5 great Ashes knocks which went in vain

#3 Allan Border - 123* at Manchester (1981)

Border remained unconquered at the crease even as Australia succumbed to England

No cricketer embodied Australian grit as much as Allan Border did during his heydays. Often the lone warrior in a team mostly filled with no-hopers, the determined left-hander carried the batting lineup on his able shoulders for the vast majority of the 1980s. His no-nonsense style of captaincy also instilled a renewed sense of self-belief into a despondent outfit. Due to the paucity of quality cricketers beside him, the southpaw was not able to taste sustained success in the Test arena.

Unlike most of his centuries which helped Australia stave off defeats, Border's finest knock came in a losing cause. During the fifth Test of the 1981 Ashes series, England left the visitors needing 506 runs on a sharply deteriorating track at Old Trafford. After Graham Yallop's thrilling shot-a-ball century infused life into the proceedings, Border held fort against a bowling attack featuring the likes of Bob Willis and Ian Botham.

Even as wickets kept falling around him on a regular basis, Border stood unfazed and continued to battle from his end. Eventually, he ran out of partners and England sealed a 103-run victory. While Australia lay defeated, Border remained unconquered. A series, which gained the moniker of 'Botham's Ashes', also evoked the formulation of one of the most tenacious batsmen in the history of Test cricket.