5 greatest Ashes moments at the WACA
With the newly-constructed Perth Stadium in the capital city of the state of Western Australia all set to take over from the WACA as the city's premier cricket ground, it is worth revisiting some of the finest Ashes moments that took place at the stadium.
Cricket Australia would be shifting the big-ticket encounters against England, South Africa and India to the new ground – in fact, it had allotted the third Ashes Test of 2017-18 to the Perth Stadium before it was confirmed that the venue would not be ready in time – as it is set to host England in an ODI in January.
Here are some of the greatest Ashes moments from the WACA:
#1 England's only Test win at Perth
During the time when Test matches were six days long, the second match of the 1978 Ashes saw England win their only Test at the WACA so far. The host captain Graham Yallop inserted England in the hope of torturing the visiting batsmen early on a pitch renowned for pace and bounce even in those days.
But David Gower got 102 and Geoffrey Boycott hit 77 in a total of 309 which was restricted due to Rodney Hogg's 5/65. In reply, Australia folded up for 190, Peter Toohey the only player putting up a fight with a patient 81*.
With a healthy lead in the bank, England managed to only put up 208 in the second innings as almost the entire top seven wasted starts, succumbing to Rodney Hogg's 5/57. Set 328 to win, Australia found it difficult to negotiate the pace-spin pair of John Lever and Geoff Miller, eventually being dismissed for 161 with Graeme Wood contributing 64 of those. England won by 166 runs and Hogg had to settle for the Man of the Match award as consolation.