The World Test Championship will be decided over five days, with the first ball being bowled this Wednesday at the home of cricket. In the third cycle of the tournament, South Africa who finished as the top ranked side will play the defending champions, Australia.
The one-off Test match to lift the mace and be crowned the top Test nation is being dubbed as the ‘Ultimate Test Match’.
I’ve navigated the 140 years of Test cricket history and shortlisted some of the all-time great Test matches and will leave it up to the readers to decide which Test takes the crown.
I apologise in advance for all the Australian mentions but let’s be real, Test cricket and Australia go hand in hand, so it makes sense that they are involved in eight of the top 10 Tests of all time.
Australia vs West Indies – Brisbane (1960)
The first ever tied Test, back in 1960 in Brisbane.
West Indies batting first made 453, Sir Garfield Sobers led the charge scoring 132. The Aussies replied with 505 led by Norm O’Neill’s 181.
Brisbane must’ve been a batter’s paradise in the December of 1960. Nearly 1000 runs scored across both first innings.
In the second dig, West Indies managed 284, leaving the Aussies 233 runs needed for victory.
Heading into the last over of the match, Australia were sitting comfortable at 227 for 7.
They were eight ball overs back then. The wild final over included a leg-bye, a bye, a caught behind, a caught-and-bowled opportunity dropped at square-leg and two runouts.
The second of the runouts being the most crucial. Joe Solomon from square-leg mowed down the stumps, running Ian Meckiff out for the 10th wicket with the sides tied.
Unbelievable scenes.
England vs Australia – Headingley (1981)
Headingly ’81, a match etched into English cricketing history.
A match that was supposed to be a routine win for Australia was completely turned on its head when a certain ‘Beefy’ walked out to the crease during England’s second innings.
Already down 1-0 in the series and been made to follow on, England were staring down the barrel of a 200+ run deficit. Seven down and just under 100 runs still behind, Ian Botham launched one of the most outrageous counterattacks in history.
Leathering the ball to all areas of the ground, he belted his way to 149 not out, dragging England to a respectable total of 356, setting Australia 130 to win. It wasn’t much but it was something that the bowlers could defend.
And defend they did.
I bet at that stage; England would still be thinking this game is too far gone. That was until Bob Willis got the ball in his hands.
A blistering spell of 8 for 43 tore through the Australian batting order. A bowling masterclass that had the Aussies scrambling and eventually all out for just 111.
England had just performed a miracle.
Australia vs New Zealand – Hobart (2011)
After going down 1-0 in a two match Test series, the Black Caps were no longer able to win the series, but they still had a point to prove.
After being embarrassed in the first Test, the Aussies were heavily favoured to wrap up the series 2-0. But after a stern player-led meeting held by then captain, Ross Taylor and senior statesmen Dan Vettori and Brendon McCullum they were able to rally and pull of an extraordinary seven run victory.
It was a low scoring thriller with both sides being bowled out for 150 or less in the first innings. A gritty 56 on a tough batting wicket by the skipper left Australia needing 241 for victory.
A disliked David Warner had control of the match with his aggressive approach, but the rest of the talented Aussie order couldn’t cope with a fiery Doug Bracewell spell in just his third ever test.
He knocked over Ponting, Clarke and Hussey in quick succession, exposing the tail with 82 runs still required. Warner, trying to carry his team over the line was left stranded on 123 as Doug Bracewell swung one back to Nathan Lyon, knocking him over.
New Zealand had just recorded their first win in Australia for more than 20 years.
Despite Doug Bracewell’s heroics with the ball (6/40) the officials handed David Warner the man of the match of award for his unbeaten 123. Classic Aussies.
Here’s a quick highlight reel of those last five wickets to fall, you’re welcome.
England vs Australia – Edgbaston (2005)
This series as a whole deserves a special mention. Cricket’s oldest rivalry, and it fell during Australia’s dominance of world cricket. Ponting, McGrath, Hayden and of course Shane Warne were running the show.
At this point in time, it had nearly been two decades since England had last won the Ashes.
Australia won the first Test at Lord’s by 239 runs. But it was in the second Test at Edgbaston that one of the greatest Test’s in history took place.
The game was well poised with England setting the visitors 282 to win and looked to be in the box seat at the start of day 4 having them 175/8.
Who else but Shane Warne. They weren’t done yet and in classic Australian fashion, Warne and his partner Brett Lee clawed the Baggy Greens closer to their target.
Warne was dismissed with the score at 220. But Lee and Michael Kasprowicz dragged them within three runs of a famous victory and a 2-0 series lead.
Step up Steve Harmison.
Watch him dismiss Kasprowicz caught behind to famously win by just two runs.
Clawing the series back to 1-1, England went on to win the series 2-1 and hold the urn for the first time since 1987.
