1979 Australia v England (first test after World Series Cricket)

The 'reconciliation test' between Australia and England, 1997 highlights tape. From the sleeve:
"This was the first summer played on Australian soil since the reconciliation of the ACB and WSC.
When the players stepped onto the WACA ground
in Perth, there was no shortage of controversy or highlights.
The Aussie were sent into bat first and with Dennis Lillee producing his infamous aluminium bat, the series started at a tremendous pace. Hughes and Border shone with the bat, while the pace of Lillee and Dymock was enough to unsettle the Englishmen.
Geoff Boycott suffered a similar fate to Kim Hughes in the second innings, finishing unbeaten on 99, while a young Ian Botham did his bit with the ball, taking match figures of 11-176."

[@FootyOnTheRadio]

i love these old vids.

[@roybennett9284]

Geoff Dymock very underrated bowler,ended up as tour manager for the 1984aussie Carribbean tour.had to continue teaching due to poor cricket wages.

[@rsmani41crichapp]

Marvellous collection. I do remember hearing the ball by ball broadcast on australian broadcasting corporation in those days of radio cricket commentary. I vividly remember Graham Dilley making his debut in that match at the WACA.

[@zxzv1]

You may have heard the commentary on ABC's Radio Australia - those days could get the commentary on shortwave radio with occasional interruptions from Radio Moscow.

[@zibtihaj3213]

i heard he was REAL quick

[@b3108]

Nice sound off that aluminium bat

[@jonglewongle3438]

8:03 - the kid fielding that ball just played Test cricket in that instance. That ball is still inside the boundary and still in play and the umpire won't have yet officially signalled four for that. I saw a more adolescent kid do that some years later on TV and said the same thing to someone then. I don't recommend doing that at the risk of interfering with looming fieldsman chasing down a live ball, but if you must have the vicarious charge of doing that then wait for a boundary shot well away from any fieldsman.

[@hifives2]

Botham at 24 yo was an awesome player back then

[@NishitShukla]

But not as good as Kapil, could never win any tournament for England.

[@hifives2]

@@NishitShukla Cricket is team effort it's not Golf.

[@NishitShukla]

@@hifives2 So is football, but you win coz of Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar.

[@hifives2]

@@NishitShukla That's like saying the Allies won the war because they had Montgomery and Patton .

[@NishitShukla]

@@hifives2 That's stretching the debate a bit too far. Ya but generals win wars, not soldiers. Kapil was a general, Botham could never attain that status, was a nobody in ODIs.

[@HHM706]

Poor old Derek Randall was really pissed about by England....he batted at number 1 through to 7 in his test career.

[@simongleaden2864]

Yes, that's true. I thought he was best at No 4, but the statistics probably disprove that!

[@roybennett9284]

Pity the Lillee and Thomson partnership didn't happen like in 1974/75,only given two tests during this series.

[@bmrcoachingacademy8531]

This is not the first test post World Series in Australia that was the week before at the Gabba v West Indies, this is the 1st test v England but not the 1st test.

[@raajac2720]

Kim Hughes is great player,most underrated australian cricketer.aus board and associates gave too much mental tool for him.he very best cut and pull .

[@BruceLee-sw4ms]

About 6 months later , Kim Hughes was Man of the match in the 1980 centenary test , scoring 117 and I think about 87 .

[@jessesands4099]

Allan Border's First Test Century Against England There Were Many More To Come In The Future!😀🏏1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣🇦🇺🇬🇧

[@HHM706]

Tony Jones..another unbiased Aussie!! 😂😂😂

[@user-lc5kk3nm2g]

RIP Derek

[@beano1eye]

5:15 helmet at Gully?

