ENG vs WI: In January 1998, England were on a tour of the West Indies. The Test match that started on January 29 was declared a draw in just 61 balls.
On This Day: Exactly 25 years ago on this day, the shortest Test match in the history of cricket was played between England vs West Indies. This match lasted only 56 minutes. The match ended in a draw as players were repeatedly injured due to the dangerous looking pitch. The match was played at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica. England captain Mike Atherton won the toss and elected to bat first in this match which started on 29 January 1998. Then West Indies have dangerous fast bowlers like Courtney Walls and Curtly Ambrose. Captain Brian Lara initially handed over the bowling command to the duo.
Aggressiveness of Windies bowlers with cracks in the pitch.
Walls and Ambrose have troubled England’s top order with their fast bowling. These bowlers are getting a lot of help from the pitch. There are cracks in the pitch. The ball is falling on it. England batsmen target the whole body. Due to this, the physio had to be brought into the field again and again. In the first 56 minutes of the game, the England physio had to come on the field 6 times to fix his players’ injuries.
Test ended in a draw in 61 balls..
In this match, England’s batsmen managed to score only 9 runs in the first 44 balls. Three wickets fell. After the next 17 balls, the umpires declared the match a draw. In fact, after the first ball of the 11th over of the match, England captain Mike Atherton went to the umpires and complained about the pitch. The umpires decided to draw the match. By the time the match was drawn, the England team had lost 3 wickets for 17 runs in 10.1 overs.
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