony.

 

[honestbharani]

Lara's 153* just pips Laxman's 281 for me......



Followed by Sachin's 136.. Which I did watch LIVE at the ground, btw..

 

[Xuhaib]

Lara's 153* just pips Laxman's 281 for me......



Followed by Sachin's 136.. Which I did watch LIVE at the ground, btw..

Thanks for the standing ovation in the end

 

[zaremba]

From an English perspective:

Robin Smith 167* v Australia 1993

Graham Napier's 150odd v Sussex (in the 20-bloody-20 for God's sake) this season

Gooch 154* v WI 1991

Pietersen 158 v Aus, the Oval 2005 ("not entirely a bad innings" are, IIRC, Richard's words of wisdom about this knock)

Atherton 185* v SA

Botham 1981 - Headingley / OT

 

[wpdavid]

From an English perspective:

Robin Smith 167* v Australia 1993

Graham Napier's 150odd v Sussex (in the 20-bloody-20 for God's sake) this season

Gooch 154* v WI 1991

Pietersen 158 v Aus, the Oval 2005 ("not entirely a bad innings" are, IIRC, Richard's words of wisdom about this knock)

Atherton 185* v SA

Botham 1981 - Headingley / OT

Plus
Hussain's 200 in 1997 vs Aus at Edgbaston
Greig's 100s vs Aus in 1974 (possibly Brisbane) and vs India in 1976 (possibly Calcutta)
Stewart's twin 100's vs WI at Barbados in 1994

 

[zaremba]

Plus
Hussain's 200 in 1997 vs Aus at Edgbaston
Greig's 100s vs Aus in 1974 (possibly Brisbane) and vs India in 1976 (possibly Calcutta)
Stewart's twin 100's vs WI at Barbados in 1994

Yes - didn't see Grieg's innings as far as I remember but the Hussain and Stewart performances were top-drawer.

 

[andruid]

-Steve Waugh's last innings against India
-Mcgrath's 61 against New Zealand

Those two because at the time I was in th middle of a 'if only somebody would beat the Aussies' phase and in both circumstances they were in rather dire straits.

KP's 158 at the Oval against Australia

 

[GIMH]

Sums up my feelings on Gilly's record-breaking century in the last Ashes series.

Didn't quite break the record that mattered itbt

Best I've ever seen? Hmmm. In some ways Ponting's 192 (I think) at Brisbane on day one of the 06-07 Ashes was breathtaking, right then I felt the Ashes slipping away. Didn't watch all of it live due to sleep committments, but what I did see of it and the highlights since, awesome. I know it's a bit of a leftfield choice as he has played better innings but, there you go

My personal favourite is probably Nasser Hussain's 207 against Australia, it's possible I wouldn't be posting this now but for that innings, I sat up and took notice of a game I had ignored til then.

 

[Top_Cat]

From an English perspective:

Robin Smith 167* v Australia 1993

Graham Napier's 150odd v Sussex (in the 20-bloody-20 for God's sake) this season

That Robin Smith knock was several tons of pure awesome. I saw it too and until then, I had never realised just how brutal a batsman could be to a bowler.

And if we're including domestic knocks, Darren Webber's 94 in the Sheffield Shield final 1994/95. In a hopeless cause, he just went for his shots.

 

[Burgey]

Of those I've seen live, Lara's 277 at the SCG is an absolute stand out, as is Laxman's ton in 1999-00 (I think) where he opened and made a ton.

Watching on TV, any number of Lara's in 99, or Tendulkar's in 98 were really good, also Ponting's 150 odd in the thirs test in the 05 Ashes series was a great knock by a captain under the pump.

Richards' 200 at the MCG was awesome, as was Botham's 130 odd at the Gabba in 86-87.

So many to choose from....

 

[SJS]

My personal favourite is probably Nasser Hussain's 207 against Australia, it's possible I wouldn't be posting this now but for that innings, I sat up and took notice of a game I had ignored til then.

And yet GeraintisUrHero ?

....and Nasseraint ?

 

[GIMH]

I wanted to be unique

 

[funnygirl]

A tie for me, Laxman's 281 vs Aus and Steve Waugh's 200 vs WI.

 

[The Sean]

A few great knocks from my lifetime that don't seem to have been mentioned yet:

Deano's 210 in the Tied Test at Madras (now Chennai) in '86 - ranks up there with any I've ever seen.

AB's twin knocks of of 98* and 100* in the same Test in the Carribbean in '84 against the Windies pace attack at their peak were absolute gems.

Despite being shot to pieces by the Windies at the end of his career, anyone who saw Kim Hughes' 100* in the Boxing Day Test of 1981 will know just what a magnificent player of fast bowling he could be.

Inzi's 148 at Lord's in 1996 - I've only ever seen it in replays or highlights, but what a brilliant innings that was.

Mark Waugh's 116 to win the series in South Africa in '97, in a match where only one other player from either side passed 50 in either innings - and in classic Junior fashion, he managed to lazily get himself out before he could stroke the winning runs.

Steve's twin tons at Old Trafford in '97 - bestrode an otherwise low scoring match like a colossus.

Mark Butcher's superb 173* at Headingley (I think?) in 2001. Against the world's finest team on a final day pitch, that was a hell of an innings.

Viv's 189* in 1984 - still the finest ODI innings of all time, IMO.

 

[The Sean]

In addition to all of the above - just about any innings ever played by VVS, particularly against Australia.

Matchwinning epic or not, they're all bloody immaculate.

 

[Goughy]

Best Ive seen live was (as Ive said a number of times, so I apologise for the repetition) Goochs 154* against WI at Headingley in 91.

The most influential innings to me was probably an innings I never saw a ball of.

At 13/14 I was on holiday in France and saw a newspaper being read on the poolside.

Headline was 333 and I asked the man for the paper after he was finished. I devoured every word.

I had barely played a game of cricket at that time and I didnt really know that 300+ scores were realistic.

It captivated me and helped drag me into the sport. And less than a year later I was bowling at the players at the 1991 Test match I mentioned above.

Without reading about that Gooch game against India in 1990, whilst poolside in the South of France, Im not sure Id ever have seriously started playing.