Cricket memories

[McBain]

It was the long hot Summer of 88 and the Windies were in town.

Haynes
Greenidge
Richardson
Richards
Dujon
Ambrose
Walsh
Hooper

What a side. I remember sitting on the floor mesmerised by the sheer terror they were inflicting on the mighty Border/Hughes/Boon/Jones/Taylor brigade. The Aussies may have been the best for a while, but this team would tear them a new one.

Best memory?

 

[heatmeiser]

Old Trafford 98/99 (i think)

Sat next to two Windies guys - Charles and Mike - had a great laugh.

They kept pouring cuban rum into my can of lager.

I had a homemade sign that read "'That's pure meat and gravy' - Michael Holding" with a picture of a gravy boat. They grabbed it and waved it around like madmen every time either team scored a boundry.

Walsh and Ambrose in the twilight of their careers, loving every second of it.

Fell asleep on the pavement outside and woke up in my bed.

Great days.

I'm sure the cricket was great too....

 

[little curly alan ball]

It was the long hot Summer of 88 and the Windies were in town.

Haynes
Greenidge
Richardson
Richards
Dujon
Ambrose
Walsh
Hooper

What a side. I remember sitting on the floor mesmerised by the sheer terror they were inflicting on the mighty Border/Hughes/Boon/Jones/Taylor brigade. The Aussies may have been the best for a while, but this team would tear them a new one.

Best memory?

Best ?? No contest . Sept 12 , 2005 . Incredible spectacle , which , even at tea , left the Aussies 280 in 40 overs or so . Not beyond that firm .

First , I too saw the Windies , though 1976 vintage , first . It was the famous game where Holding beat-up on the 40-odd year old Close and Edrich . Their bruises , .... Greenidge got a chanceless hundred . Kallicharan , Rohan Kanhai , Lloyd and a baby Master Blaster . Lance Gibbs , ... the whole side were legends .
Blagged me way into the nets. Had the wicket keeper's gloves on and Roberts , Croft and my top bud' , Collis King who was 12th man and accomodated us lovely . How times change , eh ???
Next year was the Convicts , Lilleee and Thommo . The game pre - Both's debut .
Later , saw his 149 at O.T. 81. Another wonderful day .
Saw Warner's , ball of the century . Loads of Ashes hidings , with a game where I went on the Friday and the Sunday , and both day's Steve Waugh got a ton . The second time on one leg .
Saw Cork's Hat-Trick , seen Lara get 5 ton's , and countless others .
These stand out though .

Oh , O.T. 05 . was in the ground at 8.25 . 10,000 locked out . Another nail-biter of a game . Convicts celebrate a draw for the 1st time in my experience . We went to to lift the urn .

 

[Bruce Wayne]

For me it was the test match between the West Indies and Australia at Bridgetown in 1999. The WIndies had been their usual selves and politics were rife in the lead up to the series, but Lara was a man possessed throughout the series and in the previous match had hit a double hundred to help them to an unlikely victory and in the 4th test hit a century in something like 90 deliveries.

In the third match though Steve Waugh was at his dogged best hitting 199 in the first innings to give the Aussies a healthy lead. Some great bowling by Courtney Walsh in the second though gave the WIndies a fighting chance of victory, needing 308 to win. Lara was incredible. Men fell regularly at the other end but he stuck in there. They were 8 down with 60 needed and in strode Curtley Ambrose (one of my favourites cricketers ever) and he stuck around brilliantly until he wafted at a wide one and edged behind. The man was devestated and looked on the brink of tears as he left the field, knowing that only Courtney Walsh remained, one of the worst batsmen ever to play the game. He hung in though allowing Lara to smash the winning runs to end with 153 not out. It was an incredible performance against an Aussie attack containing McGrath, Warne and Gillespie at their best. No other West Indian got above 38.

Test match cricket at its very finest. Video of it on YouTube. Watch and enjoy the greatest player of his generation.

