Ifi might also add. Willis' 2 from 9 balls allowed Botham to advance the score from 319, to 356. Without Willis Australia would only have had to chase 92, and no one today would ever think twice about this test.
Nice to see a video from that game that doesn't simply gloss over the Bright-Lillee partnership. Watching it at the time, it was an incredibly tense period during which I feared that the Aussies might just salvage the match.
I well remember being late back to work watching Bob Willis finish putting Australia to the sword on TV in my wife-to-be's flat after calling for lunch - I may have rung in to have that week's half-day so that I could see the end of the game..........can't quite remember now - it was a long time ago! What I do remember though is Big Bob charging in with the sound of trumpets in his ears!! He was deemed a 'write-off' & 'knackered' - he'd had an op. on both knees back in '75 & it was only through prodigious hard work & sheer determination that saw him come back & bowl as he did on that incredible day! it is widely looked upon as Botham's match & Mr. Willis often doesn't get the credit that should be accorded to him...
yes I recall that day, coming home from school thinking that England might salvage a draw after the 4th day heroics. Then not being able to believe my eyes when it said on ceefax(remember that?) that England had WON by 18 runs! I was 12 years old and it was, and still is, one of the happiest shocks of my life.
And Geoff Boycott's innings at the start of Englnd's second inninings is often forgotten. When the wickets were tumbling around him he kept his resolve. Bazball is one thing, real cricket is another. But RGD Willis was the hero of the day without any question and should have been man of the match.
WOW! This was a GREAT WIN! I've seen (long after the fact on youtbe) the West Indies great miracle 1 run win vs Aussies; England's most recent great miracle win vs Aussies (Stoakes' superb innings); and now this great miracle win vs Aussies. Willis with thw ball and Botham with the bat mainly (and ball).
That's when we had decent good sports' playing the game . Graham Yallop , Kim Hughes , John Dyson , to name a few . Come the ' noughties ' , a few more anomalous additions . Simon Katich , Damien Martyn , Greg Mathews and Stuart McGill , again to mention a few . They displayed a degree of sportsmanship , decency and respect for the game , that doesn't co exist with the Australian psyche . Look at a couple of our leading men's tennis players . Vile sledging and tantrums , a win at all costs philosophy , that avails itself so comfortably with Australian men's Sport . Nationally and internationally .
@@simonwoods8809 Not at all Simon . The oldest brother in my British lineage , is named thus . I , unfortunately was the only one born in Aussie . Fair dinks , I was slagged off for congratulating a batsman for straight driving me , in an lofted manner , over all of our heads , to the boundary . As for fist fights with the ' enemy ' on the field ? Well , I'd need Churchill himself , to enscribe such adventure to paper .
It was the second time. There has been one occasion since. It will almost certainly never happen again. One unintended consequence of the abandonment of the rest day is that captains almost never enforce the follow-on, no matter how big the lead.
@@lomax343 Yep. Apart from giving the bowlers a day to rest it also gave the team following on a day to wait around and agonise over their fate - typically a follow on happens around tea on day 3. The highest first innings deficit to come back and win from was actually Australia who trailed by 291 on first innings against Sri Lanka in Colombo in August/September 1992 - but they didn't follow on but rather batted first (and then 3rd as you also would with a follow on). They ended up winning by 16 after setting the lankans 181 to win.
RIP Bob Willis - fantastic bowler, insightful pundit, lovely man. One of the greatest English bowling performances here.
37 years later, this still sends shivers up the spine. Truly incredible game of cricket.
I never ever worked out why there is no footage of Botham and Willis finishing the England second innings on the fifth morning.
Ifi might also add. Willis' 2 from 9 balls allowed Botham to advance the score from 319, to 356. Without Willis Australia would only have had to chase 92, and no one today would ever think twice about this test.
Gatting's catches are amazing. He just imagined they were Scotch Eggs.
Its lovely to hear the voice of CMJ. Much missed.
Nice to see a video from that game that doesn't simply gloss over the Bright-Lillee partnership. Watching it at the time, it was an incredibly tense period during which I feared that the Aussies might just salvage the match.
I well remember being late back to work watching Bob Willis finish putting Australia to the sword on TV in my wife-to-be's flat after calling for lunch - I may have rung in to have that week's half-day so that I could see the end of the game..........can't quite remember now - it was a long time ago! What I do remember though is Big Bob charging in with the sound of trumpets in his ears!! He was deemed a 'write-off' & 'knackered' - he'd had an op. on both knees back in '75 & it was only through prodigious hard work & sheer determination that saw him come back & bowl as he did on that incredible day! it is widely looked upon as Botham's match & Mr. Willis often doesn't get the credit that should be accorded to him...
