Tuesday 25 July 2017 10:28, UK
Ahead of the 100th Test match at The Oval - live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am on Thursday - Bob Willis picks out some favourite memories of his at the ground...
Surrey have always been a very forward-thinking club. A very well-run club and, The Oval, a very well-run ground.
It doesn't have quite the cachet of Lord's but it is a very popular venue. People are prepared to pay top dollar to go and see international cricket there and I'm sure it will be another full house there for the 100th Test against South Africa.
I'm one of 25 former Surrey and England players to be invited as a special guest of the club for the game, so it will be great to see a few familiar faces.
John Edrich hasn't been very well of late but I hope he comes down from where he lives in Scotland, as he was the one who initially recommended me to the England selectors way back in 1970.
There's also Micky Stewart, my first captain. He's 84 now, but still as fit as a fiddle, and his son Alec will be there. Also part of that younger generation, there will be Mark Butcher, Martin Bicknell, Adam Hollioake.
I have many happy memories of the ground, and have picked out a few here…
First Oval memory
England v West Indies, fifth Test, 1957
Living in Surrey as a youngster, it was my local ground. I remember going to see my first Test match there when I was just a young whippersnapper and seeing England beat the West Indies, in 1957, when Peter May was captain. That is my first memory of the ground.
I then had three trials for Surrey at The Oval subsequently, all of which were unsuccessful. It was only when I played for Surrey Schools against the Surrey Colts in, I think, 1968 and got some wickets against them that people took notice. I was picked for a Surrey and Middlesex Young Cricketers tour of Pakistan that Christmas and then Surrey gave me a season's trial for the princely sum of 12 pounds and 10 shillings a week. That's how it all started for me.
Favourite moment playing
England v West Indies, fourth Test, 1980
One was bowling Martin Crowe out - one of the world's best batsmen at the time - in 1983, with a real rip-snorter that plucked out his off-stump.
But actually my favourite moment as a player at The Oval was as a batsman - playing the West Indies in 1980. Look it up in the record books to see what their attack was; how I survived for three hours against Holding, Croft, Marshall, Garner, I do not know.
I'm not quite sure what score Peter Willey's score was when I went in to join him, but at 92-9 in the second innings, we were staring another defeat in the face. Somehow though I managed to stay with him and see him through to a century while I registered a highly credible 24 not out with my run-reaper bat in tow.
Favourite moment commentating
England v Australia, fifth Test, 2005 Ashes
It has to be the 2005 Ashes, England regaining them for the first time in 18 years - the two umpires Rudi Koertzen and Billy Bowden going out to the middle and pulling the stumps up to confirm the victory. I was on commentary live at the time for Sky Sports' evening highlights; I had to keep talking, filling, during the initial confusion, but then the celebrations could begin. The crowd went absolutely wild. Very emotional scenes indeed.
The game, and the series, had everything. Kevin Pietersen's innings stole the show on the final day - Shane Warne dropping him on 15 at slip - as he blasted his way to a hundred, launching a particularly memorable assault on Brett Lee after lunch on the last day.
Greatest ever Test performance
England v West Indies, fifth Test, 1976
Well, certainly the greatest ever performance against me at The Oval was Sir Vivian Richards' 291 against us in 1976. The fact that I had him plumb lbw when he was on only 30-odd, and umpire Dickie Bird gave him not out, is of minor significance. Viv was a truly marvellous player.
The West Indies racked up the runs, scoring 687-8. Even with Dennis Amiss scoring a double century of his own for England in the Test, Michael Holding ran through the team at the other end, taking 6-57 in the second innings to finish with 14 in the match. I can tell you from personal experience, that was a very flat, slow Oval pitch. So for a fast bowler to clean up all those wickets, mine included, was some feat.
Captain Tony Greig famously proclaimed prior to the series that he intended to make the West Indies team "grovel", but it was he who left The Oval on all fours.
Watch the 100th Test match at The Oval, as England take on South Africa, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am on Thursday.
