There’s something truly satisfying about a tailender batting out for a draw.

Fielders packed in around the bat, chirping in the batsman’s ear, and a stadium that holds its collective breath with each delivery.

Then there are last-wicket partnerships that lead a team to victory, like Kusal Perera and Vishwa Fernando’s heroics against South Africa in February of last year, or the Ben Stokes / Jack Leach effort that broke Australian hearts.

When things go right, you get the glory, but when things go wrong, you run the risk of being given the dubious honour of worst shot in cricket history.

That’s something West Indian Shannon Gabriel has to deal with, with Wisden naming his brainfart against Pakistan in 2017 top of the list:

The big kahuna. Eludes all comprehension. Last ball of the penultimate over, there’s a Test series to save, and your partner’s batted all day for 101*. He’ll take the last over, job done. One ball to see out. One ball. Dead pitch, tired leggie, one ball.

It’s a loopy thing, outside off stump. Shannon sees it, sees it all the way, opens the shoulders, lifts up his bat: ‘ave it.

The perfection of Fazeer Mohammed’s commentary is in direct opposition to the terrifying brainlessness of the shot…

He had one more ball to see off, in order to allow the guy at the other end, who already had a hundred to his name, to block out the draw.

It’s the third and final test, with the series level at 1-1, and this happens:

#OnThisDay in 2017.

One of the most iconic commentary lines ever?pic.twitter.com/EeV9FGLtqv

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) May 14, 2020

If I was a West Indian watching that at the time, I would have caused extensive damage to any and all property within my reach.

More than three years have elapsed since Gabriel’s slog gone wrong, and a great deal of thought has been given to trying to explain what he was thinking.

In a recent Cricinfo article, a defence of sorts is offered:

Look at the field. Slip, gully, two silly points, short cover, silly mid-off, silly mid-on, forward short leg, leg gully. Eight fielders within five or six yards of the bat and one about 16 yards away. Any small error on a defensive shot and there are vultures around the bat to catch you. Whereas if you play the big shot, even a half-decent hit is certain to clear the fielders.

Two balls previously, Gabriel had been given out caught at silly point only for the DRS to save him. He had looked to defend then. It is understandable that he didn’t want to repeat that risk, especially with Shah’s variations…

If anything, it was a brave and selfless shot from Gabriel. He didn’t think of the pundits and fans ripping into him the next day but about what was best for the team. Of course the execution was nowhere near ideal, but it’s not too different to a No. 11 playing a defensive shot to a legspinner with nine fielders and a wicketkeeper ready for the catch. It had almost happened two balls earlier.

A solid effort, and there’s method to the madness, but I’m still not buying it.

Sorry, Shannon, this is an unwanted record you may be holding for some time.

You can see the rest of the Wisden top 10 here, with AB de Villiers’ infamous double bounce dismissal back in 2008 cracking third spot.

[sources:wisden&cricinfo]