Wednesday, December 31, 2008

If the shoe fits . . . throw it

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at the end of 2008 that history will look kindly on President George W. Bush. At present no one looks kindly on George W. Bush, not even a pair of shoes.

History will look kindly on Ricky Ponting. But at present a flying pair of shoes would be welcome relief from the barrage of flak he has received. Undoubtedly he would deal with a pair of size ten’s better than the questions from the Australian cricketing public. He would rock onto the back foot and swat them forward of square with his 2’10oz Kahuna.

If only captaincy were that simple.

But herein lies the problem for Ponting. His predecessors were under pressure at different stages for different reasons. Mark Taylor, renown as a master tactician, could not buy a run for nearly 18 months between the start of 1996 and the middle of 1997. 129 in the second innings of a test loss at Edgbaston saw all forgiven and forgotten.

Likewise, Steve Waugh battled personal batting demons during 2002-3. His twin brother was cast to the retirement lounge for equally poor form and Waugh was on his last legs arriving in Sydney for the New Year’s Ashes test in 2003. He delivered the “Perfect day” hundred. His side suffered its worst test loss on home soil in a decade, but all was forgiven and forgotten.

Ponting’s case is somehow different. His batting record as captain is phenomenal. As skipper he has scored just under half of his 10697 test runs at an average 58.74. 17 of his 37 test hundreds are captain’s knocks. In Melbourne last week he was just one run shy of becoming the first man in history to score a century in each innings of four test matches. All four he was present at the coin toss. These are mountainous figures given minuscule credit.

No one has ever questioned Ponting’s ability with the blade, but at every chance they slay his captaincy record. 2005 was a perfect example. His record at the end of September that year was superior to every Australian captain bar Warwick Armstrong. He had lost just three test matches. One by 13 runs, one by two runs, and one by three wickets.

Unfortunately, the last two losses came in the one series. The 2005 Ashes was his shame de grace. He was the first Australian captain since Allan Border in 1985 to hand back the urn.

Ponting was blasted for his leadership during that torrid tour. He was slated for his decision to bowl at Edgbaston. Never mind the spate of no-balls from his bowlers, and the failure of his batsmen to find the meager three runs needed to win the test match. The loss rested wholly and solely on his shoulders.

Ponting played one of the great test match innings to force a draw at Old Trafford, whilst the rest of his side failed him dismally. Praise for his phenomenal 156 was scarce.

The loss at Trent Bridge saw Ponting plagued by ill-fortune. His exit following Gary Pratt’s controversial direct hit in Australia’s second innings saw Ponting produce an in-defensible outburst. Although it could not be condoned his frustration was understandable given Damien Martyn’s stupidity and Duncan Fletcher’s smirk. Aleem Dar did not help Ponting’s cause, when the Pakistani adjudicator ended Simon Katich’s test match incorrectly. Australia fell 30 or 40 runs short of a winning total given Shane Warne’s heroics in the fourth innings with the ball.

Ponting was pilloried for handing back the Ashes at the Oval. Despite Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer’s baffling decision to accept bad light at tea on day two, and Kevin Pietersen making 158 after being grassed twice before reaching 15, blood was on the skipper’s hands.

Taylor and Waugh never lost a series in England. However Taylor and Waugh never led an Australian XI in England without the presence of Glenn McGrath, who possesses 87 test scalps at 19.34 in the UK.

Ponting had done it twice in one series. They lost both test matches.

Ponting’s response was a win over the World XI, and a three-nil whitewash of the West Indies at home. But the sharks were again circling following a draw in the first test against South Africa. According to most he had put the individual ahead of the team by allowing Brad Hodge to reach his double century and setting South Africa 491 in 126 overs instead of 450 in 145 overs.

He responded to these absurd claims by leading his team to 16 consecutive test match victories, equalling the world record set by Steve Waugh’s side of 1999-01.

Ponting’s batting throughout this period was par-excellence. In the first four test matches of this streak, against the world’s second-ranked side South Africa, he posted five match winning centuries. It was no surprise that at every key juncture in the rest of the streak Ponting led with his blade. Highlights were his 118no in a fourth innings chase of 307 in Fatulla, 196 in the first innings of the 2006-7 Ashes, as well as 142 in the second test in Adelaide which laid the platform for an extraordinary win after conceding 551 in the first innings.

In the 16th test of the streak Ponting threw the ball to Michael Clarke as a last gasp attempt at victory. Clarke took three wickets in an over. Had Mark Taylor been skipper it would’ve been a masterstroke, given it was Ponting it was a stroke of luck.

Nonetheless he had equalled Steve Waugh’s record. Was he lavished with praise? Far from it. He was labelled a pariah. The press portrayed him as the ruthless, unsporting leader of a pack of “ugly”, “arrogant” Australian winners.

Again the press called for his head. It wouldn’t have happened under Taylor or Waugh, they said. How short were their memories? Steve Waugh was the skipper during some of the ugliest on field incidents in modern cricket, from Michael Slater's outburst in India 2001, through Langer’s abuse of Michael Vaughan in Adelaide 2002, to McGrath’s explosion in the West Indies in 2003, Waugh’s men were hardly saints. Nor were Taylor’s. Sri Lanka refused to shake Taylor’s hand after the infamous 1995-6 Benson and Hedges one-day series in Australia, and he had hardly contained Shane Warne’s abuse of numerous players in the mid 90s.

If at the height of his powers as skipper Ponting was so unpopular, what would happen when his side fell from its perch? We’ve seen the results this summer.

He lost two-nil in India. His leadership was questioned once more. Taylor lost twice in India, and Steve Waugh lost the un-losable series in 2001. Both captained against lesser Indian sides than the present, with greater Australian sides than the current.

