Much like a gigantic star in a solar system, the legacy of the great Allan Robert Border is brightly shining upon the cricket fraternity. He was an artistic batsman, a willy left-arm spinner and of course, one of the great Australian captains ever, leading the team from the wilderness to the very edge of its golden era. In a career which lasted a decade and a half, Border achieved a Bradmanesque stature both on and off the field and that is the reason why in 1996, two years after his retirement, the BCCI and Cricket Australia jointly decided to name the Australia vs India Test series after Border and Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar.
Born at Cremorne on the north shore of Sydney Harbour in 1955, Border belonged from a humble middle-class background. After making his First-Class debut for New South Wales in the 1976-77 season, it didn’t take long for his to graduate to the international level as made his debut in Melbourne during the 1978-79 Ashes. It was a turmoil phase in Australian cricket as many of the national players had opted to play in the World Series Championships organized by Kerry Packer in 1977. Hence, entire cricketing structure in the country was put on rebuilding mode.
His first Test century came in his forth Test and it was a certainly bitter-sweet one. In the Adelaide Test against Pakistan in 1979, Australia were chasing 382 in the fourth innings when Border reached the triple figures. However, following his dismissal, his team collapsed from 305 for 3 to 310 all out. Meanwhile, in the same year he toured India and scored a mammoth 162 in the first Test in Madras (now known as Chennai).
In 1980, Border became the first and only player to go past 150 in both the innings of a Test match when he smashed an unbeaten 150 and 153 against Pakistan at Lahore.
The southpaw further stamped his class in the 1981 Ashes, scoring 533 runs at an average of 59.2, including three centuries. However, that particular series was defined by some heroic all-around performances by Ian Botham (also known as Botham’s Ashes) as England went on to win it by a 3-1 margin but it was Border, who was named as the ‘Wisden Cricketer of The Year’ for his outstanding performance.
Source: Twitter (ICC)
Meanwhile, along with the recognition, 1981 is also a significant for Border as in this year he was given the captaincy of the Australian team under some challenging circumstances. Initially, the results didn’t come in his way Australia lost its first home series against New Zealand and suffered defeat against West Indies.
Nevertheless, the 1986 Test match between India and Australia at Chennai was the starting point of the renaissance of Australian cricket. In this game Border not only scored a classy 106, he also pushed Dean Jones to a achieve bigger milestone. When Jones was suffering from heat exhaustion, Border came up to him and offered no sympathy. He told him harshly that he wanted Jones to tough it out and not be a weakling. Jones went onto make a remarkable 210 and the match entered into cricketing folklore as the second tied Test match in history.
Next year Border led Australia to its maiden World Cup triumph. In the final against England in front packed Eden Gardens, he turned the match around with the ball by getting rid of England’s skipper Mike Gatting at a crucial juncture. That breakthrough opened the doors for Australia as they went on to outclass their rivals by seven runs.
Source: Twitter (ICC)
Many in the Australian cricket fraternity believed that Border was an underrated bowler. In 1988, with his accurate left arm spinners, he ran through the West Indies batting in Sydney and registered figures of 7 for 46. In the second innings he further claimed 4 for 50 which gave a moment to cherish with career best figures of 11 for 96.
In 1993, in a Test match against New Zealand in Christchurch, he went past Gavaskar’s mark of 10122 runs to become the highest run-getter in Tests at that time. In the same year he smashed a double century at Leeds led Australia a commanding 4-0 in the Ashes victory.
Border’s glorious on-field career came to an end when he played his final Test in Durban match during Australia’s historic tour of South Africa in 1994. However, if there is one regret in his captaincy, it was the fact that he never managed to conquer the West Indies.
When he bid adieu to the game Border used to own a whole host of records that has now been surpassed. He played in the most number of Test matches (156), scored the most number of runs (11,174 runs), featured in the most consecutive Tests (153), captained the side a record 93 times.
Following his retirement, Border become a selector and did a commendable job in shaping the future of Australian cricket.