| ||
---|---|---|
Australian International Cricketer In Media Honours and Achievements Controversies | ||
The Ball of the Century, also referred to as the Gatting Ball [1] or simply That Ball, [2] is a cricket delivery bowled by Australian spin bowler Shane Warne to English batter Mike Gatting on 4 June 1993, the second day of the first Test of the 1993 Ashes series, at Old Trafford in Manchester. [3] With his first ball against England, in his first Ashes Test, [4] Warne produced a spectacular delivery that bowled Gatting out. It became recognised as being of significance not just in the context of the match, but more generally in signalling a revival of leg spin bowling.
The pitch at Old Trafford traditionally favours spin bowling, and England picked two spin bowlers: Phil Tufnell and debutant Peter Such. In contrast, Australia picked three fast bowlers, with the inexperienced Warne as the only spinner. Warne had played in 11 Test matches up to that point, and taken 31 wickets [5] at a moderate average of 30.80 runs per wicket. Although showing some promise, Warne's early career had been less than spectacular, and his style of bowling—leg spin—was seen by many cricket followers as an antiquated art with little value in the modern game.[ citation needed ] Fast Bowling had dominated the game since the legendary West Indian pace bowlers of the 1950s through to the 1980s.[ citation needed ] New Zealand's captain and leading batsman, Martin Crowe, had praised Warne before the series, but Wisden notes that Crowe's proclamation was widely dismissed as excusing New Zealand's frailties rather than genuinely endorsing Warne. [6]
English captain Graham Gooch won the toss and elected to bowl first, hoping to use the pitch conditions to make batting difficult for the Australians. Despite Mark Taylor scoring a century, Australia was dismissed for a moderate total of 289 runs. England also began well, reaching 71 runs before Mike Atherton was dismissed by Merv Hughes. Opposite Gooch, Mike Gatting was the next man to bat and he duly set about scoring runs. At this point, Australian captain Allan Border turned to his leg spinner, Shane Warne. However, Gatting was renowned as a world-class player against spin bowling and was fully expected to give the inexperienced Warne a tough time.[ citation needed ]
After a slow run-up of just a few paces, Warne rolled his right arm over and delivered a leg break to the right-handed Gatting. The ball initially travelled straight down the pitch toward the batsman. As is apparent from slow-motion replays, the rapidly spinning cricket ball began to drift to the right (due to the Magnus effect). The ball ended up pitching several inches outside the line of Gatting's leg stump.
Gatting responded by thrusting his left leg forward towards the pitch of the ball, and pushing his bat next to his pad, angled downwards. This was a standard defensive tactic used by most experienced batsmen against leg-spin balls that were pitched outside the leg stump. The intention is for the ball to hit either the pad or the bat without danger of being out. Because the ball is pitched outside the leg stump, the batsman cannot be out leg before wicket, and if the ball spun slightly more than expected, it would hit the bat and rebound safely down to the ground so the batsman cannot be caught.
However, the ball landed in a patch of the pitch which had been worn by the follow-through of pace bowlers earlier in the game (footmarks). This increased the friction between the ball and the surface, causing it to turn far more than Gatting (or anyone else) expected. The ball passed the outside edge of his bat, then clipped the top of his off stump, dislodging the bails. Gatting stared at the pitch for several seconds, before accepting that he was out bowled and walked off the field. The dismissal was captured in a photograph by Steve Lindsell, in which Gatting is in shock, while wicketkeeper Ian Healy raises his arms in celebration behind and Gatting's off bail spins somewhere above his head. [7]
The fall of Gatting's wicket left England on 80 runs for 2 wickets, a position from which they never recovered, as Warne added the wicket of Robin Smith a mere four runs later. Warne also accounted for Gooch and Andy Caddick in the innings, helping reduce England to a first-innings total of just 210. Encouraged by their bowling, Australia declared their second innings at 432 for 5 wickets. Warne then contributed four more wickets as Australia won the match by 179 runs, winning the man of the match award for his efforts. [3]
The result of this match set the tone for the remainder of the series, and Australia cruised to a comfortable 4–1 victory, with Warne taking a total of 34 wickets at an average of 25.79 and being named the Australian man of the series (each team being awarded a separate Man of the Series award by the other in that series).
