Twenty years on, David Wiseman recalls the last days of an epic Melbourne Boxing Day Test match.

David Wiseman29-Dec-2002Twenty years on, David Wiseman recalls the last days of an epic Melbourne Boxing Day Test match.Australia had a three-run first innings lead after an exciting first two days of the Test which had now become something like a one innings a side game.The equation was simple for England. Make as many runs as possible and bowl Australia out for less on a wicket which would get worse as the game progressed.The Ashes were on the line and Cook and Fowler batted accordingly. There was a steel to their batting which hadn’t been present before. Just before the first hour was up, Cook flashed hard at a Thomson delivery and Yardley brilliantly caught him in the gully for 26. England one for 40.Ten minutes later it was two for 41 when Hogg bowled Tavare for a duck.England were in real trouble four runs later when Gower gloved an attempted hook from Lawson and was caught behind for three. England three for 45.They survived to lunch without further loss and went to the interval having added another 30 runs with Fowler on 35 and Lamb on 13.The partnership flourished until Fowler strained a muscle and required a runner in the shape of David Gower. Chappell argued that Gower was a better runner than Fowler and objected to it. It didn’t matter as the clearly uncomfortable Fowler survived just seven further balls before being bowled by Hogg for 65. England four for 128.The English habit of losing wickets in pairs happened again when Lamb went in the same over. He drove at a Hogg outswinger and Marsh behind did the rest. The catch was Marsh’s 26th of the series which equalled the world record for a five Test series set by John Waite for South Africa against New Zealand in 1961/62 and himself against the West Indies in the 1975/76.Lamb was gone for 26. England five for 129. Just five wickets in hand and only a lead of 126. The English tail would have to dig deep.The match was incredibly tense. The halfway mark in the game had just been reached. Now every run was worth it’s weight in gold for England.Miller and Botham put on 31 for the sixth wicket until Lawson dismissed Miller for the fourth time in the series. Leg before wicket for 14, England were six for 160. Pringle joined Botham and they took the score to six for 193 at tea.Australia tried to cut down every run, chasing 190 may not have been impossible but with the scars of the 1981 Ashes still incredibly fresh, any run chase would have caused palpations in the Australian camp.With Australia desperate for another wicket it was the veteran Thomson who obliged. He got Botham edging and Chappell at first slip pouched the catch. Botham’s 46 had come in just 47 balls. Maybe not the type of innings he needed to play in the circumstances but vital runs never the less. England seven for 201.Taylor and Pringle dug deep. The lead passed 250. With Australia desperate, Thomson again struck. He had Taylor trapped in front for a gritty 37. The 61-run partnership had been snapped. England eight for 262.Pringle went late in the day for a priceless 42. Marsh caught him from the bowling of Lawson. The catch breaking the world record for most dismissals in a series. England nine for 280.England’s end was now near. A late flurry took them up to 294 before Cowans missed a straight one from Lawson and had his leg peg knocked back. He was out for 10. Willis adding to his world record of Test not-outs with eight runs.For Australia, Lawson took four wickets to give him 30 for the series. Hogg and Thomson each took three.For the third consecutive day stumps were drawn at the close of innings.Australia would have two days to score 292 for a 3-0 series lead. England had 291 to defend to make it 2-1.Dyson and Wessels pruned 37 from the target before Cowans got Wessels playing onto his stumps. He was gone for a patient 14.In his next over, Cowans got Chappell when he had him brilliantly caught by Ian Gould at cover for two. Gould was on the field substituting for the injured Fowler.Gould would never play a Test Match, just 18 One-Day Internationals for England. The Middlesex and Sussex player went on to become an umpire and now umpires in county cricket. On the tour as a reserve wicket-keeper, he had swung the game with his inspirational piece of fielding.Cowans had now captured Chappell’s wicket both times in the match and Chappell’s return of two runs was his lowest in a Test Match.Chappell was the key wicket and England would have lifted considerable with Australia hobbling at two for 39.Dyson and Hughes pushed the score along. Dyson was the right man for Australia to be at the crease. He top scored in both innings of the Headingley disaster. He and Hughes pushed the score along to 71 when he edged Botham to second slip and Tavare took the catch. Dyson was gone for 31.The game was delicately poised when Australia went to lunch at three for 99 with Hughes on 27 and Hookes on 17.The wicket was not wearing as much as England would have liked and still played true. Hughes and Hookes batted well, with every run cheered on by an enthusiastic crowd. The 100 partnership was brought up only to be broken straight away when Hughes edged his sweep from Miller and Taylor took an acrobatic diving catch. Hughes left for 48 with Australia four for 171.Hookes went the next over when he hooked Cowans and Willis took a magnificent running catch at deep mid-on. Hookes left for 68, the highest score he would make in Australia. That was quintessential Hookes. He promised so much and couldn’t