Alec Stewart and Andy Caddick's Last Wicket Partnership vs Australia at Birmingham in 2001

In the Ist Test in the 2001 Ashes series at Birmingham, Alec Stewart and Andy Caddick rescued England's batting from complete disasters. Both put an incredible batting show on the last wicket, which frustrates Australian bowlers. After lunch Australians picked up the game to get five wickets and it looked like they'd wrap it up pretty quickly after England had them 9/191 just after tea. But Caddick and Stewart got going and smashed all around the park to nearly take the score to 300. Alec Stewart scored 65 off 82 balls including 9 fours and Andy Caddick remains not out on 49 in 59 balls including 7 fours and 1 six. Let's get into the video.

The 103 run-partnership between Alec Stewart and Andrew Caddick was the 15th-century partnership for the tenth wicket in Test cricket. It was the fourth-century partnership for England in all Tests. It was also the best for England against Australia on home soil. Australia won the test match by an innings and 118 runs. It was a pretty clinical performance, professional," "as they put the ball in the right place and took the catches. Australia played aggressive cricket and was backed by the crowd; they had a good time out there.

Andy Roberts Three Brutual Deliveries to Tony Greig in the First Test 1976 at Nottingham

It is difficult to quantify the impact Andy Roberts had when he first emerged in the early 1970s. Watch this video to witness how Andy Roberts' three brutal deliveries against Tony Greg in the first innings of the 1976 First Test at Nottingham left the captain stunned with a beautiful thunderbolt. Andy Roberts was hitting his stride at a very fast pace at this point in his career.

Dennis Lillee called him the most complete fast bowler he had seen at the time. However, the foundation of his game, at least in the early years, was some significant pace. He was part of the West Indies team that won the first two Prudential World Cups in England in 1975 and 1979.

John Snow feels that Roberts saw reduced effectiveness after being over bowled by Hampshire and West Indies in 1974.

Andy Roberts took 28 wickets in five Tests in England in 1976, including ten in the match at Lord's and nine at Old Trafford. During that series, he reached 100 Test wickets in just his 19th match. At that times, only five bowlers have ever got there faster and none of them was a bowler of true pace. He is still 7^th fastest bowler to reach the 100 wickets milestones in Test cricket.

 If the credit for South Africa's success in the modern era could be given to one player, that cricketer would be Allan Donald. He made his test debut on 18 April 1992 at the age of 26 against the West Indies in the one-off test tour to the West Indies at Barbados, a test match which also marked the historic occasion of being South Africa's first test in nearly 22 years since their readmission. The test match also marked South Africa's first-ever test match against a non-white nation as it was also their first test ever against the West Indies. On his debut, he scored a pair including a 21-ball duck in the first innings. However, he shined with the ball on his test debut picking up six wickets (2–67 and 4–77) for the match inclusive of a four-wicket haul in the second innings. He also picked up the prized wicket of Brian Lara. However, West Indies managed to win the one-off test by 52 runs to take the series 1–0.

Let's watch the Allan Donald's spell.

A classical action and top-drawer pace would have won him a place in any side in his prime, and for much of his career, he was the only world-class performer in the South African team, spearing the ball in, shaping it away, and always making things happen. Often nicknamed 'White Lightning' due to his quick bowling, he is considered one of the South African national cricket team's most successful pace bowlers. He was an integral member of the South African team in its resurgence into international cricket since readmission and played an influential role as a frontline genuine seam bowler to boost South Africa to new heights.  During his playing career, he was known for his bowling speed and aggression on the field.

He is also remembered for his infamous runout during South Africa's loss in the 1999 World Cup semi-final match against Australia. Donald is the first South African to take 300 Test wickets. Donald was one of the top fast bowlers in Test cricket, reaching the top of the ICC Test rankings in 1998, peaking with a ranking of 895 points the next year. In One Day Internationals (ODIs), he reached 794 points in 1998, ranked second behind teammate Shaun Pollock. If speed guns had been introduced in the early part of his career, his bowling speed would have been around 95 mph. Allan Donald's speed decreased due to multiple injuries, but his accuracy never let him down.

He shared the new ball with Pollock from the 1996-97 tour of India until his retirement in 2002. Allan Donald is known for his friendship with Pollock especially when they used to be regular bowling partners for South Africa. Donald described Pollock as South Africa's Glenn McGrath. He featured in four World Cup tournaments for South Africa in 1992, 1996, 1999 and 2003. Allan Donald played cricket, soccer, and rugby as a child and completed his primary education at the Technical High School.

