WEST INDIES v ENGLAND 1st TEST MATCH DAY 1 JAMAICA JANUARY 29 1998 COURTNEY WALSH MARK BUTCHER

[@Crundmama]

I've wanted to watch longer highlights of this session for a very long time. Disgraceful pitch but what a treat to watch.

[@azapro911]

I remember seeing bits of this on the day it happened, remains by far the most lethal wicket I've seen and especially at this level.

[@paulscottrobson]

I watched it live.

[@pm110978]

Diabolical pitch!

[@KAGSPEAKS]

@DM MORDECAI I WONDER WHAT WOULD HAVE DONE NOT FOR YOUR CHANNEL WHEN UNDER DEPRESSING QUARANTINE DUE TO COVID 19 TWICE IN PAST COUPLE OF YEARS. YOUR PIECES ARE REAL GEMS OF CRICKET FROM AN ERA WHEN CRICKET WAS ART NOT MUCH OF SCIENCE. THANKS A MILLION MATE. GOD BLESS YOU. LOVE & REGARDS FROM INDIA AMIT MISRA

[@dmmordecai7984]

Hello Amit, thank you for your kind words. They are deeply appreciated. All being well, lots more cricket to come. Thanks again, DARREN

[@waynejackel2921]

@@dmmordecai7984 Hello Darren We are in The Caribbean What a Charming Calypso Match. Cracking Classic Cicket. Have a Corking Weekend. WAYNE.

[@dmmordecai7984]

@@waynejackel2921 Hello Wayne, off to Trinidad tomorrow. Have a great weekend, DARREN

[@adityakulkarni3184]

Oh wow. It was Jan 29th, 25 years to the day!

[@barmyarmy8939]

That was alec Stewarts best innings that 9 not out on that pitch 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@tonybatley6101]

@@barmyarmy8939 yep, he went to great pains to keep that 9 n.o. Joking apart, one of my England heroes, a good keeper and a fine batsman!!!🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@barmyarmy8939]

@@tonybatley6101 absolute legend mate

[@tonybatley6101]

@@barmyarmy8939 👍👍

[@Huly241072]

Insane but it was an exciting test match albeit lasting just the one session 😂

[@vantheman1238]

Lara knew from the toss that this was a junkyard track. You half expect guard dogs with huge teeth frothing from the mouth to start attacking the batsmen.

[@nathanwilliams2152]

He wasn't going to be the one to recommend that the match should be abandoned. He'd replaced Walsh (a Jamaican) as captain, and thought he wouldn't get off the island alive if he came out saying that he'd pushed to call it off. A year later though, after his 213 against Australia, all of Jamaica cheered him off the same ground.

[@jamesdunn9930]

Curtly knew, 18.50, this wasn’t going on much longer…

[@lsimmo78]

That wicket looks like a nightmare. The West Indies were very subdued in their celebration of English dismissals because they realised they may have to bat on it.

[@paulscottrobson]

Apparently Ambrose and Walsh weren't going flat out, simply because they didn't want to hurt anyone. The delivery Mark Butcher got was potentially lethal.

[@nathanwilliams2152]

@@paulscottrobson - I've had deliveries like that in club cricket (at a slower pace admittedly), and there's nothing you can do apart from try to get out of the way, and hope it misses you.

[@s3tTz]

Thanks for the upload. Looking forward to seeing what transpires on day 2....

[@DonHomersdonut]

The last time I saw a surface like that was on a documentary about D-Day

[@alenton81]

Bat first & get the best of the wicket 🤯

[@riteshjena3602]

Please upload or share for a short duration for "1998 England vs South Africa Test series" highlights.

[@hamzariazuddin424]

im baffled....i didnt know atherton won the toss and batted. I guess he thouught it would break up completly and be impossible for the 4th

[@ezzNeRF]

1:23 would be better batting first 🤣🤣

[@ramanlionheart6557]

Kohli root smith Williamson and oder moder day players would have been pissing in their paints if they would have faced these ballers with pitches like these

[@AlonsoRules]

pitch up = bouncer; bouncer = grubber

[@tonygreenmike]

" Get the ground staff to roll the pitch a bit more, then after maybe an hour, try it again and see what happens. And if it continues to misbehave, then you can abandon. I thought they acted in haste, and that to me was disappointing.” - Curtly Ambrose

[@sebasback]

I didn’t have Sky in those days. Why is Agnew presenting on a Sky ident but with the BBC theme?

