Australia v England
Queen Elizabeth II Oval, Bendigo: 25th – 28th January 1985
Bendigo is more famous for gold rushes than Test cricket, but there was plenty of gold on offer here for someone would walk home with the prize, the Peden Archdale Trophy. To remain with the golden theme, Jan Southgate won the toss for the fifth successive time and chose to bat. She also top scored for England with a solid 59 as the visitors were bowled out for 196.
At the other end, with the ball, Raelee Thompson on her home patch was giving nothing away, bowling one of her greatest spells. From 28 overs the skipper charged in and beat the bat constantly. When she wasn’t beating the bat there wasn’t much happening with the bat at all as she took 5-33 in a masterclass of swing bowling.
“I didn’t think I bowled any differently than in the previous Tests, but I must have been putting the ball in the right spot. I also had good support from the other bowlers.” – Thompson
Peta Verco and Denise Emerson got Australia off to a good start with a partnership of 90, both passing 40 and both getting out at 90, but the real star was Jill Kennare who’d been faltering at number three since her century in Perth. Her trademark drive had returned, so to her classic offside strokes as she carved a century, which was the bedrock of Australia’s 285. It allowed Thompson the opportunity to declare early on the third day.
England began their task of reducing the deficit and were 5/140 at close of play, five wickets in hand with a lead of 51. However, they received some help from the gastro gods. Overnight many of the players on both teams, one of the umpires and other match officials came down with a severe bout of gastro. While England only needed two at the crease, Australia needed 11 players in the field.
“Jill Kennare, Karen Read and Lyn Larsen were the worst affected from the Australian team and could not take the field on the final day. This meant we had at least 3 sub-fielders (who did an excellent job) but I remember being a mental wreck worrying about who was going to bat later in the day. We were lucky none of our bowlers were struck with the gastro, but to add to my woes, I had a heckler in the crowd who wanted Wilson to bowl instead of Verco.” – Thompson
Debbie Wilson did bowl. So did Verco. And Lyn Fullston. The three of them picked up the bulk of the wickets while Thompson applied the strangle from the other end, with her 25 overs yielding just 28 runs. England were all out for 204, setting Australia a target of 118 for victory. Small problem being whether all of the players would be well enough to bat… and the memory of losing the Adelaide Test when only chasing 126.
Once again Verco and Emerson played a steady role in setting up the innings with an opening partnership of 47. Emerson’s wicket brought Jill Kennare to the crease and the South Australian cast aside her stomach woes and guided Australia to within grasp of victory before yet another runout saw her gone for 42 when the score was 108. Verco also fell at the same score, but Read and Reeler saw the Aussies home, winners by seven wickets. They had not only turned the series around after being one down, but they had won the Ashes back from England after a period of 22 years when Mary Allitt’s team lost them in 1963.
England 196 (Southgate 59, Thompson 5-33) and 204 (Court 41, Verco 3-30, Wilson 3-40) lost to Australia 8 dec 285 (Kennare 104, Emerson 43, McConway 2-52) and 3/118 (Kennare 42, Verco 40) by 7 wickets