meet the high expectations.At five for 173, and 119 still needed for victory, England would have been confident but the duo of Border and Marsh had to be separated.Australia went to tea at five for 176 with Marsh on three and Border yet to score.After tea, the wicket was starting to do a bit. Cowans got Marsh lbw for 13 with a ball that kept low, Australia were six for 190. A massive wicket for England and they would have been incredibly relieved to have taken the wicket of the feisty Marsh.Without the score moving, Cowans cleaned up Yardley for a duck. Australia seven for 190. For the second time in the match, Yardley was bowled.Lawson and Border took the score along to 202 until Pringle tempted Lawson with a bouncer and was caught hooking by Cowans on the fence for seven.Cowans was the man of the moment and trapped Hogg in front for four with a ball that kept low.Australia nine for 218.One wicket left and 74 runs needed for victory when Thomson joined Border at the crease. Australia were in danger of being completely crushed after losing their last six wickets for 47.The game was England’s.Surely it was now just a formality. Thomson had a top score to his name of 49 which had been seven years earlier. With an average of 12, he wasn’t likely to last long.But the breakthrough didn’t come. Exactly half of the target – 37 runs – had been scored when stumps were called on the fourth day with Australia 9/255. Border was on 44, Thomson eight.The fifth day was free of charge and 18,000 fans came to cheer what could have been an incredible Australian victory. The English were nervous and it showed. They had forgotten how to win and every Australian run made them more and more tense and stressed.It just wouldn’t happen. Edges were falling in front of fielders. Run out chances were botched. Shouts for lbw were declined.The new ball had been taken immediately with the score at nine for 259 but to no avail.Border and Thomson were tense as well. Twenty-nine singles were declined as they carefully farmed the strike.In the Australian dressing room, Marsh forbade anyone from moving for fear of awaking the evil eye.Slowly the total shrank – 20, 15, 10, 5, 4. Now Australia were one stroke from achieving the most unlikely of victories.An edge here. A hit over the top there. This would be the sweetest victory of them all. Exorcism from the 1981 Ashes series.It was difficult to breathe with the ground engulfed by incredible tension.And then in slow motion it happened……..It was the first ball of Botham’s 25th over – who else in a moment like this?Australia were nine for 288. Border was at the non-strikers end on 62. Thomson on strike was on 21.Botham loped in.Thomson flashed at it.The ball flew to Tavare at first slip.The ricochet represented the winning runs for Australia until Miller ran round behind Tavare and pouched the rebound.Botham running down the wicket clenching his fist.It was surreal. Words do not do it justice. Beforehand, both sides had masses of butterflies in their stomaches. Now one half had felt unbridled joy and relief while the other half felt like they had lost the ability to breath.The wicket was Botham’s 100th against Australia as England prevailed by three runs.At the time, it was the closest margin of victory of runs, equalling Australia’s three-run win at Old Trafford in 1902. The record would be broken when Australia would lose to the West Indies by one run. Again Border would taste the incredible bitterness of a defeat in a close run chase.Botham’s 1000 run/100 wicket double against Australia had taken a record 22 Tests.Miller’s catch was just the 13th in the 17 he would take in his career. No doubt that this was the most significant of them all.The magnitude of the game started to sink in.All four innings fell within 10 runs of each other.Thomson was out for a valiant 21. His innings one of the most famous and courageous the game has ever witnessed. One of the delicious ironies of cricket is that as the game gets tighter and the stakes higher, the batting side relies increasingly on batsmen with decreasing levels of aptitude.No one expected Thomson to last that long. His effort in surviving as long as he did was way over and above the call of dutyAgain Australia had been pipped at the post in a run chase. Further heart breaking losses would come again. Against South Africa at the SCG in 1993, back at the MCG against England in 1998, at the Oval in 1997 and of course the West Indies.And so ended the Boxing Day Test, 1982.For his six for 77 Cowans was made man of the match. Never again would he reach the same heights. That is what sport is all about. Performing for the moment. One split second of brilliance in a career which can span decades. The champions do it on a regular basis – that is what defines them as champions.Australia would take the series 2-1 after the next Test, in Sydney.Twenty years on, the Boxing Day Test still stands the test of time. People who were there on that fateful fifth day continue to have the hair on the end of their neck stand up when they game is brought up in conversation.Twenty two cricketers (23 if we count Gould) will forever be bound with each other for the rest of their lives and way after that for the part they all played in this magnificent drama.There have been 1634 Test matches. Some have been totally forgettable. But when they have been good, they have been incredible. The amazing victories. The devastating loses.Both Tied Tests. Headingley 1948. Old Trafford 1961. Karachi 1994. The India – Australia series of 2001.And, of course, Melbourne 1982.