'Ball of the Century'

[Burgey]

Love when Migara brings out the bitter and twisted of a weekend.

As opposed to the normal, weekday bitter and twisted he dishes up.

 

[Hurricane]

Possibly he is just trying to stir up a debate.

 

[Top_Cat]

Exactly the case. No one cares the leg break spins two feet or six inches if it takes wickets. Warne was good at spinning it square, but that was what he was good at. There were other leggies who were better at other things. Kumble and Chandra were great leggies, and they did deliver some spectacular deliveries that no leggie in the history (perhaps O'Riely) has delivered. Hyping up a big spinning leg break to a piss poor batsman in playing spin as the ball of the century is the joke here.

Yes but, as I said earlier, if anyone is going to laud any ball as the ball of the century, naturally a term of hyperbole and not an objective measurement, part of what makes it the ball of the century is the hype. If you want to talk about the best ball, biggest spinning ball, etc. apply objective criteria and judge, which is fine. But in terms of hype, Warne's ball beats everyone else's. It's gotten more press, hype, attention, whatever you want to call it than any single ball bowled by anyone else and a correspondingly bigger impact.

A musical analogy; Hendrix wins every guitar poll ever and I doubt that'll change any time soon. Why? It's not because his songs were more complex than others, his voice better or his guitar playing in any way technical when compared to the vast majority of top players of the time (let alone ever). But he's the greatest. Why? Hype and emotional impact. A lot of it is timing, sure, but that's life and luck innit.

 

[the big bambino]

So Nevillus Cardus wrote to the Sun?

Maybe you write the questions for their cryptic crosswords.

 

[Daemon]

a new challenger appears!

Michael Vaughan's magic ball clean bowls Sachin Tendulkar, humiliated. - YouTube

 

[NUFAN]

The good thing about Warne's ball was that it was a combination of drag force (Fd), Magnus force (Fl), velocity vector (V) and angular velocity vector (w).

 

[BeeGee]

The good thing about Warne's ball was that it was a combination of drag force (Fd), Magnus force (Fl), velocity vector (V) and angular velocity vector (w).

...and magnum force (Fm).

"Go ahead Gatting, make my day."

 

[Flametree]

Gatting averaged 55 against India and 15 against the West Indies so his reputation as preferring spin seems fairly well justified. He played one test against Sri Lanka (scoring 29+18) so it's a little hard to make too many claims how he coped with Chuckaweera and Murali.

Anyway, best ball I've ever seen live was Harmison's slower ball to Clarke at Edgbaston. Suddenly it seemed England were going to win the Ashes for the first time in practically living memory. Last over of the day, and of all the bowlers to come up with it....

 

[Flametree]

And from a kiwi perspective, probably the best I've seen was Cairns's slower ball to Thorpe in the 99 series. The one to Read has lived on for the batsman's reaction, but Thorpe was a seriously good batsman and to defeat him like that was a heck of an achievement. It was the ball that made me begin to think NZ might actually win the test and series even.

 

[wpdavid]

Dead right about Gatting and spin. He also batted pretty well against Qadir in 1987, although his stats won't have been helped by an atrocious decision or two in the away series. Apart from only being one test, he was well past his best by that test against SL and the Indian tour that preceded it.

Regarding the Thorpe dismissal, he was also done by a slower ball from Courtney Walsh in the 2000 series - maybe in the 3rd test. tbh I don't remember him being suckered by Cairns in 1999, but I'll happily take your word for it.


EDIT
Here's the Walsh dismissal. His celebration was a minor classic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW0P4Jaki2U

 

[hendrix]

the ball that Steyn bowled to get Clarke is one of the best I've ever seen.

just purely and absolutely unplayable.

 

[Flametree]

Dead right about Gatting and spin. He also batted pretty well against Qadir in 1987, although his stats won't have been helped by an atrocious decision or two in the away series. Apart from only being one test, he was well past his best by that test against SL and the Indian tour that preceded it.

Regarding the Thorpe dismissal, he was also done by a slower ball from Courtney Walsh in the 2000 series - maybe in the 3rd test. tbh I don't remember him being suckered by Cairns in 1999, but I'll happily take your word for it.


EDIT
Here's the Walsh dismissal. His celebration was a minor classic.
The Slow Yorker - YouTube

And at 20:15 in here's the Cairns ball to Thorpe.
1999 England v New Zealand - TEST SERIES REVIEW - YouTube

 

[the big bambino]

Gatting averaged 55 against India and 15 against the West Indies so his reputation as preferring spin seems fairly well justified. He played one test against Sri Lanka (scoring 29+18) so it's a little hard to make too many claims how he coped with Chuckaweera and Murali.