This series was another step in the early stages of Australia's long domination of world cricket, coinciding with Warne's exceedingly successful career. Warne's bowling also provided an eye-opening insight into the subtleties and power of leg spin bowling for modern cricket audiences, who had become used to the spectacle of pace attacks, and marked a worldwide resurgence of popularity in the art of spin bowling in general, and leg spin in particular. [1]
Warne's delivery to Gatting has become known as the Ball of the Century. [8] Since that incident, Warne has come to be acknowledged as one of the best bowlers in history. During the penultimate Test match of his career on Boxing Day 2006, in the fourth Ashes Test against England, Warne took his 700th Test wicket, bowling Andrew Strauss to become the first cricketer ever to reach this milestone.
Graham Gooch commented on the reaction of Gatting, "He looked as though someone had just nicked his lunch", as Gatting was much mocked for his rotundity. [9] This was further alluded to by journalist Martin Johnson, who said, "How anyone can spin a ball the width of Gatting boggles the mind", [9] and again by Gooch who added, "If it had been a cheese roll, it would never have got past him." [10] It was said that Gatting visited Warne in the Australian Dressing Rooms at Old Trafford and asked: "Bloody hell, Warnie, what happened?" to which Warne replied, "Sorry, mate; just got lucky". Gatting later remarked that he was happy to be part of a great moment in cricket history. Gooch was equally bemused: "That delivery would've got anyone out; it was the perfect length and speed. The perfect ball."
During the Old Trafford Test of the 2005 Ashes series, the long-retired Gatting re-created the Ball of the Century with an automated bowling machine programmed to deliver leg spin. [11]
The delivery was the subject of the song "Jiggery Pokery" on The Duckworth Lewis Method's eponymous cricket-themed album.
During the ICC Cricket World Cup, India unorthodox bowler Kuldeep Yadav's dismissal of Pakistan's Babar Azam in 2019 and of England's Jos Buttler in 2023 drew comparisons to Warne's ball, with James Gheerbrant of The Times calling the delivery "[Kuldeep's] own 'ball of the century'.". [12] Similarly in 2018, England legspinner Adil Rashid bowled Virat Kohli (in the final ODI at Headingley) and KL Rahul (in the final Test at The Oval) with the Ball of the Century. In the final ODI of the 2021 Pakistan Tour of England, Matt Parkinson bowled Imam-ul-Haq, placing the ball in the rough, and generating a large amount of turn. The ball was stated to be the 'biggest spinning ball in the history of ODI cricket [13] ', as the ball spin 12.1 degrees.
In the second Women's Twenty20 match of the Indian women's tour of Australia 2021, Shikha Pandey bowled a ball that has been described as 'Ball of the Century', to get rid of Alyssa Healy. [14] [15] [16]
Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery causes the ball to spin from right to left when the ball bounces on the pitch. For a right-handed batter, that is away from the leg side, and this is where it gets the name leg break.
Left-arm unorthodox spin, also known as slow left-arm wrist spin, is a type of spin bowling in the sport of cricket. Left-arm unorthodox spin bowlers use wrist spin to spin the ball, and make it deviate, or 'turn' from left to right after pitching. The direction of turn is the same as that of a traditional right-handed off spin bowler, although the ball will usually turn more sharply due to the spin being imparted predominantly by the wrist.
Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spins from left to right when the ball bounces on the pitch. For a right-handed batsman, this is from his off side to the leg side. The ball breaks away from the off side, hence the name 'off break'.
Michael William Gatting is an English former cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Middlesex and for England from 1977 to 1995, captaining the national side in twenty-three Test matches between 1986 and 1988. He toured South Africa as captain of the rebel tour party in 1990. He was a part of the English squad which finished as runners-up at the 1979 Cricket World Cup and captain of the squad which finished as runners-up at the 1987 Cricket World Cup.
This is a general glossary of the terminology used in the sport of cricket. Where words in a sentence are also defined elsewhere in this article, they appear in italics. Certain aspects of cricket terminology are explained in more detail in cricket statistics and the naming of fielding positions is explained at fielding (cricket).
Ian Andrew Healy is an Australian former international cricketer who played for Queensland domestically. A wicketkeeper and right-hand middle-order batsman, he first played international cricket in 1988, after six first-class games. Over the next decade, Healy was a member of the side as it enjoyed a period of success. By the time of his retirement, Healy held the world record for most Test dismissals by a wicket-keeper. He was a part of the Australian squad which finished as runners-up at the 1996 Cricket World Cup.
Abdul Qadir Khan SI was an international cricketer who bowled leg spin for Pakistan. Abdul Qadir is widely regarded as a legendary leg spinner from the 1970s and 1980s and was a role model for up and coming leg spinners. Qadir was voted the best player in the Group B matches of the 1987 Cricket World Cup and won a car which he donated to Imran Khan for his Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre project. Later he was a commentator and Chief Selector of the Pakistan Cricket Board, from which he resigned in 2009 due to differences of opinion with leading Pakistan cricket administrators.