Now Ponting has presided over the first home series defeat since 1992-3. Again he has been battered. When someone points to his captaincy record the immediate response features McGrath and Warne as the sole reasons.

Had Steve Waugh and Simon Katich not combined for 142 in the fourth innings in Sydney against India in 2004, Waugh may well be holding the dubious honour of leading Australia to defeat at home for the first time during its reign at the top of world cricket. Surprise, surprise that summer also took place in the absence of Warne and McGrath.

Ponting is not the master tactician. A lack of ability to think on his feet during times of crisis supports this claim. Very rarely is there a plan B. Auto-pilot for an emergency is set to defence and nothing else. In England 2005 this was particularly evident. In India 2008 his decision-making was baffling. He had shirked authorities earlier in his career but he adhered to them with a win insight in Nagpur, electing to rectify the over–rate rather than step on India’s throat. Likewise his lack of imagination in Melbourne just recently when things were going awry fed his detractors with more ammunition.

Nor is he a great diplomat. His petulant behavior with the press after losses in England, India, and twice in Perth in 2008, give that statement great credence.

But there’s a fine line between success and failure. Had his top order not played so poorly in both matches and had he held a catch he would normally swallow in Melbourne the series may still be alive.

It is neat for the press sometimes. Wins are the result of the sum of all parts. Losses are hung around the individuals head, more often than not the captain’s.

Ponting has suffered this fate. There are two things to consider when summarising Ponting’s leadership. Firstly, the selectors have handed Ponting 14 different teams in 14 consecutive test matches. Taylor and Waugh never presided over such instability.

Secondly, imagine if Ponting, like Taylor, had gone 21 test innings without a half-century in an 18 month period during his captaincy. Or imagine if he’d batted at five instead of three like Steve Waugh had. Would Australia have won 16 test matches in a row?

To fall from grace so hard you must first begin at a great height. Ponting as a captain may not have the tactical nous of Taylor or the icy cool resolve of Waugh, but he has led his side by example with batting that has been unrivalled.

That can never be underestimated. His sphere of influence on Australia’s greatest era should never be undervalued.

Everything bar the shoes has been thrown at him just recently. But remove him and what do you have?

A very large pair of shoes to fill.

Dawn of a new age

While Australia’s tale of woe has been well documented, few have credited the South Africans for their extraordinary performances in the opening two test matches of this series.

The finger of blame has turned to the Australian side and it’s selectors for these astonishing results but one might consider for a moment the enormity of the Proteas achievement.

No side had won a test series on Australian soil since 1992-3. Allan Border’s long reign as Australian captain had claimed all bar one scalp. The West Indies looked like they might finally fall as Australia edged its way to a final innings target of 186 in the fourth test in Adelaide of that epic summer.

Craig McDermott cut a forlorn figure as the West Indies conjured a miraculous escape to keep the series alive, before reaffirming their status as the world’s best of the time with a crushing victory in Perth.

They were humble beginnings from which Australia were rising, following their bleakest period in the mid 1980s. It took something extraordinary to beat them then, just as it has done now.

South Africa had just one test victory in Australia since readmission post-apartheid. That in itself was a Houdini act. A fresh faced Jonty Rhodes made a composed 76no in the third innings of the 1994 Sydney test match. It gave the Proteas a slim chance by setting a three-figure target. Fanie De Villiers and Allan Donald needed no further invitation to rip through a far more experienced Australian outfit to nudge them by 5 runs.

The manner in which they compiled this series victory has not been dissimilar. Whilst the Perth pitch was a belter that only got better as the days wore on, only one side in 131 years of Test cricket had chased down more than 414 runs to win in the fourth innings.

They did it with composure and assuredness. Their captain has led from the front. Graeme Smith has been much maligned for his record in Australia but his century in Perth was sublime. He has made a habit of producing when it has mattered most. His side was set 283 for victory in Edgbaston earlier this year with the series against England in the balance. He duly delivered with a magnificent 154no to guide his side home.

Also in Perth, two young men, one in the mould of Jonty Rhodes, showed the depth of talent in this Proteas side as well as the extent of belief in their ability to win test matches from any position. AB de Villiers has excited all and sundry with his phenomenal catching in this series but his batting should surprise no one. His 106no in Perth was arguably the best of his seven test centuries but this follows a year where he has scored a double century in India and 174 in England.

JP Duminy was a late replacement for Ashwell Prince following the fracture of the vice-captain’s left thumb. 50no in his second test innings during a run chase of such significance was outstanding but just the tip of the iceberg.

Chasing 414 successfully to go one nil up in any series anywhere is the sign of a great side, let alone against Australia in Perth.

Despite the inherent problems of this Australian side, that have been analysed ad nauseum, one mustn’t forget that essentially the same outfit, minus only Adam Gilchrist, Stuart Clarke, Phil Jacques, and Brad Hogg, were constructing wins 15 and 16 of a record equaling sequence just twelve months prior.

South Africa’s win in Melbourne, although far more emphatic in margin, was just as miraculous in resurrection. At stumps on day two South Africa trailed by 198 runs with just Paul Harris, Dale Steyn, and Makhaya Ntini left to support the rookie Duminy who was 33no.

It is normally here where Ponting’s men would step on the jugular. But instead the Australian’s uncharacteristically didn’t take their chances. Incredibly, Dale Steyn, a bowler without a first-class half-century, and second-gamer Duminy, were allowed to compile 180 for the ninth wicket. The momentum swung violently. The Australians crumbled under the pressure.

It is such a familiar story. However the antagonists are in such unfamiliar roles. Three years ago, South Africa led after the first innings of the first test of the 2005-6 series. Brad Hodge, on just 13, with the lead at 115 and seven wickets in-hand, edged to Justin Kemp who dropped his second catch of the match. Hodge made hay notching 203no and effectively batted South Africa out of the match. Although Australia could not take ten fourth innings wickets, South Africa were no chance of chasing the 491 required to win.

