As we approach the end of the first cycle of the new World Test Championship, I wanted to see what would happen if the world championship was decided on a challenge basis, as in combat sports, i.e. to be the champ, you have to beat the champ. I added a caveat: the world title would not be on the line in every series played by the champion. For a team to get a shot at the title, it would have to:
- Tour the current champions as the #1 contender; or
- Tour the current champions after beating them at home; or
- Host the current champions after beating them away.
To be the #1 contender, a team would have to beat the current #1 contender away from home. A team does not lose its #1 contender spot if another team wins the title using rules 2 or 3. However, a team that has earned a title shot through rules 2 and 3 would lose the shot if the title changes hands. A drawn series favours the incumbent, whether champion or #1 contender.
After applying these rules to the existing history of Test cricket, I found that the lineal world championship has been contested 60 times by eight teams. In these posts, I will provide a brief history of these 60 series, spanning 138 years. By recounting this alternative history, I hope to demonstrate the soundness of this model of deciding the world Test champion and to revisit some of the most iconic series of all time, as well as to have something to do during the commercial breaks. (Parts 1, 2 and 3)
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PART FOUR: BLUNDERS DOWN UNDER (1983-2007)
Two dynasties dominated the world championship over four decades: the West Indies and Australia. Both teams held the record for most consecutive Test wins at the height their title reigns and, barring the series when the title changed hands between them, they only lost one Test each while defending the title during this period, in series that form cornerstones of their opponents' Test history: Pakistan's 1987-88 tour of the West Indies, and India's 2003-04 tour of Australia. England, on the other hand, were swept, 5-0, in both their title shots in this era.
#37: WEST INDIES v INDIA (5 TESTS, 1982-83)
Months before their historic upset in the World Cup final, India took a shot at the West Indies' Test title, having beaten the champions at home, 1-0 after six Tests, in 1978-79. The team that arrived in Jamaica in February 1983, however, had just suffered a 3-0 loss in Pakistan that ended the captaincy of Sunil Gavaskar. The new captain, Kapil Dev, took 4/45 and, along with Ravi Shastri (4/43), kept the Windies first-innings lead to three. But Andy Roberts twice ran through the side, finishing with 9/100 for the match, and Dev's 4/73 in the second innings could not prevent a four-wicket defeat. After Clive Lloyd asked Dev to bat on a rain-affected first day in the Trinidad Test, Malcolm Marshall took 5/39 to bowl India out for 175. Balwinder Sandhu dismissed both openers for ducks and Dev had Viv Richards caught behind for 1, but Lloyd (143) and Larry Gomes (123) added 237 for the fourth wicket and the champions took a 219-run lead. Mohinder Amarnath batted for nearly six hours to score 117 and, once a draw was inevitable, Dev scored a century off 95 balls.
After two days were lost to rain in the drawn Georgetown Test, as was most of the first day at Bridgetown, the Windies pace quartet bundled India out for 209 and, thanks to a 130 by Gus Logie and fifties by Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Richards and Lloyd, the champions piled on 486 by the fourth day. Amarnath (91 and 80) was the only Indian batsman to stand up to the scrutiny of the short ball, as India could only set a target of one run. Having lost the series, the Indian batsmen made the most of an easier pitch at St John's, with Shastri scoring a century, and Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar scoring nineties, in a first-innings total of 457. The Windies openers responded with centuries in a 296-run stand, as did Lloyd and Jeff Dujon in a 207-run sixth-wicket partnership, and the champions took a 93-run lead, while Amarnath scored the game's sixth century to secure a draw.
Result: West Indies retain, 2-0. Player of the Series: Mohinder Amarnath (598 runs @ 66.44)
#38: WEST INDIES v NEW ZEALAND (4 TESTS, 1984-85)
New Zealand had earned their maiden shot at the world title in a bad-tempered home series in 1980, as the West Indies—jaded after a tough series win in Australia, missing Viv Richards due to a sore back, and incensed by poor umpiring and the refusal of several Kiwi players to walk when they were clearly out at crucial junctures—lost the Dunedin Test by one wicket and could only draw the other two games, while threatening to cancel the tour and go home on multiple occasions.