There were seven Test matches played in England in 2005. The first two were against Bangladesh, the bottom-ranked test team. England started this series ranked second in the LG ICC Test Championship table.
The 2005 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing cricket rivalry between England and Australia. Starting on 21 July 2005, England and Australia played five Tests, with the Ashes held by Australia as the most recent victors. The final result was a 2–1 series win for England, who succeeded in their biennial attempt to win the urn.
Terrence James Jenner was an Australian cricketer who played nine Tests and one ODI from 1970 to 1975. He was primarily a leg-spin bowler and was known for his attacking, loopy style of bowling, but he was also a handy lower-order batsman. In his latter years he was a leg-spin coach to many players around the world, and a great influence on Shane Warne. He was also a radio cricket commentator for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Mitchell Guy Johnson is a former Australian cricketer, who played all forms of the game for his national side. He is a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman. He represented Australia in international cricket from 2005 to 2015. Johnson is considered to be one of the greatest fast bowlers of his era and is referred as the most lethal bowler of all time. With his time representing Australia, Johnson won multiple ICC titles with the team: the 2007 Cricket World Cup, the 2015 Cricket World Cup, the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, and the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy.
The Australia national cricket team toured England in 1993 aiming to retain The Ashes for a second consecutive occasion, having successfully defended them on home turf in the 1990/91 season.
The England cricket team toured Australia in 1994–95 to compete in the Ashes series against their hosts. The series consisted of five Test matches, Australia winning three, England one, and the other match was drawn. Australia retained the Ashes a third consecutive time.
The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1997 season to play a six-match Ashes Test series against England. Australia, under Mark Taylor, won the series 3–2 with strong batting performances from Matthew Elliott supporting the decisive bowling of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie.
The 2006–07 cricket series between Australia and England for The Ashes was played in Australia from 23 November 2006 to 5 January 2007. Australia won the series and regained the Ashes that had been lost to England in the 2005 series. The five Tests of the series were played at Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. In winning, Australia completed a 5–0 "whitewash", the first time this had happened in an Ashes series since 1920–21. The series was also notable for the retirement of four significant Australian players, namely Justin Langer, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. Ricky Ponting was named Player of the Series.
The West Indian cricket team in England in 1991 played three one day internationals and five Tests, under the captaincy of Viv Richards, as part of an extensive tour in which they also played first-class matches against 11 first-class county teams, the combined Minor Counties, the Combined Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and a World XI to finish, plus 55-over one-day matches against one more first-class county (Gloucestershire) and the Duchess of Norfolk's Invitation XI. Of the non-international matches, West Indies defeated Kent, Middlesex and Leicestershire in the longer matches, and Gloucestershire over 55 overs, and lost only the opening match against the Duchess of Norfolk's XI: all the other matches were drawn, although some were close to a finish. England, by contrast with the previous disastrous tour of 1988, were a far more settled side, and gave a far better account of themselves under the captaincy of Graham Gooch.
The Australia national cricket team toured South Africa from February to April 1994 and played a three-match Test series against the South Africa national cricket team. The tour was Australia's first to South Africa since the end of the apartheid regime which had led to a sporting boycott of the country. Australia's most recent tour to South Africa had taken place in 1969–70 and a planned tour of the country in 1971–72 had been cancelled after the International Cricket Conference had imposed a moratorium on tours in 1970 and following the player withdrawals and protests which accompanied the tour of Australia by the South African rugby union side during 1971. The Australian Cricket Board postponed their proposed tour of Sri Lanka in order to schedule the series, paying A$50,000 compensation to the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka.
The Pakistani cricket team toured England in the 1992 English cricket season, the first tour since the acrimonious visit by England to Pakistan in 1987/88, which was highlighted by the Mike Gatting/Shakoor Rana dispute. Five Test matches and five One Day Internationals were scheduled, running from May to August.
The Second Test of the 1948 Ashes series was one of five Tests in The Ashes cricket series between Australia and England. The match was played at Lord's in London from 24 to 29 June, with a rest day on 27 June 1948. Australia won the match by 409 runs to take a 2–0 lead, meaning that England would need to win the remaining three matches to regain The Ashes.
Shane Keith Warne was an Australian international cricketer whose career ran from 1992 to 2007. Widely considered to be one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a lower-order right-handed batsman for Victoria, Hampshire, the Melbourne Stars and Australia. Warne also played for and coached the Rajasthan Royals, including captaining the team to victory in the inaugural season of the IPL.