In Perth in this series Australia had the chance to bat South Africa into oblivion again. But the difference this time around was that the Proteas held the chances offered. De Villiers and Kallis have been particularly outstanding in the cordon and 414 was well within reach as opposed 500 or more.

Likewise in Melbourne three years ago it was Australia battling to set a first innings score at 9/248. Michael Hussey was just 27 when Glenn McGrath joined him. The pair added 107 for the last wicket to demoralise Graeme Smith’s side. At 6/260 in South Africa’s reply, Mark Boucher’s exit left Herschelle Gibbs to bat with Shaun Pollock, Nicky Boje, Andre Nel and Makhaya Ntini. Sound familiar? The difference was Gibbs unlike Duminy had 72 Tests experience and had reached three figures 14 times. Pollock unlike Harris had 3243 test runs with two centuries, and Boje unlike Steyn had passed 50 in test cricket four times. Unlike in 2008, Smith’s side of 2005/6 folded for 311. They were set 366 in the fourth innings to lead the series one nil. They got nowhere near it.

South Africa’s kryptonite on that occasion was Australia’s self-belief. It reared its head again and again that summer. Australia chased down 289 comfortably in Sydney and pinched two wins in Durban and Johannesburg from unlikely situations. These were four of Australia’s first five wins in their record-equaling sequence of 16 consecutive under Ricky Ponting. The self-belief became ingrained and laid the foundations for miraculous victories in Fatulla (Bangladesh first test 2006), Adelaide (England second test 2006/7), and Sydney (India second test 2007/8).

Now the shoe is on the other foot. Australia’s kryptonite is South Africa’s self-belief. It has been built over twelve months of outstanding cricket. They drew with India in India, and beat England in England. Two results Australia have not achieved in the last four years.

Graeme Smith has led his Proteas to the top of world cricket. They have a chance to stay there for some time. Their batting is full of talent and resolve, with depth to boot. Their bowling attack is exciting, well balanced, and can only improve. The leadership of Smith has become something to behold. He has been at the forefront of their success. Only two men have scored more runs than Smith in a test calendar year. He has achieved this in possibly South Africa’s greatest Test year of all-time.

It is the dawn of a new age. The South Africans are now the king’s of world cricket.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

A tale of two men failed by their systems

While Australia and South Africa trade blows in the opening round of their heavyweight bout, it is interesting to look at the artillery that is on display in Perth. It isn’t that far removed the artillery on display three years ago, when the same two sides met at the same venue.

Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, and Brett Lee were all on display in 2005. The South Africans then featured many that appear now. Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers and Makhaya Ntini were prominent players, whilst Ashwell Prince would’ve played his second Perth test this week had he not fractured his thumb.

There are the obvious men from that 2005 match missing in this one. Retirees Justin Langer, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, and Shaun Pollock have all moved on the greener pastures.

Despite the extraordinary array of talent on display three years ago, the two stars of that test match were unheralded. Both played test innings of the highest quality, suggesting they could produce test careers of the ilk of the superstars mentioned above. But both have been cast into cricket’s wilderness, failed by the respective selection systems of their national panels.

The feats of Brad Hodge and Jacques Rudolph in Perth three years ago were phenomenal but remarkably they nullified each other to produce, what some experts contented, one of dullest test matches in recent memory.

The build up to the test match was eerily similar to this week. Australia had had its hegemony questioned after an unforeseen series loss in England. They plundered the entrée of the West Indies much as they had done New Zealand this month and were ready for a main course of South Africa, who were looking to carry on England’s work from the 2005 northern summer.

Like in this test match, the coin fell Ricky Ponting’s way in 2005 and he chose to bat. At the midway point of the match honours were fairly even. Ntini and Lee claimed five opposition scalps each and Australia began its second attempt trying to erase a deficit of 38.

Unconverted starts had plagued Australia’s first innings, and at the beginning of their second it was a case of déjà vu. But by stumps on day three Australia was well in control, 272 in front with six wickets in hand. Australia’s too most inexperienced test players, ironically with over 20,000 first-class runs between them, had combined for 126 unbroken. Hodge, playing just his fifth test innings was nine short of his first test century whilst Hussey was more than half way to his third ton in just his fourth test.

It was a nod to a selection policy that had begun with Darren Lehmann and Matthew Elliot in the mid 90s, continued with Simon Katich and Martin Love in the early 2000’s, before culminating in the insertion of these two for the start of the 2005/6 summer. It was a case of earning your stripes. All these men were forced to plunder domestic attacks for a decade before making the next step. Even the incumbents like Hayden, Langer, and the Ashes discard Damien Martyn had been forced to do the same after debuting early before being relegated just as quickly.

Hodge nervously found the nine he needed on the fourth morning but he did not stop there. He continued to compile leaving Ricky Ponting with an awkward decision around tea whether to let the Victorian pursue a much craved test double century, or call him in cruelly for the benefit of the team’s pursuit.

Ponting allowed Hodge to go on to make 203no. It was a decision that was widely admonished. Ponting had been pilloried for his performance in England, from a perceived brain fade at the toss in Edgbaston; to criticism for “captaincy by consensus” his job had come into question. Australia did not win the test match in Perth. They could not remove South Africa in 126 fourth innings overs whilst the Proteas’ got nowhere near the Everest-like target of 491.

Critics called for the captain’s head. Dennis Lillee called for Ponting’s sacking for putting the individual above the team, a criticism that has been levelled at him since. McGrath’s defence of his skipper by saying the team unanimously wanted Hodge to go on, further fuelled those who criticised Ponting’s “consensus” style.

