Ryder Cup quiz

A bit of a change this week, as have a crack at writing my first quiz on this site...

1983 Ryder Cup: Seve's miracle shot

It had all been going so well for Seve Ballesteros and Europe. Going into the final day of the 1983 Ryder Cup at Palm Beach Gardens in an alien position of parity, two hours into the singles Europe were ahead in six matches and level in four, with Ballesteros three up after 11 holes in the opening contest against Fuzzy Zoeller. The unthinkable was becoming a real possibility.

But some Ryder Cup Sundays are never that easy. The quest for those magical 14½ points becomes a real test of nerve, stamina, and mental toughness, both for players and spectators. The ebb and flow between red and blue, the cheers ringing around the course, and the magnitude of every single shot becomes suffocating.

1980 Challenge Cup final: Hull KR v Hull

Roger 'The Dodger' Millward had enjoyed a stellar rugby league career. Winning with Great Britain in Australia in 1970; captaining his country in two World Cups; skipper of Hull Kingston Rovers as the club won their first Championship for 54 years. But there was one thing missing off the CV of the 32-year-old.

Millward had never appeared in a Challenge Cup final. "It was the match that I'd waited sixteen years to play in," Millward revealed in his autobiography, in one of the three chapters dedicated to the 1980 Challenge Cup final. "It didn't arrive until my very last season - and my last ever game as a first team player."

1981 Fifth Ashes Test: Tavball

Forget Bazball. In August 1981, England needed a dash of Tavball to clinch the Ashes.

As glorious and euphoric as they were, there could be no disputing that England's wins over Australia at Headingley and Edgbaston had papered over some widening cracks. Batting frailties had been constantly exposed in the face of some excellent bowling from Dennis Lillee, Terry Alderman and Geoff Lawson. The Botham/Dilley "let's give it some humpty" approach had been a rare bright spot in a gloomy series.

Nothing emphasised England's struggles more than the number three position in their batting line-up. Bob Woolmer, Mike Brearley and David Gower had all been tried at first drop during the Ashes, with consistent results. Sadly for England, the returns were consistently poor. Just 77 runs from eight innings at an average of 9.625 highlighted that a different approach was needed. Prior to the Old Trafford Test, England turned to Tavaré.

Headingley 1981: Day Five review

A review of day five of the third Ashes Test of the 1981 series at Headingley, written from the perspective of an English cricket fan at the time.

Preview
Day one
Day two
Day three
Day four

Wednesday July 22

Australia 401/9d (Dyson 102, Hughes 89, Botham 6/95)
England 174 (Botham 50, Lillee 4/49)
England f/o 356 (Botham 149*, Dilley 56, Alderman 6/135)
Australia 111 (Dyson 34, Willis 8/43)

ENGLAND WIN BY 18 RUNS

Wow! Simply wow. Forget everything I said about this team. Delete those posts I wrote when in the depths of despair. Of course I never doubted Robert George Dylan Willis. England won the third Ashes Test at Headingley to level the Ashes series. What a way for Peter Willey to win his first Test in his 19th appearance. What a boost for the country. Never in doubt. 

We only needed five more runs in the morning to set Australia an insurmountable target of 130. And although Beefy took the first wicket - obviously, naturally, inevitably - when Australia neared lunch on 56/1 it looked like normal service was about to be resumed.

Headingley 1981: Day Four review

A review of day four of the third Ashes Test of the 1981 series at Headingley, written from the perspective of an English cricket fan at the time.

Tuesday July 21

Australia 401/9d (Dyson 102, Hughes 89, Botham 6/95)
England 174 (Botham 50, Lillee 4/49)
England f/o 351/9 (Botham 145*, Dilley 56, Alderman 5/131)

I'll be honest; I was expecting this blog to be my last covering this Test match. But I reckoned without taking the Beefy factor into the mix. It may be delaying the inevitable, but you never know. What is certain though is that a bit of pride has been restored to English cricket.

None of this looked possible early on. With Brearley, Gower, and LBW Gatting back in the pavilion, England were 41/4 and making 100 looked a distant dream. Boycott (46) and Willey (33) battled hard, but when Bob Taylor departed we had slumped to 135/7.

Headingley 1981: Day Three review

A review of day three of the third Ashes Test of the 1981 series at Headingley, written from the perspective of an English cricket fan at the time.

Sunday July 19

Australia 401/9d (Dyson 102, Hughes 89, Botham 6/95)
England 174 (Botham 50, Lillee 4/49)
England f/o 6/1 (Lillee 1/4)

Pathetic. Pitiful. Spineless. Feeble. Woeful. Deplorable. Lamentable. Wretched. Contemptible. Despicable. Mournful. Harrowing. Mortifying. These are some of the polite words I found in my thesaurus to describe that England batting display yesterday.

You can probably handle losing to Australia if the team showed a tiny bit of fight. Yet what we witnessed yesterday was a staggering display of ineptitude in both technique and heart. Only Ian Botham came out of the episode with any credit on a day of despair.