Top 20 in 2020: The best Test moments, 14-12

There are moments in cricket, as in all sport, that are so memorable you can recall exactly where you were and who you were with when they happened.

Be they back-to-the-wall hundreds or feats of individual brilliance, they are the moments you’ve re-watched countless times in the years since and still get chills every time.

Re-live the countdown so far: 20-18 | 17-15

As part of our 20 in 2020 countdown series, we’re looking back at the 20 most memorable moments from Test matches played on Australian soil in the past 20 years.

They might not be the best innings ever played, or the perfect bowling performance, but rather moments that are quite simply unforgettable.

We continue today with numbers 14, 13 and 12 in our Top 20 countdown of the best Test moments and we will take a look at the top batting and bowling performances in the coming weeks as well.

Make sure you return to cricket.com.au and the CA Live app every day this week as we continue the countdown all the way to No.1

14) McGrath's miracle catch

Adelaide Oval, 2002

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By Martin Smith

Legend has it that if Steve Waugh had his way, one of the most memorable moments of Glenn McGrath's career would never have happened.

As Michael Vaughan top-edged an ambitious slog sweep off Shane Warne's bowling on the fourth morning of the 2002 Adelaide Test, Waugh glanced towards the boundary on the western side of the ground, expecting to see his perfectly-placed fielder preparing to take an easy catch.

But as the ball sailed high towards where his fielder at deep square leg should have been, Waugh could see only green grass, with not an Australian player in sight.

However, before the skipper could lament handing a life to Vaughan, whose opening day score of 177 had provided more than half of England's first-innings runs, his focus shifted towards a white flash that was hurtling towards the space where the ball was about to land.

That white flash was McGrath, who sprinted at top pace along the boundary before stretching his arms and whole body forward just as the ball came flying towards the turf.

What happened next was either a complete fluke – Ricky Ponting claims it was a miracle - or a masterful display of fielding, depending on who you ask.

As McGrath hung horizontally in the air with his arms outstretched, the ball hit the the inside of his left hand before deflecting straight into his right, where it lodged as the tall fast bowler clattered into the turf.

Image Id: 5ABAC869D105436282A0D9FD498B5D3C Image Caption: McGrath celebrates his miracle catch // Getty

The catch taken, McGrath quickly got to feet, hurled the ball in the air and ran towards his disbelieving teammates with both arms stretched high above his head.

Where, as the story goes, he earned a mild rebuke from his skipper.

"Steve Waugh tells me that I was about 30 yards out of position, and I should have been exactly where that ball landed," McGrath says.

"And I tell Stephen that I was tempting Vaughany to play that shot."

13) Perry celebrates 200 ... twice

North Sydney Oval, 2017

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By Martin Smith

Much to Ellyse Perry's eternal chagrin, her unbeaten 213 against England will long be remembered not just for the moment she brought up a rare Test double century, but also for the moment she fell just short.

Women's Test matches are so rare in the modern game that Perry was not going to miss out on a chance to do what she does best in the inaugural women's day-night Test in Sydney in 2017.

Across more than four sessions of batting, she slowly and expertly dismantled England's bowlers and as the third day of play drew to a close, it appeared the only thing that would stop her was a lack of partners.

With Perry on 193 not out when the ninth wicket fell, the eyes of the North Sydney Oval crowd moved to the impending milestone, a target that took on an extra layer of urgency when No.11 Megan Schutt decided on what Perry would kindly describe as "some interesting shot selections" early in her innings.

Image Id: 74C27C9E703E40038014BCBFAD71D62C Image Caption: Perry proved far too classy for England's bowlers // Getty

Having moved to just six runs short of the magical 200 mark, Perry decided to take on the off-spin of Laura Marsh and targeted the vacant mid-wicket boundary as a chance to bring up the milestone with one lusty blow.

Which she seemingly achieved when her firm strike sailed towards the rope, and the stirring roar from the sizeable crowd convinced almost everyone – Perry included – that the ball had cleared the rope to bring up her double century.

But having rightfully celebrated the rare achievement with gusto, Perry's heart sank when she was informed that the ball had in fact fallen just short of the rope, leaving her with two runs still to get.

Having then gained a single to move to 199 and watched nervously as Schutt negotiated two more deliveries to finish the over, Perry finally reached 200 – for real this time – with a boundary three balls later, saving her the ultimate humiliation of celebrating a double hundred that wasn't.

"It was kind of nice to get there, otherwise it would have been completely and utterly embarrassing," she later recalled with a smile.

"I think that would have been the end of me."

12) The Harmison ball

The Gabba, 2006

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By Martin Smith

Sporting teams the world over talk of a desire to 'set the tone' early in a game, emphasising the importance the opening exchanges can have on a whole match and even an entire series.

Anyone who ever doubts this maxim are pointed quickly to the very first delivery of the 2006-07 Ashes series, one of the most famous wide balls in the modern game that preempted a demoralising and historic drubbing of an England side that had crested to top of world cricket less than 18 months earlier.

The pre-series hype that accompanies every Ashes battle was several-fold for the 2006-07 campaign as a wounded Australian side sought revenge for their shock series loss in England in 2005.

And as Steve Harmison stood at the top of his mark and prepared to bowl the first ball of a highly-anticipated series, the moment proved to be too much for a man who had been such a force in that 2005 victory.

At the instant he unfurled his trademark bowling action, both arms thrust high towards a clear blue sky, the nervous sweat that had accumulated in his right palm led the ball to slip out of his hand, kiss the extreme right-hand side of the Gabba surface and land in the hands of his skipper, Andrew Flintoff, at second slip.

As umpire Steve Bucknor stretched his arms at either side to signify a wide, to the delight of the sold-out crowd, Flintoff calmly passed to the ball to a teammate as he, his bowler and an entire nation silently wished they could have their moment over again.

Image Id: A78A6E956D1B44C0BA9B2C5B5129CDA7 Image Caption: Harmison never recovered after THAT first ball // Getty

"I froze," Harmison would later lament.

"I let the enormity of the occasion get to me ... My whole body was nervous. I could not get my hands to stop sweating. The first ball slipped out of my hands, the second did as well and, after that, I had no rhythm, nothing."

That single moment was the definition of 'setting the tone'; Australia would go on to hammer 602 in their first innings of a thumping 277-run win, the first of five crushing victories that summer that handed them a first Ashes whitewash in 86 years and the sweetest revenge possible for their 2005 defeat.

Top 20 in 2020: Best Test moments countdown (so far)

20) Legends bid farewell

19) Warner dines out before lunch

18) Smith's brave last stand

17) Hussey and McGrath's final stand

16) McGrath predicts his milestone moment

15) Perfect delivery cooks England skipper

14) McGrath's miracle catch

13) Perry celebrates 200 ... twice

12) The Harmison ball

Make sure you return to cricket.com.au and the CA Live app every day this week as we continue the countdown all the way to No.1