The reality was it was a ridiculously flat pitch. McGrath was correct in his assessment that nine times out of 10 the Australian’s would back themselves to take 10 wickets in 126 overs. But even with two of the greatest test wicket takers in history in their line-up, Australia could only create five chances. How could they manage ten in the 140 overs they might have bowled had Ponting declared earlier?

The man who thwarted Australia’s progress was somewhat forgotten in the analysis, something that has happened far too often to Jacques Rudolph.

South Africa looked far from safety. They had lost their captain Smith and first innings top scorer de Villiers whilst still needing 405 for the unlikeliest of victories. Rudolph turned his 18no overnight into an unbeaten 102 by stumps on day five. He absorbed the pace of McGrath, Lee, and Nathan Bracken whilst playing Warne with aplomb. Rudolph’s vigil was 413 minutes in length, in which time he faced 283 balls, and he struck 13 boundaries.

It was redemption of sorts for Rudolph. Unlike Hodge he was promoted on potential at the tender age of 20 but was twice cruelly denied a test debut. The first, against India in 2001-2, he scored a century on debut in what was thought to be the third test of the series, only for the game to classified as a first-class fixture because of India’s flagrant political pout, when they played Virender Sehwag in spite of his one-test suspension.

His second false start was even crueler and even more significant politically. Selected to play in the final test of 2001-2 tour of Australia, Rudolph’s cap was revoked by the United Cricket Board’s president Percie Sonn on racial discrimination grounds. It was one of South Africa’s darkest hours since readmission post-apartheid. Rudolph, a white man, was left out for a player of colour, Justin Ontong, in order to fulfill a quota. A nation fighting for social justice, after coloured men had been discriminated against for so long, had now turned 180 degrees.

Rudolph finally debuted in 2003 with 222no against Bangladesh in Chittagong. It was the highest score by a South African on debut, and the second highest score on debut in test history.

Perth would be Rudolph’s best of his five test hundreds but he turned his back on his country in 2007. He had been in and out of the test side following a poor home series against Australia in 2006, but despite an impending recall he signed a three-year Kolpak agreement with English County Yorkshire which ruled him ineligible to play for the Proteas. The 25 year old sighted the need for stability following years of selection nightmares, and hence a man with unquestionable talent was lost to test cricket for at least three years.

Although the circumstances were different, Brad Hodge also finds himself in the international wilderness. Just four innings after his Perth double century he was discarded by the Australian selectors, for a perceived weakness against the rising ball. Somehow his immense first-class record, which had got him his baggy green, suddenly counted for nothing. When Hodge’s replacement Damien Martyn mysteriously retired only two test matches into the 2006-7 Ashes, it was Andrew Symonds and Adam Voges, two men whose combined first-class record (as well as their handling of short-pitched bowling) does not match the Victorian’s, were called in as replacements. Voges never played, but Symonds eventually repaid the selectors with a test century. He took 18 innings to do it. Hodge’s hundred in Perth came in just his fifth.

The Victorian was recalled to replace Michael Clarke for one test in the West Indies in May 2008, where he made 67 and 27, but was not taken to India despite Symonds’ absence.

Hodge’s first-class record features 16,250 runs at 47.79 with 49 centuries. He is Victoria’s all-time leader run-scorer but has proved as unpopular with test selectors as the previous record holder Dean Jones. If Hodge was a New Zealander he might well be their all-time leading test run-scorer. Instead his test career has stalled on 503 runs, averaging 55.88.

It is amazing that two players could dominate a test match in such a manner three years ago and fall so far from test ranks in the in-suing period.
Neither may play test cricket again, and both can only look back at Perth and wonder what exactly they did wrong.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

South Africa in Australia: The Proteas time is now

South Africa arrives on Australian soil gunning for the ailing king’s throne. Despite the mercurial efforts of an outstanding Indian unit over the past two months Australia remains atop the ICC world rankings as the champions of the five-day game. South Africa, not for the first time, travels the Indian Ocean as test cricket’s second ranked nation. But unlike the past, where the gulf between one and two has been as wide as that stretch of water, the Proteas it seems have never had a better chance at claiming the scalp of its bitter rival in foreign territory.

Since readmission to world cricket, post-apartheid nearly 17 years ago, South Africa, an ultra-consistent, ultra-competitive, and almost uber-disciplined outfit has claimed just one test match between these two nations on this wide brown land. It was one of their greatest test victories. It is a victory, in the context of this series, well-worth revisiting.

1992 was a watershed year for South African sport. Banished from all international competition in 1970 for the fundamental racism of its political regime, some of the world’s best cricketers had been denied its most prestigious stage.

In 1992 they returned rejuvenated, and almost immediately achieved Cinderella-type success. After reaching the World Cup semi-final, rain and a decadent scoring revision system cruelly denied them a place in the final.

The Proteas returned to test cricket a month later in Barbados, where they were beaten by the world’s best side, the West Indies, in a competitive one-off encounter. They then produced two series victories against India at home and Sri Lanka away.

Their arrival in Australia presented their biggest challenge, however the similarities to this side are worth exploring. They were coming to these shores with form and a well balanced side to match.

Kepler Wessels was a strong leader, with extraordinary and unique experience in Australia having played 24 test matches for his adopted nation before returning to his homeland. His side featured solidarity at the top in the form of two stonewalls Andrew Hudson and Gary Kirsten, similar to Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie. Hansie Cronje and Darryl Cullinan provided power and touch at three and four, Not dissimilar to Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis. Whilst Jonty Rhodes was Wessel’s version of AB de Villiers, providing the energy and exuberance of youth, mixing well with grafter Wessels, whose technique looks as if it has provided a framework for Ashwell Prince’s game to follow. Dave Richardson was a loyal and stubborn customer, much like Mark Boucher, with bat and gloves, whilst the attack had the pace and variety of the current Proteas. Allan Donald and Fannie de Villiers provided the fire, Craig Matthews was a consistent and tireless workhorse, and Pat Symcox added the spin component without flash but with vigour.

