By Steve Gee Source: The Daily Telegraph
IT WAS a decade that began with world dominance and saw the retirements of three of the game's greats - Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist.
A decade that included a record 16 straight Test wins, Australia's first Test series victory in India in 35 years and the pain of two Ashes losses.
STEVE GEE sifts through the memories for the best 10 moments of the noughties.
World Cup hat-trick
Glenn McGrath retires from international cricket as Australia claim their fourth 50-over World Cup and a remarkable third straight tournament win at the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, veterans Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist cashing in. The Australians won every match before convincingly beating Sri Lanka in the final to stretch an unbeaten run at World Cups to 29, dating back to 1999.
Hayden conquers India
Despite yet another series loss on the subcontinent (2-1), Matthew Hayden swept aside the Indian attack to plunder two centuries and a courageous 203 in the final Test to finish with a Bradmanesque average of 109.8. The gripping series was also noteworthy for the stunning match-winning stand in the second Test when VVS Laxman (281) and Rahul Dravid (180) batted for two days to set up an improbable victory.
Goodbye Ashes
Without doubt the low point of the decade was the 2005 ashes loss (2-1). The Ashes defeat signalled the end of an era of dominance and 16 years as holders of the urn. After taking a 1-0 lead from the first Test, the tour unravelled as Ricky Ponting's men succumbed to the twin devils of England's reverse-swing bowling and the loss of Glenn McGrath to injuries for the second and fourth Tests, which Australia lost.
Miracle in Adelaide
Dubbed the Miracle in Adelaide, Australia's final-day victory over England in the second Test of the 2006-07 series was one of the great wins in Test history and broke the spirit of the Poms before they went on to lose the Ashes 5-0. Despite posting a first-innings total of 6-551, the Poms collapsed for 129 in their second dig on the final day, under a vintage Shane Warne spell, before the Aussies chased down 168 to win.
Sweet revenge
Just 18 months after surrendering the Ashes, retiring greats Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne led the Aussies to a 5-0 whitewash against the Poms on home soil to emphatically reclaim the urn and end the captaincy reign of Andrew Flintoff. Determined to make up for 2005, Ricky Ponting was the player of the series which also marked the retirements of Justin Langer and Damien Martin.
Test win record
After claiming the record for consecutive Test wins (16) under Steve Waugh from October 1999 to February 2001, Ricky Ponting's side matched the feat with an unbeaten run that began with South Africa in the 2005 Boxing Day Test and ended with the defeat of India in last year's emotion-charged New Year's Test in Sydney when Michael Clarke took three wickets in the second-last over to snatch the unlikely win.
Warnie's record
In a career of milestones, Shane Warne's dismissal of Indian tailender Irfan Pathan in the second Test of the 2004 Indian tour finally gave him the deserved Test wicket record (533), from Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan. Although the dismissal and victim did not take the mantle for sheer theatre and brilliance, it was the holy grail Warne had been chasing for 13 years. Warne later became the first player to claim 600, then 700 wickets.
Tugger's ton
Sealed with a boundary off the last ball of the day, Steve Waugh's century against England at the SCG in the 2003 New Year Test stands as one of sport's great fairytales. Battling a form slump and under intense pressure to hold his spot, Waugh produced arguably his greatest knock to stave off calls for his axing and script his own exit a year later.
The Last Frontier
With Adam Gilchrist taking the captaincy from an injured Ricky Ponting, Australia ended a 35-year hoodoo with a 2-1 victory in the 2004 Test series in India to cement their place as one of history's great teams. After an agonising near miss in the 2001 series, the victory was regarded as the Last Frontier for the all-conquering Aussies.
Cyclone Gilly
Although he briefly held the record for Test cricket's fastest double century (212 balls), Adam Gilchrist's whirlwind ton off 57 balls, the second-fastest of all time, in the third Test of the 2006-07 Ashes series ranks as arguably his greatest innings. Gilly smashed 24 off one Monty Panesar over - an Ashes record.