The title defence was Richards's first series as captain, following the retirement of Clive Lloyd, and he chose to bat first on a Queen's Park Oval pitch that favoured pace bowling. Richard Hadlee dismissed Desmond Haynes and Larry Gomes with the score at 9, but Gordon Greenidge (100) and Richie Richardson (78) added 185 runs for the third wicket and Richards (57) batted with the tail to take the score to 307. Despite a century stand between John Wright and Jeff Crowe, the West Indies took a 45-run first-innings lead. After most of the third day was rained out, Richards scored 78 in 89 balls to set New Zealand 307 on the final day but, although Malcolm Marshall had the Kiwis at 83/5, the challengers escaped with a draw.
Richie Richardson scored 185 on a lifeless pitch at Georgetown, but Martin Crowe responded with 188 in 462 balls to secure another draw. However, despite nearly eight hours of play being lost in the Bridgetown Test, Malcolm Marshall took 4/40 and 7/80 to dismiss the Kiwis for 94 and 248, while Richards scored a century, in a ten-wicket victory to retain the title. Then, in the final Test at Kingston, the champions survived Hadlee's hostile bowling to score 363 before responding in kind to bowl New Zealand out for 138 and 283.
Result: West Indies retain, 2-0. Player of the Series: Malcolm Marshall (27 wickets @ 18.00)
#39: WEST INDIES v ENGLAND (5 TESTS, 1985-86)
Nearly a decade after Tony Greig infamously promised to make the visiting West Indies grovel, David Gower's England arrived in the Caribbean hoping more to avoid embarrassment than to wrest away the world championship. Since their last title shot, in 1981, England had held on to their #1 contender status by twice beating Australia at home, as well as India, Pakistan and New Zealand, although Sri Lanka managed a draw at Lord's in 1984. On a fast, uneven surface at Kingston, however, they collapsed for 159 and 152, with Patrick Patterson taking 7/74 on debut. Despite a 106-run fourth-wicket partnership between Gower and Allan Lamb at Port of Spain, England could only manage 176 in the first innings, before Richie Richardson's 102 and Malcolm Marshall's 62* took the champions to 399. Gower added 80 runs with Graham Gooch for the second wicket in the second innings, while Lamb and Peter Willey added 81 runs for the fourth, but Marshall's 8/132 for the match kept the target at 93 and the champions won by seven wickets.
Richardson (160) and Desmond Haynes (84) had a 194-run second-wicket partnership in the Barbados Test after Gower chose to field after winning the toss, but England took the final six wickets of the innings for 57 runs to dismiss the West Indies for 418 on the second day. Gooch and Gower then had England at 110/1 at stumps. However, on the third day, the challengers suffered a collapse of 63/9, finishing on 189. Following on, England could only manage 199 and the series was lost. It was 200 and 150 at the second Trinidad Test, and, despite a fighting 90 by Gower in the first innings, 310 and 170 in Antigua. England had been "blackwashed" in its worst ever Test series. No Englishman had managed a century, or even an average of 40, in the tour, while the bowlers took only five second-innings wickets over the five Tests.
Result: West Indies retain, 5-0. Player of the Series: Malcolm Marshall (27 wickets @ 17.85, 153 runs @ 38.25)
#40: WEST INDIES v PAKISTAN (3 TESTS, 1987-88)
After India took England's #1 contender status with a 2-0 win in 1986, Pakistan took it off them by winning the Bangalore Test of March 1987 by 16 runs, after the first four Tests were drawn. In the opening Test of their first ever title shot, at Georgetown in April 1988, with Viv Richards and Malcolm Marshall out due to injuries, captain and future prime minister Imran Khan took 7/80 to bowl the champions out for 292 on the first day. Javed Miandad scored 114 to get Pakistan to 297/5, before Saleem Yousuf added 62 to secure a 143-run first-innings lead. Khan then took 4/41 to complete the West Indies' first home defeat in nine years.
Richards and Marshall returned for the second Test, at Port of Spain. Khan took 4/38 to dismiss the champions for 174 on the first day, but Marshall had Pakistan at 55/5 by stumps, finishing with 4/55 to keep the Pakistani lead at 20. Richards came in to bat late on the second day, with the West Indies at 66/3 in the second innings. After Richie Richardson was dismissed early the following morning, Richards (123) added 94 runs with Carl Hooper (26) and 97 with Jeff Dujon (106*), who batted with the tail to set Pakistan a target of 372 in 129 overs. Ramiz Raja made an attacking start with 44 but, after three wickets fell for nine runs, Miandad and Saleem Malik dropped anchor, taking Pakistan into the rest day at 107/3. They eventually added 86 for the fourth wicket, before Malik was dismissed for 30 with the score at 153/4. After Khan was dismissed with the score at 169, Miandad and Ijaz Ahmed (43) added 113 for the sixth wicket. Miandad was out just before the final hour, for 102 in 265 balls, with Pakistan needing 84 off 21 overs and the West Indies needing three wickets. Marshall dismissed Wasim Akram with the score at 311, but Yousuf (35 off 59) and Ijaz Faqih (10* off 51) defended into the final over of the match, and Abdul Qadir blocked the final five balls to keep the series lead.
