Then as now,the Kiwis put their grudge aside and the match went on its undulating way. Redoubtable opener John Wright ground out 99 in more than five hours,Martin Crowe made a typically elegant 82,McDermott took five wickets and Whitney four and New Zealand came to rest on 317.

In reply,Australia were teetering at 7-213 when newbie Dodemaide joined Peter Sleep,best described as an uncomplicated character."I looked down at his bat at some stage,"said Dodemaide."It was an old Grey-Nicolls double scoop,but with a piece broken off. It looked like a park cricketer's bat."

Somehow,Dodemaide found Sleep's blitheness reassuring. They put on 80,and when Sleep fell for a gutsy 90,Dodemaide and McDermott added 60 more. Dodemaide always put a high price on his wicket,and for four hours would not be budged,until he was within one shot of a half-century. Giddy,he charged and missed off-spinner Dipak Patel,only for wicketkeeper Ian Smith to fluff the stumping. Eventually,he was last out for 50,Australia led by 40. Hadlee took five wickets,par for him against Australia.

Two days remained. The Kiwis batted around another princely contribution from Crowe to make 286. Dodemaide took three wickets with the old ball,then when McDermott was injured a couple more with the second new ball. Nine down overnight,New Zealand surprised by batting on into the last day,but Dodemaide immediately yorked Morrison for a sixth wicket. Test cricket had become a hoot.

Australia had the rest of the day,92 overs,to make 247. At 4-176,the target had been whittled down to 71 from 28 overs. In bars,offices and lounge rooms,Australia tuned in,joining almost 24,000 at the ground. A high-rating quiz show was summarily cancelled.

The Kiwis thought they were done,all except Hadlee. At 5.17pm,with shadows beginning to creep,he took the ball for one last thrust. He would sustain it for an hour and a half.

The wickets began to fall. Dodemaide found himself in again,facing Hadlee,dream and nightmare in one."I idolised Hadlee,"he said."I'd watched him so often. At home,I'd tape his spells on the old VHS – pause,play,pause,play – to study what he did."

Tape was one thing,but in real life there was no slow-mo button. Hadlee's off-cutter trapped him in front,and Australia were nine down with six overs remaining. Dodemaide's dream debut was turning to dust."I felt sick to the stomach,"he said."I thought I'd blown it. I passed'Whit'on the way out and I could barely look at him. But he had his tits out and was ready to go."If you ever saw the way Whitney carried himself,you'd know what Dodemaide meant.

In a long first-class career,Whitney would average five with the bat. In Test cricket,his scores to this point were 0,0,4,0,0 not out. But like most who bat at No.11,he hated getting out. In the NSW nets,teammates would oblige him with throw-downs for hours. He prided himself on how often he dug in while a teammate got to 100,or the team to first innings points. In the Test set-up,Simpson would send the bowlers in first,against the new ball,for their own betterment."Even Mark Taylor with the new cherry could swing it,"said Whitney.

But this was Richard Hadlee,no less. At the changeroom door,Border had given Whitney a half-smile. It was all Whitney needed:he knew how much this meant to his captain. Victory lay only 20 runs away,but was off the table. This wasThe Hunger Games,25 years early.

Six overs became four,then two. In the players'viewing room,half had their heads in their hands. Dodemaide,still with his pads on,was one."I couldn't watch,and I couldn't take my eyes off it,"he said. Border's face was a mask.

With the eighth-last ball,Morrison struck McDermott plumb in front. Backing up,all the calamitous consequences struck Whitney at once:no series win,heart-break for Border,crushing disappointment for the crowd. He looked at umpire French,a fellow New South Welshman."His eyes flickered to me,just for a second,then back to the wicket,"he said."Then he said'not out'."

Whitney has a memory of Morrison banging his fist on the pitch."The only way that was missing was it was going under,"Whitney said.

So it came down to the last over."My first thought was:what the f--- am I doing at this end?"said Whitney."I looked up. Craig had the gloves off and was leaning on his bat. He was going nowhere.

"If you see the footage,I was mumbling the whole time. I was saying:'Watch the ball,watch the ball,watch the ball'. A couple of times,I went down to pad the wicket. I don't even know what I was padding down,or why."

In Whitney's favour,Hadlee was bowing his 31st over for the day,and 75th for the match. Not that you would have known."Hadlee was in this incredible trance,so focused,"said Morrison a couple of years ago."I remember being at cover throwing the ball back to him,and he was in this wonderful zone."

Whitney blocked the straight ones,left two."I probably only let 20 balls go outside the off stump in my career,and I left two in that over."A thousand instincts competed."It's like you've got sparks coming out of your body,there's so much going on."Years later,at one of the many sporties the pair have done since,Whitney asked Hadlee why he hadn't bounced him."I didn't think I needed to,"Hadlee replied.

Whitney blocked the last ball,then raised a clenched fist. In all,he survived 18 balls. In the decades since,he has met thousands of people who were watching that evening and tell the same tale:pin-drop silence,then a euphoric eruption.

The Kiwis were commendably gracious. Hadlee,who was denied the wicket that would have made him the world record-holder,put his arm around Whitney and said:"You've done a great thing."Smith shook Whitney's hand and gave him the ball. The goodwill spread. When Hadlee was named man-of-the-match and series,the crowd put aside a decade of Hadlee-is-a-wanker tradition and cheered. They could afford to now.

This was not a great Australian team,but it did a great thing,prevailing over a great New Zealand team and lighting a way forward. Dodemaide played 10 Tests,before building a career in administration at Marylebone Cricket Club,the WACA and Cricket Victoria. Now 56,he will be at the MCG early on Boxing Day as president of the Lord's Taverners,but out of the corner of his mind's eye,he will spy his erstwhile self,new cap affixed,new sweater gleaming still.

Whitney played 12 Tests. He will be at home in Sydney on Boxing Day,digesting Christmas dinner,but still full of wonder that for all his toils as a bustling left-armer for nearly 15 years,he has gone down in history for an innings of 2 not out. Out of it grew a successful media career. Now 60,he is the father of 25-year-old triplets. Recently,one asked if he would be playing IPL these days."Yep,and we'd probably have three houses in Sydney,and one at Jindabyne,"he replied. But it was clear he would swap nothing for that long-ago Boxing Day joust.

Four years ago,Australia and New Zealand met at the MCG in the World Cup final. The night before,Whitney met Hadlee and gave him the ball that had been their quarry 27 years previously. Hadlee was genuinely grateful:he had in his collection the balls from all of his 36 five-wicket hauls in Test cricket except this."I'm 100 per cent sure I saw a little tear roll down his cheek,"Whitney said.