The Olympic Series: A glance back at history in the shadows of London 2012
Nineteen-sixty was a different time. There was no Euro-crisis as there was no Euro-zone. Europe was divided in two rather than spiralling as one. It had been 14 years since Winston Churchill had first described “the Iron Curtain”, yet the wall had not been built, let alone knocked down. Civil rights was merely a concept let alone a movement in full-motion, as Martin Luther King had yet to articulate his dream.
The world congregated on one of its oldest and most famous cities, Rome, for the global Games that were not yet truly global. They were the Games of the XVII Olympiad yet across the previous 16; no black African had won Olympic gold. Despite the extraordinary feats of African-American Jessie Owens in 1936, the track events were still dominated by Anglo-Saxons. In Rome, the status quo remained. An Italian, Livio Berruti, won the men’s 200m in front of his adoring countrymen. The men’s 800, 1500, and 5000m were all incredibly claimed by Antipodes. Peter Snell of New Zealand and Australia’s Herb Elliot both broke Olympic records, with Elliot setting a new world mark for the 1500m.
But on September 10, 1960 the world of distance running changed forever when the first black African claimed Olympic gold. An Ethiopian won the Olympic Marathon as the sun set on Rome, and he did it barefoot.
ABEBE Bikila was born the day Juan Carlos Zabala, of Argentina, became the first South American to win an Olympic marathon in Los Angeles 1932. Bikila’s childhood was framed by turmoil in northern African. Ethiopia, one of the largest landlocked nations on earth was occupied by Italy through the war before becoming a charter member of the UN. Despite its modernization under the leadership of Emperor Haile Selassie, Ethiopia had anything but peaceful borders.
The son of a shepherd, Bikila spent his formative years walking and running several miles a day around the tiny village of Jato chasing his father’s herds. At 19 he joined the Imperial Bodyguard, the elite corps entrusted with the protection of Emperor. During his time in the capital, Addis Ababa, Bikila was spotted by Major Onni Niskanen, a Finnish-born Swede who was employed as the Guards sports trainer. In the lead-up to Melbourne, 1956, Niskanen had helped train the first Ethiopian athletes to ever compete at an Olympic Games. In Bikila, he had "seen this soldier running from Sululta to Addis and back every day, and hit upon the idea of letting him try the marathon." Sululta to Addis Ababa was a 20km journey.
In two marathons in the lead-up to Rome, Bikila ran 2 hours 39 minutes 50 seconds and 2:21.23 to win the Olympic trial. The second was faster than the immortal Emil Zatopek’s eight-year-old Olympic record.
In Rome, Bikila was provided with shoes from the Games sponsors but they did not fit comfortably on his feet. He had trained barefoot in Addis and elected to run the 42km on the cobbled streets without shoes. You could not script such an insane notion, yet Bikila undertook the task without thinking. Moroccan, Rhadi Ben Abdesselam was touted as a pre-race favourite and the man to make history. Niskanen told Bikila to look for Abdesselam wearing bib 26. At the 20km mark the Ethiopian was running alongside Abdesselam in the lead, but the Moroccan was wearing another race bib, 185. Bikila kept the pace up looking for athlete 26, and pressed clear of Abdesselam in the last kilometer to create history. Not only had Bikila become the first Sub-Saharan African to win Olympic gold, he had won the 14th Olympic marathon in world record time. Bikila’s effort of 2:15.16.2 obliterated Zatopek’s Helsinki Olympic mark and was a second quicker than Sergei Popov’s two-year-old world record. The shock to the world was that no one, outside Niskanen, had ever heard of Bikila before that day.
The legend was still to grow. He had been convinced by a Japanese shoe manufacturer, Kihachiro Onitsuka, that shoes could help him in Tokyo. But footwear was the least of his issues when 40 days out from the 1964 Games Bikila was hospitalized with acute appendicitis. Without complications from the surgery Bikila was fine to run in Tokyo. He smashed his own Olympic record and reclaimed the world record, becoming the first Olympic marathoner to defend his crown winning in 2:12.11.2. Bikila and East German Waldemar Cierpinski remain the only two men in history to have won two Olympic marathons. Extraordinarily, Bikila could have won a third. He ran in Mexico City in 1968 but withdrew at the 17km mark. It is believed he had broken a bone in his foot during training. Bikila’s long-time training partner, Mamo Wolde won gold in 2:20.26, but stated it would have been Bikila’s title had he not been injured.
And thus began the dominance of African distance running. It was a legacy left by Bikila. Unfortunately he would not see his legacy reach its zenith. In 1969, whilst driving through civil unrest in Addis he crashed his Volkswagen, a gift he had received from the Emperor. The crash left Bikila a paraplegic. Four years later, aged 41, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage. The day of his funeral was declared a national day of mourning by the Emperor, who was one of 75,000 in attendance. The Stadium in Addis now bears Bikila’s name. But his legacy is so much more, as it lives on in Ethiopian dominance of Olympic distance events.
BY Atlanta 1996 middle distance running was the territory of northern Africans. Ethiopians, Kenyans, Moroccans, and Tunisians had all won Olympic gold over distances of 800m and above. Atlanta was the high water mark. The first black South African gold medalist ever, Josia Thugwane, would win the men’s marathon. Burundi would produce it’s only ever gold medalist with Vénuste Niyongabo winning the men’s 5000m, whilst an Algerian, Noureddine Morceli, would win the men’s 1500m.
Ethiopia had only two male Olympic champions since Bikila. Wolde could not defend his title from Mexico City winning bronze in the Munich marathon in 1972. Miruts Yifter claimed a famous 5000m, 10000m double in Moscow 1980, becoming the first non-European to achieve the feat and joining some of the greatest ever in doing so.
On a hot, sultry night in Atlanta, Ethiopia had its best chance at producing another, when a dual world champion and dual world record holder, a man named after an Emperor no less, lined up in the men’s 10000m.
HAILE Gebrselassie was only six months old when Bikila died in 1973. But like Bikila he grew up on a farm and ran more than 10km to and from school daily. Gebrselassie’s style was not the military precision of Bikila. His gait was all his own, with crooked shoulders and flailing arms a legacy left from running with school books each day. But junior and senior world titles and two astonishing world records in 1995 made him the favourite in Atlanta.
Through 8000m there was a lead group of six. The pace was hotter than the air they were breathing, and with five laps to go Kenyan Paul Tergat made a decisive move that only Gebrselassie could follow. The tall Kenyan was a picture of concentration. Gebrselassie was tucked in so close that from face on he could not be seen behind Tergat’s frame. The Kenyan’s 21st lap of 25 was a blistering 60.55 400m split to burst the race open. Then a trio of 62-second laps got both men to the bell together. Tergat’s face was strained with 450m to go. His burst had not only burnt most of his opponents, but had wounded himself. Gebrselassie peeled out from his hiding place, gritted his teeth, his eyes rolled left without turning his head to survey Tergat’s face, before putting his head down and flying away. The Ethiopian’s last lap was run in 57.49 to beat the gallant Kenyan by five metres in a new Olympic record. Bikila had another disciple. Gebrselassie had started a journey to become the greatest of them all.
Four years on, with two more world titles to his name, Gebrselassie lined up alongside Tergat again in Sydney for arguably the best 10000m in Olympic history. The race was run very differently to Atlanta. A far cooler September night meant for a far more tactical affair. As they came to the bell there were five left in the mix, two Ethiopians, Gebrselassie and Assefa Mezgebu, and three Kenyans, Tergat, Patrick Ivuti, and John Korir. Gebrselessie was tracking the leader again but this time it was Korir, with Tergat lying fourth at the bell. No one made a move until 250m from home when Tergat, as if playing hopscotch, found a path clear and sped away. Gebrselassie tracked him but looked unlikely to head him as they raced to the line. The Ethiopian puffed his diminutive chest at the line to defeat Tergat yet again and emulate Bikila with back-to-back Olympic crowns.
Like Bikila, Gebrselassie found a third consecutive title a bridge too far. Indeed no man had ever won three consecutive Olympic track events when Gebrselassie lined up in Athens. He would finish fifth, however, behind countrymen Sileshi Sihine and the heir to his 10000m throne, Kenenisa Bekele.
THE mantle had already all but been passed. Bekele, nine years Haile’s junior, had thrice beaten Gebrselassie in 2003 over 10000m, including at the Paris World Championships, denying him a fifth world title in the process. In June of 2004 Bekele broke Gebrselassie’s world record that had stood since 1998. Athens was Bekele’s coronation. Gebrselassie was dropped with 2km to go in the final leaving Bekele, Sihine, and Eritrea’s Zersenay Tadese to fight for the medals. Tadese, having set the early pace lost contact with the Ethiopian pair and with 500m to run Sihine and Bekele ran side-by-side. With 400m to run the gap was nearly 10m. Bekele put in a breathtaking acceleration to assert his authority. His last lap was astonishing. He ran a split of 53.02, four seconds quicker than Gebrselassie’s final lap in Atlanta, and good enough to set a new Olympic record of 27:05.11. The mantle had not so much been passed, as it was emphatically claimed.