Fifties by Raja and Shoaib Mohammad took Pakistan to 309 on the first day of the final Test, at Bridgetown, as Marshall took 4/79. Pakistan then had the champions at 21/2, before Desmond Haynes (48 off 155) and Carl Hooper (54 off 88) added 79 for the third wicket, and Haynes and Richards (67 off 80) added 98 for the fourth. Mudassar Nazar dismissed Haynes and Gus Logie, Dujon was run out for a duck and Akram dismissed Richards with the West Indies at 201/7. Marshall counter-attacked with 48 off 62, and the Windies ended their innings, early on the third day, just three runs short. Nazar, Mohammad and Miandad added 147 for the second and third wickets but, after losing four wickets for 16 runs, Pakistan ended the day at 177/6. Khan fought back after the rest day, with an unbeaten 43, to set the champions a target of 266 to retain the title. Akram dismissed Haynes with the score at 21, and took four wickets to have the West Indies at 207/8, but Dujon (29 off 92) and Winston Benjamin (40 off 72) got the champions to a two-wicket victory.
Result: West Indies retain, 1-1. Player of the Series: Imran Khan (23 wickets @ 18.08)
#41: WEST INDIES v PAKISTAN (3 TESTS, 1992-93)
Pakistan returned to the Caribbean in April 1993 as ODI world champions, having preserved their #1 contender status in home series against England, Australia, India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, and drawn two series against the West Indies. No other challengers had emerged in the five years between the two title shots, as Pakistan and England were the only teams to not lose a series against the Windies.
After the champions elected to bat first on a dry pitch with lots of variable bounce, Desmond Haynes and Phil Simmons put on a 63-run opening partnership, before all ten wickets fell for 64 runs. Aamer Sohail scored 55 to get Pakistan to 100/2, but Curtly Ambrose (4/34) and Ian Bishop (5/43) engineered a collapse of 40/8 to keep the Pakistani lead at 13. Haynes (143*) then carried his bat through the second innings, adding 103 with Richie Richardson (68) and 169 with Brian Lara (98) to take the West Indies to 333/3 at stumps on the second day. Wasim Akram (4/75) and Waqar Younis (3/88) ran through the rest of the batsmen to bowl the champions for 382 the following day, but Carl Hooper took 5/40 to win the Test by 204 runs.
Haynes scored 125 at Bridgetown in a first-innings total of 455, before Courtney Walsh took 4/56 to secure a 234-run lead. Following on, Asif Mujtaba (41 off 198 balls) and Javed Miandad (43 off 68) had Pakistan at 113/2, but the rest of the batting could only take the score to 262, allowing the champions to retain their title with a ten-wicket victory. Hooper then scored 178* in Antigua, but Inzamam-ul-Haq's 123 and rain on the final day prevented a sweep.
Result: West Indies retain, 2-0. Player of the Series: Desmond Haynes (402 runs @ 134.00)
#42: AUSTRALIA v WEST INDIES (c) (5 TESTS, 1996-97)
In May 1995, Mark Taylor's Australia did what had not been done since Ian Chappell's Australia visited the Caribbean, in 1973: they beat the West Indies at home. This entitled them to a title shot when Courtney Walsh's West Indies visited in 1996-97. After Walsh chose to bowl on a damp Gabba pitch, Taylor (43 off 136) and Ricky Ponting (88 off 150) added 126 runs for the second wicket, before Ian Healey, who came in to bat at 196/5, added 142 runs with Steve Waugh (66 off 184), remaining unbeaten on 161 when Australia were finally bowled out for 479. The Windies openers and Brian Lara were dismissed with the score at 77 and, after Carl Hooper (102 off 228) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (82 off 230) batted for most of the third day to add 172 for the fourth wicket, the last seven wickets fell for 28 runs. After choosing not to enforce the follow on, Taylor declared shortly after tea on the fourth day, setting the champions 420 in 119 overs. Sherwin Campbell batted out 54.3 of those overs on his own over seven hours, before being dismissed for 113 by Michael Bevan (3/46) in the final hour of the Test, and Australia won by 123 runs.
