Flashback: The centenary Tests
Australia and England have a longstanding history in the longest format of the game which dates back to the 18th century. The first-ever Test match in Australia took place in 1877, while the first-ever Test match on English shores was played in 1880. To commemorate both these matches, Two Centenary Tests took place between the two sides in 1977 and 1980, respectively.
The 1980 Centenary Test was staged at the iconic Lord’s, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first ever game in the country at The Oval in 1880. The visiting Australian team was led by Greg Chappell, while their fierce English rivals were marshalled by the enigmatic Ian Botham.
The Australian team batted first in the celebratory match after Greg Chappell called it right at the coin toss. Australia declared the innings after putting up 385/5 on the scoreboard on the back of Graeme Wood and Kim Hughes after the first two days were severely hampered by rain.
England enjoyed a rest day after three days of tussle against the Aussies. But the hosts could only muster 205 in their reply, that too, after a defiant half-century by Geoff Boycott as Dennis Lillee and Len Pascoe ran riot, accounting for nine English batters in the innings.
Australia were eyeing a historic win in the match and batted with urgency in the second innings, before declaring at the score of 189/4 thanks to half-centuries from the Australian skipper and the centurion from the first innings, Kim Hughes, setting a massive target of 370 runs for England to chase in the fourth innings of the match.
England, in pursuit of the record tally, lost Grahan Gooch cheaply, but Geoff Boycott stood like a brick wall in the way of the Kangaroos, replicating his heroics from the first innings as he registered a magnificent century. The game eventually fizzled out in a draw after some high-quality cricket from both sides in a contest marred by rain. Australian batter Kim Hughes was awarded the player of the match for his significant contributions to the Aussies in both innings.