In many ways Bekele’s style was the antithesis of Gebrselassie, and the contrast is evident in the final laps of both men from Atlanta and Athens. Gebrselassie was a winner. He did what he had to on each occasion, in each race circumstance to cross the line first. His ungainly, flailing arms were a trademark, and at maximum effort his mouth was wide open, teeth gritted together, neck strained, head still, eyes were bulging and darting to either side watching, hoping to see that he was doing enough to hold off his challengers.
Bekele by comparison is a Rolls Royce. His motion is poetry. Upper body still, shoulders relaxed, arms working in sync with his legs. His burst of acceleration comes from an incredible turnover in his legs. They spin over the ground like the Road-Runner speeding away from Wile E. Coyote. Bekele’s last lap in Athens saw no strain on his face. His eyes were half closed, his faced as relaxed as could be. As if in meditative state he focussed on his breathing and sprinted clear of Sihine with the energy of a 400m runner, not a man who was covering 10km.
Bekele raised the bar. He almost matched Yifter in 2004 by winning the 5000m as well, save for Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj who was invincible in Athens. Bekele is the greatest cross country runner to have lived, having won 11 World titles across the country-sides of Dublin, Lausanne, Brussels, Saint-Galmier, Fukuoka, and Edinburgh. All of this in the face of tragedy, having lost his fiancé Alem Techale in 2005, when she died of a heart attack whilst on a training run with Bekele.
Like Gebrselassie, he added two world titles in between 2004 and 2008. Beijing would be his coup de grace. The 10000m was tight affair through 9km. Indeed, 20 men ran under 28 minutes. But Bekele again destroyed his opponents with another frightening 53-second final lap. He smashed his own Olympic record, running 27:01.17. Six days later he did match Yifter, atoning for his last gasp defeat in Athens. Bekele won a third Olympic Gold in 12:57.82, becoming the first man to break 13 minutes in a 5000m Olympic final. In Berlin a year later he did the double again at the World Championships. Although six had achieved the feat at Olympic level, it had never been achieved at the Worlds before. Both of these efforts were lost as the Jamaican phenomenon Usain Bolt stole the headlines, and the world’s attention in both Beijing and Berlin. But even Bolt admitted the quiet, unassuming Bekele did not get the credit he deserves.
Bekele tried for a fifth consecutive world 10000m title in Daegu but came up shorter than Gebrselassie, dropping out with 10 laps remaining of a race that was stolen by another Ethiopian, little-known Ibrahim Jeilan.
London will play witness to Bekele’s attempt to do what Gebrselassie and Bikila could not, and that is win Olympic Gold in the same event at three games. If he fails, it will not be such a disappointment, as it would unfair to split this trio. Three generations of greats. Bikila broke new, unconquered, ground. Gebrselassie made that ground his own, Bekele raised the ground to new levels. Three distance running legends. Three kings of Ethiopia.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Practice makes perfect
The AFL is an anomaly amongst ball-sports worldwide. With the exception of the unique scoring system in tennis, most sports operate on a simple basis, the team that scores the most times wins.
But with a two-tiered scoring system, six points for a goal and one point for a behind, the AFL is an exception to that very simple rule.
Thus we have a very unique set of circumstances that confront us. Of the 45 matches played in the 2012 AFL Premiership season, the team with the lesser number of physical scores has won six times. Twice more sides have been locked on the same number of scoring instances at full time, yet the result has not been a draw.
It is a strange concept to understand, and one that is worth analysis. In theory it is not as simple as blaming inaccurate kicking, as a number of scores are concessions by the defending team, but it in actuality it can be as simple as that.
Playing in the AFL is not an easy task. There is enormous pressure and physicality involved in every moment. The athletes are elite. Most of them are physical monsters. Six-foot at a minimum, few less than 80kg, and yet they are astonishing runners, with the ability to run repeat 100-150m bursts at top speed over 100 minutes, covering beyond 16km in total.
This is not to mention the physical aspect, featuring high-speed body clashes, powerful wrestling, grappling, and tackling of strong, yet nimble men.
These athletes spend months preparing themselves physically to cope with all these aspects of the game. On top of that there are the tactical aspects. Coaching staffs spend hours drilling zones, presses, stoppage scenarios, offensive and defensive set-ups.
The hours spent drilling these aspects of the game at training are all for one common goal, and that is to win games. Coaches, players, commentators, and scribes file through mountains of stats to analyse these games. Those stats that carry the most weight are contested possessions, score involvements, inside 50s, and defensive rebounds.
Yet what is the point of hours upon hours of drilling to set up scoring opportunities only to be wasteful in front of goal when you get there?
Why should Richmond bother winning a contested ball on tired legs, spread well, hit targets, and find their forward, one-out, only for him to miss a set shot to put his side in front with less than four minutes to go against West Coast on Sunday.
Why would St Kilda, a week earlier, bother to win 15 more contested possessions than Fremantle, and send the ball inside 50 on 12 more occasions only to lose because they kicked 11 goals from 24 scores, to Fremantle’s 14 goals from 22.
It begs the question, why is the most vital skill in the game, the ability to maximise scoring from the opportunities you are presented, one of the least important factors to football clubs. Why do coaches continually say “we’re giving ourselves opportunities, and that is the pleasing thing,” when their side has had more chances than the opposition and lost? Why are the excuses of pressure and fatigue thrown up every time a player misses at a crucial juncture?
England World Cup winning fly-half Jonny Wilkinson never made those excuses. He never had to. The man spent hours every day practising his goal kicking, in rain, hail, or shine, for the one moment he needed it. His faultless boot carried England to the 2003 World Cup final, and single-handedly got them to extra-time, and when the moment arrived to win the Cup he did not let them down. And that simply comes from work ethic, and a trust that he’s done it a thousand times before in training.
“I want to use every moment when I’m out there whether training as team or individually. Every run, kick, pass or communication should hold meaning. You should aim in every situation to replicate that match situation.” Wilkinson said.
Tiger Woods is another example. NBC golf commentator Dan Hicks immortalised Tiger’s birdie putt at 18 at the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines with the famous line “expect anything different?”
Woods dropped a 12-footer that bounced and bobbled from left to right down a slope to force a play-off with Rocco Mediate, a play-off he won to claim his 14th major title.
We expected Woods to make that putt because he expected to make it. There were no excuses lined up about the state of the parched green, the soreness of his knee, the unjustness of the world had the putt lipped out. Woods never contemplated it. Why? Because he hit 100,000 putts just like it in the years leading up to that point. At his zenith, Woods would stand on a putting green at the end of a day’s practice and hole 100 six-foot, breaking, putts in a row. One-hundred in a row, without missing. Is it any surprise he made the one that mattered? Are there any AFL footballers out there making 100 set shots in a row before leaving the training track every day?
You would suggest not. Hence the competition after five rounds is collectively operating at 51.76 per cent in front of goal and no team is above 60 per cent.
What about other sports? The 2011-12 NBA leading scorer, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant, had a season field goal percentage of 49.6. Field goal percentage is number of baskets made from number of attempts put up. That is comparable with the AFL, only the goal Durant fires at is a ring 45cm in diameter, as opposed to 6.4m wide and infinitely high. Put Durant on the free-throw line, the AFL’s equivalent of a set shot, and his percentage sky-rockets to 86.
Durant is the best in the league, but there is a reason why he is the best. Aside from his remarkable, natural, athleticism, he is meticulous in his shooting in practice, as the majority of NBA players are. That is how they make their living, from scoring.
No surprise then that with 3.5 seconds left in Game One of Oklahoma’s first playoff series with defending champions the Dallas Mavericks, Durant made a fade-away jump shot for two points to steal a 99-98 victory. There was some luck involved, with the ball taking a piece of the rim, and glass, before dropping. But as golfing legend Gary Player said “the harder you work, the luckier you get.” Few work harder than Durant, hence he makes a shot at a key moment that undoubtedly he has made thousands of times before.
No sportsman is the best in the world without working harder than the rest. No matter how much natural ability you possess, it will fail you without practising basic skills on a regular basis.
Goal kicking is a basic skill, and the most important skill in Australian Football. It is pointless to spend infinite hours on structures, and set-up, and zones, if you cannot complete the most important, oldest, skill in the game, kicking goals. Losing a tight game, having scored more times than your opponent, is about as worthwhile as losing by 100 points. It has happened six times already this season. West Coast, Geelong, and St Kilda have all lost Grand Finals in the same manner across the last seven seasons, whilst Collingwood were fortunate to escape with a draw in the first Grand Final of 2010.
You just wonder when teams will learn.
But with a two-tiered scoring system, six points for a goal and one point for a behind, the AFL is an exception to that very simple rule.