India vs Australia – Kolkata (2001)
A 171 run victory for India at Eden Gardens doesn’t sound all that special but this was more than just a home victory. It declared a massive shift in the cricketing landscape as Australia’s invincibility was broken.
At the time, Australia was chasing a record-breaking 17th Test win and had India following on after a first innings lead of 274.
Out walked VVS Laxman, and he refused to walk back. Joined at the crease by ‘The Wall’ Rahul Dravid when the score was 232/4 the pair put on an incredible fifth wicket partnership.
When McGrath finally broke through, the damage was done. Laxman walked off with a mammoth 281 runs to his name and Dravid finished on 180 himself.
The target for Aussie, 384.
For any team chasing that total in the fourth innings is a daunting task. And it proved too much for Steve Waugh’s side as they were all out for 212.
Harbhajan Singh spun a web, taking 6 for 73.
New Zealand vs England – Wellington (2023)
The most recent Test match on this list I was fortunate to be at. One of two Tests that have resulted in a 1 run victory.
The other being the West Indies famous win over the Baggy Greens at Adelaide in 1993.
In their Baz Ball era, England dominated the first Test winning by 267 runs. The visitors held all the power in the second Test at the Basin Reserve after two impressive knocks from Joe Root and Harry Brook propelled them to 435/8d.
In return, the Black Caps could only manage 209 and were made to follow on. What followed was an all-time great comeback. Kane Williamson led the way with 132, backed by Tom Latham (83), Daryl Mitchell (54) and Tom Blundell (90) they put on 483 leaving England 258 to get in a day and half.
The way England were playing, they could chase that down in two sessions, but the Kiwi fast bowling unit had other ideas.
Southee (3/45), Henry (2/75) and Neil Wagner (4/62) refused to let up.
Needing just 57 runs with five wickets in hand to wrap the series up 2-0, England crumbled.
Words cannot describe this moment, so instead, watch the Day 5 highlights below.
Neil Wagner the GOAT.
India vs Australia – Chennai (1986)
The only other tied Test in history came in 1986, the first Test of Australia’s tour of India.
Australia batted first scoring a mammoth 574/7d. David Boon and Allan Border both scoring centuries but Dean Jones was the standout with his double ton.
In return India avoided any chance of a follow on, but still trailed by 177 runs.
Wanting to start the series strong, Allan Border declared again in the second innings with a lead of 348.
An improbable target but thanks to Sunil Gavaskar’s 90 runs opening the batting they got closer than anyone expected.
In what would have been a famous victory, India fell just short when Maninder Singh was trapped LBW when the scores were level.
England vs Australia – Headingley (2019)
Another Ashes classic and quite possibly one of the most astonishing individual performances by any man on a cricket field.
What Ben Stokes did that day to the Aussie’s was utter filth.
Chaos, magic and drama. Controlled madness by the English skipper. Chasing 359, the Poms were all but out of it at 286/9. Jack Leach strolled into the middle and contributed just 1 run. He did his job though, remaining not out facing his 17 balls.
Ben Stokes took control from that point onwards. Farming the strike, going on the offensive and unleashing an onslaught that left players and fans alike stunned.
The drama through the next 10 overs was unlike anything else. Australia had their chances, a missed run out and a plumb LBW that wasn’t reviewed. All while Stokes continued to drag his side closer to the target.
Stokes finished on an unbeaten 135 from 219 deliveries and England won by one wicket.
The highlight reels from that game will live on forever and in my mind, is the greatest Test match I’ve witnessed.
South Africa vs England – Durban (1948)
Low-scoring affairs always can produce classics.
And a long time ago, South Africa and England played out one of the most thrilling, low-scoring endings to a Test match.
South Africa were only able to score 161 in the first innings and restrict the English to 253. Their second innings wasn’t a whole lot better but in these low-scoring games any total seems defendable.
Needing 128 to win, England never really got going in what was a back-and-forth 4th innings. All results were still in play as the Test drew to a close and with just two balls remaining, no one could’ve predicted how it finished.
England needed two runs from two balls and South Africa needed two wickets.
South Africa missed their chance as Cliff Gladwin scampered through for a single to take strike for the final ball.
The final ball smashed Gladwin in the pad, fell in front of him and he and Alec Bedser took off for a single and secured a memorable win.
Australia vs West Indies – Adelaide (1993)
I mentioned it earlier, but this was the only other Test match to end in a one run victory.
Australia was on the rise and the West Indies seemed to be falling off. After five tough days of Test cricket, Curtly Ambrose was the man to win it for the West Indies.
Two relatively even first innings totals had both sides right in the game. It wasn’t until Tim May ripped through the West Indian lower order knocking them over for just 146.
Australia needed a very gettable 186. But at 74/7 they were in big trouble.
Hero with the ball, Tim May stepped up with the bat scoring an unbeaten 42 but no one else could hang around to help him. Craig McDermott held his own until with just one to win, Curtley Ambrose knicked him off and ran off the boundary rope celebrating.