When enough is just not enough....

I just had to write about this incredible test match that took place 105 years ago... The thing to learn from this match was that sometimes, enough is just not enough. The Aussies were painfully made aware of this. The match i am talking about, is the 1st match of the Ashes series of 1894, played from the 14th to 19th December at Sydney.

Batting first, the Aussies rattled off 586 runs in 4 1/2 sessions. At the end of it, they must have felt good (I did some research on this and it is arguably the highest score in one innings at that time and also till the turn of the century. But due to the lack of sufficient data, i cannot be 100% sure). England battled till the end of day 3 when they were dismissed for 325, handing the Aussies a ridiculously high first innings lead of 261 runs. On day 4, England were asked to follow on and, on a pitch that was easing up, battled to a score of 437 towards the end of day 5 (This being a timeless match, the number of days the game went on did not matter)

The Peel and Briggs Show

The target for Australia to go 1-0 up in the series was a not-so-tricky 177. They ended day 5 at 113 for 2, just 64 runs behind and all of 8 wickets in hand. Overnight rains and bright sunshine changed the conditions to suit a pair of slow bowlers, Bobby Peel and John Briggs. The pair of left arm orthodox spinners orchestrated a dramatic final day collapse, including the last 6 wickets for 19 runs to help England win the match by 10 runs.

But then, this was more than 100 years ago. You would believe in
"Once bitten twice shy"

Not the Aussies. Probably the reason that they hold 3 of the top 5 first innings score in the test history which have ended in defeats for the high scoring team.

Sometimes, enough is just not enough.