Thus we have a very unique set of circumstances that confront us. Of the 45 matches played in the 2012 AFL Premiership season, the team with the lesser number of physical scores has won six times. Twice more sides have been locked on the same number of scoring instances at full time, yet the result has not been a draw.
It is a strange concept to understand, and one that is worth analysis. In theory it is not as simple as blaming inaccurate kicking, as a number of scores are concessions by the defending team, but it in actuality it can be as simple as that.
Playing in the AFL is not an easy task. There is enormous pressure and physicality involved in every moment. The athletes are elite. Most of them are physical monsters. Six-foot at a minimum, few less than 80kg, and yet they are astonishing runners, with the ability to run repeat 100-150m bursts at top speed over 100 minutes, covering beyond 16km in total.
This is not to mention the physical aspect, featuring high-speed body clashes, powerful wrestling, grappling, and tackling of strong, yet nimble men.
These athletes spend months preparing themselves physically to cope with all these aspects of the game. On top of that there are the tactical aspects. Coaching staffs spend hours drilling zones, presses, stoppage scenarios, offensive and defensive set-ups.
The hours spent drilling these aspects of the game at training are all for one common goal, and that is to win games. Coaches, players, commentators, and scribes file through mountains of stats to analyse these games. Those stats that carry the most weight are contested possessions, score involvements, inside 50s, and defensive rebounds.
Yet what is the point of hours upon hours of drilling to set up scoring opportunities only to be wasteful in front of goal when you get there?
Why should Richmond bother winning a contested ball on tired legs, spread well, hit targets, and find their forward, one-out, only for him to miss a set shot to put his side in front with less than four minutes to go against West Coast on Sunday.
Why would St Kilda, a week earlier, bother to win 15 more contested possessions than Fremantle, and send the ball inside 50 on 12 more occasions only to lose because they kicked 11 goals from 24 scores, to Fremantle’s 14 goals from 22.
It begs the question, why is the most vital skill in the game, the ability to maximise scoring from the opportunities you are presented, one of the least important factors to football clubs. Why do coaches continually say “we’re giving ourselves opportunities, and that is the pleasing thing,” when their side has had more chances than the opposition and lost? Why are the excuses of pressure and fatigue thrown up every time a player misses at a crucial juncture?
England World Cup winning fly-half Jonny Wilkinson never made those excuses. He never had to. The man spent hours every day practising his goal kicking, in rain, hail, or shine, for the one moment he needed it. His faultless boot carried England to the 2003 World Cup final, and single-handedly got them to extra-time, and when the moment arrived to win the Cup he did not let them down. And that simply comes from work ethic, and a trust that he’s done it a thousand times before in training.
“I want to use every moment when I’m out there whether training as team or individually. Every run, kick, pass or communication should hold meaning. You should aim in every situation to replicate that match situation.” Wilkinson said.
Tiger Woods is another example. NBC golf commentator Dan Hicks immortalised Tiger’s birdie putt at 18 at the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines with the famous line “expect anything different?”
Woods dropped a 12-footer that bounced and bobbled from left to right down a slope to force a play-off with Rocco Mediate, a play-off he won to claim his 14th major title.
We expected Woods to make that putt because he expected to make it. There were no excuses lined up about the state of the parched green, the soreness of his knee, the unjustness of the world had the putt lipped out. Woods never contemplated it. Why? Because he hit 100,000 putts just like it in the years leading up to that point. At his zenith, Woods would stand on a putting green at the end of a day’s practice and hole 100 six-foot, breaking, putts in a row. One-hundred in a row, without missing. Is it any surprise he made the one that mattered? Are there any AFL footballers out there making 100 set shots in a row before leaving the training track every day?
You would suggest not. Hence the competition after five rounds is collectively operating at 51.76 per cent in front of goal and no team is above 60 per cent.
What about other sports? The 2011-12 NBA leading scorer, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant, had a season field goal percentage of 49.6. Field goal percentage is number of baskets made from number of attempts put up. That is comparable with the AFL, only the goal Durant fires at is a ring 45cm in diameter, as opposed to 6.4m wide and infinitely high. Put Durant on the free-throw line, the AFL’s equivalent of a set shot, and his percentage sky-rockets to 86.
Durant is the best in the league, but there is a reason why he is the best. Aside from his remarkable, natural, athleticism, he is meticulous in his shooting in practice, as the majority of NBA players are. That is how they make their living, from scoring.
No surprise then that with 3.5 seconds left in Game One of Oklahoma’s first playoff series with defending champions the Dallas Mavericks, Durant made a fade-away jump shot for two points to steal a 99-98 victory. There was some luck involved, with the ball taking a piece of the rim, and glass, before dropping. But as golfing legend Gary Player said “the harder you work, the luckier you get.” Few work harder than Durant, hence he makes a shot at a key moment that undoubtedly he has made thousands of times before.
No sportsman is the best in the world without working harder than the rest. No matter how much natural ability you possess, it will fail you without practising basic skills on a regular basis.
Goal kicking is a basic skill, and the most important skill in Australian Football. It is pointless to spend infinite hours on structures, and set-up, and zones, if you cannot complete the most important, oldest, skill in the game, kicking goals. Losing a tight game, having scored more times than your opponent, is about as worthwhile as losing by 100 points. It has happened six times already this season. West Coast, Geelong, and St Kilda have all lost Grand Finals in the same manner across the last seven seasons, whilst Collingwood were fortunate to escape with a draw in the first Grand Final of 2010.
You just wonder when teams will learn.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
The toughest job in Australia
Consider this. Between September 1988 and April 2012, Australia has had only five Prime Ministers, six test captains and six test match wicketkeepers. But given three of the glovemen - Phil Emery, Graham Manou, and Tim Paine - have stood in just six of the 264 tests in that time, it is essentially easier to win in a federal election in Australia than it is to wear the gloves and the baggy green in a test match.
So when incumbent Brad Haddin withdrew from the tour of the Caribbean on the eve of the test series for personal reasons, reserve Matthew Wade was well aware of the enormity of the opportunity he had been given.
Replacing a long-term Australian gloveman is a thankless task. Five wicketkeepers were tried in the four years following Rod Marsh’s retirement. The sixth was the only one to survive three consecutive test series. Ian Healy eventually played 119 of 120 test matches. Such was the Queenslander’s popularity; his replacement was booed to the crease in his first test match in 1999. Adam Gilchrist was never booed again in his astonishing 96-test career. He took just 134 minutes to step out of Healy’s shadow, making a swash-buckling 81 on test debut, and created his own legend only a fortnight later with an breath-taking 149 not out in a record run-chase in Hobart.
Gilchrist created a monster for those following in his footsteps. He revolutionised the role of a wicket keeper batsman. Rod Marsh was the first Australian gloveman to make a test century. He made three in his career, Healy trumped that with four. Gilchrist produced eight in his first 43 tests including, at the time, the fastest double-century ever made. His 5570 test runs at 47.60, with a blistering strike-rate of 81.95 and 17 test centuries, resemble the record of a tremendous batsman, let alone a wicket-keeper who effected 416 dismissals, more than any other in his country’s history.
For Brad Haddin, an outstanding player in his own right, Gilchrist’s career casts a pall over his. Like the smog of a heavily polluted metropolis, it is suffocating, unrelenting, and permanent. There are days when the sun peeks through, and shines a light on its magnificence, yet we will never see its greatness in clear, unfiltered light.
Haddin’s record is impressive. Three test centuries in 43 matches, averaging 35.82. Healy averaged 27 across his career, but had never passed 71 in his first 43 tests. Haddin’s record even compares favourably with MS Dhoni, whose test average, strike-rate, and century tally, is only marginally in front of the New South Welshman, with 24 more tests to his name.
Despite this, the 34-year-old Haddin has a problem. It is doubtful in the week coinciding with Anzac Day the Australian selectors will have the Ode of Remembrance at the front of their minds, “Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.”
A man ten years Haddin’s junior, a man who has overcome many obstacles to play test cricket for Australia, may well have gone from seat-warmer to incumbent in the glorious sunshine of Dominica.
Matthew Wade’s maiden test century was of the highest quality. In a series where no Australian has reached 80, Wade’s devastating counter-attack, to tilt the game in Australia’s favour, had a bit of Marsh, Healy, Gichrist, and Haddin all rolled in.
It wasn’t the breath-taking, mind-blowing, assault of Gilchrist on Wasim, Waqar, Saqlain, and Mushtaq in Hobart 1999, but it did feature some equally strong slog sweeps and crisp drives. It was remarkably similar to Marsh’s Centenary Test century. As in 1977, the game was on a knife’s edge needing a tough uncompromising innings from a tough uncompromising player. The scorecard had a similar feel to Healy’s 161 not out against the West Indies in Brisbane, 1996. Healy, like Wade, entered at five down with less than 200 up, batting first after fits and starts from his top order, only to take control with the lower order and set up a match-winning first innings total.