[@jimmilligan6026]

Great time for the cricket

[@emmyssport2176]

That second lbw the one against Border. Must have been Aleem Dar just flown in from a time machine 😏

[@MichaelMenegazzo]

Pppppppp Pppppp

[@thelorax9622]

"Botham" with a short 'o' - he wasn't well known then, hey :)

[@simongleaden2864]

As I understand it, the short "o" was the pronunciation used by Botham himself, and that his parents disagreed over the pronunciation. In 1978 Phil Carrick of Yorkshire used the short "o" version when he spoke to me, so that gives the impression that some of his fellow players used that pronunciation.

[@markhiggins8315]

It seems that the England selectors were ok for Underwood to return after Packer but not Knott. They could have really done with him, I'm not referring to the sitter of a stumping Taylor fluffed(as to be fair this was so out of character as he was a fine keeper) but to the huge difference Knott made at number 7, his 30 half centuries and 5 centuries in around 90 tests was exceptional for a keeper in those days plus as excellent as Taylor was I think Knott was even better with the gloves.

[@boymeetsbush8232]

Agree. Knott was by far the best pure wicketkeeper of all times

[@TimHall42]

I seem to remember that Knott declined to tour for family reasons,

[@TheJonkerr7]

Interesting that when WSC took the bulk fo Australia's best, Eng were very happy to play for the Ashes yet when they all came back, Eng refused to put them at stake for this series! Ahh, as Keith Miller warned Ian Chappell - never trust the Poms!! LOL ;)

[@berrywilton7334]

The easy way out😂

[@HoratioFitzbastard]

I think it was mainly because it was only a three test series.

[@markdp1983]

Lillee: caught Willey, bowled Dilley...

[@markhayward7400]

With Derek Randall opening and Geoff Miller coming in to bat before Ian Botham you would be hard pushed to claim that England made the most of their batting resources in this innings

[@berrywilton7334]

My favorite sports : Lacrosse Soccer 70s and 80s cricket videos Bill Lawrys voice

[@ncoz655]

Super catch by Hughes. Peter Willey at 3????

[@jandekker6055]

Miller at 5 seems a very strange selection at this distance.

[@TimHall42]

It did at the time, especially as Gooch was 12th man

[@kirchunetwork1986]

56.24 was that allowed ? Lillee rubbing the ball on the ground.

[@TheJonkerr7]

Yep, the balls were slippery so the opening bowlers would rub it on the ground a bit to take some of the lacquer off and make it easier to grip. Nob0dy really knew of reverse then and it was an accepted practice.

[@rugbyleaguevideos]

It wasn't the first.Test. The Test vs WI at Gabba was the first one.

[@davidgeisler9885]

rugbyleaguevideos first test of the England series

[@vantheman1244]

On the two team lists including all 12 players each team has five all time great players from their respective countries. It’s obvious to me which of the five come from the Australian 12 and the England 12. Do you know which five on each side I’m talking about?

[@brendanbullen8964]

Easy with England - Boycott, Gower, Botham, Underwood, Willis. Easy to pick 4 from Aust. - Border, Chappell, Marsh, Lillee. Harder for fifth - toss up between Hughes and Thomson, I'll go Thommo.

[@jonglewongle3438]

@@brendanbullen8964 Ray Bright. What's he good for ? Lower middle order bat. Second string bowler. Yeah, he'll bag a wicket here and there if thrown the ball, but spin and lower medium pace bowling easily covered by Chappell. and even Weiner and Border.

[@kirchunetwork1986]

Compare the bowling action of Jeff Thomson from this match with against India in 1977-78 series you will see he lengthened the run up and bowling much closer to the stumps thus losing that angle which used to cause lot of problems to the batsmen. He was also bowling much slower and shorter.

[@simongleaden2864]

Thomson.

[@kirchunetwork1986]

@@simongleaden2864 there you go,fixed the typo

[@kunalsingh3121]

He was actually at his fastest this summer after his shoulder injury in ''Adelaide 1976'' he was hardly that quick in 1977/78 India series.

