User:Rambo's Revenge/Laker's match

The Fourth Test of the 1956 Ashes series was one of five Tests in a cricket series between Australia and England. The match was played at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester from 26 to 31 June, with a rest day on 29 June. England won the match by an innings and 170 runs to take a 2–1 lead, meaning that England retained The Ashes and by avoiding defeat in the one remaining match would win the series. The match is particularly notable for the achievement of England off spinner Jim Laker who took a record breaking 19 wickets in the match. Because of this feat the match is dubbed Laker's match.

England captain Peter May won the toss and elected to bat. The hosts had won the Third Test convincingly, and made two changes for the Fourth Test; David Sheppard replacing Doug Insole, and fast-bowler Brian Statham replacing fellow pacer Fred Trueman.

while Australia made one change, Ian Craig replacing Peter Burge who had averaged 16.80 in the previous three Tests.

Laker's record-breaking achievements
By the end of day two, Australia were all-out; Laker taking 37/9 in the first innings becoming "the first bowler ever to take nine Australian wickets in an innings" and having taken the only wicket in the second innings as Australia closed on 53/1.

On day three, play was delayed due to rain and was resumed at 2:10 p.m. However, the bad weather persisted and only three-quarters of an hour's play was had with the Australians losing one wicket and adding just 6 more runs before the players went off at 2:55 p.m. with no further play possible that day.

Jim Laker took 19 out of 20 wickets for England setting the record for best bowling analysis in a match, a record which remains to this day. Dave Tickner wrote in 2010 for Sky Sports News that it is "one of the few records in the game one can state with absolute confidence will never be broken". The Scotsman in 2006 described the figures as laying fair claim to being "the greatest spin-bowling feat of all time".

Laker's second innings analysis of 10–53 still holds the record for best bowling figures in an innings of a Test match and is only one of two occasions that a bowler has had a 10-wicket innings (10WI) in a Test – the other was 10–74 by Anil Kumble for India against Pakistan in February 1999. Laker's 9–37 in the first innings is the fourth best Test bowling figures for an innings. , just under ninety 10WIs have been bowled in first-class cricket and Laker's 10WI at Old Trafford made him the sixth (and most recent cricketer) to achieve two 10WIs.

Laker's bowling
Laker bowled around the wicket with a leg trap field. This usually comprised "four short-legs, two men in the deep on the leg-side, slip for the arm ball, cover-point and mid-off". Bowling full and pitching around off or middle-and-off stump Laker enticed batsmen to drive him but many would either play forward resulting in a catch in the leg trap or play back resulting in being bowled or given out LBW.

The new leg-before wicket rule penilised batsman who had developed the technique of padding away off-breaks pitching off the stumps and coming back onto the stumps.

In 1970, a fourth revision of the Laws of Cricket 1947 Code was released and introduced the restriction that a maximum of two fielders were allowed in the quadrant behind square leg. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack summised that this new rule "handicapped the genuine off-spinner" because losing a leg-side fielder meant they were "[no longer] prepared to flight the ball and employed instead, a flat trajectory". In 2009, Wisden wrote that one reason Laker's record figures were "secure from challenge" was because having many leg-side catchers was outlawed in the 1970 revision of to the Laws.

After tea on (3.4–1–8–7)

described Laker's match figures of 19–90 as "miraculous".

In doing so he equalled Alec Bedser's record of 39 wickets in an Anglo-Australian test series during the match

After lunch Laker captured 4 wickets for 1 run in 26.

This was the second occassion Laker had taken 10 Australian wickets in an innings after taking all the Australian first innings wickets (Laker's bowling analysis for this innings was 46–18–88–10) bowling for Surrey on the first day of a 3-day match against Australia at Kennington Oval on 16 May 1956.

The Pitch
Bert Flack the groundsman at Old Trafford revealed that Gubby Allen, chairman of selectors for England, had asked him to "shave the pitch" the evening before the match. Flack says that he told Allen that it was a stupid idea because the surface was not that well-knit and the pitch would not last three days. However, he followed Allen's instructions and afterwards "immediately covered the pitch to prevent the press from seeing what he had done". According to Richie Benaud, the game only lasted five days "because of the rain, with uncovered pitches in those days".