Items19The creator’s order
  1. 1Jack HobbsJack HobbsBorn 16 Dec 1882Uncovered pitches turned into sticky wickets after rain, and Hobbs was the master of them. At the Oval in 1926 and at Melbourne in 1929 he and Herbert Sutcliffe put on century opening stands on drying pitches that should have been unplayable, setting up England wins. His back-foot technique and…0i
  2. 2George HeadleyGeorge HeadleyBorn 30 May 1909Headley averaged over 60 in Tests for a West Indies side that often had little batting around him, so bowlers could concentrate everything on his wicket. At Lord's in 1939, in English conditions and against a strong attack, he scored a hundred in each innings. That burden, rather than any one…0i
  3. 3Sunil GavaskarSunil GavaskarBorn 10 Jul 1949Gavaskar faced the West Indies pace attacks of the 1970s and 1980s without a helmet and scored 13 Test hundreds against them, more than against any other side. His debut series in the Caribbean in 1971 brought 774 runs. Watch for his compact technique and judgement of what to leave, which let a…0i
  4. 4Allan BorderAllan BorderBorn 27 Jul 1955Border batted through the worst years of Australian cricket in the early 1980s, usually against the great West Indies attack. His 98 not out and 100 not out at Port of Spain in 1984 held off Holding, Garner and Marshall almost alone. He made a habit of blocking for hours when wickets fell around…0i
  5. 5Graham GoochGraham GoochBorn 23 Jul 1953Gooch's 154 not out at Headingley in 1991, carrying his bat on a seaming pitch against Ambrose, Marshall, Walsh and Patterson, is often rated the best Test innings by an England batter in modern times. No one else in England's side passed 27 in that innings. He had the 333 at Lord's too, but this…0i
  6. 6Michael AthertonMichael AthertonBorn 23 Mar 1968Atherton batted almost 11 hours for 185 not out at Johannesburg in 1995 to save a Test against Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock, one of the great rearguards. He was England's opener through the 1990s against superb attacks, with a chronic back condition, and his duel with Donald at Trent Bridge in…0i
  7. 7Steve WaughSteve WaughBorn 2 Jun 1965Waugh's 200 at Sabina Park in 1995, against Ambrose and Walsh on a lively pitch, helped Australia end the West Indies' 15-year unbeaten run in series. He was not elegant and gave up the hook to cut his risk, but under bouncer barrages he stood firm. Many of his best innings came when Australia were…0i
  8. 8Sachin TendulkarSachin TendulkarBorn 24 Apr 1973Tendulkar scored Test hundreds in every major cricketing country, but the innings that announced him came at Perth in 1992: 114 on the fastest, bounciest pitch in the world, aged 18, against Craig McDermott and Merv Hughes. His 2004 double hundred at Sydney, when he refused to play the cover drive…0i
  9. 9Mithali RajMithali RajBorn 3 Dec 1982Women's Tests are rare, which makes each one a test of patience with little match practice. Mithali Raj's 214 against England at Taunton in 2002, in English conditions at the age of 19, was then the highest score in women's Test cricket. Her long career, mostly in one-day cricket, rested on the…0i
  10. 10Brian LaraBrian LaraBorn 2 May 1969Lara's 153 not out at Bridgetown in 1999 chased down 308 against McGrath, Gillespie and Warne, with the tail for company at the end. Wisden later ranked it among the greatest Test innings. He did it in a weakening West Indies side, which often meant batting with little support. His 213 in the…0i