Drawn Test Matches - The Great Ones

[Line and Length]

Critics of cricket will often point to the failure to obtain a result as one of the game's failings. However, over the years there have been many enthralling games that ended up being drawn. Here is one of them.

Australia v England 3rd Test Dec 26-31 1974. MCG

Having won the first two tests when the famous Lillee/Thompson ripped through the "Old Enemy" with 24 wickets between them, captain Ian Chappell had no hesitation in sending England in to bat. The pair of quicks didn't disappoint with 6 wickets between them.

England 1st Innings 242 (A.Knott 52, J.Edrich 49, C.Cowdrey 35. J.Thompson 4 - 72, A.Mallett 2 - 37, D.Lillee 2 - 70)

England then struck back with their own tearaway fast bowler, Bob Willis. After two days of rain-interrupted batting Australia was dismissed just 1 run behind England.

Australia 1st Innings 241 (I.Redpath 55, R.Marsh 44, K.Walters 36, I.Chappell 36. B.Willis 5 - 61, F.Titmus 2 - 43, T.Greig 2 - 63)

England began their second innings with a century stand between Amiss and Lloyd but when Mallett dismissed Lloyd the pace men tore through the middle order. Some late hitting by Greig saw England recover from 8 - 182 to make 244.

England 2nd Innings 244 (D.Amiss 90, T.Greig 60, D.Lloyd 44. J.Thomson 4 - 71, A.Mallett 2 - 37, D.Lillee 2 - 55)

Australia needed 246 with a little over a day to play. They started poorly losing Ian Chappell and Wally Edwards for ducks. A century stand between Redpath and Greg Chappell had the run chase back on track before a mini-collapse saw 3 wickets fall for 15 runs. Walters and Marsh saw Australia through to tea. The final session saw Australia needing 101 runs while England needed 5 wickets. Walters went at 171 but Marsh and Max Walker added a further 37 runs before Greig belatedly took the new ball and dismissed Marsh. Lillee and Walker added 22 in just 3 overs and, with an over to go, Australia needed 14 off the final over. The wicket of Lillee with 3 balls remaining consigned the match to the fate of a dramatic draw.

Australia 2nd Innings 8 - 238 (G.Chappell 61, R.Marsh 40, I.Redpath 39, D.Walters 32. T.Greig 4 - 56, F.Titmus 2 - 64)

It is interesting to note the name of Colin Cowdrey on the scorecard. The 41 year old had been called up for the second Test and was making his first appearance in 41 years. When he went into bat he greeted Thomson with, "Mr Thompson, I believe? How good to meet you." Thomson's response (cleaned up for the official record) was, "That's not going to help you, fatso, piss off."

I look forward to reading further accounts of interesting and often exciting drawn games.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Steyn bopping shami for six over long on after dead batting 3 overs in which they needed 15

 

[Starfighter]

Adelaide 2012, the Faf debut match. Hated it, being on the wrong side, but it was a truly great match.

 

[wpdavid]

Old Trafford in 2005. Ponting's hundred, McGrath seeing out the last few deliveries, Australia celebrating like they'd won the match.

The Oval in the same series. England unbearably tense given the enormity of the match, Strauss' excellent hundred, Warne's brilliance, ditto KP. The scorecard probably doesn't indicate how tight the last day was as Aus barely got to bat again, but it was a magnificent contest.

I was going to suggest the first Ashes test in 2009, but, in reality, only the last day was great. The previous four days were pretty forgettable.

 

[Line and Length]

Adelaide 2012, the Faf debut match. Hated it, being on the wrong side, but it was a truly great match.

Old Trafford in 2005. Ponting's hundred, McGrath seeing out the last few deliveries, Australia celebrating like they'd won the match.

Two fine examples. I can give details (as I did with the opening post) if you wish.

 

[Howe_zat]

Anderson and Panesar batting for an hour to save the game in Cardiff 2009.

The first test of England v Pakistan in the UAE in 2015, when Adil Rashid nearly turned the game upside down.

 

[wpdavid]

Two fine examples. I can give details (as I did with the opening post) if you wish.

I enjoyed your summary of the 1974/75 match, so yes please. Looking back at it, that was arguably one of England's finest performances in the 1970s, but it was kind of lost in the context of the 4-1 hammering. I remember listening to the last few overs before heading off to school.

 

[Line and Length]

Will do tomorrow wpdavid

 

[AndrewB]

England v West Indies 1963 Lords (WI 301 & 229, Eng 297 & 228-9, Cowdrey at the non-striker's end with his arm in plaster for the last two balls) is an obvious contender.

England v India 1979 Oval (Gavaskar's 221 almost takes India to an unlikely victory) is another.

One I've seen suggested that didn't have a particularly close finish, but contained a few twists and some fine innings is England v Australia 1938 Lord's (240 from Hammond rescues England from 31-3 to 494; Brown's 206* holds together the Aus reply of 422; England have another bad start, but Compton's 76* takes them from 76-5 to 242-8d; Bradman's 102* holds together the Aus 4th innings of 204-6).

 

[Lillian Thomson]

One of my early favourite draws (early as in my time of watching) is England v New Zealand at Lords in 1973. New Zealand had nearly a 300 lead on First Innings and England were struggling and were saved by the often maligned Keith Fletcher. He shared a long 9th wicket partnership with Geoff Arnold. Arnold was dropped by the late Ken Wadsworth and that probably cost New Zealand victory. At that time New Zealand had never won a Test against England and didn't for another 5 years. In the first Test of that series they'd been set 479 to win and fell only 39 short.