[@kirchunetwork1986]

@@kunalsingh3121 if possible please watch the videos of 1977-78 series uploaded by Jai Galagali and you will notice what I am talking about

[@kunalsingh3121]

@@kirchunetwork1986 Well I don't need to watch video highlights I was around in the era and grew up in that same period....Your assesment is correct but he bowls close to stump even in this summer...His spell vs West Indies against Viv at Gabba in 1979 is not known was a rapid one,,,he smashed Desmond in the box too... He was alone in that series also due to Packer but I only objected your last point about speed fact is he was never consistently fast after Adelaide test in 1976 but still can bowl in range if 145-150 km/h as compared to 150s and even 161-162 early in his carrer

[@markh9749]

At the time, some of the selection choices made by England were strange. With the distance of time those same decisions are incredible. Derek Randall was the least suitable batsman to open the batting and was pushed up the order solely because Mike Brearley, who should have taken an opener's spot, wasn't test class as a batsman, either there or in any position.

[@jonglewongle3438]

My brother said that about Mike Brearly, that he was not a Test class batsman. And then my dad said, but, well, you know, he's doing the captaincy successfully, re; when the Ashes were in play.

[@markh9749]

@Jongle Wongle Mike Brearley was well regarded by his peers as a Captain and his book "The Art Of Captaincy" is a thoughtful record of the skills he brought to the Captaincy. But, he was a lucky Captain too. At test level, I think any Captain would have led England to a victory over an Aussie team denuded of its key talent by Packer's WSC. At the level of the English county FC game, he could call on bowlers like Titmus, Edmonds Emburey and Van Der Bijl to take wickets. His own pawky batting arguably came at the expense of others like Graham Barlow and Wilf Slack. Brearley was a great Captain, but luck as well as judgement made him so.

[@ManishKumar-vq2th]

upload all the Australian Videos on youtube

[@ncf1]

This whole Test match was perfectly orchestrated by the English to ensure Boycott remained not out on 99 in the second innings.

[@HoratioFitzbastard]

Why do you think Bob Willis was captain the next time they toured? 😉

[@ssankara68]

Ball tampering by Lillee at 56:30.

[@siredith8846]

51:08 how much of a run up does Thompson need?

[@baydnkynaston8828]

cant argue with the result

[@simonboland]

Thommo was pushing off the boundary.

[@philhogan5623]

Typical AB playing a lone hand while wickets fell all around him.

[@johnt7630]

Can't Believe Derek Randall opened for England. Bizarre! Why wasn't Brearley opening ?

[@pmam1968]

Cos he didn’t fancy facing Lillee and Thomson with a new ball at the WACA.

[@BruceLee-sw4ms]

Because they knew brearley couldn’t bat.

[@VCT3333]

Plus the Aussie side was riven with dissention. The guys who stuck with ACB hated the guys who played WSC. By 1985 the team was in low spirits. That's when Border took over and just got rid of all these guys and started promoting younger players. Took a while to gel, but once it did, Aussies have taken off and are a worthy successors to the Great WI sides from 1975-95.

[@TheJonkerr7]

That is a load of bullshit. After WSC Greg Chappell returned as skipper and stayed in that role, except for some overseas tours, until his retirement in 1983. WSC and ACB players played together, in the national side Rod Hogg and Allan Border two examples, and they were fine with the guys who came back - they were getting paid better because fo them for a start! After Greg, Kim Hughes took over as skipper, leading a side minus Chappell and Lillee who had also retired...Rod Marsh followed soon after. Hughes then quit and Border took over but the Australian skipper does not pick the side. Simpson then came in as coach and the start of the climb to the top started with the 87 WC win, followed by the 89 Ashes

[@davidgraham8299]

​@@TheJonkerr7 Exactly right. The previous poster clearly doesn't know shit.

[@roybennett9284]

When Mike Brealey looked like a holy man from of Iran.

[@brendanbullen8964]

The Ayatollah look was in fashion in 1979.

[@roybennett9284]

Gee Lillee bat makes a clunk

[@jonglewongle3438]

He made a bit of an idiot of himself with that " innovation ". It is okay in something like baseball, but it's complications in cricket.