Nathan Astle 3 Wickets for 4 Runs vs England at Wellington in Feb 2002

In the 2^nd day and night one-day international match between New Zealand vs England at Wellington on Feb 16, 2002. Nathan Astle stuns the English batsman with his medium-pace bowling. He was the final destroyer who took three wickets for four runs to polish off the innings and he was left on a hat-trick as well. On the slow surface, England stumbled to 40 for six and only narrowly surpassed their previous lowest score 86 against Australia at Old Trafford in 2001. England were dismissed for 89 in 37.2 overs. It wasn't a pretty sight, nor was it a comfortable ride for batsmen unprepared to play themselves in, adapt to the pace, and recognize that boundary-hitting was always going to be a luxury on such a slow outfield. Let's watch the Nathan Astle Spell.

New Zealand had to play the conditions on memory but their handling of a difficult pitch to beat England by 155 runs in the National Bank Series One-Day International on WestpacTrust Stadium in Wellington was a clinical lesson in adaptability.

Recent efforts by administrators and groundsmen in New Zealand have made these sorts of pitches a thing of the past, and it was only because of watering, to eliminate the scars of last weekend's IRB Rugby Sevens at the same venue, being followed by two and a half days of torrential rain, that this pitch slipped through the net.

That New Zealand appreciated this was obvious from their score of 244/8 - in that score there were only 14 fours and three sixes. Or 74 runs out of 244. That left an awful lot of running to be done by batsmen using placement and timing to gain maximum utility from the ground.

England failed to bowl either the right length or line consistently enough to pressure New Zealand. When confronted by those requirements being met by New Zealand's bowlers, their batsmen couldn't cope.

New Zealand have been looking to develop their batting along these lines and recognition of what was required under the circumstances was a hint of greater consistency emerging. This was England's lowest total they have scored against New Zealand. The previous worst was at Lancaster Park in 1982/83 when they scored 127. In simple words, this was a complete rout. Andrew Flintoff provided some final resistance to score 26 and Ashley Giles hit 12 but the final destroyer proved to be Nathan Astle who took three for four to polish off the innings.

England's fielding was shoddy and three catches were dropped; Nasir Hussain later pointed to a lack of intensity. The crowd had no such problems, particularly during the interval, when Peter Jackson, the director of The Lord of the Rings, stood on the pitch with a microphone and persuaded them to make howling, growling, grunting noises for use in battle scenes in The Two Towers.

Ravi Shastri and Vinod Kambli 124 Runs opening Partnership vs Pakistan at Sharjah 1991

In the sixth match of the Wills Trophy Sharjah Cup on Oct 23, 1991. Indian batsman Ravi Shastri and Vinod Kambli hammer the strong Pakistani bowling lineup by putting 124 runs in the first wicket partnership. Pakistan's bowling lineup consists of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed, Imran Khan, and Akram Raza. Pakistan batted first after winning the Toss and put a challenging target of 257/7 on the slow surface.  Aamer Sohail, 91 Zahid Fazal 39, Saleem Malik 42, and Imran Khan 43 were the major contributors.

In reply, India was well on target to put 124 runs first wicket partnership. Ravi Shastri and Vinod Kambli toying with the Pakistan bowling, but once Vindo Kambli was caught behind, off Aqib Javed's bowling, the rest of the Indian batting didn’t respond well and lost the match by 4 runs. Ravi Shastri 77, Kambli 40, Sanjay Manjrekar 49, and Sachin Tendulkar 49 were the main contributors to India. This was an extremely tense clash between arch-rivals. Aamer Sohail was declared Player of the Match. 

Let's watch Shastri and Vindo Kambli's first wicket partnership.

Ijaz Ahmad 102 not out vs Sri Lanka at Brisbane 1989-90

Ijaz Ahmad scored a hundred against Sri Lanka at Brisbane in the 6^th Match of the Benson and Hedges World Series on February 10, 1990. Sri Lanka Set a stiff target of 253 with the help of Hashan Tilakaratne 61 and Asanka Gurusinha 88.  In reply, Ijaz Ahmad came one down and started playing strokes. He scored 102 Not Out in 100 Balls with the help of 9 Fours and 1 Six in 150 minutes. Pakistan won the match by 5 wickets with 18 balls remaining. He was also declared player of the match. He also took 2 brilliant catches. This was Ijaz Ahmad's 2^nd ODI hundred.

Ijaz Ahmed born on 20 September 1968 in Sialkot. The former cricketer played 60 Test matches and 250 One Day Internationals for Pakistan from 1986 to 2001. His family roots lie in the city of Jalandhar, Indian Punjab. Some of his cousins are still live there. He is a brother-in-law of former Pakistan international cricketer and captain Saleem Malik.