 

[AndrewB]

The Aus v WI Tests at Adelaide in the 1960s both look pretty entertaining:

1961: WI 393 & 432-6d, Aus 366 & 273-9, having been 207-9
1969: WI 276 & 616, Aus 533 & 339-9, having been 304-3.

 

[Line and Length]

In response to wpdavid's request for a report on the game he mentioned.

England v Australia Third Test August 11-15 2005. Old Trafford

Going into this series, England had experienced 8 consecutive series defeats. Despite losing the First Test, England rallied to take the Second.
England won the toss and batted. Captain Michael Vaughan made 166 as his side amassed 444. Vaughan had his share of luck - dropped by Adam Gilchrist and bowled off a no-ball next delivery by Glenn McGrath.

England 1st Innings 444 (M.Vaughan 166, M.Trescothick 63, I.Bell 59, A.Flintoff 46, G.Jones 42. S.Warne 4 - 99, B.Lee 4 - 100)

In reply, Australia Australia were 7 - 201 but sensible batting from Shane Warne and Jason Gillespie allowed the follow-on target to be avoided before the innings ended on 302.

Australia 1st Innings 302 (S.Warne 90, M.Hayden 34, J.Langer 31, A.Gilchrist 30, J.Gillespie 26. S Jones 6 - 53, A.Giles 3 - 100)

Persistent rain then meant that there were only five sessions remaining in the Test. England batted for two of those sessions, extending their lead to 422.

England 2nd Innings 6 - 280 (A.Strauss 106, I.Bell 65, M.Trescothick 41, G.Jones 27*. G.McGrath 5 - 115)

Matthew Haydn and Justin Langer survived 10 overs before stumps on the fourth day leaving Australia needing 399 from 98 overs of an extended day. The runs were never a likely option and, when Langer fell in the second over of the day, captain Ricky Ponting came to the crease. For almost 93 overs Ponting remained at the crease in an innings described by Vaughan "as good as any I have ever seen." He made 156 as wickets fell around him playing almost every shot in the book. His pull shots were particularly savage. When he was caught behind off the glove, Glenn McGarth joined Brett Lee with 24 balls to survive. A capacity crowd roared support for bowlers Flintoff and Harmison but the pair held firm before high fiving and embracing after Lee's final defensive stroke.

Australia 4th Innings 9 - 371 (R.Ponting 156, M.Clarke 39, M.Hayden 36, S.Warne 34. A.Flintoff 4 - 71, M.Hoggard 2 - 49, S.Harmison 2 - 67)

Vaughan turned a moment of disappointment into a positive for his team by telling them to note the Australians' celebration of a draw - something none of them had witnessed before.

 

[wpdavid]

Thanks L&L.
Looking back at the 1974-75 match, I wonder how often the first three innings of a test have been within two runs of each other. Maybe that's the only occasion.

 

[wpdavid]

One of my early favourite draws (early as in my time of watching) is England v New Zealand at Lords in 1973. New Zealand had nearly a 300 lead on First Innings and England were struggling and were saved by the often maligned Keith Fletcher. He shared a long 9th wicket partnership with Geoff Arnold. Arnold was dropped by the late Ken Wadsworth and that probably cost New Zealand victory. At that time New Zealand had never won a Test against England and didn't for another 5 years. In the first Test of that series they'd been set 479 to win and fell only 39 short.

I remember that series pretty well too, being one of the earliest summers when I watched the game. Bev Congdon seemed to bat forever in the first two tests.

I liked the drawn first test against Pakistan in 1974. The Headingly wicket was viewed as being tricky at the time, although the scores weren't especially low. Pakistan secured a large first innings lead but we bowled them out quite cheaply to set up a target of around 280. The fourth day was really tense, at the end of which we needed 44 with 4 wickets left. Fletcher contributing well again, oddly enough. And then the last day was washed out.

 

[Adders]

Going into this series, England had experienced 8 consecutive series defeats.

Not to be pedantic but can we just clarify that that's 8 consecutive Ashes series defeats.........England were unbeaten in a test series for 18 months going into that 2005 Ashes.

 

[_Ed_]

As agonising as it was for NZ fans, this one always springs to mind: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...-3rd-test-england-tour-of-new-zealand-2012-13

 

[wpdavid]

As agonising as it was for NZ fans, this one always springs to mind: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...-3rd-test-england-tour-of-new-zealand-2012-13

If it makes you feel any better, when was the one where Danny Morrison surprised everyone by batting for ages to save a match against England? Possibly 1997?

 

[Line and Length]

Not to be pedantic but can we just clarify that that's 8 consecutive Ashes series defeats.........England were unbeaten in a test series for 18 months going into that 2005 Ashes.

Not pedantic at all. Poorly phrased by me. I was referring to Ashes defeats, not other series. England was undefeated in Test matches in 2004 and was second in the ICC rankings.

 

[_Ed_]

If it makes you feel any better, when was the one where Danny Morrison surprised everyone by batting for ages to save a match against England? Possibly 1997?

Yep! https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...-1st-test-england-tour-of-new-zealand-1996-97

 

[Shady Slim]

recent one, the windies against england where holder tonned up on the final day to draw the first match of their 2015 series.

england and the windies have played some cracking series recently and the current one, going off the first test (rally round the west indies!) has been to form tbh.