10 England Cricket Batting Collapses

Headingley collapse is the latest installment in athe same match. The nadir of a shambolic tour to
sorry English talethe land of the long white cloud in 1983 was the
Watching the sorry procession of English batsman2nd Test at Christchurch, where after New
heading back to the pavilion yesterday atZealand made 307 in their 1st innings, England
Headingley after yet another injudicious shotwere shot for 82 and 93, following on, to lose by
reminded me that being an England cricket fanan innings. Richard Hadlee had match figures of 8
can be tough.for 44.
In fact, with alarming regularity, England's batting7. 162 all out, 2nd innings, vs New Zealand, 4th
has a tendency to brittleness and being prone toTest, The Oval, August 19-22 1999
collapse like a house of cards in a force nine gale.In this fourth and deciding Test of the series,
On far too many occasions in 30 years ofEngland suffered the ignominy of defeat against a
following England expectation and anticipation canNew Zealand side that had previously been ranked
quickly turn into crushing disappointment, miserythe worst team in Test cricket. Chasing 245 to
and despair.win, England slumped from 123 for 2 to 162 all out
Here are ten of England's worst battingto replace the Kiwis at the bottom of the
performances over this time. Unfortunately, it isrankings. Fortunately, Nasser Hussain recovered
not an exhaustive list but merely one compiled offrom this inauspicious start to his captaincy to help
those disasters freshest in the mind.forge a more resilient England side in tandem with
1. 51 all out, 2nd innings, vs West Indies, 1st Test,Duncan Fletcher.
Kingston, 4-7 February 20098. 203 all out, 1st innings, vs South Africa, 2nd
We only have to go back six months to the dayTest, Headingley, 18-21 July 2008
to remember the last shambolic battingOnly one year ago at the same venue as
performance. In what proved to be the definitiveyesterday's sorry performance, England were
day of a turgid series, England started their 2ndshot out for 203 by a South African side that had
innings 74 runs behind. Just 33.2 overs laterjust had to save the 1st Test at Lords. England,
England were all out for 51, losing by an innings.who had brought the hitherto unknown Darren
Coincidentally, this was a role reversal of whatPattinson in for Paul Collingwood, were blown
had happened at the same ground five yearsaway in 52.3 overs. South Africa responded with
before when Steve Harmison, with 7 for 12 had522 and England eventually lost by ten wickets.
bowled the West Indies out for 47.This defeat and another one in the following Test
2. 46 all out, 2nd innings, vs West Indies, 3rdat Edgbaston led to the resignation of Ashes hero
Test, Port of Spain, 25-30 March 1994Michael Vaughan as skipper.
Having played well throughout the match, England9. 155 all out, 1st innings, vs Australia, 1st Test,
had been set 194 to win and were confidentLords, 21-24 July 2005
even though they needed to get the better ofAfter bowling the Aussies out for 190, with
Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh to reachStephen Harmison taking 5 for 43, England
their target. Nineteen overs of hostile fast bowlingcollapsed to 21 for 5 thanks to their nemesis
later, England were dismissed for a paltry 46,Glenn McGrath. Although the Aussies went on to
Ambrose with 6 for 24 and Walsh 3 for 16.win this battle by 239 runs, England won the war,
3. 79 all out, 2nd innings, vs Australia, 1st Test,the adulation, the Trafalgar Square celebrations
Brisbane, 7-10 November 2003and their MBEs. So, despite the humiliation
After Nasser Hussain's bizarre decision to insertyesterday and the defeat that is likely to ensue,
Australia after winning the toss, England werecan England repeat their recovery of 2005 and
always chasing this game especially with Matthewregain the Ashes at The Oval?
Hayden scoring a century in each innings. Set an10. 102 all out, 1st innings, vs Australia, 4th Test,
unlikely 463 to win and needing to bat out a draw7 August 2009
on a decent batting wicket, England wereOr could this be the day that England lost the
demolished for 79. And Mark Butcher scored 40chance to regain the Ashes? Fears that in the
of this dismal total!absence of Kevin Pietersen, the England batting
4. 175 all out, 2nd innings, vs Pakistan, 1st Test,was totally reliant on Andrew Strauss came to
Multan, 12-16 November 2005pass. With Stuart Broad batting too high at
After dominating this match, with the still sorelynumber seven in the absence of Andrew Flintoff,
missed Marcus Trescothick scoring 193 inand the selectors continuing to rely on an out of
England's 1st innings and Andrew Flintoff takingdepth Ravi Bopara, at number three, Australia
match figures of 8 for 156, England were set 198roared back into the series. The end of this story
to win on the last day of the 1st Test. However,waits to be written.
they fell 22 runs short to the express pace ofIt's not all doom and gloom though, England have
Shoaib Akhtar and the wily spin of Danish Kaneira.recovered from inept batting displays before. It
The balloon of optimism from the 2005 Ashesmay be clutching at straws, but solace can be
success had been burst after only one match.found if we go back to the Boxing Day Test in
5. 129 all out, 2nd innings, vs Australia, 2nd Test,Durban of 2004. England were shot out for 139
Adelaide, 1-5 December 2006and South Africa replied with 332, a 1st innings
On the flattest of flat pitches England had scoredlead of 193. In their 2nd innings, England scored
551 for 6 in their 1st innings, with Paul Collingwood570 for 7 declared, with Marcus Trescothick (132)
scoring a double century. Although Australia hadand Andrew Strauss (136) putting on 273 for the
responded with 513 all out, surely England couldn't1st wicket. This turnaround nearly resulted in an
lose from here? Even the Australians, ShaneEngland win with South Africa struggling to 290
Warne excepted, expected the game to meanderfor 8, chasing 378, when the game ended.
to a draw. However, after a shocking and timidAlternatively, we can always hope that the English
display England were bowled out for 129 in 73weather could play a part. In 1997, with McGrath
overs. Australia won by six wickets, and England,taking 8 for 38, England were shot out for 77 in
with Flintoff crying as he bowled, never recoveredtheir 1st innings in the 2nd Test at Lords. Luckily,
and lost the series 5-0.for the home side, the weather then played a
6. 82 all out, 1st innings & 93 all out, 2nddecisive part and the game meandered to a draw.
innings, vs New Zealand, 2nd Test, Christchurch,After yesterday, it may seem unlikely, but we
3-5 February 1983can only hope for shades of Headingley 1981 and
Not one but two dismal batting performances inreincarnations of Botham and Willis!