Although it featured some Haddin-esque clean striking, including one enormous straight six, there are no comparisons to any of Haddin’s test centuries.
Reason being that Haddin’s three hundreds have come in relatively more comfortable circumstances. All three were made with at least one player in front of him having already reached three figures, and the best, against England in the first Ashes test of 2010-11, was made redundant by England’s second innings total of 1 for 517.
Wade’s century was made even better by the situation posed to him on match eve. His captain spoke of Haddin’s return to the test fold as a fait accompli. The analysts read this as Michael Clarke’s loyalty to his NSW teammate and a man who he first played under in first-class cricket. But this would be narrow-minded. Captaincy is part-psychology. Clarke has spent enough time with Wade over the past few months to know his story and know that he responds to a challenge.
Wade, aged 16, was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He has subsequently beaten two rounds of chemotherapy. He moved away from home at 19, from Tasmania to Victoria, forced by the knowledge that he would live in the shadow of the highly regarded Tim Paine should he remain in Hobart. He had also rescued Victoria in the 2009-10 Sheffield Shield final from near disaster on day one. Wade made a gritty 96 on a difficult wicket, after his team floundered at 6-75 with four international representatives failing in the top order. Clarke had to know that a public comment about Haddin’s return would inspire Wade to make the most of his opportunity.
Wade had done nothing wrong in his first two tests, but he had not made a statement to the selectors to say that he wanted the job long term. His glovework has been sound, if not marginally better than Haddin’s recent efforts. Wade has scarcely missed a chance and although his bye count is high, difficult wickets, and some wayward deliveries inflate it, thus he can hardly be blamed. Keepers often measure themselves against their direct opponent in the series, and Wade has had Carlton Baugh’s measure in all facets.
Wade’s batting possibly lacks the class or devastation of Haddin, but probably features more mental resolve. He needed a score of significance to make Haddin’s return a question rather than a foregone conclusion.
Suddenly it is a loud question that will only get louder. Haddin’s value was being queried in South Africa last year, when a brain explosion in Cape Town made him the headline act in a 47 all out horror show. The stroke he played was inexplicable and the rage of those watching was incandescent. But Haddin’s predecessor had played equally mind-boggling strokes at equally vital junctures. At Edgbaston in 2005, Gilchrist holed out to mid on off Ashley Giles, for just 1, in that famous two-run loss. But Haddin’s highlights are far less frequent than Gilchrist’s and thus his credits in the bank are fast running out.
With Wade rising to his captain’s challenge, is Haddin’s career over? It would be an unfortunate end to a contribution that will never be truly valued. But the job is a tough one, and you are made to earn it. Wade has done all that has been asked of him and more. Australian wicketkeeping is as ruthless as federal politics, and the caucus may well have spoken.
So when incumbent Brad Haddin withdrew from the tour of the Caribbean on the eve of the test series for personal reasons, reserve Matthew Wade was well aware of the enormity of the opportunity he had been given.
Replacing a long-term Australian gloveman is a thankless task. Five wicketkeepers were tried in the four years following Rod Marsh’s retirement. The sixth was the only one to survive three consecutive test series. Ian Healy eventually played 119 of 120 test matches. Such was the Queenslander’s popularity; his replacement was booed to the crease in his first test match in 1999. Adam Gilchrist was never booed again in his astonishing 96-test career. He took just 134 minutes to step out of Healy’s shadow, making a swash-buckling 81 on test debut, and created his own legend only a fortnight later with an breath-taking 149 not out in a record run-chase in Hobart.
Gilchrist created a monster for those following in his footsteps. He revolutionised the role of a wicket keeper batsman. Rod Marsh was the first Australian gloveman to make a test century. He made three in his career, Healy trumped that with four. Gilchrist produced eight in his first 43 tests including, at the time, the fastest double-century ever made. His 5570 test runs at 47.60, with a blistering strike-rate of 81.95 and 17 test centuries, resemble the record of a tremendous batsman, let alone a wicket-keeper who effected 416 dismissals, more than any other in his country’s history.
For Brad Haddin, an outstanding player in his own right, Gilchrist’s career casts a pall over his. Like the smog of a heavily polluted metropolis, it is suffocating, unrelenting, and permanent. There are days when the sun peeks through, and shines a light on its magnificence, yet we will never see its greatness in clear, unfiltered light.
Haddin’s record is impressive. Three test centuries in 43 matches, averaging 35.82. Healy averaged 27 across his career, but had never passed 71 in his first 43 tests. Haddin’s record even compares favourably with MS Dhoni, whose test average, strike-rate, and century tally, is only marginally in front of the New South Welshman, with 24 more tests to his name.
Despite this, the 34-year-old Haddin has a problem. It is doubtful in the week coinciding with Anzac Day the Australian selectors will have the Ode of Remembrance at the front of their minds, “Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.”
A man ten years Haddin’s junior, a man who has overcome many obstacles to play test cricket for Australia, may well have gone from seat-warmer to incumbent in the glorious sunshine of Dominica.
Matthew Wade’s maiden test century was of the highest quality. In a series where no Australian has reached 80, Wade’s devastating counter-attack, to tilt the game in Australia’s favour, had a bit of Marsh, Healy, Gichrist, and Haddin all rolled in.
It wasn’t the breath-taking, mind-blowing, assault of Gilchrist on Wasim, Waqar, Saqlain, and Mushtaq in Hobart 1999, but it did feature some equally strong slog sweeps and crisp drives. It was remarkably similar to Marsh’s Centenary Test century. As in 1977, the game was on a knife’s edge needing a tough uncompromising innings from a tough uncompromising player. The scorecard had a similar feel to Healy’s 161 not out against the West Indies in Brisbane, 1996. Healy, like Wade, entered at five down with less than 200 up, batting first after fits and starts from his top order, only to take control with the lower order and set up a match-winning first innings total.
Although it featured some Haddin-esque clean striking, including one enormous straight six, there are no comparisons to any of Haddin’s test centuries.
Reason being that Haddin’s three hundreds have come in relatively more comfortable circumstances. All three were made with at least one player in front of him having already reached three figures, and the best, against England in the first Ashes test of 2010-11, was made redundant by England’s second innings total of 1 for 517.
Wade’s century was made even better by the situation posed to him on match eve. His captain spoke of Haddin’s return to the test fold as a fait accompli. The analysts read this as Michael Clarke’s loyalty to his NSW teammate and a man who he first played under in first-class cricket. But this would be narrow-minded. Captaincy is part-psychology. Clarke has spent enough time with Wade over the past few months to know his story and know that he responds to a challenge.
Wade, aged 16, was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He has subsequently beaten two rounds of chemotherapy. He moved away from home at 19, from Tasmania to Victoria, forced by the knowledge that he would live in the shadow of the highly regarded Tim Paine should he remain in Hobart. He had also rescued Victoria in the 2009-10 Sheffield Shield final from near disaster on day one. Wade made a gritty 96 on a difficult wicket, after his team floundered at 6-75 with four international representatives failing in the top order. Clarke had to know that a public comment about Haddin’s return would inspire Wade to make the most of his opportunity.
Wade had done nothing wrong in his first two tests, but he had not made a statement to the selectors to say that he wanted the job long term. His glovework has been sound, if not marginally better than Haddin’s recent efforts. Wade has scarcely missed a chance and although his bye count is high, difficult wickets, and some wayward deliveries inflate it, thus he can hardly be blamed. Keepers often measure themselves against their direct opponent in the series, and Wade has had Carlton Baugh’s measure in all facets.
Wade’s batting possibly lacks the class or devastation of Haddin, but probably features more mental resolve. He needed a score of significance to make Haddin’s return a question rather than a foregone conclusion.
Suddenly it is a loud question that will only get louder. Haddin’s value was being queried in South Africa last year, when a brain explosion in Cape Town made him the headline act in a 47 all out horror show. The stroke he played was inexplicable and the rage of those watching was incandescent. But Haddin’s predecessor had played equally mind-boggling strokes at equally vital junctures. At Edgbaston in 2005, Gilchrist holed out to mid on off Ashley Giles, for just 1, in that famous two-run loss. But Haddin’s highlights are far less frequent than Gilchrist’s and thus his credits in the bank are fast running out.
With Wade rising to his captain’s challenge, is Haddin’s career over? It would be an unfortunate end to a contribution that will never be truly valued. But the job is a tough one, and you are made to earn it. Wade has done all that has been asked of him and more. Australian wicketkeeping is as ruthless as federal politics, and the caucus may well have spoken.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Cowan, Copeland star on attritional day
Stumps Day 2 - New South Wales 440 (Hughes 138, Katich 96, Rohrer 64no) v Tasmania 3 -160 (Cowan 80no, Copeland 2-52)
Sheffield Shield finals are rarely free-flowing, cut and thrust affairs. More often than not they are attritional, absorbing, last-man standing encounters.