England 1981 and 2005...the two best Ashes series in my lifetime. Nothing else comes close to it.
add in 2019??
MUCKER1314 On reflection, a close third. I did write that comment in 2018, before last year’s belter of a series!
@@MUCKER1314 not a chance bothams ashes the best
Thank you so much for finding this and putting it on here. I was born in 1981, so this is the best I've got to be able to see this.
Raced back from school aged 11, popped on the telly and no cricket : teletext just showed the aussie scorecard. Sheer joy to see this now
Snap! I was eleven and in the Fourth Year Juniors.
@@juho6903 I was 10. Listening on shortwave radio in my bedroom in the wee hours of the morning.
yes I recall that day, coming home from school thinking that England might salvage a draw after the 4th day heroics. Then not being able to believe my eyes when it said on ceefax(remember that?) that England had WON by 18 runs! I was 12 years old and it was, and still is, one of the happiest shocks of my life.
Willis that day was more 'in the zone' than any sportsman I've seen before or since. Literally a man possessed. RIP Bob.
And Geoff Boycott's innings at the start of Englnd's second inninings is often forgotten. When the wickets were tumbling around him he kept his resolve. Bazball is one thing, real cricket is another. But RGD Willis was the hero of the day without any question and should have been man of the match.
WOW! This was a GREAT WIN! I've seen (long after the fact on youtbe) the West Indies great miracle 1 run win vs Aussies; England's most recent great miracle win vs Aussies (Stoakes' superb innings); and now this great miracle win vs Aussies. Willis with thw ball and Botham with the bat mainly (and ball).
Kim Hughes - wonderful cricketer and very decent guy
Yes!
Nice to see a proper keeper, 40 years old and no helmet, not like the ones today
One of the greatest ever tests in history.Botham and willis show .
Bothams ashes, of course, Willis the hero, of course. But the two catches by Mike Gatting were crucial.
Botham Willis yes.But some vital and excellent catches made the difference between winning/loosing the best Ashes game ever in my opinion
That's when we had decent good sports' playing the game . Graham Yallop , Kim Hughes , John Dyson , to name a few . Come the ' noughties ' , a few more anomalous additions . Simon Katich , Damien Martyn , Greg Mathews and Stuart McGill , again to mention a few . They displayed a degree of sportsmanship , decency and respect for the game , that doesn't co exist with the Australian psyche . Look at a couple of our leading men's tennis players . Vile sledging and tantrums , a win at all costs philosophy , that avails itself so comfortably with Australian men's Sport . Nationally and internationally .
Some of us Poms too I'm afraid. All too prevalent in society as a whole. Yours, a 54 year old git...
@@simonwoods8809 Not at all Simon . The oldest brother in my British lineage , is named thus . I , unfortunately was the only one born in Aussie . Fair dinks , I was slagged off for congratulating a batsman for straight driving me , in an lofted manner , over all of our heads , to the boundary . As for fist fights with the ' enemy ' on the field ? Well , I'd need Churchill himself , to enscribe such adventure to paper .
Ritchie in the off-white in this one ...
Mike Brearley was a great captain. Pity he never did that well with the bat.
Bob Taylor best keeper in the world pure class
The inimitable Richie Benaud; "Australia needed 130 to win. Not many runs is it?!"
“A little before this time yesterday English cricket was being buried”. It had been a totally miserable series up to then
Simply The greatest Test Match of All time ...maybe headingley 2019 runs it close maybe 🤔
This has to be one of the few occasions in test cricket where a team has won after following on.
It was the second time. There has been one occasion since. It will almost certainly never happen again. One unintended consequence of the abandonment of the rest day is that captains almost never enforce the follow-on, no matter how big the lead.
@@lomax343 Yep. Apart from giving the bowlers a day to rest it also gave the team following on a day to wait around and agonise over their fate - typically a follow on happens around tea on day 3. The highest first innings deficit to come back and win from was actually Australia who trailed by 291 on first innings against Sri Lanka in Colombo in August/September 1992 - but they didn't follow on but rather batted first (and then 3rd as you also would with a follow on). They ended up winning by 16 after setting the lankans 181 to win.
automatic lie on my back and spurt into my own mouth when I see these highlights. Doesn't matter where I am or what i'm doing, it's guzzle time
Botham domination written all over the test
They were 50-1...
Correction: 56-1.
Think you will find it was 500-1
What does the spectator say at 19:17 ???
Yes!