What a Test Match

The Second Ashes Test Match at Edgbaston was a ripper! I stayed up until 1:30 this morning watching the 3rd days play. I must say, the Poms have come a long way in the last 15 years. They finally have some bowlers and some batsmen, and, in Andrew Flintoff they have both.

Start of the fourth morning and Australia needed 107 runs to win with only the last two wickets to do it. As unlikely as that seemed it made for enthralling viewing. Australia's tailenders showed how to face some fearsome bowling and scored 104 runs, only going down by two runs.

Well done England. Bring on the Third Test.

Allow me to reminisce a little and cast your mind back to 1993. I went with my best mate Nick to Adelaide for the Test Match between Australia and West Indies. It took us five hours to drive up there and we stayed with Nick's Aunty and Uncle. We saw the first days play and then went to TimeZone for a lock-in, from midnight to six am, any game you wanted to play, for only $10. We missed the first part of the second days play, as you can imagine, and were listening to the radio on the way to the ground when we heard big Merv Hughes hit Ian Bishop for six. This made us run to the ground from where we were at the time.

We spent the whole four days at the Test and even got seats in the Bradman Stand at one stage. What an exciting game of cricket as it went right down to the wire. The target was 186 and at 7/74 it looked like an early end to the match. At 8/102 the Aussies still needed 84 to win with the last two wickets. Tim May batted manfully with Justin Langer, who had been struck many times in his gutsy Test debut, and with No. 11 Craig McDermott. The tension was brilliant as May and McDermott withstood the barrage that was sent their way and it got down to two runs to win. The McDermott, apparently, gloved one through to the keeper and the Windies had won by one run. To this day I don't believe that it came off the glove. It must have come off McDermott's arm. Actually, I don't remember seeing the incident on TV.

Here's the scorecard of the narrowest Test Match victory in history.