This is by no means meant to be definitive. By calculating the rankings of the two competing sides, and minusing 10 times the calculated run margin, or, if a draw, the distance to victory of both sides, I have created a basic measure of game quality. It doesn't account for dead tests, series context, or other intangibles, nor does it correct for slight ratings inflation as weaker sides have been added. It also strongly favours great sides, particularly Australia who are fairly consistent on that front, meaning some great games between mediocre sides have missed out. That said, the list is interesting, and occasionally surprising.

Match						Test No.	Quality
South Africa	Australia	1996/97	2	Port Elizabeth	Australia by 2 wickets	1360	1925.4
Amazing comeback from Australia, led by series winning knock from Mark Waugh
Australia	Pakistan	2009/10	2	Sydney	Australia by 36 runs	1945	1926.0
Questionable comeback as Pakistan crumble in low chase.
India	Australia	1986/87	1	Madras	Match Tied	1052	1928.3
The second tied test, epic high scoring game as India chased 347
England	Australia	1882	1	The Oval	Australia by 7 runs	9	1930.0
The game that birthed the Ashes as Spofforth takes 14
Australia	India	1977/78	1	Brisbane	Australia by 16 runs	809	1937.2
Under-rated WSC years match as Thomson holds back Gavaskar
Australia	England	1884/85	3	Sydney	Australia by 6 runs	19	1940.0
Flowers and Read bring England close in an under-rated fixture
England	West Indies	1980	1	Trent Bridge	West Indies by 2 wickets	880	1945.9
Despite 5 wickets from Willis, Haynes and Roberts sneak home
West Indies	England	1973/74	5	Queen's Park Oval	England by 26 runs	738	1950.3
Boycott and Grieg draw the series in a fluctuating game.
England	Australia	1981	3	Headingley	England by 18 runs	905	1969.7
A truly great comeback but played between two average sides.
Australia	West Indies	1960/61	5	Melbourne	Australia by 2 wickets	506	1972.5
The final chapter in an epic series as Australia blocked out the Windies spinners to win
Pakistan	England	2005/06	1	Multan	Pakistan by 22 runs	1770	1973.3
A great comeback, started by Butt and Inzaman, finished by Shoaib and Kaneria
Australia	West Indies	1960/61	4	Adelaide	Match Drawn	504	1973.4
Mackay and Kline survive the final session to draw
Australia	West Indies	1951/52	1	Brisbane	Australia by 3 wickets	340	1979.2
The most under-rated series, as Australia just squeeze past Ramadhin and Valentine
Sri Lanka	South Africa	2006	2	Colombo	Sri Lanka by 1 wicket	1812	1979.2
Sri Lanka survive a late collapse as Murali takes 12
England	Australia	1902	5	The Oval	England by 1 wicket	74	1985.1
Jessop's ton allows Hirst and Rhodes to close a brilliant comeback.
South Africa	Pakistan	1997/98	2	Durban	Pakistan by 29 runs	1403	1985.7
Pollock sparks a collapse, but Mushtaq Ahmed holds off the long South African tail.
England	West Indies	1969	3	Headingley	England by 30 runs	655	1987.9
A West Indies comeback falls just short after a middle-order collapse
Australia	West Indies	1968/69	4	Adelaide	Match Drawn	645	1993.8
Australia runout half their side chasing a last day target, before surviving the last few overs to draw
England	Australia	1961	4	Old Trafford	Australia by 54 runs	510	1994.2
Lawry leads a comeback capped by Benaud as England collapse on the final day
India	England	1972/73	2	Eden Gardens	Inda by 28 runs	706	2008.6
Despite Grieg's efforts, England lose a low-scoring affair
West Indies	Australia	1998/99	3	Bridgetown	West Indies by 1 wicket	1453	2013.6
Extraordinary 153 not out by Lara to overcome McGrath and Gillespie
England	Pakistan	1971	3	Headingley	England by 25 runs	689	2016.9
Lever sparks late collapse in see-sawing game
West Indies	Pakistan	1987/88	3	Bridgetown	West Indies by 2 wickets	1097	2024.1
Amazing series ends with Winston Benjamin an unlikely batting hero
West Indies	England	1967/68	5	Georgetown	Match Drawn	636	2032.5
Cowdrey and Knott hold off Gibbs and Sobers all day to draw.
West Indies	Pakistan	1987/88	2	Queen's Park Oval	Match Drawn	1096	2036.6
An amazing match, concluded with both sides in sight of victory
South Africa	Australia	2005/06	3	Wanderers	Australia by 2 wickets	1795	2045.9
Martyn and Hussey mean South Africa fall short again
Australia	England	1894/95	1	Sydney	England by 10 runs	42	2055.6
The first side to win following on as Peel sparks extraordinary collapse
India	Pakistan	1998/99	1	Chennai	Pakistan by 12 runs	1442	2060.7
Tendulkar gets India to brink before lamentable collapse of 4/4
