On 25 June 1963 at Lord's, England number eleven Colin Cowdrey walked out to face Wes Hall with two balls to bowl, his left arm in plaster after Hall had broken it earlier in the day. Six runs were needed; one wicket stood. David Allen blocked the last two balls; Cowdrey did not have to face one. The Test was drawn — the most famous draw in English Test cricket history.
Worrell, on his last tour as captain, had brought a side that included Sobers, Hall, Griffith, Kanhai, Hunte and Gibbs. England had Dexter as captain, Cowdrey at three and Trueman opening the bowling. The series was drawing crowds of over 25,000 a day at every venue.
England had lost the first Test at Old Trafford by ten wickets. The Lord's match began on 20 June. Hall and Griffith had bowled fast and short throughout, with Cowdrey and Dexter taking repeated body blows.
The match had been the second of a five-Test series. West Indies had made 301 and 229; England 297. Set 234 to win on the last day, England started the final hour at 116 for 3 needing 118 with seven wickets in hand. Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith bowled almost unchanged through the evening session. The light deteriorated. The umpires offered the light; both captains kept playing.
During his innings of 19, Cowdrey had been struck on the left forearm by a Hall lifter. The arm broke. He retired hurt at 203 for 5. England slid to 228 for 9 with the last over, bowled by Hall, to come. Allen and Shackleton — England's tail — needed eight off the over to win. They added six. With one ball left and the match to be either won or saved, Shackleton was run out by Worrell, who picked the ball up at extra cover and ran to the stumps himself rather than throw.
Cowdrey, his arm in plaster after a hospital visit during the lunch interval, walked out as the new batsman. The crowd held its breath. Allen, on strike at the non-striker's end, blocked the last two balls of Hall's over. The Test was drawn at 228 for 9. England had not been beaten and West Indies had not won. Cowdrey did not have to face a ball. The plaster was still wet on his sleeve.
The image — Cowdrey at the crease with his arm in a sling — became one of the most reproduced photographs in English cricket. It was used in coaching manuals, in MCC histories and on benefit-year posters for the next thirty years. Cowdrey himself, in his autobiography, called it the strangest moment of his career.
Day 4 evening: West Indies set England 234 to win on the last day.
Day 5 afternoon: Cowdrey hit on the forearm by Hall, retires hurt; arm broken.
Day 5 evening: England 228/9, Allen and Shackleton at the crease.
Last over: Hall bowls, six needed.
Ball 4 of last over: Shackleton run out by Worrell at the bowler's end.
Cowdrey walks out with arm in plaster.
Last two balls: Allen blocks. Match drawn.
20 Jun 1963
Test begins at Lord's; West Indies bat.
25 Jun 1963, lunch
Cowdrey's arm broken; goes to hospital for plaster.
25 Jun 1963, evening
England 228/9 with last over to come.
Last over
Shackleton run out; Cowdrey walks out with arm in plaster.
Last two balls
Allen blocks; match drawn.
“I will never forget walking through that gate with one arm in plaster, and not knowing whether I would have to face Wes Hall.”
England drew the Lord's Test, lost the third at Edgbaston, won at Headingley and lost at the Oval. Worrell's West Indies took the series 3-1 — his last as captain. Cowdrey's arm healed; he played in the next Test wearing extra padding.
The 1963 Lord's Test is the model of what a five-day Test can deliver: a narrow finish, a damaged batsman, a captain making a sportsmanlike decision, and a result that satisfied nobody and entranced everybody. It established Worrell's tour as one of the great visiting series.
The Lord's Test of 1963 is enshrined in MCC mythology as evidence that a draw can be the most thrilling result in cricket. Worrell's decision to run rather than throw at the bowler's end has been retold by generations of cricket writers as an example of the spirit in which the series was played.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.