Walsh took 5/98 at Sydney, but Australia managed to score 331 in just over four sessions. Campbell (77 off 155) and Robert Samuels (35 off 115) put together a 94-run opening partnership, but McGrath took 4/82 to secure a 27-run lead. Matthew Elliott (78 off 162) and Mark Waugh (67 off 159) then added 77 for the third wicket, before they collided while taking a run and Elliott retired hurt with a knee injury. Bevan (52 off 154) and Greg Blewett (47* off 62) stretched the target to 340. Despite a 117-run fourth-wicket partnership between Hooper (57 off 124) and Chanderpaul (71 off 68), Shane Warne (4/95) mopped up the tail soon after lunch on the fifth day, and Australia won by 124 runs.
Australia collapsed to 27/4 at Melbourne, as Curtly Ambrose took 5/55 to dismiss Australia for 219. McGrath responded with 5/50, and the West Indies could only manage a 36-run lead. Ambrose then took 4/17 in 12 overs to bowl Australia out for 122 and, even though McGrath responded with 3/41, Chanderpaul (40 off 82) and Hooper (27 off 36) added 50 runs for the fourth wicket to secure a six-wicket victory. Bevan, who had been dropped for the third Test, returned at Adelaide to take 10/113 while dismissing the Windies for 130 and 204, while also scoring 85* off 263 to assist Matthew Hayden (125 off 226) and Blewett (99 off 154) in scoring 517 against a bowling attack missing Ambrose due to injury. In the dead rubber at Perth, Ambrose returned to take 7/93 in the match, as Australia were bowled out for 243 and 194, while Lara scored 132 in a first-innings total of 384 to set up a ten-wicket victory.
Result: Australia win, 3-2. Player of the Series: Glenn McGrath (26 wickets @ 17.42)
#43: AUSTRALIA v INDIA (3 TESTS, 1999-2000)
Having won back the world title after 27 years, and then winning away series against South Africa and England, Australia faltered on its 1997-98 tour of India, losing the first two Tests before winning the third at Bangalore. This provided India their first title shot in 16 years when they returned Down Under in 1999. It was the first world-championship series I ever watched and might have something to do with my aversion to waking up early.
After losing to Queensland and beating a depleted New South Wales side, as well as losing a List A fixture against the Prime Minister's XI at Canberra, India made a promising start to the Adelaide Test, restricting Australia to 52/4 on the first morning. However, Steve Waugh (150 off 323) and Ricky Ponting (125 off 198) batted for the rest of the day to add 239 runs for the fifth wicket, and Shane Warne scored 86 in 100 balls on the second day to get the Australian total to 441. India lost their openers for nine runs and, although VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid added 81 for the third wicket, they were both dismissed shortly before stumps. The Indian captain, Sachin Tendulkar (61 off 133), and his soon-to-be successor, Sourav Ganguly (60 off 133), added 108 runs for the fifth wicket on the third morning, but Warne dismissed both on either side of lunch, taking 4/92 in 42 overs to secure a 156-run lead. The Indian bowlers made scoring difficult on a pitch with uneven bounce, but Greg Blewett scored 88 in 262 balls to set India a target of 396 in just under four sessions. Damien Fleming took 5/30 as, after that lbw decision, India ended the fourth day at 76/5, before being bowled out for 110.
India drew their first-class fixture against Tasmania, who declared their first innings at 548/5. Then, after rain forced the abandonment of the first session of the Boxing Day Test, Javagal Srinath dismissed Blewett and Justin Langer to have Australia at 28/2 in the eleventh over, before Michael Slater (91 off 179) added 95 runs with Mark Waugh and 69 with Steve Waugh. Ponting (67 off 85) and Adam Gilchrist (78 off 119) then added 144 runs in 32 overs for the sixth wicket. Australia were bowled out for 405 on the third morning—the final session of the second day was also rained out—and Brett Lee took 5/47 on debut to bowl India out for 238 in the second over of the fourth day. After Ajit Agarkar had Australia at 32/2, Gilchrist walked in and scored 55 off 73, and the Waughs added 58 in 77 balls before declaring at 208/5 an hour before stumps. Tendulkar, whose 116 off 191 in the first innings had helped avoid the follow-on, scored 52 in 122 balls, but India were bowled out for 195. McGrath took 5/48 and 5/55, while Langer scored 223, in an innings victory at Sydney to complete the whitewash.
