Andy Flower v South Africa, 142 and 199 not out - 10 Great Innings

Okay, so that's two innings, but he was only out once, so... Who cares? We wanted Andy Flower in and this was his best batting, even if it did take place over two innings.

It was two innings of the same match though. In Zimbabwe's first innings, having already kept wicket for 139 overs as South Africa made 600-3 declared, Andy Flower hit 142 runs out of Zimbabwe's total of 286. In the second innings, after Zimbabwe had followed-on, he did even better, making 199 not out in a total of 391.

Alistair Campbell kept wicket for Zimbabwe in the second innings. Presumably Andy Flower was a little bit weary after doing the work of ten men.

Zimbabwe lost the match by nine wickets. Has there ever been a finer performance in such an overwhelming defeat? John Ward, writing for Cricinfo, described Flower during this match as 'a giant among pygmies'. More like a whole army of giants, standing on top of each other beneath a gargantuan coat, pretending to be one, huge uber-giant - among pygmy children. But we suppose that's not so catchy.

That was Andy Flower and Andy Flower's career all over. He was one of the all-time greats and it's all the more impressive for his having being in such a crap team. Let's all pretend that we'd be just like Andy Flower if we were in the same position, even though we clearly wouldn't. We'd just moan about how rubbish everyone else was, then get out for a duck, then sulk.

10 Great Innings