YouTube - Brian Lara's 153

 

[Jamo Martinez]

Nice one Bruce. Never saw Lara unfortunately.

Still remember that Windies team from the 80s

Particularly remember a test in 1980, OT I think. The heavy artilliery were all there. Roberts, Holding, Croft and Garner. A young Graham Gooch got 80 something (under the circumstances a fabulous innings) but Colin Croft was coming round the wicket bowling bodyline, very fast and very aggressive and we crumbled. Compelling stuff.
Also remember Derek Randall's 150 in Australia 79 to help us seal the ashes.

 

[linglong]

Start from the off..

Being dragged in from the garden by my dad in the summer of (i think 75) told to sit and watch Lillee and Thomson fell in love with the game that day.

Going to see the west indies the long hot summer of 1976 wonderful time at Old Trafford and thinking what a great ground it was.

Seeing Botham take 8 for 34 against pakistan in 1978 at Lords what a man he was at that time.

Headingly 1981..no not Bothams 149 but the following day Willis charging in me and me old fella going up to Headingly and saying what a [Poor language removed] hole it was..but what a day.

World cup final day in 1983 at lords..crappy game tbh but at least i can say i went to a world cup final

Meeting the West Indies touring squad at Lords in 1984..realizing Joel Garner was bigger in real life than he looked on the telly (fekking huge fella,but lovely bloke took time out to sign autographs as they all did and talk to us young uns)

Old Trafford 1984 one day game Viv Richards 189 best one day innings i've ever seen..sheer power and strengh.

Winter of 86/87 bbc showing live ashes cricket for the first time through the night


Old trafford 1987 Neil Fairbrothers england debut..rained for 5 hours solid didnt get our money back.

1989 Aussie team the start of something big,didnt realise it at the time but it was going to be very big.

1993 warne and the aussies at Old Trafford, sudden realisation that Old Trafford was a [Poor language removed] hole and needed to be rebuilt.

1994 Lara 375 v England great knock

1994 Devon Malcolms 9 for against the south africans on the tv wonderful bowling,pity he just couldnt do it again.

Those stand out for me..others i could include but the list could go on forever the one series i ahvent really mentioned is 2005 and mainly becuase for me at least it doesnt hold that many memories as i was ill that summer and couldnt go to any of it,so it was a tv only series which was a bit of a bugger.

It amuses me that normal service was resumed 16 months later with one of the most hapless series i've ever seen when they beat us 5-0 that for my money was far worse than the blackwashes of the '80s we got beaten back then by a west indies side in its prime back in that winter we where beaten by an Aussie side on the slide indeed a slide that continues to this day.

That series will i think has to be the lowest point of watching England cricket side over the last 35 years or so.

 

[linglong]

It was the long hot Summer of 88 and the Windies were in town.

Haynes
Greenidge
Richardson
Richards
Dujon
Ambrose
Walsh
Hooper

What a side. I remember sitting on the floor mesmerised by the sheer terror they were inflicting on the mighty Border/Hughes/Boon/Jones/Taylor brigade. The Aussies may have been the best for a while, but this team would tear them a new one.

Best memory?

All to well remember that windies side mate..that summer they made England change the captian 4 times if i recall correctly..hell of a side

 

[little curly alan ball]

Start from the off..

Being dragged in from the garden by my dad in the summer of (i think 75) told to sit and watch Lillee and Thomson fell in love with the game that day.

Going to see the west indies the long hot summer of 1976 wonderful time at Old Trafford and thinking what a great ground it was.

Seeing Botham take 8 for 34 against pakistan in 1978 at Lords what a man he was at that time.

Headingly 1981..no not Bothams 149 but the following day Willis charging in me and me old fella going up to Headingly and saying what a [Poor language removed] hole it was..but what a day.