Really! Well if that doesn't...

Here was I gullible enough to take that poster at face value. I don't know why. I've yet to see anything he says supported by impartial stats. Incredible that he retailed an assessment of Gatting based on one test. Should have gone with my instinct to take whatever he says with a grain.

 

[stephen]

The thing about the Shane Warne ball that makes it so special is that the ball is the exactly perfect legspin delivery.

Sure there were bigger spinning balls. Sure there were balls that had a more "important" impact on a series. Sure there were balls that were technically more challenging to bowl.

But the "ball of the century" was a ball that, taken in isolation, was a work of art. It was and still remains the greatest advertisement for leg spin. If there was a single delivery that you could show to demonstrate everything that makes leg spin a beautiful part of the game, and deadly when implemented correctly, it is that delivery. There may have been balls that were more "important" to a series or balls that were technically better in one aspect or another. But THAT ball, well, that ball captures the imagination every time you watch it. It is the perfect ball. It combines flight, dip, drift and spin utterly perfectly to completely bamboozle the batsman. It is the ball that every leg spin bowler hopes to one day bowl. It is not just the massive turn that makes it so special. It is not just the perfect line and length that makes it captivate the viewer. It is every single technical detail, dancing in perfect unity that makes it so special.

And all of that is ignoring the impact on the psychology of England. That ball totally demoralised a nation for over a decade. It gave batsmen worldwide nightmares. It went down in folklore due to the combination of the technical brilliance and the theatrical timing of the ball. The Ashes is the biggest, most revered series in test cricket. And when Shane Warne bowled this ball the brilliance of it announced to an entire generation of English that they had a new pantomime villain, one that was worse than all those that had come before. One man who would continue to humiliate and shame their proudest warriors from that ball until the day that he retired.

And it was a nightmare come true for the English. It was a legend born. It was the true origins of the man they nicknamed "Hollywood". And it was the dawn of the era of English men being shamed by the greatest leg spinner of all time.

One could argue that there were technically better balls in one aspect or another. But for those who saw it live or watched it on tv, it will truly remain etched into our memory as the greatest single cricket delivery that we have ever witnessed.

 

[Migara]

@Gatting averaged 55 against likes of Doshi, Venkat and few other second line spinners. Against Kumble he was piss poor. So was he against Warnaweera and Murali. He may have been passed his best, but all these three spinners produced things that were unorthodox for the time. It was not just doing bad against them, he was absolutely clueless against them makes anyone wonder what he would have scored even at his pomp against these bowlers. And not to mention that Murali and Kumble were just beginning their trade with hardly any tricks up there sleeve. Against a Kumble and Murali at their peaks, best of Gatting would have been cannon fodder given the ineptness he showed playing these two great spinners.

And incidentally, this is the same old Gatting in his waning powers who played the so called "ball of the century". Gatting must have suddenely become younger during the ashes.

 

[kyear2]

Can't believe this is still going on. It was an amazing, beautiful delivery and it was Warne's introduction to the World in the historically most important series in the sport. Just leave it at that. Murali doesn't have to win every comparrison.

 

[smash84]

Can't believe this is still going on. It was an amazing, beautiful delivery and it was Warne's introduction to the World in the historically most important series in the sport. Just leave it at that. Murali doesn't have to win every comparrison.

If he is a better bowler and has bowled better deliveries then why not?

 

[kyear2]

If he is a better bowler and has bowled better deliveries then why not?

I find them to be equals and more or less inseparable so neither here nor there, and quite frankly many has bowled better deliveries so a rather moot point.

 

[Expressway76]

All this arguing is pointless, real greatest ball of all time is Jade Dernbach's slower ball.

 

[hendrix]

@Gatting averaged 55 against likes of Doshi, Venkat and few other second line spinners. Against Kumble he was piss poor. So was he against Warnaweera and Murali. He may have been passed his best, but all these three spinners produced things that were unorthodox for the time. It was not just doing bad against them, he was absolutely clueless against them makes anyone wonder what he would have scored even at his pomp against these bowlers. And not to mention that Murali and Kumble were just beginning their trade with hardly any tricks up there sleeve. Against a Kumble and Murali at their peaks, best of Gatting would have been cannon fodder given the ineptness he showed playing these two great spinners.

And incidentally, this is the same old Gatting in his waning powers who played the so called "ball of the century". Gatting must have suddenely become younger during the ashes.

Look you seem so intent on proving that Gatting wasn't a good player of spin, so would you pleae explain how a better player would have played that delivery? what would say Dravid have done differently