And so it proved on day two of Australian cricket’s domestic showpiece in Hobart. Whilst day one featured the batting of two Test stars in Phil Hughes and Simon Katich, day two featured a battle of wills between hard-nosed Shield journeymen.
Ben Rohrer has played just 20 Shield matches in four years since scoring 163 on debut at Bellerive. The 29-year-old was preferred for this final over 19-year-old prodigy Nic Maddinson, and his experience was invaluable this morning.
With the second new ball still nipping around Rohrer made 64 not out in a positive display of stroke-play to help NSW reach their total of 440 by lunch time. Rohrer, who was well supported by cameos from nightwatchman Scott Coyte (25) and Trent Copeland (26), cracked seven fours and two sixes in a 91-ball stay. The Blues plundered 124 runs in 29.5 overs and the game charged forward at a rate of knots.
Ben Hilfenhaus put a poor day behind him yesterday when he took a wicket with his first ball this morning. It was little surprise it was his first ball to a right-hander for the innings. He bowled an impressive spell to remove the only two right-handed NSW batsmen in the top eight as he found prodigious swing on a cool and overcast morning. James Faulkner and Xavier Doherty both added to their tallies to finish with three wickets.
Whilst the Blues opening batsmen clattered 85 inside 19 overs yesterday Tasmania’s top four took 35 overs to reach the same mark. The middle session was a grind highlighted by a battle of wills between a former Blue, Ed Cowan, and former Bathurst wicketkeeper turned wicket-taking machine in Copeland.
Cowan bats for a living. He watches each ball like a hawk and plays to his strengths without trying to over-extend himself. Copeland is the bowling equivalent. He doesn’t try to bowl any quicker than 125kph. Instead he uses guile and patience to strangle his victims, delivering over after over with metronomic precision.
It was a fascinating duel over four absorbing hours. Cowan finished unbeaten on 80 from 177 balls, nothing less than he deserved. Copeland delivered 21 overs and claimed two wickets and perhaps deserved more.
There were other players who impressed aside from that duo. Pat Cummins bucked the trend of the day. The 17-year-old raw-boned quick was exceptional bowling 20 overs over genuine pace. His first ball of the day was 134kph, his last 142kph. In between he was far too fast for Nick Kruger trapping him in front for one, and troubled every Tasmanian he bowled to. No batsman was excluded from the barrage of high velocity short balls. George Bailey was troubled more than any but it was Copeland who was rewarded for Cummins’ work. He is the youngest player ever to play in a Shield final eclipsing the former record-holder Michael Kasprowicz. It will be no surprise if his career reaches the same heights as the Queenslander.
Alex Doolan also played a nice hand. His 46 oozed class and reminded onlookers of the uncomplicated style of Martin Love. But the 25-year-old fell to Copeland, edging behind attempting to score a rare boundary from the medium-paced scrooge.
Mark Cosgrove’s entrance unshackled Cowan with the pair adding 53 in from 13 overs. They will need a lot more tomorrow to eat into the 280-run deficit.
Sheffield Shield finals are rarely free-flowing, cut and thrust affairs. More often than not they are attritional, absorbing, last-man standing encounters.
And so it proved on day two of Australian cricket’s domestic showpiece in Hobart. Whilst day one featured the batting of two Test stars in Phil Hughes and Simon Katich, day two featured a battle of wills between hard-nosed Shield journeymen.
Ben Rohrer has played just 20 Shield matches in four years since scoring 163 on debut at Bellerive. The 29-year-old was preferred for this final over 19-year-old prodigy Nic Maddinson, and his experience was invaluable this morning.
With the second new ball still nipping around Rohrer made 64 not out in a positive display of stroke-play to help NSW reach their total of 440 by lunch time. Rohrer, who was well supported by cameos from nightwatchman Scott Coyte (25) and Trent Copeland (26), cracked seven fours and two sixes in a 91-ball stay. The Blues plundered 124 runs in 29.5 overs and the game charged forward at a rate of knots.
Ben Hilfenhaus put a poor day behind him yesterday when he took a wicket with his first ball this morning. It was little surprise it was his first ball to a right-hander for the innings. He bowled an impressive spell to remove the only two right-handed NSW batsmen in the top eight as he found prodigious swing on a cool and overcast morning. James Faulkner and Xavier Doherty both added to their tallies to finish with three wickets.
Whilst the Blues opening batsmen clattered 85 inside 19 overs yesterday Tasmania’s top four took 35 overs to reach the same mark. The middle session was a grind highlighted by a battle of wills between a former Blue, Ed Cowan, and former Bathurst wicketkeeper turned wicket-taking machine in Copeland.
Cowan bats for a living. He watches each ball like a hawk and plays to his strengths without trying to over-extend himself. Copeland is the bowling equivalent. He doesn’t try to bowl any quicker than 125kph. Instead he uses guile and patience to strangle his victims, delivering over after over with metronomic precision.
It was a fascinating duel over four absorbing hours. Cowan finished unbeaten on 80 from 177 balls, nothing less than he deserved. Copeland delivered 21 overs and claimed two wickets and perhaps deserved more.
There were other players who impressed aside from that duo. Pat Cummins bucked the trend of the day. The 17-year-old raw-boned quick was exceptional bowling 20 overs over genuine pace. His first ball of the day was 134kph, his last 142kph. In between he was far too fast for Nick Kruger trapping him in front for one, and troubled every Tasmanian he bowled to. No batsman was excluded from the barrage of high velocity short balls. George Bailey was troubled more than any but it was Copeland who was rewarded for Cummins’ work. He is the youngest player ever to play in a Shield final eclipsing the former record-holder Michael Kasprowicz. It will be no surprise if his career reaches the same heights as the Queenslander.
Alex Doolan also played a nice hand. His 46 oozed class and reminded onlookers of the uncomplicated style of Martin Love. But the 25-year-old fell to Copeland, edging behind attempting to score a rare boundary from the medium-paced scrooge.
Mark Cosgrove’s entrance unshackled Cowan with the pair adding 53 in from 13 overs. They will need a lot more tomorrow to eat into the 280-run deficit.
Hughes and Katich make NSW's day
New South Wales 5 for 316 (Hughes 138, Katich 96) v Tasmania Day 1 Sheffield Shield Final at Bellerive
Four years ago in the 2007-08 Sheffield Shield final Phillip Hughes announced himself as a future test player with his first Shield hundred to help New South Wales to victory. Four years on, with suggestions that his international career was at the cross roads, Hughes made arguably his most important century to anchor the Blues on day one of this decider.
It wasn’t the same Hughes that we’ve come to know and expect. It was a new and improved Hughes. A mature version who has shelved his dashing, flashing, style for a recalibrated technique that allowed him to survive 278 balls, and compile a classy 138 on a fresh day one surface in Hobart.
Tasmania fans might look at the stumps scorecard and wonder why George Bailey decided to bowl first when the coin fell his way. But the Blues captain Simon Katich admitted he would have done the same on a surface that had a lot of live green grass. Add to that the fact that the average first innings total in Hobart this year has been just 172, and that the side fielding first in all five matches at Bellerive this year has won, it was no surprise Bailey elected to bowl.
But the surface was harder than expected. Although it did plenty off the seam early, anything overpitched was driven without fear. Hughes and a rejuvenated David Warner set up the day with a wonderful opening stand. They put on 88 in the first 74 minutes. They played the lines and were unperturbed at being beaten on a consistent basis. But anything overpitched was punished. Warner was particularly savage on Ben Hilfenhaus. The Test bowler’s first seven overs cost 40.
Warner looked set for another big score before Xavier Doherty was introduced. Doherty didn’t produce consistent spin. But he spun two balls sharply and both claimed wickets. He enticed Warner to drive on 47 and ripped it back to through gate to rattle leg stump. The Test discard then forced a defensive prod from Usman Khawaja, yielding an inside edge which was claimed by Ed Cowan’s quick reflexes at short leg.
When James Faulkner trapped Phil Jaques in front just on lunch Tasmania looked to have reclaimed the ascendency. But the middle session belonged to Hughes. He had looked impressive but vulnerable at different times in the morning. He was 55 at lunch having been reprieved by the normally reliable Bailey on 48. But in the afternoon Hughes showed how far his game had come. He looked impenetrable. His movements were simple; his bat looked as wide as the Derwent. His previously unusual back foot movement to leg was now going to off. He covered off stump in defence. He drove magnificently straight when given the chance. He also cut responsibly and sensibly when offered width and struck one powerful slog sweep off Doherty for six.
He combined beautifully with his captain and, at times, test opening partner who was unusually batting at number five. Katich was dogged prior to tea while Hughes flourished. After tea Katich scored prolifically while Hughes dropped anchor. It was typical Katich. Anything short and wide was punished and anything straight picked off. Their partnership of 185 looked to set the game up before Tasmania took the new ball and showed the wicket still had plenty to offer for the bowlers. Katich was trapped four shy of a century by Faulkner. His 96 had taken him to fourth all-time for total runs scored in Shield Finals. Hughes fell to a beauty from Luke Butterworth who bowled better than his one wicket suggests. Butterworth consistently beat the bat all day but Hughes’ was the only edge that went to hand.