Result: Australia retain, 3-0. Player of the Series: Ricky Ponting (375 runs @ 125.00)
#44: AUSTRALIA v WEST INDIES (5 TESTS, 2000-01)
The West Indies team that returned to Australia in 2000 was a shadow of its previous self, having lost its last five away series amid internecine disputes between the players and their board. And, after losing to Western Australia and Victoria in tour games, Jimmy Adams's side were bowled out for 82 on the first day of the Brisbane Test, with Glenn McGrath taking 6/17 in 20 overs. Michael Slater (54 off 137) and Matthew Hayden (44 off 94) overcame the Windies total in their opening partnership, putting on 101 before Hayden was run out half an hour before stumps. Marlon Black took three quick wickets on the second morning, but the Waughs added 62 in 178 balls to stabilise the innings, while Adam Gilchrist (48 off 66) and Brett Lee (62* off 80) added 61 in 60 balls for the eighth wicket, getting Australia to 332. McGrath then took 4/10 in 13 overs to bowl the challengers out for 132 to seal the innings victory.
The West Indies were at 22/5 after the first ten overs of the Perth Test, but Ridley Jacobs (96* off 151) added 75 runs with Wavell Hinds (50 off 87) and 65 with Mervyn Dillon (27 off 48) to take his team to 196. Hayden (69 off 120) and Mark Waugh (119 off 175) allowed the champions to declare with a 200-run lead shortly before stumps on the second day. Lee then took 5/61 in 15 overs to dismiss the Windies for 173 and complete Australia's twelfth consecutive Test win, breaking a record set by the challengers in 1984-85.
Brian Lara scored a century on the first day of the Adelaide Test, eventually scoring 182 in 235 balls to take his team to 354/5, before the final five wickets fell for 37 runs. Slater (83 off 123) and Hayden (58 off 119) responded with an opening partnership of 156, while Mark Waugh (63 off 142) and Ricky Ponting (92 off 156) added 123 for the fifth wicket, and the champions managed to take a 12-run lead early on the fourth day. Colin Miller, who had taken 5/81 in the first innings, followed up with 5/32 in the second, as the champions retained their title with a five-wicket victory after bowling out the Windies for 140. A century by Steve Waugh and 9/88 by Gillespie won Australia the Boxing Day Test by 352 runs, while Slater scored 96 and 86* to secure a six-wicket win at Sydney.
Result: Australia retain, 5-0. Player of the Series: Glenn McGrath (21 wickets @ 17.09)
#45: AUSTRALIA v SOUTH AFRICA (3 TESTS, 2001-02)
South Africa had taken over as #1 contenders by beating the West Indies in April 2001 and arrived in Australia later that year for their first title shot since returning to the cricketing fold. In the nine years since they lost their comeback Test in the West Indies, in April 1992, South Africa had lost just three Test series: a home series against Australia, and two away series against India and England. Australia, meanwhile, had seen their run of 16 consecutive victories end in India earlier that year and, despite comprehensively winning the Ashes in England, had failed to beat New Zealand in three home Tests. Steve Waugh said before the Adelaide Test that Australia wanted to prove they were "still a very good cricket side."
Justin Langer, who had been promoted to open the batting with Matthew Hayden during the Ashes, scored 116 in 246 balls on the first day at Adelaide, getting out just before the second new ball was due, with the score at 238/5. His partner at the time, Damien Martyn, went on to score 124* in 210 balls to take Australia to 439. In response, Herschelle Gibbs (78 off 187) and Gary Kirsten (47 off 86) had an 87-run opening partnership, before Neil McKenzie (87 off 168) and Mark Boucher (64 off 149) added 141 for the seventh wicket. Warne polished off the tail to finish with 5/113, and Australia took a first-innings lead of 65. Hayden (131 off 207) then added 181 runs for the third wicket with Mark Waugh (74 off 134) to set South Africa a target of 375 in the final hour of the fourth day. The Australian bowlers had the challengers at 74/8 on the final day, but Jacques Kallis's 65* in 174 balls took South Africa to the relatively respectable total of 128.