IT WAS a decade that began with world dominance and saw the retirements of three of the game's greats - Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist.
A decade that included a record 16 straight Test wins, Australia's first Test series victory in India in 35 years and the pain of two Ashes losses.
STEVE GEE sifts through the memories for the best 10 moments of the noughties.
World Cup hat-trick
Glenn McGrath retires from international cricket as Australia claim their fourth 50-over World Cup and a remarkable third straight tournament win at the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, veterans Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist cashing in. The Australians won every match before convincingly beating Sri Lanka in the final to stretch an unbeaten run at World Cups to 29, dating back to 1999.
Hayden conquers India
Despite yet another series loss on the subcontinent (2-1), Matthew Hayden swept aside the Indian attack to plunder two centuries and a courageous 203 in the final Test to finish with a Bradmanesque average of 109.8. The gripping series was also noteworthy for the stunning match-winning stand in the second Test when VVS Laxman (281) and Rahul Dravid (180) batted for two days to set up an improbable victory.
Goodbye Ashes
Without doubt the low point of the decade was the 2005 ashes loss (2-1). The Ashes defeat signalled the end of an era of dominance and 16 years as holders of the urn. After taking a 1-0 lead from the first Test, the tour unravelled as Ricky Ponting's men succumbed to the twin devils of England's reverse-swing bowling and the loss of Glenn McGrath to injuries for the second and fourth Tests, which Australia lost.
Miracle in Adelaide
Dubbed the Miracle in Adelaide, Australia's final-day victory over England in the second Test of the 2006-07 series was one of the great wins in Test history and broke the spirit of the Poms before they went on to lose the Ashes 5-0. Despite posting a first-innings total of 6-551, the Poms collapsed for 129 in their second dig on the final day, under a vintage Shane Warne spell, before the Aussies chased down 168 to win.
Sweet revenge
Just 18 months after surrendering the Ashes, retiring greats Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne led the Aussies to a 5-0 whitewash against the Poms on home soil to emphatically reclaim the urn and end the captaincy reign of Andrew Flintoff. Determined to make up for 2005, Ricky Ponting was the player of the series which also marked the retirements of Justin Langer and Damien Martin.
Test win record
After claiming the record for consecutive Test wins (16) under Steve Waugh from October 1999 to February 2001, Ricky Ponting's side matched the feat with an unbeaten run that began with South Africa in the 2005 Boxing Day Test and ended with the defeat of India in last year's emotion-charged New Year's Test in Sydney when Michael Clarke took three wickets in the second-last over to snatch the unlikely win.
Warnie's record
In a career of milestones, Shane Warne's dismissal of Indian tailender Irfan Pathan in the second Test of the 2004 Indian tour finally gave him the deserved Test wicket record (533), from Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan. Although the dismissal and victim did not take the mantle for sheer theatre and brilliance, it was the holy grail Warne had been chasing for 13 years. Warne later became the first player to claim 600, then 700 wickets.
Tugger's ton
Sealed with a boundary off the last ball of the day, Steve Waugh's century against England at the SCG in the 2003 New Year Test stands as one of sport's great fairytales. Battling a form slump and under intense pressure to hold his spot, Waugh produced arguably his greatest knock to stave off calls for his axing and script his own exit a year later.
The Last Frontier
With Adam Gilchrist taking the captaincy from an injured Ricky Ponting, Australia ended a 35-year hoodoo with a 2-1 victory in the 2004 Test series in India to cement their place as one of history's great teams. After an agonising near miss in the 2001 series, the victory was regarded as the Last Frontier for the all-conquering Aussies.
Cyclone Gilly
Although he briefly held the record for Test cricket's fastest double century (212 balls), Adam Gilchrist's whirlwind ton off 57 balls, the second-fastest of all time, in the third Test of the 2006-07 Ashes series ranks as arguably his greatest innings. Gilly smashed 24 off one Monty Panesar over - an Ashes record.