The Blues sent in nightwatchman Scott Coyte with Katich falling in the 87th over. But the man they were protecting, Ben Rohrer, batted anyway with Hughes departure. New South Wales will look to post 400 plus with Peter Nevill and Steve O’Keefe still to come. It will be a good platform for the away side that need to win to claim their 46th Shield. A draw will be good enough for Tasmania.
Four years ago in the 2007-08 Sheffield Shield final Phillip Hughes announced himself as a future test player with his first Shield hundred to help New South Wales to victory. Four years on, with suggestions that his international career was at the cross roads, Hughes made arguably his most important century to anchor the Blues on day one of this decider.
It wasn’t the same Hughes that we’ve come to know and expect. It was a new and improved Hughes. A mature version who has shelved his dashing, flashing, style for a recalibrated technique that allowed him to survive 278 balls, and compile a classy 138 on a fresh day one surface in Hobart.
Tasmania fans might look at the stumps scorecard and wonder why George Bailey decided to bowl first when the coin fell his way. But the Blues captain Simon Katich admitted he would have done the same on a surface that had a lot of live green grass. Add to that the fact that the average first innings total in Hobart this year has been just 172, and that the side fielding first in all five matches at Bellerive this year has won, it was no surprise Bailey elected to bowl.
But the surface was harder than expected. Although it did plenty off the seam early, anything overpitched was driven without fear. Hughes and a rejuvenated David Warner set up the day with a wonderful opening stand. They put on 88 in the first 74 minutes. They played the lines and were unperturbed at being beaten on a consistent basis. But anything overpitched was punished. Warner was particularly savage on Ben Hilfenhaus. The Test bowler’s first seven overs cost 40.
Warner looked set for another big score before Xavier Doherty was introduced. Doherty didn’t produce consistent spin. But he spun two balls sharply and both claimed wickets. He enticed Warner to drive on 47 and ripped it back to through gate to rattle leg stump. The Test discard then forced a defensive prod from Usman Khawaja, yielding an inside edge which was claimed by Ed Cowan’s quick reflexes at short leg.
When James Faulkner trapped Phil Jaques in front just on lunch Tasmania looked to have reclaimed the ascendency. But the middle session belonged to Hughes. He had looked impressive but vulnerable at different times in the morning. He was 55 at lunch having been reprieved by the normally reliable Bailey on 48. But in the afternoon Hughes showed how far his game had come. He looked impenetrable. His movements were simple; his bat looked as wide as the Derwent. His previously unusual back foot movement to leg was now going to off. He covered off stump in defence. He drove magnificently straight when given the chance. He also cut responsibly and sensibly when offered width and struck one powerful slog sweep off Doherty for six.
He combined beautifully with his captain and, at times, test opening partner who was unusually batting at number five. Katich was dogged prior to tea while Hughes flourished. After tea Katich scored prolifically while Hughes dropped anchor. It was typical Katich. Anything short and wide was punished and anything straight picked off. Their partnership of 185 looked to set the game up before Tasmania took the new ball and showed the wicket still had plenty to offer for the bowlers. Katich was trapped four shy of a century by Faulkner. His 96 had taken him to fourth all-time for total runs scored in Shield Finals. Hughes fell to a beauty from Luke Butterworth who bowled better than his one wicket suggests. Butterworth consistently beat the bat all day but Hughes’ was the only edge that went to hand.
The Blues sent in nightwatchman Scott Coyte with Katich falling in the 87th over. But the man they were protecting, Ben Rohrer, batted anyway with Hughes departure. New South Wales will look to post 400 plus with Peter Nevill and Steve O’Keefe still to come. It will be a good platform for the away side that need to win to claim their 46th Shield. A draw will be good enough for Tasmania.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Confidence could cure cancer
If you could sell confidence, if you could bottle it and market it, you would be richer than you could ever imagine. Confidence is what every cricketer, every sportsman, craves. If you have it, the world is your oyster. If you don’t then a shell to hide in is what you yearn for. How quickly it can come and go in this game is impossible to comprehend.
But the example of Mitchell Johnson is mystifying. No more than a fortnight ago Johnson’s confidence was down around his ankles. He couldn’t bat, he couldn’t bowl, and he couldn’t field. Like a cancer, his bowling woes had spread to every facet of his game. It hit an almost incurable point. If he had a shovel at the Gabba he would have dug a hole and climbed in. Everyone had an opinion, everyone had an answer, and everyone called for his head.
The Australian selectors took the only action they could, and left him out in Adelaide. But rather than play for WA or his grade side Wanneroo, as so many suggested he should, he spent his time away working in the nets.
Suddenly, in Perth he is super-Mitch again. He played with freedom with the bat, wielding his blade in spectacular and eye-catching fashion. He played with a natural freedom and flourish that has been absent since he tore the Proteas to shreds in March of 2009. Not surprisingly, his 62 was only his second half century since that tour, and his first in 15 Test matches.
Then, with the ball, something truly remarkable happened. He swung the ball away from the left-handers and into the right.
Johnson was feeling his way with his first two overs on the opening evening. He might have lifted a cog if Hussey had caught a catch he never saw when Andrew Strauss flashed through gully.
But on the second morning his shot of confidence came from an Alistair Cook error. Cook, choc-full of self-belief, over-extended, driving at a ball that left him with minimal footwork. Hussey pouched the chance and Mitch’s reaction was relief. The gorilla on his back reached for a nearby branch.
The Silverback had both hands on the branch in Johnson’s next over when he swerved one back to the right-handed Jonathan Trott, who was so plumb he almost walked.
The gorilla leapt off and disappeared into the jungle three balls later, as Johnson claimed Confidence’s poster boy Kevin Pietersen. Again it was a rapid inswinger that trapped England’s number four in front. Pietersen went from 227 to 0 in a fortnight, Johnson from no-hoper to hero in two days.
Johnson’s reaction to Pietersen’s removal told the story. For weeks he had not smiled. For months he’d fretted and slunk his shoulders. A lamb in lion’s clothing, they had written.
The lion had suddenly roared and Johnson raised a fist to the Press Box.
It was a gesture that some will brand ugly, some will brand immature, but at the end of the day it was something to show that he’s back. It was for the so-called “journalist” that sought quotes from his estranged mother during the 2009 Ashes. It was for those scribes that had panned his poor performances. It was for all those ex-players, who could not comprehend his plight, claiming he couldn’t “bowl a Hula hoop down a hill”.
Johnson’s demeanour changed in an instant. Prior to the over he’d been on edge, serious, and focussed. After the over he was smiling, relaxed, joking with fielding coach Mike Young on the rope at fine leg, and signing tons of autographs for the punters who, an over earlier, had treated him like a leper.
It was an extraordinary transformation. Johnson then produced his coup de grace, removing Paul Collingwood with one that pitched outside the Geordie’s off stump and seared back into his pads like an Exocet missile.
Collingwood’s footwork was a study in confidence itself, particularly when contrasted with Ian Bell. Collingwood was anchored deep in the crease. His right foot back near the stumps, like a first-time bungie jumper holding on to the rail, fearful of taking a step over the ledge. Meantime Bell moved forward and back as decisively as a champion fencer, and with the confidence, balance, and bravado of a tight-rope walker. Collingwood departed for a nervous 5. Bell compiled a classy 53. The latter really has graduated from Sherminator to Terminator and a promotion can’t be far away.
But in fairness to the combative Collingwood, he got an absolute corker from the left-armer. Johnson wasn’t standing the seam up in conventional fashion. It was the type of delivery that would have made Sir Isaac Newton sit bolt upright in his 283-year-old grave.
They are curveballs in baseball parlance. They defy any conventional coaching manual of swing bowling. And they are made even more difficult to handle given they don’t appear consistently.
Johnson had every instruction at his finger tips in the form of the bowling guru Troy Cooley and the master Dennis Lillee. But rumours suggest they haven’t re-invented the wheel. Johnson’s core strength was well down according to internal testing. His drive through the crease and general ability to keep his action, when tired, had diminished significantly.
However, for all the technical jargon, nothing can replace the confidence he received from his batting, Hussey’s first catch, and the Trott LBW.
If he could bottle that confidence up and take it wherever he goes, he and Australia will be unbeatable.
If only cricket were that simple.
But the example of Mitchell Johnson is mystifying. No more than a fortnight ago Johnson’s confidence was down around his ankles. He couldn’t bat, he couldn’t bowl, and he couldn’t field. Like a cancer, his bowling woes had spread to every facet of his game. It hit an almost incurable point. If he had a shovel at the Gabba he would have dug a hole and climbed in. Everyone had an opinion, everyone had an answer, and everyone called for his head.
