TOPIC:

Jeff Thomson bouncers that almost went for 6 byes , Holding & Ambrose spells that were almost as quick as Thommo's , a test that had 7 WA boys playing , Hayden's 380 lots of others

* One other good memory was Dennis Lillee terroising Viv Richards in a Gilette cup final v Queensland - not one other player in history managed that feat against Vivi

Bit before my time but would like to mention it anyway - the miracle match.

The one test match England has won in Perth was in 1978-9 , 300 in the first innings with a century from David Gower being good enough to win the game.

In the first-class match at the WACA, my beloved WA disgraced itself losing by an innings after England had made only 144. The WA side included the following:

Invers
Charlesworth
GR Marsh
KJ Hughes
GM Wood
Tony Mann.

A good effort by England

Ti Em wrote: Bit before my time but would like to mention it anyway - the miracle match.

I was there from the start of the match. After WA was all out for a meagre 77, I rang my wife - who had arranged drive up from Palmyra and join me for the Qld innings - and told her not to bother.

Whoops!

The 2010- 11 WACA test was a ray of light in a gloomy summer for Australia, England came into this test 1-0 up in the series with a settled team in contrast to the Aussies who were beset with selection problems, batting collapses and a bowling unit that was leaking an alarming number of runs.
The Perth test provided a short but sweet turnaround for the home fans on the back of one of the best fast bowling performances ever seen in a test in Perth.

Australia batted first and their innings was following a predictable pattern when the 5th wicket fell at just 69. Interestingly that 5th wicket was young Steve Smith who was playing his first test in Australia. From there the Aussies mounted a recovery mission started by Mike Hussey who always seemed to be inspired batting in front of the home supporters. He added 68 with Brad Haddin and then when that partnership was broken, Mitch Johnson played one of those clean hitting innings that moves the scoreboard along quickly. Johnson scored 62 from 93 balls, Haddin ended up with 53, Peter Siddle made 35 and even Ben Hilfenhaus belted 3 fours to boost the score. The result was a respectable 268 and a fine recovery from where they were mid afternoon.

England saw out the remaining 12 overs on day 1 comfortably with no loss and the opening stand between Cook and Strauss stretched out to 78 on the 2nd morning. This is when all hell broke loose. Johnson found the easterly breeze to his liking as far as his swing was concerned and started cutting a swathe through the English batting. 0-78 very quickly became 5 -98 including 3 LBW’s for Johnson. Bell provided some resistance down the order but the other batsmen were unable to cope with Johnson who ended up with figures of 6 -38 from 17 overs. As a bowling spell many pundits thought it to be the equal of some of the destruction of the legendary West Indies fast bowlers of the 80’s.

Australia with a lead of 81 set about adding to it in the 2nd innings and despite another poor start were then driven forward by Shane Watson and Mike Hussey who put on over 100 with Watson being dismissed for 95. Hussey went on to yet another century and batted expertly with the lower order to squeeze out another 132 runs after Watsons dismissal.

England were then set 391 runs to win or bat out over 2 days for a draw. As it turned out the game was all but over in the remaining 27 overs on day 3. This time it was Ryan Harris’s turn for a 6 wicket haul and he was just about unplayable on the deteriorating wicket. 5-81 overnight, England took not much more than an hour to capitulate on day four for 123.

Despite the Australians squaring the series in such a convincing manner, it proved to be a false dawn as England quickly reestablished their authority by bowling out a feeble Australian batting line up for 98 a few days later at the MCG and won the ashes 3-1.

So we come to the 2013 ashes test played at the WACA. Whereas in 2010, England had come into the third test one nil up in the series and full of confidence, in 2013 they were two nil down, having been blasted out of the water by Mitchell Johnson and Co in both Brisbane and Adelaide and were completely shell shocked to the extent that one of their senior batsmen (Trott) had already gone home with anxiety issues.

Its hard to encapsulate a test into one ball but my memories of this match are dominated by the first ball of England’s second innings which was delivered by Ryan Harris to the English captain Alistair Cook. Many patrons were probably settling into their seats or waiting in a queue at the bar when they would have heard a deafening roar which surrounded the ground. It is one of the best balls I have seen bowled to anyone and Cook had no chance of keeping it out. Sure the big crack that was down the centre of the wicket helped the deviation but it still takes an incredible amount of talent and skill to beat a world class batsman as comprehensively as that. This ball also signalled the point of no return of England’s defence of the ashes, even though realistically the hopes had already slipped away.

Like they had done on other occasions during this whitewash summer, England actually started quite well on day one. At one stage they had the Australians 5-143 when George Bailey was dismissed. However Steve Smith found willing partners in Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson to recover to 6 -326 at the end of day 1. In the process Smith brought up his hundred shortly before stumps.

On the 2nd day, Australia lost Smith and Johnson quickly but then England were frustrated by a 30 run last wicket stand between Siddle and Lyon which took the final score to 385, meaning the last five wickets added 242.

England started with a good opening partnership of 85 between Cook and Carberry which was broken in unfortunate circumstances when Carberry tried to leave a ball from Harris which hit his foot and deflected on to the stumps. From there the innings declined as nobody else apart from Cook (who made 72) contributed over 25. Kevin Pieterson was undone by a brilliant leaping catch by Johnson who could do no wrong. It was a good team bowling performance by the Australians with all five bowlers used getting at least one wicket.

Australia had a first innings lead of 134 and having bowled England out on the stroke of lunch on Day 3, they set about batting their opposition out of the game. By stumps on day 3, they had extended the lead to 369 with 7 wickets still left in the shed. Warner and Rogers started with an opening stand of 157,with Warner going on to a century. Then on Day 4, Watson took over with a century in 106 balls and Bailey hit Anderson for 28 runs in the last over before the declaration. In 17 overs of mayhem at the start of day 4, Australia scored 134 runs.

Set 504 to win or 5 sessions of batting for an unlikely draw, Engalnd recovered somewhat from the first ball loss of their captain to post a respectable 353 in their second innings on a pitch that was not in great condition. They got that far mainly due to a century from Ben Stokes who showed his undoubted potential.

When the final wicket was taken after lunch of day 5, Australia celebrated regaining the ashes in Perth once more as they had in 2006-07. I wonder if its going to happen for a third time this weekend.

Well that concludes the trip back into memory lane, the final chapter to be written in the next week. I will miss the WACA as it holds so many fond memories for me and the pitch there is quite different from anywhere else in the world. Thanks to everyone who have shared their favourite WACA moments, including those great archival clips of the test and the famous “miracle match”. Please continue to comment and reminisce if you wish.