[@HoratioFitzbastard]

It's ok when you're getting a nice bit of coin on the side lol

[@michealnash753]

Thats like one country playing with its own self wow aussies come from thr uk

[@siredith8846]

43:35 Lilley caught Willey bowled Dilley

[@HoratioFitzbastard]

Bowled Milli Vanilli

[@jeffreyashton6405]

having seen Bob Taylor and Alan Knott play Taylor was far superior standing up to medium pace and indeed the fast men on occasions but Knott was a better batsman

[@hanajinks1044]

Knott is the best Keeper l saw, and I'm an Aussie that loved Marsh.

[@lewisgreen1633]

19.44 too high and drifting down leg..

[@agr7879]

Some of the umpiring back then, especially from Australian umpires was truly dreadful

[@magicmike2319]

aluminium bat! what was he thinking?

[@TimHall42]

Money

[@ray.shoesmith]

Lillee ct Willey b Dilley

[@kirkbrookes4812]

.no way was boycott lbw.and why was Randall sacrafised again.he's not an opener.

[@112sje]

It was well down the leg side. "Arkle" was my no:1 hero when I was a member at Trent Bridge but he must have had the worst fitting face I have ever seen in the England team. Throughout his Test & ODI career he either zig-zagged in & out of the side or up & down the batting order to suit everyone else. His Test batting average was about 33.4 but with a settled batting position it would have been over 40. With his brilliant cover fielding, Derek must have been at least 20 not out before he even took guard.

[@dlamiss]

@@112sje Yes indeed randall was the fall guy on many occasion as well as batting at every position from 1 to 7 yet players like Lamb (albeit a few years later) at one stage only passed 50 twice in 36 test innings yet continued to retain his place. i went on a couple of cricket holidays in the late 80s and Willis and Bob Taylor were the cricket celebs. i asked them about Randall and Willis said he (Randall )was hit on the head in a test in the mid 80s and basically implied Derek lost a bit of his nerve. sad really as Randall never let England down

[@112sje]

@@dlamiss He didn't lose his nerve in the Centenary test after Dennis Lillee hit him on the side of the head and went on to make 174. He was one of the last England batsmen to use a helmet. His did start using a face visor after Michael Holding hit him in the face. His last test was Edgbaston 1984. He always opposed to overseas players (such as Lamb !)playing for England.

[@dlamiss]

indeed, one of the great innings and the great man and my own hero helped him put 166 on for the third wicket..... I was surprised Willis said that about him to be honest as Randall rarely let England down

[@112sje]

@@dlamiss I don't think Willis was ever a big Randall fan. He even disagreed with Derek's Man Of The Match award saying that Dennis Lille should have won it but he had already won the "Colonial Bowler" trophy. I still fondly remember your hero's 203 v West Indies and have used some of his back & across methods to help me deal with pace. He was criticised for developing that technique but look how well it works for Steve Smith now.

[@maxmirni2768]

kims hughes easily the best

[@urbanosprey]

Unbelievably biased against England as usual with Australia TV. Live in a world of their own

[@chaniapellet]

43:40 Lillie bowled Dillie LOL

[@jessesands4099]

Kim Hughes Unfortunately Dismissed For 99 Interestingly Geoff Boycott Carried His Bat To Finish 99 Not Out In England's Second Innings Then In The Third Test In Melbourne Graeme Gooch Was Run Out For 99! Three Scores Of 99 In A Test Series Must Be Some Sort Of Record!🤔🏏9️⃣9️⃣🇦🇺🇬🇧

[@TheJonkerr7]

and an unwanted one by the batsmen I would imagine!

[@HoratioFitzbastard]

In the third test I believe Greg Chappell and David Gower both finished one of their innings on 98 not out.

[@jonrichardson8461]

One of the weakest ever English batting lineups - Miller, Willey, Brearley - and one of the worst Australian- Wiener, Laird, Toohey.

[@TheBundleofkent]

Thats not true about Bruce Laird.......look at his WSC games