40th anniversary of Ian Botham's 149 not out today.Best ever innings by an allrounder?

[Harsh Thakor]

Today we commemorate the 40th anniversary of one  of  the greatest test match innings ever in the history of Cricket, which caused one of the greatest turnabouts in the history of sport. The 3rd test at Leeds from July 17-22 in 1981, between England and Australia was the equivalent of a Hollywood classic or epic novel. There could be rarely instances in the history of sport where such a miraculous turn of events took place or one felt the sensation of the intervention of the divine. This game set the tone of one of the most dramatic series ever in the history of the Ashes or Cricket itself.

Before the start of the 3rd test at Headingley ,Australia were already 1-0 up, winning the 1st test at Trent Bridge. In the afternoon on the 4th day Australia were in total command After enforcing the follow on 227 runs ahead., England were tottering at 135-7.An Australian victory was a mere formality and it looked as though only the last rites of the game had to be completed. At that juncture Ian Botham launched one of sports greatest ever rear guard counter attacking assaults. In a mere 87 balls he reached a century, executing some of the most dazzling strokes ever seen on a cricket field. It was reminiscent of a hurricane intervening on the hottest of summer days, with Botham ressurecting England from the grave. The sheer audacity of his strokes on a wicket not suited for test cricket, with two paced bounce, was breathtaking. His strokes were no doubt not so technically correct or graceful and at times even reckless. However if you consider the nature of the pitch, it was an exhibition of inventiveness in batting of the highest degree. There could have been few innings more scintillating, resembling the impact of bombe raiding an airbase. The likes of pace bowlers like Dennis Lillee, Terry Alderman and Geoff Lawson were ruthlessly smashed all over the ground, in the manner of machine mowing down grass and the power of a motorboat. At the end of the day when the score reached 351-9 with Botham unbeaten on 149, the Australian bowlers looked like cattle walking to a slaughter house. I hardly have an adjective to the effect of Botham's innings in pumping the adrelanin of the spectators, as though a new life was infused into them. It lifted the spirit of the entire nation whose morale was close to an all-time low due to the economic depression in the Margaret Thatcher era. No batting exhibition was more reminiscent of a classic resurrection of an army battalion from the depths of despair. The impact of Botham’s innings was reflected in the complete transformation of the body language in the English dressing room. which was rock bottom a couple of hours earlier in the day. It was also fitting that Botham had made a spectacular resurrection in the 1st innings itself when capturing 6 wickets for 95 runs and scoring 50 put of a total of 174.

 

 

In my ranking this is the best ever test innings by an all-rounders not equalled by Gary Sobers or Ben Stokes.No test innings has ever ressurected a team from the grave to reach pinnacle of glory as this knock by Botham.Not technically the best or artistically,but the most impactful ,like making  a360 degree turn in a plot of a climax of a Hollywood epic.

Edited July 20, 2021 by Harsh Thakor

[Trichromatic]

Ashwin scored century on rank turner recently.

 

https://www.bcci.tv/videos/150145/r-ashwin-s-majestic-106

 

 

[zen]

Most of the innings listed are good ... I have voted for Mankad for the Mankad test