The Australian selectors took the only action they could, and left him out in Adelaide. But rather than play for WA or his grade side Wanneroo, as so many suggested he should, he spent his time away working in the nets.
Suddenly, in Perth he is super-Mitch again. He played with freedom with the bat, wielding his blade in spectacular and eye-catching fashion. He played with a natural freedom and flourish that has been absent since he tore the Proteas to shreds in March of 2009. Not surprisingly, his 62 was only his second half century since that tour, and his first in 15 Test matches.
Then, with the ball, something truly remarkable happened. He swung the ball away from the left-handers and into the right.
Johnson was feeling his way with his first two overs on the opening evening. He might have lifted a cog if Hussey had caught a catch he never saw when Andrew Strauss flashed through gully.
But on the second morning his shot of confidence came from an Alistair Cook error. Cook, choc-full of self-belief, over-extended, driving at a ball that left him with minimal footwork. Hussey pouched the chance and Mitch’s reaction was relief. The gorilla on his back reached for a nearby branch.
The Silverback had both hands on the branch in Johnson’s next over when he swerved one back to the right-handed Jonathan Trott, who was so plumb he almost walked.
The gorilla leapt off and disappeared into the jungle three balls later, as Johnson claimed Confidence’s poster boy Kevin Pietersen. Again it was a rapid inswinger that trapped England’s number four in front. Pietersen went from 227 to 0 in a fortnight, Johnson from no-hoper to hero in two days.
Johnson’s reaction to Pietersen’s removal told the story. For weeks he had not smiled. For months he’d fretted and slunk his shoulders. A lamb in lion’s clothing, they had written.
The lion had suddenly roared and Johnson raised a fist to the Press Box.
It was a gesture that some will brand ugly, some will brand immature, but at the end of the day it was something to show that he’s back. It was for the so-called “journalist” that sought quotes from his estranged mother during the 2009 Ashes. It was for those scribes that had panned his poor performances. It was for all those ex-players, who could not comprehend his plight, claiming he couldn’t “bowl a Hula hoop down a hill”.
Johnson’s demeanour changed in an instant. Prior to the over he’d been on edge, serious, and focussed. After the over he was smiling, relaxed, joking with fielding coach Mike Young on the rope at fine leg, and signing tons of autographs for the punters who, an over earlier, had treated him like a leper.
It was an extraordinary transformation. Johnson then produced his coup de grace, removing Paul Collingwood with one that pitched outside the Geordie’s off stump and seared back into his pads like an Exocet missile.
Collingwood’s footwork was a study in confidence itself, particularly when contrasted with Ian Bell. Collingwood was anchored deep in the crease. His right foot back near the stumps, like a first-time bungie jumper holding on to the rail, fearful of taking a step over the ledge. Meantime Bell moved forward and back as decisively as a champion fencer, and with the confidence, balance, and bravado of a tight-rope walker. Collingwood departed for a nervous 5. Bell compiled a classy 53. The latter really has graduated from Sherminator to Terminator and a promotion can’t be far away.
But in fairness to the combative Collingwood, he got an absolute corker from the left-armer. Johnson wasn’t standing the seam up in conventional fashion. It was the type of delivery that would have made Sir Isaac Newton sit bolt upright in his 283-year-old grave.
They are curveballs in baseball parlance. They defy any conventional coaching manual of swing bowling. And they are made even more difficult to handle given they don’t appear consistently.
Johnson had every instruction at his finger tips in the form of the bowling guru Troy Cooley and the master Dennis Lillee. But rumours suggest they haven’t re-invented the wheel. Johnson’s core strength was well down according to internal testing. His drive through the crease and general ability to keep his action, when tired, had diminished significantly.
However, for all the technical jargon, nothing can replace the confidence he received from his batting, Hussey’s first catch, and the Trott LBW.
If he could bottle that confidence up and take it wherever he goes, he and Australia will be unbeatable.
If only cricket were that simple.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Come in Spinner, but don’t close the door
There was a sign erected at the WACA ground during a one-day match between Australia and the West Indies in January 1997. It was the summer Australia missed the Carlton and United One-day series finals, which eventually led to the sacking of Mark Taylor as limited-overs captain, and the initial foray into having separate squads for the two different forms of the game.
The sign read:
“Lost: The Plot. If found please return to the Australian dressing rooms. Ask for Tubby.”
One wonders whether or not the gentlemen who erected that sign still has it, and whether he might bring it out again next week during the third Ashes test. Only one change needs to be made. Replace “Tubby” with “Digger”, and they may have it spot on.
Chairman of selectors Andrew “Digger” Hilditch announced Australia’s Test squad for Perth last week. In it appeared the name Michael Beer, the tenth Australian spinner to be selected for Australia since Shane Warne’s retirement. Ten since January 2007.
Can you name them all?
Take a deep breath because it will take awhile. Stuart MacGill, Brad Hogg, Beau Casson, Cameron White, Jason Krejza, Nathan Hauritz, Marcus North, Steve Smith, and Xavier Doherty all have been used as Australia’s number one spinner in Test matches since Warne’s departure.
To put that into perspective, English Premier League club Newcastle United just named Alan Pardew as its manager last week after sacking Chris Hughton. Pardew is the eighth manager to take charge of the giant Tyne-side franchise since January 2007. In that time they have bounced from the Premiership, to the Championship, and back to the Premiership. They are currently the laughing stock of English football.
If Beer plays in Perth on Thursday he will be the least credentialed of all nine spinners named, which by the way is no mean feat, having played just five first-class fixtures for a return of 16 wickets at a cost of 39.93 apiece.
Cue Hilditch.
"Michael is a left-arm orthodox spinner who has been very impressive at domestic level this year. He took wickets against England in the tour match earlier this summer and we expect he will bowl very well against the English on his home ground," Hilditch said.
We’ll ignore the fact that the Chairman had to describe Beer as “a left-arm orthodox spinner” just in case anyone listening did not know.
Very impressive at domestic level this season? Just 16 wickets at an average of 39.93 with a best of two three wicket hauls is Beer’s return. Does that mean that Wade Townsend’s 202 runs at 28.85 for Queensland with two half centuries have also been very impressive?
He took wickets against England in a tour match earlier this summer? He did, with figures of 3 for 108 from 24 overs and 2 for 99 from 16.4 overs. The wickets included Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Matt Prior, Kevin Pietersen, and Paul Collingwood. They are reasonable figures. However fellow left-arm orthodox Aaron O’Brien claimed match figures of 3 for 112 against England for South Australia, and New South Wales left-arm tweaker Steve O’Keefe took 4 for 88 in England’s first innings against Australia ‘A’.
We expect he will bowl very well against the English on his home ground? So Beer has been picked because he knows the conditions well? He’s played three first-class games at WACA. They are two of just six first-class or grade matches he’s played in Perth having moved from Melbourne during the winter to begin a first-class career at age 26.
O’Brien, O’Keefe, and Xavier Doherty have all played more cricket at the WACA than Beer.
So why is he in the XII? Because Shane Warne mentioned his name in a newspaper column?
It is not Beer’s fault that he has been selected. Every Australian fan will hope he performs well should he play. But on recent record, getting selected to play for Australia as a specialist spinner is like getting a knock on your door from the Grim Reaper.
Beau Casson took three wickets on test debut in Bridgetown, June 2008, in the third test against the West Indies. He then wasn’t selected for the following tour of India, as White, McGain, and Krejza went instead. Since then he has played nine Shield matches for NSW, taking just nine wickets at 78.44 per scalp, as well as being pulled from the attack in a match at the Gabba for two high full tosses in an innings. He was last sighted collapsing in Sydney Grade cricket trying to make a return from the debilitating illness Chronic Fatigue syndrome.
Cameron White played in Casson’s place throughout the 2008 tour of India. He claimed just five wickets at 68.40. Since then he has scarcely bowled in first-class cricket having claimed just six wickets in two and a half domestic seasons. He is now trying to push his case as a batsman.
Jason Krejza took a stunning 12 wickets on test debut. He then missed the next test match Australia played because the Gabba strip called for four seamers and no spinner. Krejza then injured an ankle in the lead-up to the second Trans-Tasman test against a weak New Zealand batting line-up. Hauritz filled in before Krejza returned to take on a mighty South African batting line-up on freeway at the WACA. The Proteas chased a monstrous 414 to win in the fourth innings. Krejza finished with match figures of 1 for 204. Brett Lee and Peter Siddle also only claimed one wicket for the entire test. The two quicks retained their place for Melbourne, and Krejza was banished back to Shield cricket where he has since struggled to retain a regular place for Tasmania.
Marcus North played as the sole spinner in his first two tests in South Africa, scoring a century as well as taking a wicket in each victorious test. He missed the third due to illness and opened the door for Bryce McGain’s inclusion.
