Tony Becca

THE SECOND Test of the Ashes series between Aus-tralia and England is now history. Unlike so many Test matches which fade away into oblivion, however, this one will be remembered, probably forever, as one of the greatest of all time - the last day as one of the most dramatic in the history of the game and one during which Australia underlined their claim as one of the greatest teams of all time.

Early on the third day of the five-day Test match, Australia, on 65 for three replying to England's 551 for six declared, were on the run and, at the start of the final day with England on 59 for one and leading by 97 after dismissing Australia for 513, the match appeared destined for a dull, unexciting draw.

In one of the greatest finishes ever, however, in only the third time in the history of the game that a team, batting first, had scored more than 550 runs and lost, Australia, thanks mainly to Shane Warne, but also Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath and Stuart Clark, to Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke, stormed to victory by six wickets to grab a 2-0 lead in the five-match contest.

Did Australia, led by captain Ponting, dare even to dream that they could have won the match going into the final day?

Based on Ponting's talk on the fourth evening about Warne's skill and about chasing a target, based on the fact that they opened the bowling with Warne and had fielders around the bat like vultures, Australia did dare and because of that, because, with the opposition on 59 for one after scoring 551 in their first innings, ordinary mortals would have settled for a draw and would simply have gone through the motions, they deserve to be remembered forever.

Another important thing coming out of this match is that great men really do great deeds when great deeds are necessary.

Batsmen paralysed

After picking up only one wicket in the first innings, Warne, the greatest spin bowler of all time, arguably the greatest bowler of all time, stepped up to the plate. In 27 overs in a row, in four hours during which he, a leg-spinner, bowled only two full tosses, he stifled and then paralysed the England batsmen while picking up four wickets for 19 runs.

The England batsmen were so frightened by Warne's prodigious spin that they were like sitting ducks. Ian Bell was like a man in a daze when he was run out. Kevin Pietersen, the right-hander who scored 158 in the first innings, was bowled by a delivery which pitched way outside his leg-stump, went behind him and hit the top of his off-stump. Geraint Jones was so confused by Warne's magic that he must now be wondering what made him chase the wide delivery from Lee that he edged to Matthew Hayden in the slips.

Ashley Giles, another right-hander, was bamboozled by a delivery that pitched way outside the leg-stump and with the batsman playing right back on to his stumps, nicked the outside edge of the bat and a big-spinning googly that flew off the inside edge of his bat and on to the stumps was wasted on Matthew Hoggard.

The sight of Giles standing frozen and in disbelief as the ball flew straight to Hayden at slip, will linger with me for a long time.

In what was simply a nightmare for their batsmen who were rendered stroke less, England, who batted for a total of 73 overs while scoring 129 runs, added 70 for the loss of nine wickets off 54 overs during the day with 30 runs coming off 28 overs for the loss of four wickets before lunch and then 40 off 23 for the loss of five before tea.

Set 168 to win off 36 overs, Australia went for the runs, and although, unlike the one-day version of the game, there was no limitation in the number of overs a bowler could bowl, although normal wides were allowed, and although there was no restriction in the field placing, knocked them off with 3.1 overs to spare.

Embarrassing day

It was an embarrassing day for England's batsmen who looked afraid, timid and who were totally out of their depth. Maybe the world of cricket should have some sympathy for them, however.

It was Warne at his best, it was spin bowling at its best and although the surface must have contributed, based on the poor performance of England's left-arm spinner Giles, who was forced to bowl with men on the boundary, it had little or nothing to do with the fact that the master spinner was operating on a wearing pitch on the last day of a Test match.