Time now to stop agonising over spot-fixing, draw a line under the turbulent Pakistan tour, and focus on the Ashes. To warm you up, here’s a quick quiz about England in Australia. Have a stab below with your answers – and don’t scroll down to avoid spoilers. First correct entry wins the traditional lifetime subscription to The Full Toss. Good luck!
1. Which England bowler took a hat-trick in the 1998/9 Sydney Ashes test?
2. For half a point each, can you name the four captains who have led England to Ashes series victories in Australia since 1945?
3. At the very start of the 2006/7 Brisbane test, who was the second player to touch the cricket ball?
4. In the 2002/3 Sydney test, which bowler took 7-94 as he bowled England to victory in his final test match appearance?
5. In 1970/1, the abandonment of the third test at Melbourne after three days of rain was the inspiration for which highly significant cricketing innovation?
6. When David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd was struck by a Jeff Thomson delivery in the 1974/5 Ashes, he suffered an unusual breakage…what?
7. The scoreline of the 1920/21 Ashes has been repeated only once since…what was it?
8. “Which one of you bastards called this bastard a bastard?” For a point each: who made the famous remark, who was the ‘bastard’ in question, and during which series?
9. Who made his fourteenth and final test century at Brisbane in 1986/7?
10. In the 2006/7 series, which England player was dubbed ‘The Shermanator’ by Shane Warne?
1 Gough
2)Hutton, Brearley, Gatting and Illingworth?
3)Freddie
4)Caddick
5)One-day cricket
7) 5-0 whitewash
8) Woodfull to Jardine in 32/33
9)Botham?
10) Bell
i) Gough
ii) Hutton, Illingworth, Cowdrey, Gatting?
iii) Flintoff, at second slip
iv) Gus Fraser?
v) Covered pitches?
vi) Did he crack his box?
vii) Allegedly a 5-0 whitewash, but this is just a rumour. (and our team had all died in the war, to be fair)
viii) The Australian captain, can’t remember who it was. Grimmett? Douglas Jardine. Bodyline.
ix) Gatting or Broad – I’ll plump for Broad
x) Ian Bell
I’ll take a wild stab in the dark ….
1.Goughie (I was at the game but left 5 mins before the hat-trick. Ramprakash was bowling and England didn’t look like getting a wicket. As Gough ran in to bowl the hat-trick delivery, the Aussie radio commentator said ‘and in comes Darren Gough, what a star, a guy that would walk into the Australian side’ … huge praise, as the Aussies had McGrath, Gillespie and Warne at that time!)
2. Gatting, and errr … dunno … before I was born
3. Fred
4. It was either Caddick or Peter Such
5. One-day cricket
6. His arm?
7. Must be the whitewash
8. Merv Hughes, Alan Border is my guess (although I can hear Max Walker saying it!)
9. Sir Beefy
10.Ian Bell, although I thought the name was coined in England 2005?
1. Which England bowler took a hat-trick in the 1998/9 Sydney Ashes test? GOUGH
2. For half a point each, can you name the four captains who have led England to Ashes series victories in Australia since 1945? HUTTON, ILLINGWORTH, BREARLEY, GATTING,
3. At the very start of the 2006/7 Brisbane test, who was the second player to touch the cricket ball? FLINTOFF, 2ND SLIP
4. In the 2002/3 Sydney test, which bowler took 7-94 as he bowled England to victory in his final test match appearance? CADDICK
5. In 1970/1, the abandonment of the third test at Melbourne after three days of rain was the inspiration for which highly significant cricketing innovation? ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS
6. When David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd was struck by a Jeff Thomson delivery in the 1974/5 Ashes, he suffered an unusual breakage…what? BROKEN ARM
7. The scoreline of the 1920/21 Ashes has been repeated only once since…what was it? 5-0 FROM 5 TESTS (WHITEWASH)
8. “Which one of you bastards called this bastard a bastard?” For a point each: who made the famous remark, who was the ‘bastard’ in question, and during which series? WOODFULL REFERRING TO JARDINE DURING THE BODYLINE SERIES IN 1932-33
9. Who made his fourteenth and final test century at Brisbane in 1986/7? IT BOTHAM
10. In the 2006/7 series, which England player was dubbed ‘The Shermanator’ by Shane Warne? IAN BELL
Is question 3 a trick question? Is the ball not handed to the Captain at the start of play, and therefore the second player to tocuh it was in fact Harmy? Maybe I’m just overthinking it.
