Historical footage: Impressions of some greats

[Burgey]

Australia First Innings. Australia v England, 1st test at Perth 1979-80. The first test post-WSC.

 

[Burgey]

 

[Burgey]

Note a magnificent, match-defining ton from TOTAB.

 

[Burgey]

 

[AndrewB]

Australia First Innings. Australia v England, 1st test at Perth 1979-80. The first test post-WSC.

The Australia-West Indies Test at Brisbane was two weeks earlier.

 

[Burgey]

I have a stupid memory for stuff like this. That catch of Randall''s finished second to a crazy c&b by Botham off Alvin K in an ODI where he knocked the ball up as it was smashed back past him, turned around, dived and caught it one handed facing back towards the umpire. Can still hear Tony Cozier saying "Even Kallicharan is applauding the catch!" as he walked off doing just that.

Managed to find a compilation clip of classic catches from the 70s and 80s. The Botham caught and bowled is the second catch in the video. Some decent nostalgia here.

Edit: The sandy haired kid on the SCG Hill behind John Dyson at approximately 7:45 of that clip may or may not be me. I was there that day and on the Hill when he took that catch. Was the same day Yardley took the screamer in the gully off Lillee.

 

[Top_Cat]

Jesus, some serious bollocks by Chappelli there. Never going to beat the WI under AB's skippership? They nearly did exactly that twice before he retired.

He really didn't rate AB at all eh.

 

[Burgey]

Jesus, some serious bollocks by Chappelli there. Never going to beat the WI under AB's skippership? They nearly did exactly that twice before he retired.

He really didn't rate AB at all eh.

No he didn't. I don't know if it was a hang over from the WSC days or what, but Chappell was always bitter about any success had by TOTAB as captain. It's an odd gripe too, because he's precisely the sort of no nonsense bloke you would think Chappell would love.

 

[Top_Cat]

My perception was that, the above aside, AB just wasn't Chapelli's sort. Not a genius-level bat, didn't want the honour of captaining his country and almost quit after spitting the dummy to the press - strike 3.

 

[Burgey]

May well be right. He did play the hook and pull shots though, something Chappell always hated on Steve Waugh for eschewing.

 

[Burgey]

That 20 minute clip of all those catches should be called "Allan Border Classic Catches with a few other blokes thrown in as well".

 

[watson]

A closer look at Peter May's private life.

 

[watson]

Ranji finally makes it to YouTube.

 

[Red]

You want to believe that guys from the older era were as good as guys from today, but they look sketchy. Falling all over the place.

Saw some footage of Warwick Armstrong and he looked similar.

Footage of Archie Jackson is spectacular though.

 

[Victor Ian]

I think all you need to see to know he was pretty good is that guy standing behind the stumps without the slightest care about the ball coming through and hitting him.

Is he really falling all over the place, or is that a lack of balance because he is not following through into a running position - as he is not trying to run? Perhaps, being a demo taping, he had sunk a few in the bar before batting.

 

[indiaholic]

Extremely unlikely that people from the past would be as good as today, right? All sports have an element of learning from the past. This is without considering factors such as the quality of training that you receive from the time you were a kid etc.

 

[Red]

I think all you need to see to know he was pretty good is that guy standing behind the stumps without the slightest care about the ball coming through and hitting him.

There's a net there...

 

[Victor Ian]

There's a net there...

lol. Stupid old footage. I was mesmerised by that dude standing there without a care. Now you've ruined it.

 

[watson]

You want to believe that guys from the older era were as good as guys from today, but they look sketchy. Falling all over the place.

Saw some footage of Warwick Armstrong and he looked similar.

Footage of Archie Jackson is spectacular though.

Except for a dodgy deflection through the covers I think that Ranji looks beautifully balanced - especially during the second half of the video when the frames are slowed down a little to make his movements more natural looking.

I think that Ranji must have had someone throwing the ball at him, or two bowlers bowling at him due to the rapidity of his shots. That may make him seem a bit more un-co than usual.

 

[DriveClub]

Extremely unlikely that people from the past would be as good as today, right? All sports have an element of learning from the past. This is without considering factors such as the quality of training that you receive from the time you were a kid etc.

Yes it's true for all sports, cricket has a high number of history romantics for whatever reason. I'd say quality of sporting skills improve and evolve every 25 years.