It’s two decades since Mark Taylor’s men wrested the unofficial ‘Test world champions’ tag from West Indies. In the intervening years, Australia have spent a large portion atop the cricket tree.

During that time there have been 222 Tests played, with many brilliant batting performances among them.

To celebrate the anniversary, we’ve narrowed down – in no particular order – the 20 most important innings played by Australian batsman since that historic series victory 20 years ago.

Here is part one:

Michael Clarke 161 not out v South Africa, Cape Town, March 2014 The context: With the No.1 Test ranking up for grabs and the series level at 1-1, this was as close as Test cricket gets to a world championship bout. Australia won the first Test, and lost the second amid questions surrounding captain Michael Clarke’s form. The skipper laughed off the critics, and promptly showed them exactly why he found the line of inquiry comical. The innings: Clarke won the toss and chose to bat, safe in the knowledge that a massive first-innings total would put Australia in command of the match. Clearly out of sorts despite his own protestations, Clarke weather a sustained spell of brutal fast bowling from Morne Morkel, in which he was struck repeatedly around the ribs, arms, shoulders and back.

Clarke cops a serious workout from Morne Morkel

Scans later revealed a fractured shoulder and a heavily bruised forearm, but Clarke kept at it, getting through the most difficult period and ultimately thriving. Like Steve Waugh in the Caribbean almost two decades earlier, it was a century made under extremely challenging conditions, a defining knock for the veteran of more than 100 Tests, and an innings that set up Australia’s return to the world No.1 ranking. The outcome: Clarke’s 161 was an instant classic as Australia went on to win the match by 245 runs and return to the top of Test cricket. It completed a golden summer and was the highest point the national side had reached since their historic 2006-07 Ashes.

Clarke posts three figures to put Australia in command

Steve Waugh 108 v England, third Test, Manchester July 1997 The context: Australia went into the third match of a six-Test series 1-0 down, and captain Mark Taylor boldly chose to bat first under cloudy skies on a pitch that most predicted would suit the fast bowlers. The Australians hadn’t lost an Ashes since 1986-87. The innings: It was a classic Waugh scenario: Australia in early trouble at 3-42, in need of a hero. And just as typically, he delivered. Fending off short balls in between rain breaks from a quality pace attack in Darren Gough, Dean Headley and Andy Caddick, Waugh battled hard as teammates fell around him. The score slipped to 7-160 but he remained resolute, steering his side to 235 – a total deemed defendable on the difficult Old Trafford deck. The outcome: Australia went on to win the match – and the series – and Waugh, who almost singlehandedly turned the tide, added a slice of history in the second innings, registering three figures again to become the first Australian to make twin Ashes hundreds in 50 years.

Waugh celebrates the first of two hundreds for the match // Getty Images

Matthew Hayden 130 v Sri Lanka, first Test, Galle, March 2004 The context: Like India, Sri Lanka was a venue that had gone unconquered under Steve Waugh’s leadership so it naturally marked a land of significance for the 2004 Australians. Ricky Ponting was the new skipper, and his side was charged with the task of overcoming a red-hot Muthiah Muralidaran. First up, they failed, as Murali claimed six wickets to rip out the tourists for 220. Sri Lanka made 381 in reply. The innings: Matthew Hayden channelled his subcontinental form of 2001 to reverse the fortunes of the Australians, who until the left-hander’s intervention had looked like succumbing to the wiles of Murali on his home track. Hayden’s aggressive 130 erased the sizeable deficit and paved the way for middle-order pair Damien Martyn and Darren Lehmann, who added outstanding hundreds of their own to build on the Aussie advantage. The outcome: Hayden set the tone for Australia and his batsmen to follow, as he refused to let Murali settle into a line and length and consequently dictated terms for large periods. It was an innings that swung the match, and Australia, boosted by a rejuvenated Shane Warne, went on to take a 1-0 series lead and never looked back.