After rain delayed the start of the Boxing Day Test, Glenn McGrath dismissed the South African openers with the score on 37. McKenzie (67 off 163) put up some resistance, while Shaun Pollock (42* off 93) and Nantie Hayward (14 off 22) added 44 for the final wicket to get South Africa to 277 by tea on the second day. Langer (85 off 176) and Hayden (138 off 211) got Australia to stumps at 126/0, eventually adding 202 for the first wicket. Steve Waugh's 90 in 156 balls made sure that, even though Australia lost their final five wickets for 25 runs, the champions took a 210-run first-innings lead on the fourth morning. After Kallis was run out on 99, the challengers could only set a target of ten runs. Having retained the title, the Australian openers scored centuries in a 219-run partnership at Sydney, and Kirsten's 153 in 359 balls was the only reason the Test even went into a fourth day.
Result: Australia retain, 3-0. Player of the Series: Matthew Hayden (429 runs @ 107.25)
#46: AUSTRALIA v INDIA (4 TESTS, 2003-04)
India's historic victory at Eden Gardens, in 2001, stopped the Australian juggernaut in its tracks, and Sourav Ganguly's team secured a title shot on their next tour, which would be Steve Waugh's final Test series. Zaheer Khan took the only two wickets to fall on a rain-affected first day at the Gabba, as Justin Langer (121 off 194) got Australia to 262/2 at stumps. Only 16 overs of play was possible on the second day, but that was enough for Khan (5/95) and Ajit Agarkar (3/90) to get the champions to 323/9. In the 38 balls that were possible on the third, India took the final Aussie wicket, while their openers remained unbeaten on 11. In the absence of Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee, they added 50 more runs on the fourth before three wickets fell in 22 balls, but Ganguly, who had sought Greg Chappell's advice on how to survive in Australian conditions, scored 144 in 196 balls to take India to 329/6, while the tail wagged to get the first-innings total to 409 on the fifth morning. Hayden (99 off 98) and Ponting (50 off 75) then added 140 runs for the second wicket to ensure the draw.
Australia ended the first day of the Adelaide Test at 400/5, with Ponting still batting at 176. He was eventually dismissed for 242 with the score at 556/8, as Kumble took three wickets in the over to prevent any further runs from being scored and finish with 5/154 in 43 overs. A 66-run opening stand was followed by India losing four wickets for 19 runs, but Rahul Dravid added 303 runs with VVS Laxman (148 off 282), before batting with the tail to finish at 233 in 446 balls, with India just 33 runs behind. Agarkar then took 6/41 on the fourth day to bowl Australia out for 196, and Dravid scored 72* in 170 balls on the final day to secure an unlikely four-wicket win. Although Lee returned for the Boxing Day Test, Virender Sehwag scored 195 in 233 balls, adding 141 with Aakash Chopra (48 off 138) and 137 with Dravid (49 off 89), as India finished the first day at 329/4. The challengers could only add 37 runs on the second morning, losing six wickets for 16 runs in seven overs. Hayden (136 off 173) and Ponting (257 off 458) then added 234 runs for the second wicket, and Australia ended their innings on 558 late on the third day. Despite Dravid's 92 in 244 balls in the second innings, India lost their final six wickets for 33 runs to set Australia a 95-run target on the final morning, and the series was tied going into the final Test.
Sachin Tendulkar (241* off 436) and Laxman (178 off 298) added 353 runs for the fourth wicket at the SCG, with India batting for over two days before declaring at 705/7, but, despite Anil Kumble's 8/141 in 46.5 overs, centuries by Langer (117 off 149) and Simon Katich (125 off 166) allowed Australia to bat into the fourth day. Despite being 231 runs ahead, Ganguly chose to rest his bowlers by not enforcing the follow-on, and Dravid scored an attacking 91* in 114 balls, adding 138 runs for the third wicket with Tendulkar (60* off 89), before Ganguly declared half an hour before stumps, giving his team 94 overs to bowl the champions out and win the championship. However, on the final day of his Test career, Steve Waugh (80 off 159) added 142 runs for the fifth wicket with Katich (77* off 96) to save the match and retain the title.
Result: Australia retain, 1-1. Player of the Series: Rahul Dravid (619 runs @ 123.80)
#47: AUSTRALIA v SRI LANKA (2 TESTS, 2004)
Sri Lanka had an obscure claim to a title shot when they arrived in the winter of 2004 to play two Tests against Australia: they had beaten Pakistan away in 1995-96 to become #1 contenders, but never received a chance to contest the title, either in the West Indies or in Australia, in the next nine years. Their bid to become world champions was dealt a crippling blow after the world's leading wicket-taker, Muttiah Muralitharan, pulled out of the tour for "personal reasons." He had been no-balled for chucking on the previous Test tour, been booed incessantly when Sri Lanka returned for an ODI series and was called a chucker by the Australian prime minister, John Howard. Even a delegation sent by the government of the Northern Territory, which would host the Tests at Darwin and Cairns, failed to convince him to reconsider.
