Biggest test series upset of all time

[Darkshadows]

For this poll only using test series where 1 team won so no drawn series. Would love to hear if there were any similar series upsets in the past

 

[reyrey]

2005 Ashes. Even the England team weren't expecting to win against that ATG Aus team. They were looking to 2007 as their best chance.

 

[TheJediBrah]

2005 Ashes

 

[Adders]

Sorry but 2005 is a terrible shout.

Eng went into that series unbeaten in 18 mths.......there has never been such a hyped lead up for the series. There was a massive belief in Eng that this was our best chance to take down that great Aussie side.

Not saying we started as favourites but it was by no means a massive upset.

 

[Daemon]

This is pretty tough, all 3 have a great case especially if NZ go 3-0 up here.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Yeah that English seam quartet had been on a roll for a while leading into the Ashes. And once McGrath bowed out, Eng were definitely fielding the better attack.

Longer series tend to get more credence but SL and NZ both wrapped up their assignments at the earliest so can't hold that against them. Rearguard victories are definitely ***ier though and India's win in Aus especially in the way it panned out over the last two Tests is improbability stretched to the max, so I'll go with that one.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

WI went into the Tigers’ den with a depleted team in 2021 and came out with 2-0

 

[Coronis]

1936-37 Ashes

 

[TheJediBrah]

Sorry but 2005 is a terrible shout.

Eng went into that series unbeaten in 18 mths.......there has never been such a hyped lead up for the series. There was a massive belief in Eng that this was our best chance to take down that great Aussie side.

Not saying we started as favourites but it was by no means a massive upset.

That was just the deluded English mindset though. It was a freak series. 99 times out of 100 they lose 4-1, even with the ball tampering

 

[OverratedSanity]

It's surely still SL-SA 2019. The first page of that tour thread was everyone rightly being baffled about the Chandimal non selection and predicting a walkover for SA, people thought they'd be lucky to not get humiliated. Ended up winning 2-0. Made no sense. This NZ series up there too but maybe slightly less so imo. If they whitewash us 3-0 it might match it though.

India winning in Aus 2020-21 wasn't really an upset, most thought it'd be a competitive series. Only the 4th test was a huge upset (maybe the single best upset ever in one game because of the XI india had to pick), the series as a whole wasn't.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

WI in NZ 79/80

 

[Fuller Pilch]

2005 Ashes

1989 Ashes perhaps a bigger upset imo

 

[Adders]

That was just the deluded English mindset though. It was a freak series. 99 times out of 100 they lose 4-1, even with the ball tampering

Dumbass

 

[Molehill]

That was just the deluded English mindset though. It was a freak series. 99 times out of 100 they lose 4-1, even with the ball tampering

You're right, 4-1 should've been the scoreline had the team bossing the two drawn matches got over the line.

 

[Molehill]

Having been thrashed by an innings in the First Test, I'm still not entirely sure how England managed to win in Sri Lanka in 2001. Not sure if that counts as upset or ridiculous turnaround.

 

[wpdavid]

1936-37 Ashes

Really? Granted it didn't look likely when England went 2-0 ahead, but Aus must have been favourites before the series having won the previous Ashes in England reasonably comfortably.

 

[wpdavid]

WI in NZ 79/80

I'd have thought so. Good NZ side, but WI had just won 2-0 in Australia to replace their hosts at number 1.

 

[wpdavid]

1989 Ashes perhaps a bigger upset imo

Not so much to those of us who had to endure the previous three summers in England.

 

[wpdavid]

India winning in England in 1971. I don't think they'd ever won a lest in England previously, never mind even sharing a series. England had just won in Australia and were generally reckoned to be the strongest of the test-playing nations.


And WI winning 3-1 in England in 1950 must deserve a mention.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Bodyline. Close thread.

The fact the Aussie board wrote complaining to their English counterparts because they were getting beaten shows how they couldn't handle it. Plus they still moan about it now.