Australia	England	1954/55	2	Sydney	England by 38 runs	392	2073.2
Harvey's 92 not enough as Tyson takes 10 to complete comeback
England	Australia	1997	6	The Oval	England by 19 runs	1377	2074.7
Tuffnell and Caddick prevent Australia chasing low target in dead match
Australia	England	1982/83	4	Melbourne	England by 3 runs	943	2095.2
Thomson and Border fall just short in a game that stayed close the whole way
Australia	Pakistan	2002/03	1	Colombo	Australia by 41 runs	1615	2100.2
Shoaib's spell offers Pakistan hope but they fall just short
England	Australia	2005	3	Old Trafford	Match Drawn	1760	2109.4
Ponting holds back England for just long enough as last pair hold on
Australia	England	1998/99	4	Melbourne	England by 12 runs	1436	2116.2
Australia collapses alarmingly to Headley in evening finish
Sri Lanka	Australia	2003/04	2	Kandy	Australia by 27 runs	1688	2136.1
Gilchrist and Martyn start comeback in Warne/Murali showdown
Sri Lanka	South Africa	2000	2	Kandy	South Africa by 7 runs	1505	2137.4
Sri Lanka lose 4/8 after Ranatunga's dismissal to fail just short in low chase
England	West Indies	1963	2	Lord's	Match Drawn	544	2168.9
Cowdrey comes out with broken arm to see off Griffith and Hall in epic game
Australia	England	1928/29	4	Adelaide	England by 12 runs	179	2170.6
Dual tons from Hammond enough as young Bradman's runout by Hobbs leaves his side short in dead rubber
Pakistan	Australia	1994/95	1	Karachi	Pakistan by 1 wicket	1268	2177.3
Warne beats Inzaman and Healy for byes as largest last wicket chase is achieved
England	Australia	1902	4	Old Trafford	Australia by 3 runs	73	2182.4
Trumble's 10 enough to beat Lockwood's 11 as English collapse leaves them just short
India	Australia	2010/11	1	Mohali	India by 1 wicket	1972	2199.9
Laxman guides his team home in most recent epic game
South Africa	England	1956/57	4	Wanderers	South Africa by 17 runs	437	2207.6
Tayfield takes 9 in 4th innings to hold off English comeback
Australia	England	1924/25	3	Adelaide	Australia by 11 runs	160	2226.1
England almost pull off massive chase but fall just short
Australia	England	1950/51	2	Melbourne	Australia by 28 runs	328	2245.4
Low scoring game meant England continued their long losing streak
Australia	South Africa	1993/94	2	Sydney	South Africa by 5 runs	1243	2274.2
de Villiers bowls South Africa to famous victory as Australia fall just short two years running
India	Australia	2004/05	4	Wankhede	India by 13 runs	1720	2319.4
Crazy low scoring game on difficult pitch. A dead rubber but no less exciting for it.
Australia	West Indies	1992/93	4	Adelaide	West Indies by 1 run	1210	2345.3
My personal favourite, the dominant team of the past 15 years holds off the dominant team of the next 15 on epic fourth day
Australia	West Indies	1960/61	1	Brisbane	Match tied	498	2436.6
The first tied test, Davison and Benaud almost pull off unlikely chase in last session before runouts decide it
Australia	West Indies	1951/52	4	Melbourne	Australia by 1 wicket	345	2465.6
Series winning, 38 run, 10th wicket partnership from Ring and Johnston against Ramadhin and Valentine.
England	Australia	2005	2	Edgbaston	England by 2 runs	1758	2544.3
Warne and Flintoff combine to produce amazing game, finished by Harmison, Lee and Kasprowicz
And, the best games from the three unrepresented sides:
New Zealand	West Indies	1979/80	1	Dunedin	New Zealand by 1 wicket	873	1876.5
Hadlee overcomes the mighty West Indies in an ill-tempered game
Pakistan	Zimbabwe	1993/94	2	Rawalpindi	Pakistan by 52 runs	1240	1474.6
Wasim and Waqar take 9/52 to overcome a gallant Zimbabwe
Pakistan	Bangladesh	2003	3	Multan	Pakistan by 1 wicket	1658	1337.6
Twice Bangladesh has almost taken a proper scalp, twice denied by a great innings, this one by Inzaman

Cricket - Analysis 18th July, 2011 00:43:54   [#] 

Comments

The highest rating 50 test matches

You missed the famous 2001 Eden gardens test match between India and Australia...
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/63920.html
Christopher Poshin David  18th July, 2011 02:15:33  

The highest rating 50 test matches
I didn't miss it, it just doesn't rank very highly (about 589) because it wasn't a close finish. To be honest, I didn't find it that interesting to watch either. Great comeback, but it was basically two slow-burning collapses book-ending some seemingly endless batting. In other words, I probably wouldn't put it in the top-50 if it was a purely subjective list.
Russ  18th July, 2011 11:47:15