Cricket is a demanding sport and one that asks particularly tough questions of batsmen, who must face up to lightening fast bowlers, devilish spinners and testing swing bowlers. But when a batsman comes off and dominates the bowling attack, it can be a magical thing to witness.
The following five batting performances have been rated by Wisden cricket reference book as the best test cricket innings of all time and they left the bowlers involved wishing they hadn’t got out of bed on those mornings.
So, the countdown begins with…
5) Don Bradman, 299* vs South Africa, 1931
Aussie legend Don Bradman is widely acknowledge to be the best test batsman of all time and that reputation is thanks to magnificent knocks such as this against South Africa in Adelaide, in 1931.
4) Ian Botham, 149* vs Australia, 1981
This audacious 149 not out turned around the 1981 Ashes test at Headingley and led to England winning a remarkable victory against all odds. Probably Botham’s finest moment.
3) Graham Gooch, 154* vs West Indies, 1991
Back in the early 90s the Windies had a fearsome bowling attack, with speed demons like Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh and Malcolm Marshall tearing in. Against these bowlers at Headingley Gooch scored 154 not out, from a total of just 252 in the second innings, helping England too secure victory.
2) Brian Lara, 153* vs Australia, 1998
This was not Lara’s highest score but it was his best performance against a fantastic Australian side that was used to dominating on all its cricket tours in that period.
1) Don Bradman, 270 vs England, 1936
The man is such a legend that he appears twice in the top five batting performances of all time, with this match-winning, superlative 270 that he scored at Melbourne in front of an enchanted home crowd.
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