Typical of Melbourne, the first test over Boxing Day was ruined by rain. The traditional New Year’s test in Sydney was the second of three rather than the culmination of the long form for the summer as has become customary these days, with last year as an exception.

Kepler Wessels won the toss and elected to bat but the Proteas were bamboozled by the unseen mysteries of Shane Warne. The Australian leg-spinner was racing towards 100 test scalps and after sending England into therapy during the winter, it seemed the South Africans and in particular Darryl Cullinan would soon follow suit. Warne’s virtuoso performance of 7/52 saw the Proteas skittled for 169. The loss of Australian Vice-Captain Mark Taylor that evening, having made 170 in Melbourne, set the scene for the intrigue that was to follow.

Australia’s two prodigies, Michael Slater (92) and Damien Martyn (59) provided the backbone of its 292, which yielded a first innings lead of 123. Donald and de Villiers did the bulk of the damage taking four wickets apiece.

South Africa’s second attempt was not that much better than its first. Again though it was a dynamic youth, rather than a seasoned pro which held the innings together. Jonty Rhodes’ unbeaten 76 ensured Australia chased more than three figures to win. Warne added five more Proteas to his collection and finished with match figures of 12/128.

Australia had four sessions to overhaul 117 and move to Adelaide with a one nil lead. But just as Darryl Cullinan’s phobia of Warne was cultivated in Sydney, so too was Australia’s propensity to choke on snack-sized run chases.

Slater fell early before Taylor and David Boon calmly guided the score to 51 whereupon de Villiers removed Boon and then night-watchman Tim May in consecutive deliveries to take his match tally to seven wickets.

Taylor nicked off soon after to give de Villiers four for the session and the jitters had well and truly set in. Allan Border brick-walled with a coolheaded Mark Waugh to close day four at 4/63, Australia still required a nervous 54 to win.

Border fell to Donald without adding to the total early on day five. Donald trapped Waugh in-front nine runs later before de Villiers claimed Ian Healy for his fifth leaving Martyn, in just his eleventh test innings, and three bowlers to get the remaining 44.

Warne was then run out for just 1 which brought Craig McDermott to the crease with 42 required, ironically the same deficit as when he strode to the crease in Adelaide a year earlier in a nail-biter against the West Indies. Battle hardened from the scars of losing that epic by one run, McDermott took the senior role compiling 29 in a 35 run stand with the far superior batsman Martyn, who added just 6 runs in 58 balls. His 59th proved fatal, a soft shot not only cost him his wicket, but for his crime - exiting seven runs short of victory - he was banished from test ranks for six years.

Glenn McGrath’s batting in 1994 was what New Zealand’s Chris Martin’s is in 2008. He lasted seven deliveries before gifting de Villiers a return catch. The South African quick accepted it gleefully to seal a historic test victory and his man of the match award.

Since then South Africa’s record in Australia has been dismal. The only time they came close to winning a test match here was in 1998 when dropped catches and a Mark Waugh century denied them a series save in Adelaide. Their tour of 2001-2 was marred by selection quota dramas and they failed to walk the walk having talked the talk in 2005-6.

As the test world’s second best side throughout that period, they have been nothing short of disappointing. All of their stars retain woeful individual records against the baggy greens as well. This makes this series all the more vital.

They will never get a better opportunity to win on Australian soil. There is no Warne, no McGrath, no Martyn, no Adam Gilchrist, no Justin Langer, and no Stuart Clark, all of whom have tortured the Proteas at one stage or another. Australia, if Peter Siddle and Jason Krejza play together, will field its fourth side since the 2005 Ashes with two players who have not tasted a test match victory. On the three previous occasions; Perth 2008, Mohali and Nagpur 2008, Australia have lost, their only three losses in that period.

The stars are aligned for Graeme Smith’s men.

They must now take their chance.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Pieter van den Hoogenband: The flying Dutchman

It was only appropriate that Ian Thorpe was present for the announcement of Pieter van den Hoogenband’s retirement. It was the Australian great who made Van den Hoogenband the champion he is.

The site was the Sydney Aquatic centre, at the Summer Olympics Games in 2000. Van den Hoogenband smashed Thorpe’s 200m world record in the semi-final, a record Thorpe had lowered since becoming the first man under 1 minute 46 seconds in the Olympic trials.

The final was a classic. Both men set a hot pace early and turned at the 150m mark dead level. Thorpe, the world’s greatest 400m freestyler, came up breathing in front and was expected to clear away from the Dutchman who was a better sprinter. But after going stroke for stroke to the 175, it was the Dutchman whose strength prevailed. Thorpe had been undefeated over the distance since claiming Pan Pacific gold and the world record twelve months prior. Van den Hoogenband had not only claimed Thorpe’s record in the semi (he equaled his 1:45.35 in the final) he’d beaten Thorpe in an Olympic final in the Australian’s home town.

It was a rivalry that was different to any other at the Games. Whilst Gary Hall junior’s loud mouth ignited anti-American sentiment, and Hall and Russian Alexander Popov’s 100m rivalry, which carried over from Atlanta, had political and historical overtones, Thorpe’s and Van den Hoogenband’s was a class above. They were two class acts, as humble in victory as in defeat, who were competing in a stratosphere all to their own.

Australians love a class act even more than a battling champion. Van den Hoogenband was quickly embraced as an icon of the games. But the Dutchman’s victory was even more significant in his homeland. Although the Netherlands had claimed nine gold medals in Olympic pools prior to 2000, none were owned by men. Van den Hoogenband backed up his 200m triumph with an outstanding victory over two-time defending champion and world-record holder Popov in the 100m.