[@JasonC1782]

Because the BBC showed highlights made solely from Sky's coverage.

[@madmusician91]

TWI were making both the Sky coverage and the BBC highlights, which is why there is a particular cross-over here. The Sky ident is from a previous recording on the videotape, but it is worth pointing out that the BBC highlights package is using various elements from the world feed, which also went out on Sky as the live coverage.

[@sebasback]

Thank you both. madmusician I’m a huge fan of your channel btw, have been for years!

[@trinankurmukherjee5370]

Extremely disgraceful pitch to bat on ; the pitch is an absolute under prepared one ; West Indies Cricket Board must be really sorry to arrange a test match on this sort of a pitch . Highly lethal in terms of injuries as well as much more partial to bowlers ; batters had nothing in it .🤨🤨🤨🤨 Should have been inspected a lot more before the start of the match ; a test match had totally been called off on the very first day itself because of horrible pitch conditions is truely a shame .

[@tomcustard]

Great pitch

[@benellis9665]

That ball from Ambrose that went over the keeper's head off a full length is the most outrageous delivery I've ever seen! Certainly no fault of Sir Curtley though!

[@itsmeitoldyouthat1448]

Thats a fine wine you had.

[@Mr.X07260]

Make this pitch for pakistan team please🙄🙄🙄🙄 i want to see world class poki betsamen🧐

[@Duzykutas]

Someone should go to jail for preparing that pitch

[@hughtaylor3234]

I still wonder if it was the wi batting first if this match would have been abandoned when we got dead pitches in Asia we handled! But my opinion were they always wanted to get the black guys off the top were not to be so good is like the commentators were the ones in the middle

[@hughtaylor3234]

And I think after this incident they did succeed to now indian commentators are calling for the sacking of the wi team from test cricket censored

[@ac.bhartiya]

Just imagine if England would have elected to bowl first, would this match be abandoned?? Of course not.

[@ThurstonWatt]

what a stupid comment

[@TheSTEPHENMC5]

Come on man, it was a corrugated roof!

[@stevechapman2553]

Nowt wrong with that, soft lads

[@mmmyeah7]

When players have died playing cricket thats such a shitty comment to make that pitch was a disgrace no matter who batted or bowled on it balls flying over tbe keeping on a length then firing along the ground its a pure lottery thats not a test match thats a joke.

[@Mr.X07260]

Our babur 200 in this pitch 100/:

[@Richard-ld5ct]

R

[@techBuffy]

TBF, Atherton made this mess himself. He decided to bat first, when he knew what the pitch was gonna be like. And knowing how Englishmen moan about toiletries and food and whatnot, I must commend the top-5 to bat 10 overs against two of the very best. Im quite certain, only Caddick would have got somethin out of this from Englands attack. Any modern day team might have got bundled in 15 overs on this deck given how dodgy the techniques have become in last 10 years

[@azapro911]

At the time though, Atherton can't know the game will be quickly called off. Pitch is only going to deteriorate, might as well get whatever passes for the best of it.

[@HkFinn83]

If by ‘tbf’ you mean ‘to be completely retarded and confused’ you have a good point

[@lewisgreen2957]

What a terrible shot by Atherton…

[@hallmark1969]

remember this match first of its kind due to bad pitch.typical 3rd world countries work.

[@admiraltamalak7559]

Pitch was fine. The Pommies were a bunch of soft wusses. Typical.

[@philbertgrant3744]

Keyboard warrior.

[@alanarmstrong9571]

What do u mean, by, ( typical third world country's) work.?)

[@loftusdurand3789]

@@alanarmstrong9571 my thought exactly

[@alanarmstrong9571]

Bad pitch my foot.! The earth is the creators.! If they had put anything in the soil, then u would have heard that the west indies cheated.! If u cannot handle the heat, then u should stay out of the kitchen.! They were afraid of the ferocity of the fast bowling, & they chickened out.! Have the west indies players ever been hit in a game.? ( yes they have, & they did not turn tail & run.! Viv richards & several other players got hit time & again, & they did not opt for an abandonment, they stood there & gutted thru.! Atherton chose to bat first when he saw the pitch.! Had the pitch been slower, then they would have loved it & not call for an abandonment.! Test cricket is a duel between two teams, & if u cannot handle the ingredients, then u would be better off playing in a soft ball tournament.!

[@garethhanford8723]

Don't be so daft. Do you understand what an "even contest" means?