After Marvan Atapattu chose to field first at Darwin, the Australian openers added 72, while Damien Martyn (47 off 84) and Darren Lehmann (57 off 107) added 97 for the fourth wicket. However, after Sanath Jayasuriya dismissed Martyn at the stroke of tea, with the score at 177, Chaminda Vaas (5/31) and debutant Lasith Malinga (2/50) ran through the rest of the Australian batsmen for only 30 runs in the final session. Glenn McGrath responded with 5/37 to bowl Sri Lanka out for 97 on the second morning. Vaas (2/51) and Malinga (4/42) then had the champions at 77/5 before tea, but stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist scored 80 in 123 balls to set Sri Lanka a target of 312 at stumps. On the third day, Michael Kasprowicz took 7/39 to seal a 149-run victory and retain the title. Matthew Hayden (117 and 132) and Justin Langer (162 and 8) then scored centuries at Cairns but, despite Shane Warne's 7/199 in the match, which helped him equal Muralitharan's wicket tally, Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa batted out the final ten overs of the Test to secure a draw.
Result: Australia retain, 1-0. Player of the Series: Matthew Hayden (288 runs @ 72.00)
#48: AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND (5 TESTS, 2006-07)
England wrested away the #1 contender status from South Africa by winning a five-Test away series, 2-1, in 2004-05, then beat Australia by the same margin in the 2005 Ashes at home. It was the first time the world championship would be defended in an Ashes series since 1972. On the first day at the Gabba, Justin Langer scored 82 in 98 balls, before Ricky Ponting (196 off 319) and Michael Hussey (86 off 187) added 209 for the fourth wicket, taking Australia to 346/3 at stumps. The champions declared at 602/9, and Glenn McGrath took 6/50 to bowl England out for 157. Langer scored a century to allow Australia to declare at 202/1 early on the fourth day. Chasing 648, Paul Collingwood (96 off 155) and Kevin Pietersen (92 off 155) added 153 for the fourth wicket to get England to stumps at 293/5 but, after Pietersen was dismissed in the first over of the final day, the rest of the side could only add 77 runs.
Collingwood (206 off 392) added 113 runs for the third wicket with Ian Bell (60 off 148) on the first day of the Adelaide Test, before adding 310 runs in over a day with Pietersen (158 off 257). England declared at 551/6 in the final hour of the second day, and Andrew Flintoff dismissed Langer early to have Australia at 28/1 at stumps. However, Ponting (142 off 245) and Hussey (91 off 212) added 192 for the fourth wicket on the third day, before Clarke (124 off 224) added 98 with Adam Gilchrist (64 off 79) and 118 with Shane Warne (43 off 108) on the fourth to keep the first-innings deficit at 38. England were at 59/1 going into the final day, but lost nine wickets for 70 runs to set Australia a target of 168 in one session. Ponting (49 off 65) and Hussey (61* off 66) added 83 runs in 96 balls to secure a six-wicket win.
Hussey's 74* in 162 balls got Australia to 244 on the first day of the Perth Test, despite Monty Panesar's 5/92 and Steve Harmison's 4/48. England reached stumps at 51/2, and kept losing wickets at regular intervals, with Pietersen's 70 in 123 balls taking them to 215. Matthew Hoggard dismissed Langer off the first ball of the second innings, but Matthew Hayden (92 off 159) and Ponting (75 off 128) added 144 for the second wicket. Centuries by Hussey (103 off 156), Clarke (135* off 164) and Gilchrist (102* off 59) allowed Australia to declare at 527/5 on the third day and, despite a 170-run partnership for the second wicket between Alastair Cook (116 off 290) and Bell (87 off 163), Warne took 4/115 to seal a 206-run victory to retain the title. England could only manage totals of 159, 161, 291 and 147 in the final two Tests to be whitewashed for the first time in an Ashes series since the disastrous tour of 1920-21.
Result: Australia retain, 5-0. Player of the Series: Ricky Ponting (576 runs @ 82.28)
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