He and Inge de Bruijn were the darlings of the games behind Cathy Freeman and the “far too freakish” Marion Jones.

They returned home as heroes, Van den Hoogenband was named World Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World magazine.

But he was no overnight success story. He had burst onto the scene in Atlanta finishing fourth in the two events he claimed gold in at Sydney. He had pedigree to match. His mother Astrid was a European 800m freestyle silver medallist and a coach of some repute. His father Cees-Rain was a physio for European football giant PSV Eindhoven as well as the 1992 Dutch Olympic team.

Ironically Van den Hoogenband, the Netherlands first male Olympic champion in the pool, claims his inspiration came from “three beautiful blonde women”. Ada Kok, who won 200m butterfly gold in Mexico City, managed him whilst he was sponsored by Speedo. Ellen van Langen’s 800m freestyle victory in Barcelona was celebrated by Van den Hoogenband’s father on pool deck, whilst Van den Hoogenband held a schoolboy crush over Marianne Trimmer, who won double speed-skating gold in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

It is rare for a male athlete of Van den Hoogenband’s stature to claim his idols were females. Undoubtedly his mother’s influence was strong.

Van den Hoogenband was a marked man in the 2001 World Championships in Japan. Thorpe crushed him in the 200m and in the process reclaimed the world record with a blistering 1:44.06 (a record which stood until Michael Phelps went sub 1:44 in the 2007 Worlds in Melbourne, and then sub 1:43 in Beijing). Van den Hoogenband was also touched out twice by American Anthony Ervin in the 100m and 50m freestyles.

After walking away with four silver medals his reputation was hardly diminished, but the 2003 World Championships were equally as frustrating. He claimed two more silvers in the 100m and 200m (Popov and Thorpe again), whilst he was relegated to bronze in the 50m.

But Van den Hoogenband was a big-time performer. He thrived on that stage. He played a key part in perhaps the greatest 200m Olympic freestyle final in history, in Athens, which featured the current and two former world record holders and a young man ambitiously chasing Mark Spitz’s immortal seven gold’s at one Games.

The race was the feature of the Athens Games and it didn’t disappoint. Just as in Sydney Van den Hoogenband set the early pace having qualified fastest. He turned at the 100m 1.03 seconds under world time. But unlike Sydney it took too much out of him. Thorpe chewed up water off the 150m wall, arrested control and held late surges from the Dutchman and Phelps to set a new Olympic record and avenge his Sydney defeat. Van den Hoogenband was resigned to the silver once more.

Van den Hoogenband qualified second fastest for the 100m free final, behind the South African showman Roland Schoeman. The Dutchman was looking to become the fourth man in history to defend his Olympic 100m freestyle crown. That dream looked in tatters when Schoeman pushed off the only turn a body length in-front. Van den Hoogenband gained water with every stroke in the last 25m to touch out the South African. His celebration was pure elation. He roared with delight. Thorpe who swam in lane eight stood on the third level of the dais as his friend sung his national anthem at an Olympic games for the third time.

Thorpe’s retirement in November 2006 was a blow to Van den Hoogenband’s motivation. The Dutchman said of his friend and rival “It will be weird not having the ‘big black fish’ swimming in the lane next to mine”, referring to Thorpe’s full length bodysuit. “Because of Thorpe I always had to push my own limit.”

Such was the respect and fear he had for Thorpe his motivation to train began to wane. He became a father for the first time in June 2007 with the birth his daughter Daphne.

Although he won silver in the 200m final at the 2007 World Championships in reality he was light years behind Phelps. He also finished sixth in an electrifying 100m final.

He arrived in Beijing for what was widely understood as a last hurrah. His 100m world record which had stood for seven years (second longest reign behind American Matt Biondi) had bounced back and forth between LZR suit wearing Alain Bernhard and Eamon Sullivan. Although Van den Hoogenband broke his own national record in the heats he could only manage fifth in the final.

His legacy on Dutch swimming is immense. He owns the only three male gold medals ever won in an Olympic pool. Van den Hoogenband was the key to the only two relay medals in Dutch men’s history, silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay in Athens and the 4x200m in Sydney.

But his legacy to Dutch sport is greater. He was named Dutch Sportsman of the year on three occasions and could lay claim to being possibly the greatest Dutch sportsman behind Johan Cruijff.

He is one of the nice guys of world sport, and in retirement will be remembered as a class act. But Sydney will always remain his coup de grace.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

You've done it again Max

Michael “Max” Klinger has continued his extraordinary season with yet another century to steer South Australia to a record run-chase against Tasmania in Adelaide in the Ford Ranger Cup.

Klinger’s highest score in one-day domestic cricket, 133no off 128 balls, is his fourth in all forms this season and was the key to the Redbacks outstanding run chase which surpassed the previous best domestic chase in Adelaide of 2/308. That night Darren Lehmann and Matthew Elliot put Western Australia to the sword in Lehmann’s last one-day innings in Redback colours.

The chase was a nod to the old adage simplicity is the essence of design. The Redbacks were in control from the start with an opening platform of 114 which was their highest of this season. Tom Cooper showed class that belied his 22 years whilst Klinger provided the glue.

Klinger spoke of his younger partner as a “unique talent” in the post-match and nothing showed this more than Dan Marsh mouthing “how has he hit that there” after he was cut for four by the former New South Welshman. Cooper struck eight classy boundaries in his 66 before falling to a superbly judged catch in the deep from George Bailey.

Younis Khan’s entry filled the air with assurance. He calmly compiled 78 with Klinger, playing risk-free cricket and showing all of his international experience. They never let the rate climb above eight-an-over, whilst keeping wickets and a power-play in hand. Khan’s indiscriminate scoop to mid-off, which saw him depart for 35, prior to the power play proved a blessing in disguise.