@Matt – interesting one. Isn’t the ball usually in the bowler’s hand when the umpire calls ‘play’? But no, it’s not a trick question, and the answer is what you would have first thought.
Indeed, ump would normally say ‘play’ with the bowler at the top of his run-up. I was over-thinking it then!
1)Darren Gough
2) Mike Gatting and Raymond Illingworth. Dont know the other two.
3)Andrew Flintoff
4) Andy Caddick
5) One day cricket
6)Abdomen guard
7)5-0. 2006
8)Bill Woodful about Douglas Jardine
9)Ian Botham
10) Ian Bell
Here are two questions for people who are interested in solving it.
1) These two players first met at a game in Calcutta between the Australian Telegraph services and the East zone. Their meeting turned into an enduring friendship which lasted well into their last years. Who are the two players in question and what is their connection with the ashes
2) Why was there a delay in the release of the Oxford dictionary of 1935?
Venkat – considering the Australian services team had people like Lindsay Hassett and Keith Miller in it, I am going to assume one of them is one of your players – i.e a future Aussie Test player. On the Indian side, I can only speculate one of two things. First that someone like Venkat played for the zone, and later umpired a test. Or that in the zone side there was someone like Cowdrey who was born there. Actually though – come to think of it, a famous friendship is Miller and Compton, and the player of the series is awarded the Miller-Compton medal. So maybe its them?
As for 1935, one presumes it was to do with the Bodyline tour. So, perhaps trying to include that word, or a definition of it?
1)You were on the right track for both questions. The first question, Keith Miller and Dennis Compton met at this game. The friendship is now remembered as the Compton Miller medal given to the player of the series
2) The delay was because they wanted to add the word bodyline in the dictionary
And by the way, Compton did play for the east zone in India. A tough one but an interesting piece of trivia.
As young Mr Grace used to say in ‘Are You Being Served’ – you’ve all done very well.
Now the series is over, it’s time to confirm the correct answers.
1. Which England bowler took a hat-trick in the 1998/9 Sydney Ashes test? – Darren Gough. The victims were Ian Healy, Stuart McGill and Colin Miller. Relive some wonderful memories here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qgpWU38fH4
2. For half a point each, can you name the four captains who have led England to Ashes series victories in Australia since 1945? Len Hutton in 1954/5, Ray Illingworth in 1970/71, Mike Brearley in 1978/79, and Mike Gatting in 1986/87. And now – Andrew Strauss, of course.
3. At the very start of the 2006/7 Brisbane test, who was the second player to touch the cricket ball? Andrew Flintoff, who fielded the ball at second slip – this was of course the infamous Harmison super-wide.
4. In the 2002/3 Sydney test, which bowler took 7-94 as he bowled England to victory in his final test match appearance? Andy Caddick.
5. In 1970/1, the abandonment of the third test at Melbourne after three days of rain was the inspiration for which highly significant cricketing innovation? The first ever One Day International.
6. When David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd was struck by a Jeff Thomson delivery in the 1974/5 Ashes, he suffered an unusual breakage…what? His box – the ball punched a hole through it.
7. The scoreline of the 1920/21 Ashes has been repeated only once since…what was it? 5-0 to Australia.
8. “Which one of you bastards called this bastard a bastard?” For a point each: who made the famous remark, who was the ‘bastard’ in question, and during which series? Australian captain Bill Woodful, in reference to Douglas Jardine, during the 1932/33 Bodyline series.
9. Who made his fourteenth and final test century at Brisbane in 1986/7? ‘Sir’ Ian Botham.
10. In the 2006/7 series, which England player was dubbed ‘The Shermanator’ by Shane Warne? Ian Bell.