First published in 2008 

In cricket’s vast library of agonising moments, the doomsday book of infamous batting collapses sits at the top of the pile. For the bowling side, unexpected joy. But for those rooting for the batting side, watching their boys fall like ninepins to lose at the death is the worst feeling in the game. Just ask those Englishmen who happened to be in Adelaide two Decembers ago. Here’s a look at that and the rest.

10. Sri Lanka v Australia, Colombo, 1992

Long before poker was even a twinkle in his eye, back when Shane Warne would dream of XXXX and playing footy for St. Kilda, and on the back of nascent Test figures of one wicket for 335 runs, came the first hint of what was to come.

In tandem with Greg Matthews, and defying a first-innings deficit of 291, Warne bowled Australia to a ridiculously audacious win. The Aussies had ground out a second innings of 471, serving to at least make it interesting, but all reasonable thoughts were on a famous Sri Lankan win. Aravinda de Silva had stroked a nonchalant 37 before Allan Border took a brilliant tumbling catch to dismiss him, running fully 30 yards in the process. That was 127-3, which would become 164 all out, leaving the distraught Lankans 17 runs shy of the target.

In the next match at Manchester, Steve Waugh duly makes a pair of cussed hundreds and Shane Warne takes nine wickets. In the fourth at Leeds, Australia win by an innings. In the fifth Test at Nottingham Australia’s top five all make half-centuries and England lose by 264 runs. Just for old time’s sake, that match features a good old EMOC, the home side losing its last six wickets for 65. This collapse lasted a whole summer. After the honeymoon of Edgbaston, hyped up too high and drunk on the promise of power, we’d cheered and hollered and waved our flags, and dreamt that the big beasts had gone. Well, they hadn’t.

Afterwards on the Trent Bridge balcony Warne does that wobbly ban-worthy dance with a stump, and that, with brutal clarity, is that.

And the legacy? Another eight years of Aussie rule makes it an 18-year stranglehold on power. The public are tired, apathetic; it would need a popular uprising, led by a serf from Preston, to awaken them.