World cup final day in 1983 at lords..crappy game tbh but at least i can say i went to a world cup final

Meeting the West Indies touring squad at Lords in 1984..realizing Joel Garner was bigger in real life than he looked on the telly (fekking huge fella,but lovely bloke took time out to sign autographs as they all did and talk to us young uns)

Old Trafford 1984 one day game Viv Richards 189 best one day innings i've ever seen..sheer power and strengh.

Winter of 86/87 bbc showing live ashes cricket for the first time through the night


Old trafford 1987 Neil Fairbrothers england debut..rained for 5 hours solid didnt get our money back.

1989 Aussie team the start of something big,didnt realise it at the time but it was going to be very big.

1993 warne and the aussies at Old Trafford, sudden realisation that Old Trafford was a [Poor language removed] hole and needed to be rebuilt.

1994 Lara 375 v England great knock

1994 Devon Malcolms 9 for against the south africans on the tv wonderful bowling,pity he just couldnt do it again.

Those stand out for me..others i could include but the list could go on forever the one series i ahvent really mentioned is 2005 and mainly becuase for me at least it doesnt hold that many memories as i was ill that summer and couldnt go to any of it,so it was a tv only series which was a bit of a bugger.

It amuses me that normal service was resumed 16 months later with one of the most hapless series i've ever seen when they beat us 5-0 that for my money was far worse than the blackwashes of the '80s we got beaten back then by a west indies side in its prime back in that winter we where beaten by an Aussie side on the slide indeed a slide that continues to this day.

That series will i think has to be the lowest point of watching England cricket side over the last 35 years or so.

I was there !!! And 83 World Cup . I'd forgotten .

I agree .

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

went into s.c.g. to watch the last day of aus v s.africa.(93/94)

it was a free gate cos aus only needed 37 to win with 7 wickets remaining, we sat in air-con comfort in the members. saw border leave one and get the middle blown away behind him, cue collapse and much hilarity. s.a. won and how we laughed, all stood at the gate and quacked border into the pavilion, before singing "one ian botham".

 

[linglong]

I was there !!! And 83 World Cup . I'd forgotten .

I agree .

Happy days mate werent they lol small world isn it? hell of a game that match never seen one man turn anything around like he did that day..the world genius is overused nowadays but that day WE saw it in real life from the master blaster..it was honour for me to see that innings in the flesh.

Did you go the world cup semi at old trafford in 83 mate? bad day that one thought we'd have beaten the indian side that day then i google the team sheet and realise we were crap,lol

 

[McBain]

Warnies ball of the Century, or Waughs final tonne at the SCG.

Lara tonking our bowlers to all parts of the SCG was another. That guy could bat.

Time for a world alltime XI

Haynes
Greenidge
Boon
Lara
Richards
Botham
Khan
Healy
Warne
McGrath
Ambrose

Twelfth Man: Hadlee (although Jonty Rhodes was the greatest fielder Ive ever seen)

Thinking about it now, theres so many to choose from.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

My world XI would be (from players I've seen in my lifetime)

Hayden
Sehwag (for entertainment purposes)
Kallis
Lara
Ponting
Tendulkar
Gilchrist
Wasim
Warne
Ambrose
Donald

McGrath probably deserves to be in there, but I've never taken a shine to him. Ambrose and Donald by contrast are personal favourites.

 

[linglong]

All time 11..umm so many to choose from. in my lifetime only

Boycott,

Greenidge,

Richards,

Lara,

Steve Waugh,

Botham,

Healy or gilchrist nothing between them..

Khan,

Warne,

Murilie (the sri lankan spinner cant spell his name)

Marshall

12th man donald

Hell i could 3 teams and what a series that'd be

 

[little curly alan ball]

Greenidge
Gooch
Richards
Lara/ Tendulkar
Waugh
Gilchrist
Botham
Warne
Marshall
Holding
McGrath

Sub; Stewart / Donald .

I'd put them up against anyone . Was gonna have another spinner . But , why bother ???