Days of Grace
International Captain
0.02 and 0.01 cuz he's a ****.Do it drunk
0.02 and 0.01 cuz he's a ****.Do it drunk
Ponting too.Who's the best batsman without an entry there? Hobbs, Hutton, Viv, Kallis, Border all miss out.
I think he loses some points on a couple of things based on the criteria in the OP. For example, they were 6 other tons scored in the game. The highest partnership he was involved in was just 77, albeit with the 10th wicket. The S/R is only a minor part of the overall score, but it very much seems the S/R is why the innings was so beloved at the time, as laid out in WisdenI'm a bit surprised that Stan McCabe's 232 at Trent Bridge in 1938 does not make this list. Many who saw that innings - including Bradman and Compton - rate it as the best they ever witnessed.
Wisden - England v Australia 1938A record of these facts is a necessary preliminary to a description of the amazing batting which followed from McCabe and gave such an epic turn to the game. Six wickets were down for 194 and then McCabe, assisted in turn by three left-hand batsmen - Barnett, O'Reilly and McCormick - altered the whole aspect of affairs. In a little less than four hours, McCabe scored 232 out of 300 - his highest score in a Test match. His driving was tremendously hard, he hooked short balls with certainty and power, one off Farnes yielding a six, and he showed real genius in batting Hammond's efforts to keep him away from the bowling. While McCabe was running riot, the England captain delayed calling for the new ball and took other measures in the hope of keeping down runs, but the Australia, having completed his first hundred in two hours, twenty minutes, proceeded to score 4's much more readily. Wright was hit for 44 runs off three successive overs. Although he traveled so fast, McCabe did not offer a real chance, but once Edrich made a plucky effort to hold a ball hooked with terrific power. In the last ten overs bowled to him, McCabe took the strike in eight and hit 16 of his thirty-four 4's and in a last wickets stand of 77 with Fleetwood-Smith he scored 72 in 28 minutes. His glorious innings ended in a fitting way for in attempting a big hit off Verity he skied the ball to cover.
More test batsman are capable of batting aggressively. Clobbering sixes with everyone on the fence on a 4th day pitch was considered almost impossible until the last decade or so.Anyone have any theories why these absurdly good innings have been rising in frequency in recent years.
I reckon Stokes’ today almost stems from the amount of one day cricket he’s played. When Broad got out he basically thought “**** it” for a few overs and backed himself to hit any bowler for 6. Then when it got closer he improvised a bit (ramp then switch hit) because that’s where the gaps were.Anyone have any theories why these absurdly good innings have been rising in frequency in recent years.