Hayden dons the floppy white in the heat of Galle // Getty Images

Mark Waugh 115 v South Africa, third Test, Adelaide, January 1998 The context: Australia led 1-0 in the series but the rivalry between these sides that had been building steadily for five years reached boiling point in Adelaide. South Africa, desperate to level terms with the unofficial world champs, had toiled without reward all summer. In the final Test, with Australia needing to survive a little more than a day to win the series, they thought they had finally got the better of their hosts. Enter Mark Waugh. The innings: This one had the lot. Spilled catches. Incredible resolve and concentration from Australia’s No.4, who batted almost seven hours. And controversy. Such controversy. Waugh was spared by the generosity of South Africa’s fielders as the tourists drew closer to victory with every Australian wicket on day five, but the critical moment came when he was struck on the arm by a shorter delivery. Waugh walked away from the wicket, as if to gather his thoughts, but in doing so his bat struck the stumps and a bail fell. Ultimately it was deemed dead ball, he survived and so did Australia’s hopes of scraping a draw. The outcome: Waugh’s classic 115 not out highlighted once again the right-hander’s mettle under pressure, and secured Australia a particularly hard-earned series victory. Proteas skipper Hansie Cronje sent a stump through the door of the umpire room, venting a nation’s frustration at what might have been.

Mark Waugh survives one of Test cricket's most controversial moments // Getty Images

Brad Haddin 94 v England, first Test, Brisbane, November 2013 The context: Australia hadn’t won a Test in nine attempts, after successive away thrashing to India and England, and morale among Baggy Green supporters had rarely been lower. With England returning for a back-to-back Ashes bout and desperate to put the boot in, the home side needed something special, yet at 6-132 on day one of a new series, it looked like they had stumbled from bad to worse. The innings: Playing in his 50th Test but without an Ashes series win to savour, 36-year-old Brad Haddin wasn’t about to let this chance slip. This was a classic, controlled counter from the keeper-batsman, who found support in Mitchell Johnson and promptly saved Australia from a disastrous first day. He fell six runs short of a deserved hundred, but put his side very much back in the contest, and delivering momentum that Australia would rarely relinquish through the remainder of the summer. The outcome: Haddin helped Australia to a first-innings total of 295, and they went on to hand England a 381-run shellacking. That convincing result paved the way for an historic 5-0 whitewash – an amazing turnaround on the previous winter’s 3-0 defeat to the same opposition.

The first fifty of Haddin's counter-attacking 94

Adam Gilchrist 149 not out v Pakistan, second Test, Hobart, November 1999 The context: Australia led this series 1-0 and would go on to clean sweep it, but the importance of this effort was underlined later by Steve Waugh and his willing disciples Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist. The trio maintained this was the victory that convinced them they were capable of winning any match, from any situation. At 5-126 chasing 369 to win on a wearing fifth-day track against an attack containing Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar and Saqlain Mushtaq, it’s not difficult to see why. The innings: Gilchrist proved repeatedly throughout his stunning career that he was a man for all seasons, but this was the first time Australians realised just what a special product they had at No.7. Playing just his second Test, the keeper-batsman – who quickly won over supporters who had bemoaned the sacking of Ian Healy – batted in his customary aggressive fashion, but proved to any doubters he was much more than simply a limited-overs slogger. In fact, he was nothing of the sort, and in no time he hurried Australia to a remarkable run chase, blazing 149 not out from 163 deliveries alongside his WA teammate Justin Langer (127). The outcome: Gilchrist’s special innings was described by Richie Benaud as one of the finest he had seen, and the left-hander went on to play a key role in Australia’s world record run of 16 straight Test wins (this was number three), in the process turning Waugh’s XI into one of the greatest of all time.

