Ball of the Century

The Ball of the Century, also referred to as the Gatting Ball [cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20796817-5001023,00.html|title=Warnie's 'Ball of the Century'|publisher=Daily Telegraph (Australia)|date=2006-11-21] or simply That Ball [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport/hi/english/static/in_depth/cricket/2001/ashes/legends/warne.stm|publisher=BBC|title=Shane Warne|date=2001] , is the nickname given to a cricket delivery bowled by Australia's Shane Warne to England's Mike Gatting. The incident occurred on day 2 of the first Test of the 1993 Ashes series, which took place at Old Trafford, Manchester. [cite web|url=http://uk.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1993/AUS_IN_ENG/AUS_ENG_T1_03-07JUN1993.html|title=1st Test: England vs Australia, 3-7 Jun 1993|publisher=cricinfo] On his first ball against England, Warne produced a spectacular delivery that bowled Gatting. It became recognised as being of considerable significance in not just the context of the match or series, but in cricket in general, helping to revive the neglected discipline of leg spin bowling.

Background

The 1993 Ashes series was the first to be played by a full-strength English team following the suspension of several players for touring South Africa during the Apartheid era. Australia had won the Ashes from England in 1989 and had easily defended the urn in 1990/91 against the depleted English team. With the return of several senior players in 1993, England looked able to seriously challenge Australia in the upcoming series.

The pitch at Old Trafford traditionally favours spin bowling, and England picked two spin bowlers: Phil Tufnell and debutant Peter Such. In contrast, Australia picked three fast bowlers, with the inexperienced Warne as the only spinner. Warne had played in 11 test matches up to that point, and taken 31 wickets at a moderate average of 30.80 runs per wicket. Although showing some promise, Warne's early career had been less than spectactular and his style of bowling - leg spin - was seen by many cricket followers as an antiquated art with little value in the modern game. Pace bowling had dominated the game since the legendary West Indian pace bowlers of the 1970s and 1980s.

English captain Graham Gooch won the toss and elected to bowl first, hoping to use the pitch conditions to make batting difficult for the Australians. Despite Australia's Mark Taylor and Michael Slater scoring centuries, Australia were dismissed for a moderate total of 289 runs. England also began well, reaching 71 runs before Mike Atherton was dismissed by Merv Hughes.Mike Gatting was the next man to bat, and he duly set about scoring runs. At this point, Australian captain Allan Border turned to his leg spinner, Warne. However, Mike Gatting was renowned as a world-class player of spin bowling, and was fully expected to give the inexperienced Warne a tough time.

The delivery itself

After a slow run-up of just a few paces, Warne rolled his right arm over and delivered a leg break to the right-handed Gatting. In slow-motion, it can be seen that the ball initially travels straight down the pitch towards the batsman. As it travels towards the batsman, the rapidly spinning cricket ball starts to drift to the right (due to the Magnus effect). The ball ends up bouncing several inches outside Gatting's leg stump.

Gatting responded by thrusting his left leg forward towards the pitch of the ball, and pushing his bat next to his pad. This was a standard tactic used by most experienced batsmen, with the intention that the ball hits the pad or the bat. Since the ball lands outside the leg stump, the batsman cannot be given out LBW, and if the ball spins slightly more than expected, it will hit the bat and bounce safely to the ground.

Upon bouncing, however, the ball spun far more than expected. It passed the outside edge of Gatting's bat, and clipped the top of his off-stump, dislodging the bails. In a memorable image, Gatting simply stared at the pitch in unbelieving amazement for several seconds, before accepting his fate and walking off the field.

The dismissal was captured in a famous photograph by Steve Lindsell, in which Gatting's in shock, while wicketkeeper Ian Healy raises his arms in celebration behind and Gatting's off bail spins somewhere above his head [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/4344977.stm|publisher=BBC|title=Warne to set up base in England] .

The aftermath

The fall of Gatting's wicket left England on 80 runs for 2 wickets, a position from which they never recovered, as Warne added the wicket of Robin Smith a mere four runs later. Warne also accounted for Gooch and Andy Caddick in the innings, helping to reduce England to a first innings total of just 210. Encouraged by their bowling, Australia declared their second innings at 432 for 5 wickets. Warne then contributed four more wickets as Australia won the match by 179 runs, winning the man of the match award for his efforts.

This result of this match set the tone for the remainder of the series, and Australia cruised to a comfortable 4-1 victory, with Warne taking a total of 34 wickets at an average of 25.79 and sharing the man of the series award with Gooch.

Legacy

This series marked the beginning of a long domination of world cricket by Australia, coinciding with the incredibly successful career of Warne. Warne's bowling also provided an eye-opening insight into the subtleties and power of leg spin bowling for modern cricket audiences, who had become used to the spectacle of pace attacks, and marked a worldwide resurgence of popularity in the art of spin bowling in general, and leg spin in particular.

Soon after the event, media began calling Warne's delivery to Gatting the "Ball of the Century".Fact|date=February 2008 Since then, Warne has come to be acknowledged as one of the best bowlers in history. During the penultimate Test match of his career on Boxing Day 2006, in the fourth Ashes test against England, Warne took his 700th Test wicket, bowling Andrew Strauss to become the first cricketer ever to reach this milestone. Many of those wickets have been the result of amazing deliveries, some perhaps technically as good as the ball to Gatting. However, the significance of the ball in so many contexts, as well as the sheer amazement generated in people who view video of its remarkable trajectory, have made the appellation stick.

Perhaps the most memorable and amusing quote which emerged as a result of Warne's now famous delivery came from England captain Graham Gooch, on the reaction of Gatting: "He looked as though someone had just nicked his lunch.", particularly comical as Gatting is much-mocked for his rotundness.cite web|url=http://content-www.cricinfo.com/columns/content/story/281064.html|title=Fat bats and roly bowlers|publisher=cricinfo] This was further alluded to by journalist Martin Johnson, who said "How anyone can spin a ball the width of Gatting boggles the mind", and again by Gooch who added "If it had been a cheese roll, it would never have got past him." [cite web|url=http://sport.guardian.co.uk/ashes2005/story/0,,1546709,00.html|publisher=The Guardian|title=Warne turns myth into mastery|date=2005-08-11]

Trivia

* In 2002, the Ball of the Century was ranked 92nd in Channel 4's list of 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.

* During the Old Trafford Test of the 2005 Ashes series, the long-retired Gatting re-created the "Ball Of The Century" with an automated bowling machine programmed to deliver leg spin.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/06/1075854064974.html "Sydney Morning Herald" article on the top 25 moments in Australian cricket]
* [http://au.888.com/shane-warne/"Shane Warne" News, Pictures and Videos about Shane Warne]