Debuting ten days before his 37th birthday, McGain went wicket-less in 18 overs that cost 149. His career was over before the test match concluded. McGain has since claimed six wickets in last year’s Sheffield Shield final but at 38 is seen to be clogging up the system.
Nathan Hauritz was given the most extended run of any spinner tried, and was the most successful as a result. Yet ironically, his first-class record was worse than the part-timer North when he was selected. Hauritz was ineffective in India recently, taking just six wickets at 65. But he’s not the first and won’t be the last to suffer on the sub-continent. Warne averaged 50 with the ball in the famous 2001 series in India.
Two bad tests theoretically should not end a career. Xavier Doherty has averaged 103 with ball in hand as the replacement for Hauritz, yet the Queensland –born New South Wales off-spinner feels so disenchanted that he gave away his test clothing at garage sale. Although he wouldn’t require it if recalled due to a change of CA sponsorship, the symbolism of the gesture, and his quote: “I don’t play for them (Australia) anymore”, suggests he’s been told in no uncertain terms that he is no longer an international cricketer.
Doherty has gone the way of McGain and Krejza before him. Tried, failed, and discarded.
One fears for Beer as well. But his first-class career has barely got off the ground. So what happens if his test career ends in one or two innings like those before him?
Steve Smith on the other hand would have to do a lot wrong to be treated like the nine aforementioned spinners. He has been anointed as a long term project. But his selection as a batsman is baffling. A first-class average of 43.77, with four centuries, in just 20 matches puts him ahead of the likes of Shaun Marsh and Callum Ferguson on record alone, but unlike those he’s hardly batted above six for New South Wales. Very rarely has a Test batsman been picked having not been a top-four regular for their state. He has just recently moved to four for New South Wales. His Shield average this season stands at 32 without a century.
If Smith averages 35 with the bat and 42 with the ball after 21 Test matches, will he be dropped like North? You would hope not, but few would disagree with North’s axing.
What happens next is anyone’s guess.
But hear this in mind. Shane Warne’s first four bowling efforts in Tests amounted to a 1 for 337, and six opposition players scored centuries with Ravi Shastri scoring a double.
Last question Mr Hilditch. If Shane Warne had debuted under your Chairmanship, what would have happened?
The sign read:
“Lost: The Plot. If found please return to the Australian dressing rooms. Ask for Tubby.”
One wonders whether or not the gentlemen who erected that sign still has it, and whether he might bring it out again next week during the third Ashes test. Only one change needs to be made. Replace “Tubby” with “Digger”, and they may have it spot on.
Chairman of selectors Andrew “Digger” Hilditch announced Australia’s Test squad for Perth last week. In it appeared the name Michael Beer, the tenth Australian spinner to be selected for Australia since Shane Warne’s retirement. Ten since January 2007.
Can you name them all?
Take a deep breath because it will take awhile. Stuart MacGill, Brad Hogg, Beau Casson, Cameron White, Jason Krejza, Nathan Hauritz, Marcus North, Steve Smith, and Xavier Doherty all have been used as Australia’s number one spinner in Test matches since Warne’s departure.
To put that into perspective, English Premier League club Newcastle United just named Alan Pardew as its manager last week after sacking Chris Hughton. Pardew is the eighth manager to take charge of the giant Tyne-side franchise since January 2007. In that time they have bounced from the Premiership, to the Championship, and back to the Premiership. They are currently the laughing stock of English football.
If Beer plays in Perth on Thursday he will be the least credentialed of all nine spinners named, which by the way is no mean feat, having played just five first-class fixtures for a return of 16 wickets at a cost of 39.93 apiece.
Cue Hilditch.
"Michael is a left-arm orthodox spinner who has been very impressive at domestic level this year. He took wickets against England in the tour match earlier this summer and we expect he will bowl very well against the English on his home ground," Hilditch said.
We’ll ignore the fact that the Chairman had to describe Beer as “a left-arm orthodox spinner” just in case anyone listening did not know.
Very impressive at domestic level this season? Just 16 wickets at an average of 39.93 with a best of two three wicket hauls is Beer’s return. Does that mean that Wade Townsend’s 202 runs at 28.85 for Queensland with two half centuries have also been very impressive?
He took wickets against England in a tour match earlier this summer? He did, with figures of 3 for 108 from 24 overs and 2 for 99 from 16.4 overs. The wickets included Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Matt Prior, Kevin Pietersen, and Paul Collingwood. They are reasonable figures. However fellow left-arm orthodox Aaron O’Brien claimed match figures of 3 for 112 against England for South Australia, and New South Wales left-arm tweaker Steve O’Keefe took 4 for 88 in England’s first innings against Australia ‘A’.
We expect he will bowl very well against the English on his home ground? So Beer has been picked because he knows the conditions well? He’s played three first-class games at WACA. They are two of just six first-class or grade matches he’s played in Perth having moved from Melbourne during the winter to begin a first-class career at age 26.
O’Brien, O’Keefe, and Xavier Doherty have all played more cricket at the WACA than Beer.
So why is he in the XII? Because Shane Warne mentioned his name in a newspaper column?
It is not Beer’s fault that he has been selected. Every Australian fan will hope he performs well should he play. But on recent record, getting selected to play for Australia as a specialist spinner is like getting a knock on your door from the Grim Reaper.
Beau Casson took three wickets on test debut in Bridgetown, June 2008, in the third test against the West Indies. He then wasn’t selected for the following tour of India, as White, McGain, and Krejza went instead. Since then he has played nine Shield matches for NSW, taking just nine wickets at 78.44 per scalp, as well as being pulled from the attack in a match at the Gabba for two high full tosses in an innings. He was last sighted collapsing in Sydney Grade cricket trying to make a return from the debilitating illness Chronic Fatigue syndrome.
Cameron White played in Casson’s place throughout the 2008 tour of India. He claimed just five wickets at 68.40. Since then he has scarcely bowled in first-class cricket having claimed just six wickets in two and a half domestic seasons. He is now trying to push his case as a batsman.
Jason Krejza took a stunning 12 wickets on test debut. He then missed the next test match Australia played because the Gabba strip called for four seamers and no spinner. Krejza then injured an ankle in the lead-up to the second Trans-Tasman test against a weak New Zealand batting line-up. Hauritz filled in before Krejza returned to take on a mighty South African batting line-up on freeway at the WACA. The Proteas chased a monstrous 414 to win in the fourth innings. Krejza finished with match figures of 1 for 204. Brett Lee and Peter Siddle also only claimed one wicket for the entire test. The two quicks retained their place for Melbourne, and Krejza was banished back to Shield cricket where he has since struggled to retain a regular place for Tasmania.
Marcus North played as the sole spinner in his first two tests in South Africa, scoring a century as well as taking a wicket in each victorious test. He missed the third due to illness and opened the door for Bryce McGain’s inclusion.
Debuting ten days before his 37th birthday, McGain went wicket-less in 18 overs that cost 149. His career was over before the test match concluded. McGain has since claimed six wickets in last year’s Sheffield Shield final but at 38 is seen to be clogging up the system.
Nathan Hauritz was given the most extended run of any spinner tried, and was the most successful as a result. Yet ironically, his first-class record was worse than the part-timer North when he was selected. Hauritz was ineffective in India recently, taking just six wickets at 65. But he’s not the first and won’t be the last to suffer on the sub-continent. Warne averaged 50 with the ball in the famous 2001 series in India.
Two bad tests theoretically should not end a career. Xavier Doherty has averaged 103 with ball in hand as the replacement for Hauritz, yet the Queensland –born New South Wales off-spinner feels so disenchanted that he gave away his test clothing at garage sale. Although he wouldn’t require it if recalled due to a change of CA sponsorship, the symbolism of the gesture, and his quote: “I don’t play for them (Australia) anymore”, suggests he’s been told in no uncertain terms that he is no longer an international cricketer.
Doherty has gone the way of McGain and Krejza before him. Tried, failed, and discarded.
One fears for Beer as well. But his first-class career has barely got off the ground. So what happens if his test career ends in one or two innings like those before him?
Steve Smith on the other hand would have to do a lot wrong to be treated like the nine aforementioned spinners. He has been anointed as a long term project. But his selection as a batsman is baffling. A first-class average of 43.77, with four centuries, in just 20 matches puts him ahead of the likes of Shaun Marsh and Callum Ferguson on record alone, but unlike those he’s hardly batted above six for New South Wales. Very rarely has a Test batsman been picked having not been a top-four regular for their state. He has just recently moved to four for New South Wales. His Shield average this season stands at 32 without a century.
If Smith averages 35 with the bat and 42 with the ball after 21 Test matches, will he be dropped like North? You would hope not, but few would disagree with North’s axing.
What happens next is anyone’s guess.
But hear this in mind. Shane Warne’s first four bowling efforts in Tests amounted to a 1 for 337, and six opposition players scored centuries with Ravi Shastri scoring a double.
Last question Mr Hilditch. If Shane Warne had debuted under your Chairmanship, what would have happened?
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