Gilchrist demoralised Pakistan with a stunning day five hundred

Mark Waugh 116 v South Africa, second Test, Port Elizabeth, March 1997 The context: Australia had played two Test series against the Proteas since their reintroduction following Apartheid – one home, one away – and drawn both. In the first Test of this series, they’d enjoyed an innings victory, but South Africa had fought back hard in this second match. After being skittled for just 108 in their first innings, Australia were left needing 270 to win a match in which neither side had posted more than 209. The innings: The tourists were in early trouble at 2-30 when the reassuring presence of Mark Waugh arrived at the crease. Across 228 deliveries and almost six hours, Waugh stood tall in what he later described it as his finest innings. Critics of the more elegant twin had suggested this type of innings was reserved exclusively for his brother. As he had done many times before, Waugh silenced them with a match-winning effort. The outcome: Waugh was actually out 12 runs short of the target, leaving a frenzied finale, but Ian Healy’s six sealed a special win for the Australians and a series breakthrough against the South Africans.

Mark Waugh celebrates one of his finest hundreds // Getty Images

Ricky Ponting 257 v India, third Test, Melbourne, December 2004 The context: For one of the few times in their recent Test history, Australia faced a 1-0 deficit on home soil after India had tasted a rare victory Down Under, in the second Test in Adelaide. Ricky Ponting’s double century in that match had counted for nothing in the wash-up, and with Virender Sehwag blasting a spectacular 195 on the opening day of the third Test, India were suddenly primed to take an unbeatable 2-0 series lead. A collapse saw them bowled out for 366 on day two, and this time Ponting wouldn’t be denied. The innings: The highest score of Ponting’s prolific career came at a critical juncture for the Australian side. Minus Warne and McGrath, they carried less of their usual swagger, but Ponting was at the peak of a purple patch that would endure for much of the next four years. He combined with Matthew Hayden (136) for a partnership that turned the match, before going on to occupy the crease for 10 minutes short of 10 hours. When he was out, Australia led by almost 200 and the match had been turned on its head. The outcome: India were bundled out for 286 in their second innings and Australia chased the required 95 with nine wickets in hand. Ponting and Hayden finished the job they started and with the fourth Test drawn, the honours for the series finished even. Ponting’s masterpiece had avoided a first Test series win for India in Australia – a task they are still to complete.

Ponting made it back-to-back doubles with this effort at the MCG

Marcus North 117 v South Africa, first Test, Johannesburg, March 2009 The context: Australia had just tasted defeat on home soil for the first time since 1992-93 and there were genuine fears that life after Warne, McGrath, Gilchrist, Langer and Hayden was going to be a particularly painful existence. Ricky Ponting’s new-look side faced arguably the biggest challenge in world cricket – South Africa on their home patch. The innings: West Australia batsman Marcus North was one of three debutants for the tourists, but his first-class experience shone through. The left-hander rescued Australia from a precarious 4-151 and wasn’t out until the score passed 400. It was an innings of geniune substance against a world-class attack, and one that showed Australia there was light after the retirements of their legendary group. Honourable mention to Mitchell Johnson, who stayed with North and made a splendid unbeaten 96. The outcome: Australia, highly unfancied before a ball had been bowled, won the first Test and Ponting labelled it one of the most satisfying successes of his career. North proved a telling selection in an in-between period for Australia, scoring five hundreds in a respectable 21-Test career.

A century on debut for Marcus North // Getty Images

Justin Langer 127 v West Indies, fourth Test, St John’s, April 1999 The context: The last classic series between these two nations was dominated by the contrasting brilliance of talismanic pair Steve Waugh and Brian Lara. Both had made runs in the first innings of this final Test but with West Indies 2-1 up and chasing an almost unthinkable series win over the mighty Australians, it was Justin Langer who stood up. The innings: Australia led by 81 on the first innings but in their camp was Lara, who had singlehandedly swung the previous two Tests in his side’s favour and had already blazed an even 84-ball century at first attempt in this decider. Batting at No.3, Langer steadied the Australian ship in their second innings, making a crucial 127 from 308 deliveries to help set West Indies an unlikely 308 to win. The outcome: Where Waugh and Lara had stolen the headlines, this unsung effort from Langer bore all the hallmarks of what made the West Australian such an integral part of Australia’s set up. Like his captain, he felt most motivated to fight when it was backs to the wall. Australia won the Test, levelled the series, and haven’t looked like handing back the Frank Worrell Trophy since.

Langer produced an unsung classic in the Caribbean // Getty Images