Cricket's top visual hits

Top ten best ever cricket book lists are common enough. It is no doubt a worthy concept and the book will forever have a place in the cricket lover’s heart. Now, though, another form of cricketing media entertainment exists in sufficient numbers and variety for a top ten best ever list to be considered.

Dozens of cricket videos and DVDs have been released since the mid 1980s. They should be of fairly equal merit in terms of value and production. Interest, therefore, should be based on the merits of the game or player on view. That, though, is not the case. Getting the right amount of action into the package is essential. Generally the viewer’s opinion is “more is more” and “less is less.” The VHS Taylor’s Heroes is a case in point. It was an historic and fluctuating four-match Test series, culminating in Australia’s decisive Test win in Jamaica. But the souvenir video put out by Premier Sports contained the four Tests and all the one-dayers of that tour in one 90-minute package. It also included lots of camera chats with Mike Coward and David Hookes. All sense of match-flow was lost.

The other extreme is probably the series of releases showing the 1992 World Cup. There are too many different tapes and a few one-sided and meaningless games that could have been left out. The three DVD set Ashes Glory on the other hand is a delight. Sunset and Vine got things right with their Ashes 2005 set. They could hardly go wrong with one of the greatest Ashes series of all time. But as a contest 2006-07 was a fizzer. Nevertheless, the DVD set is a beauty as the early arm wrestles evolving into Australian 5-0 dominance for one last time are wonderfully allowed to express themselves.

VHS video tapes are now, of course, an outmoded format. That is frustrating for any cricket aficionado. Over a period of time virtually all significant music albums originally released on vinyl have made it to CD. So too have many worthy movies from VHS to DVD. It is not the case with cricket tapes. And some bottlers have not made it to the updated format. Some of the first releases were the best. John Arlott’s Vintage Cricket, Richie Benaud’s Years of Cricket and The Ashes 72 contain absolutely fantastic material. None are on legal DVD release, as the BBC continues to sulk about losing the cricket television rights. The ABC has re-issued a selection of VHS tapes on DVD from its extensive catalogue. Some like Benaud To Border, Calypso Cricket and The Cricket Archives are welcome returns.

There has been some serious repetition of footage on other releases over the years, though. One of the earliest releases in Australia was a comprehensive coverage of the 1984-85 Test series against the West Indies, Test of the Best. It is rare, but rich in nostalgia in its depiction of one of the greatest cricket teams of all time. Copies, when they sneak on to eBay, go for hundreds of dollars. Today’s technical advances make the vision a little dated. But the quality of the cricket and amount recorded detail make an incredibly worthwhile acquisition.

So here’s my ten of the best. Some old, some new, mostly Tests and no Twenty20

1. India v Australia 2001
Among the first releases to make it to the DVD format, it was a stunning contest and the DVD evoked the unique atmosphere of cricket in the country. The coverage is excellent with the only quibble being a few too many short cuts in the first Test.

2. Ashes 2005

They sold a lot of these. Even in Australia. I’m an Aussie and I can watch it hour after hour, except the last ball at Edgbaston.

3. Viv Richards-BBC Cricket Legends

This whole series was worthy, Botham and Alan Knott being the best of the rest of the eight releases. Biographical tapes need to depict the essential charisma of the player at play in sufficient amounts, not just action samples and lengthy interviews. This Viv Richards VHS does that nicely.

4. Clive Lloyd's Finest Hour

It’s only on VHS I’m afraid. The first World Cup in 1975 was still the best in the minds of many and the final remains a cracker. This has the best coverage of that fantastic West Indian triumph. Did the sun really shine non-stop for those few weeks in England? I’m sure it hasn’t since.

5. England’s Summer of Cricket 2006

The follow-up DVD to the Ashes 2005 was like Double White after Sgt Pepper. There was a lot less hoopla, but the end product was just as worthy. The Beatles analogy could go even further. Was the 2006 Oval Test between England and Pakistan, cricket’s version of Revolution No.9?

6. The Bradman Era

The ABC brought this out as early as 1983. While some of the footage was rare and fantastic then, a lot of it has re-appeared in the numerous Bradman releases since. What I like about this is that it broke new ground and the interviews with Bill O’Reily are better than any actually done with Bradman. The image of the young O’Reilly ‘killing snakes’ as they walked along a railway track to play cricket in the 1920s in New South Wales is matchless in setting time and place.

7. John Arlott’s Vintage Cricket

One of the real bonuses with this is that it features a fair bit of Arlott himself. Eventually a lot of the footage turned up elsewhere. But it was new at the time and Barry Richards’ 100 for Hampshire is worth the price of admission alone. Just on VHS.

8. Kiwi Master Blaster

There is some wonderful hitting by Nathan Astle during his record-breaking Test double-century on this DVD and the sight of Test cricket being played at night with the ball disappearing into the black sky is extraordinary.

9. The Ashes 72

I’ve watched this time and time again and it never fails to please. It was such an exciting series and not far behind 2005 in quality. It is still the only 2-2 result in an Ashes series. There are varying conditions, the Massie match, the fuserium controversy, Lillee, Snow, Greig, Marsh, the Chappells all in glorious watery 1972 BBC colour. It should have a DVD release.

10. Botham’s Ashes

I suppose I had to put this one in. Was it the first ever cricket video?

Honourable mentions; Test of Time, VHS Boxing Day Test of 1981-82, VHS Australia v West Indies Test series 1992-93.