Memory Makers

In a culture that is hardwired to seek out the negative in both ourselves and each other, we are quick to criticise and prefer to highlight failings than embrace success. Currently, this ingrained tendency is running high; but don’t worry, this is no political piece.

Sport and specifically cricket, rather than being exempt from this predisposition, instead lends its most stark remembrance to the games where we came close but couldn’t quite seal the deal. Due to its extended time frame, cricket allows for the full exploration of a storyline that- while not absent in other sports- perhaps gets curtailed by a siren or whistle. Need the fullness of time? No worries, we’ve got five days of it…

So, it is in cricket that we are struck by the times we came close; enthralled by what could never be, what then might be, what should be, what must be- and what ultimately wasn’t. These matches strike a chord with us, and live on, often in infamy but they grip us in a way that success- oddly- doesn’t. The memories of cricket matches and moments become more important and solidified for both players and supporters as a consequence of falling agonisingly short.

(Not to be forgotten any time soon)

Just over a year on from the third Test of the 2019 Ashes series, and every Australian could tell you which mug they were drinking from as they stayed up all night expectant of an Australian victory and series win. Having put themselves in a dominant position, bowling England out for a record 67 in the first innings, the Australians had a mammoth 359 to defend in the fourth to create history. We know what happened from there- a tale of Australian misfortune underwritten by masterful batting from Stokes- and the chance was gone as quickly as it had appeared. At the commencement of the final innings, it had been nigh on certain that Australia would win; when the ninth wicket fell with England still 73 runs behind- the urn had its seat booked on a QANTAS flight home.

I wrote at the time that the result was the best possible thing for the series- setting aside any kind of Australian partisanship. On reflection, that the unthinkable- the impossible- eventuated, gave the series its eventual character as one where trying to predict what would happen next, was nothing but a fool’s errand. Intriguing to the last, the memory of the 2019 Ashes will forever be shaped by Stokes’ majestic performance, and the memory solidified by Australia’s defeat, snatched from the jaws of victory.  

(One of the most iconic cricket images of the modern era; Flintoff consoles Lee after the close loss at Edgbaston)

On the theme of agonising Australian misfortune in England, there’s only one logical place to turn next; Edgbaston 2005. Perhaps the most telling match in a series that is recognised as crucial to the rejuvenation of Test match cricket, its memory is characterised by its bitter and painful end. The storied and complex development of an intriguing match simplified to an iconic photo of pain writ large on the face of an Australian fill-in. Had Billy Bowden (correctly, many would argue) kept his finger down after the Australian number eleven parried one down the leg side, surely Kasprowicz and Lee would have been able to find another couple of runs to help Australia to victory. Instead, the series was set up so thrillingly, and we are left with the iconic image of modern sportsmanship, and thoughts of what might have been.

Imbued with a unique ability not only to flip the script, but to tear it up and throw it out the window, cricket’s unpredictable nature leaves us with many storied and memorable matches. These become indelibly so when we are- painful as it may be- on the wrong side of the ledger.