Watch the third episode of Fox Cricket’s Allan Border – My Story on Channel 501 after the Australia vs South Africa Test on January 5!
Allan Border’s staggering seven-wicket haul stunned the West Indies during the SCG Test in 1989 and Steve Waugh said his former captain was “as good as anyone” at exploiting a spin-friendly wicket.
However, the veteran captain revealed on Fox’s Allan Border – My Story, it took some less that kind sledging from his teammates to inspire the extraordinary effort.
The West Indies dominated the hosts with three crushing victories in Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne ahead of the clash at the SCG in the 1988/89 series.
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Both Waugh and Mark Taylor reflected on what it was like to come up against the might of the Carribean team — but revealed spirits were still high in the Australian camp.
“The West Indies were always the benchmark, in some ways you build this picture up in your mind these guys were untouchable and almost not human,” Waugh said.
“The side that I came into was down three-nil in that series against the West Indies, having been beaten and belted up in Melbourne,” Taylor said.
“Yet I came into a side that was friendly, welcoming, competitive and looking forward to the Sydney Test.”
Viv Richards won the toss and decided to have a bat, getting off to a flying start as Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes dispatched the bowling attack of Terry Alderman, Merv Hughes, Peter Taylor and Trevor Hohns.
“I looked at the scoreboard, and things weren’t going that well and I think I might have looked at Steve Waugh who, once again prompted me and said ‘why don’t you have a bowl’,” Border said.
“I was looking around for answers and I thought, surely not me, surely I don’t have to come on.
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“We were struggling, I made the decision to come on and bowl…. I am just letting them go, I’m not sure what’s going to happen.”
Border dismissed Richie Richardson (28) early in his spell as the West Indies sat 2/144, with the hosts staring down the barrel of a mammoth total.
However that crucial wicket sparked a wild day of cricket which saw Border take seven wickets as eight West Indies batsmen returned to the sheds for only 80 runs — ending all out for 224.
“Allan was a reluctant bowler, which was a shame because he was a much better spin bowler than he gave himself credit for,” Waugh said.
“You’d always have to badger him to bowl… it was always hard to get him to bowl and even if he got a wicket he’d be keen to get himself off.”
Border took the prized wickets of Viv Richards and Carl Hooper on his way to career-best figures of 7/46 from 26 overs on a turning SCG wicket.
While he single-handedly turned the game on its head — Border’s teammates couldn’t help but have a crack at their captain.
“I was getting a fair bit of bagging I have got to say, you know things like ‘shit does get wickets occasionally’,” Border said.
“Some of the wickets he did get, they weren’t great deliveries to be fair,” Taylor said.
“I have got to say, a lot of us were having a chuckle.
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“In a way it probably lightened the mood in the side, because here we were bowling out the West Indies for just over 200 after they won the toss.
“And here is A.B. bowling them out.”
Historically the SCG wicket has been spin friendly, and Waugh believes few players knew were better at getting the most out of a turning surface than Border.
“He was as good as anyone at exploiting turning tracks because he’d fire the ball in pretty quick and he’d know how to land it on the right spot, the wicket would do the rest,” Waugh said.
Despite scoring a staggering 11174 Test runs with 27 centuries — Border looks back on the applause he received that day and places it up there with his best moments with the bat.
“I got as much enjoyment out of that as a Test match hundred, because it was something totally unexpected and to be clapped off the field for a bowling exploit, wasn’t something that happened too often in my career,” Border said.
“I remember waking up the next day, I was that stiff I could hardly move.”