Batting clean-up in baseball parlance, Callum Ferguson came in and did exactly that. He got off the mark with a gorgeous straight drive off Luke Butterworth. He was given a life on 13 when Jason Krejza grassed a sharp offering at cover and it proved a catalyst.

His two best shots came off Chris Duval in the batting power play. Twice in consecutive deliveries he stepped outside off stump and clipped length balls into the Chappell stands. Although he fell with the equation reading 35 from 28, his 35 ball 52 showed why selectors had kept faith with him through a long period of unconverted starts. Two centuries and a 52 from his last six sojourns to the crease have showcased his superior talents.

The game was far from secure at the start of the 47th but Klinger made a mockery of Brendan Drew’s seventh over. He crushed a good delivery through cover for four before punishing a full toss for a maximum.

With the equation at 17 from 18 and a tight off-side field to Krejza, Dan Christian twice fearlessly raced at the test off-spinner to clear the ring for boundaries.

Despite falling with four to win Christian’s 19 was crucial and capped off a good day following three wickets with the ball.

Aaron O’Brien edged the winning runs to third man and a record chase was sealed.

To chase a record you must first concede a record and Tasmania’s batting clinic earlier in the day surprised no one given their recent form.

For the Tigers it begins at the top. Michael Dighton came into the match as the competition’s leading run-scorer with 312 runs at 52 which included three half centuries. A blistering cut shot for four first ball signalled his intentions. He struck the ball powerfully through and over the off-side in his fourth half-ton of the year.

Tim Paine neatly picked apart nervous debutant Jake Haberfield in a delightful 21 before he had to retire hurt. It seemed from afar that the Adelaide Oval’s carpet like surface had somehow claimed yet another ankle ligament.

Bailey and Dighton, in the same over, doubled Christian’s career wicket tally but this brought together an in-form Marsh and Travis Birt. In a brutal display of hitting Birt launched seven sixes in an 80 ball 94. He and Marsh combined for Tasmania’s all-time 3rd wicket record of 159 surpassing Gary Goodman and John Hampshire, who incredibly accumulated 152 in Brisbane 30 years ago to the day.

Despite Marsh being starved of the strike late, big hitting from Krejza and Drew ensured the Tigers set the highest domestic score in Adelaide.

Most thought it was too many. Few had factored in Michael Klinger. He now has compiled a staggering 1138 runs in all forms of domestic cricket this summer.

But it is the importance of his runs that speak volumes about his value. His 150 against Victoria staved off certain Sheffield Shield defeat as did his 74 against NSW. But his century last week in Queensland guided South Australia to its first four-day victory in twelve months whilst his 79 and 133no in the Ford Ranger Cup have led to the only two Redback wins in that competition this season.

When Klinger arrived in Adelaide, radio personality Ken Cunningham brazenly announced that the former Victorian “can’t play”. With a first-class average under 30 Klinger said Cunningham was not far wrong. But he has come to a relaxed atmosphere in Adelaide. Instead of fearing for his spot he has relished in the responsibility of being a senior player.

Senior players win matches. Klinger has done that in spades. The one-time prodigy, who Allan Border once proclaimed would play for Australia, has come full circle. He is playing with the assuredness of a 28 year-old seasoned pro, but he says he feels like he’s starting his career again at 19.

Given there are two overseas tours next year, if Klinger can continue his remarkable form post-Christmas, he may yet fulfill Border’s bold prediction. Australia could use his services, but South Australia is more than happy to keep him for now. The Redbacks are on the rise. You’ve done it again Max.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Leaving the game

Dan Vettori in his post-match press conference in Adelaide spoke about talent versus application in regards to young Black Caps side. What was blatantly clear over the past few days in Adelaide was a lack of application. This has been put down to inexperience as New Zealand cricket combs the depths of their thin first-class system in search of a competitive test side.

But what was obvious in Adelaide is not exclusive to New Zealand cricket. The two test Trans-Tasman trophy showed a test match art that is very much dieing. No one seems to know how to leave the ball. In the age of Twenty20, the ability to blast balls on the up through cover takes pride of place in a batsman’s armoury. How many players value their ability to let the ball go?

Very few it seems. Time and again in Adelaide the “inexperienced” New Zealand top order waved at wide deliveries from Mitchell Johnson and Brett Lee. The only player who was prepared to shoulder arms was Brendan McCullum and the results speak for themselves.

But the Kiwis were not alone. The scheduling of a Gabba test so close to Australia's return from India was not ideal for preparation but the professional nature of the game these days should suggest that the players would cope with the changes in surface. But Matthew Hayden, Simon Katich, Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson all fell playing at balls they didn’t have to.

Michael Hussey is Australia’s best leaver. Perhaps the world’s. His test match average is no fluke. 64.18 is second only all-time to Sir Donald Bradman. His game at test level is built around patience. He absorbs, on average, 130 deliveries per test innings. Brendan McCullum said of Hussey’s 69no at the close of play on day two in Adelaide that it was “the perfect innings”.

His leaving in Brisbane brought him unstuck in both innings. Respected columnists Mike Coward and Peter Roebuck spoke critically of Hussey, saying he needed to reconsider his tactics. Hussey and his team-mates would disagree. He was undone in the first innings by a superb piece of bowling from Chris Martin. Coming around the wicket to Hussey, who looked set on 35, Martin angled the ball in and shaped it away. Hussey made two outstanding leaves before Martin produced the unthinkable, bringing one back to left-hander (something his action suggests in impossible) to trap Mr Cricket not offering. In the second innings Hussey made a late call to leave and paid a heavy price despite executing correctly, if not ungainly.

The fact that his game is built around leaving balls outside his zones and sweating on those within speaks volumes about why he has the best average in the world at present. Leaving is a dying art yet the best players during their best innings will elect not to play more often than they do, particularly on the bouncier Australian surfaces.

