Ball of the Century

The Ball of the Century, also referred to as the Gatting Ball or simply That Ball, is the name given to a cricket delivery bowled by Australian spin bowler Shane Warne to English batsman Mike Gatting on Day Two during the first Test of the 1993 Ashes series (4 June 1993), which took place at Old Trafford, Manchester. With his first ball against England, in his first Ashes Test, Warne produced a spectacular delivery that bowled Gatting out. It became recognized as being of considerable significance in not just the context of the match or series, but in cricket in general in that it signalled the revival of leg spin bowling.

The pitch at Old Trafford traditionally favours spin bowling, and England picked two spin bowlers: Phil Tufnell and debutant Peter Such. In contrast, Australia picked three fast bowlers, with the inexperienced Warne as the only spinner. Warne had played in 11 Test matches up to that point, and taken 31 wickets at a moderate average of 30.80 runs per wicket. Although showing some promise, Warne's early career had been less than spectacular and his style of bowling — leg spin — was seen by many cricket followers as an antiquated art with little value in the modern game. Pace bowling had dominated the game since the legendary West Indian pace bowlers of the 1970s and 1980s.

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