Justin Langer, like Hussey, developed his game on the WACA and he put a premium on leaving the ball early.

It was also a feature of Matthew Hayden’s “swim between the flags” knock at the Oval in 2005, which he rates as one of his best.

Mark Taylor put a premium on leaving the ball during his career saving 129 at Edgbaston in 1997.

Ricky Ponting at his best in impenetrable, so often leaving balls emphatically early before crunching one out of the screws straight down the ground for four.

Leaving is a dying art in Test cricket. The best do it so well, and the rest don’t do it at all. Sometimes a good leave, with crisp decisive footwork, is every bit as good as feeling bat on ball. Few players recognise this these days.

The Kiwis certainly didn’t. It is little wonder they struggled.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Not so lethal Lee

He is a lion-hearted competitor who’s endeavour can never be questioned but Brett Lee’s 300th test scalp has been met with some interesting press.

He has been lauded for the most part. The popular tag line to his achievement has been that he now sits fourth on the list of Australia’s all-time wicket-takers, which apparently says enough. But what does it say?

Lee is an icon of Australian cricket. His looks, his personality, his boyish charm, and unwavering spirit have made him one of cricket’s pin up stars.

300 wickets came as an inevitability. Reward for 10 years of service and justice for a great fast bowler. There are issues with this. Statistical anomalies that are not meant to detract from an outstanding achievement but one’s that nonetheless exist and are worth examination.

There was genuine shock from commentators that Brett Lee’s best innings figures were merely 5/30. In fact he is the only bowler of the 23 in Test history to have claimed 300 scalps, not to have taken seven wickets in an innings let alone six.

Until his dismissal of Iain O’Brien in the second innings in Adelaide, his fifth for the day, Lee was the only one of the 23 without 10 five wicket hauls.

He and Bob Willis are the only two in the 300 club without match figures of 10 or better. Lee and Harbhajan Singh are the only members to average in excess of 30; however Dan Vettori’s imminent induction may bolster that category.

Three of the 300’s concede more than 3 an over in their five-day job. Lee is clearly the most expensive of that express crew that also features Waqar Younis and Makhaya Ntini.

Granted statistics can be construed in any manner to suit any means but such large number key indicators suggest Lee is probably at the lower end of the 300 club in terms of quality. This is not to diminish an outstanding achievement from a man who has battled hard for his plaudits.

Battles which include a crippling back injury, elbow and ankle surgeries, 18 months in the test wilderness and plenty of doubters.

He richly deserved his Allan Border medal from earlier this year. His bowling in Australia last summer suggested he was the man to succeed Glenn McGrath as the spearhead of the world’s most feared attack.

A feature of his success last summer was his consistency, something he has wrestled with throughout his career.

Damien Fleming spoke throughout this recent series that Lee’s stock ball must be hostile. It was last summer. It was hostile but he made batsman play consistently.

Throughout his career he has been betwixt and between in terms of finding that happy medium between straining every sinew for express pace and throttling back for a consistency that matched the miserly nature of an attack that featured three scrooges in McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Shane Warne.

He revealed on more than one occasion that he did not know his true role. Last summer he found his niche, and the absence of McGrath became a non-factor whilst the search for the “next Warne” became the primary focus.

But Lee has since struggled. One cannot underestimate the impact of his physical ailments and personal demons but his tour of India was ordinary.

It was perfectly clear why had not been chosen for a test there previously. The quicker one bowls on India’s sandpaper surfaces the easier it is for those facing, unless you can consistently shape it both ways like Ishant Sharma could.

He has returned to form in Adelaide. Or so everyone believes. He took four in the first innings. But they all came on the second day. On day one he was wayward, bowling both sides to the Kiwi openers. He claimed McCullum with a clever outswinging slower ball early on day two but then rattled through the NZ tail which hardly know which end of the bat to hold.

The second innings he was hostile but again inaccurate. Stuart Clark’s pressure from the other end forced the Black Caps to flay at anything loose from Lee and their execution was clearly lacking. Jamie How’s dismissal was an exemplary delivery but Lee was gifted the other four. He struck McCullum twice in a quick second spell but the talented ‘keeper slaughtered him thereafter.

At 32, Lee claimed in a recent article with Cricinfo that he can get faster and faster.

"As the years go on usually the pace comes down slightly. But as each year has gone on I've got faster and faster. I know that will stop at some stage. I train on the principle of an Olympic sprinter. Most sprinters don't reach their peak till their mid-30s. If they can do it, with the right training and the structure we have here, with the fitness trainer and the physio, and I can get my body in the right shape, there's no reason why I can't get quicker. I want to bowl faster and faster." Lee said to Peter English.

Sadly for Lee, the last four men to break the 100 metres World record, legitimately, did it aged 22 (Usain Bolt), 24 (Asafa Powell), 25 (Maurice Greene), and 29 (Donovan Bailey).

32 was the age that saw the regression of Jason Gillespie, and every fast-bowler has had to adjust once wear and tear kicks in.

As present he’s fit and firing but does that mean he can bowl the same as he did when he exploded onto the scene? His best period in test cricket came when he used his head more than in heart. He showed his true value. But how valuable is he now?

The true measure of a champion comes in his absence. McGrath was absent from Australia’s only two losses during the 2005 Ashes series. Warne’s absence is currently a lasting legacy. Lee’s 18 month hiatus from Test cricket saw Australia achieve an unprecedented whitewash in Sri Lanka, a historic win in India, and series thumping’s of New Zealand twice and Pakistan once. Did anyone miss him during Australia’s frightfully dominant march through the 2007 World Cup?

Lee is a superstar. He is a lion-heated hero of Australian cricket.

Is he a champion cricketer? Now is the time, more than ever, for him to show his worth.