Virat Kohli lifts the Border-Gavaskar trophy
With that, I best be off to the press conferences so I’ll leave the OBO here. Thank you so much for your company and kind words over the four Tests. We’ve had a great time bringing it to you. We’ll see you again for the ODIs next week. Bye for now from the SCG.
Updated
Kohli (more)
The way the bowlers have dictated terms and dominated in the series is something I have never seen happy in Indian cricket before, especially with just four bowlers, so hats off to them the way they prepared themselves and fitness levels and mindset. They don’t look at a pitch and say there is nothing for us, they look at ways to take wickets and they dictate plans for me. it is a revelation for Indian cricket and learning for all the bowlers back home to get into that mindset early in their career. They are going to be looked up to for a long, long time at hoe. This is just a stepping stone for us. It is a young side. The most important thing for us is belief. Now we have the results to back that belief. It is just the stepping stone for greater things in the future.
Virat Kohli speaks.
Firstly, I want to say I have never been more proud to be part of a team than this one right here. I think the culture we have been able to build over the last twelve months, the transition began here four years ago, we could never have thought we could be standing here winning a series here for the first time in this country. I only have one word to say that I am proud, firstly as a part of the team and to lead these players, which is an honour. They make a captain look good. It has been outstanding to see and we definitely deserve to enjoy this moment. By far (his best moment), it has to be at the top of the pile. When we won the World Cup I was the youngest member of the side so I didn’t really feel what they felt (when they were emotional) but realising what we have done here we have never done before we can really be proud of. I feel this win will give our side a different identity and can inspire a lot of kids to do the same. I want to give a special mention to Pujara. He has been outstanding in this series. He is always a guy who is willing to accept things and work on his game and he is the nicest guy around. And a special mention for Mayank Agarwal who came into the side and batted like a champion.
Tim Paine speaks. (Again, roughly!):
You have to tip your hat to India. We know how hard it is to win overseas so congratulations to Virat and Ravi and their team, it is the first team they have ever done it (here) so well done to those guys. We had our chances to win the Test in Adelaide but India outplayed us in the big moment. In Perth, we played a pretty good game of cricket but in Melbourne and Sydney, we were outplayed in all departments so they deserved tow in the series. We have some talent in this team but also some talent outside the side, so we’re going to learn a hell of a lot from that. Any games you can get into guys at international level where they can learn is positive even if at the moment it is probably hard for the guys to see. The message is to keep scoring runs and that’s the currency in cricket. We know as a playing group here we have to get better and we have people outside the team putting on pressure and some guys not far from coming back. So form this gloom and doom we have some positives and a series coming up in a couple of weeks. We know cricket is a funny game and it can turn quickly.
Cheteshwar Pujara is player of the match and series. And said (roughly!):
It is a great feeling for all of us. We have been working really hard to win a series in this country. It has never been easy so we are really proud of the team and the way I have contributed. For me, the first hundred was special in Adelaide going one-nil up was something we were all aiming for so it was really special. As a batsman, you need to get used to pace and bounce and (playing around the world) has helped. I was very well prepared. This is definitely the best Indian team I’ve been part of. We have been playing with four bowlers and it’s never easy to do that and take 20 wickets so all credit goes to them. They’ve been remarkable.
It has taken 71 years for India to win here. This is a wonderful triumph for Kohli’s men. The teams are shaking hands and then we’ll have the presentation. Stick with the OBO for comments from the captains and man of the match. Sorry that I won’t be able to get to any more emails but thanks for your notes throughout the day. Back shortly with words from Kohli, Paine and Pujara as India lift the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
MATCH DRAWN! INDIA WIN THE SERIES 2-1!
The game has been officially called off and the Indians are all smiles, the small group of fans out the front of the rooms going wild in response. Fantastic stuff.
The word from the broadcasters is that the game will be called off. That is not confirmed, but is firming as the most likely outcome of the meeting five minutes from now.
An email from Geoff’s dad! Andrew Lemon is a renowned historian, so I’m not surprised that he has a nugget for us on his son’s earlier topic. “Press report from July 1893: ‘During an excursion made by the Australian cricketers up the Thames, a boatman fell overboard and was rescued by Coningham, the Australian cricketer, who had a narrow escape from drowning.’
Let’s give it up for Arthur Coningham! This is an extract from his Cricinfo profile:
But he was undoubtedly one of the game’s more colourful figures and was once described as having “the audacity and cunning of an ape and the modesty of a phallic symbol.” His sole Test was memorable as he was no-balled, and in anger he deliberately hurled the next ball at AE Stoddart, England’s captain. On his tour to England, during which he was awarded a medal after saving a boy from drowning in the Thames, he reportedly started a fire in the outfield during one match “to keep warm”. A chemist by profession, he was made bankrupt, but once discharged became a bookmaker, carrying a satchel embossed with “Coningham the Cricketer”.
But perhaps his most famous moments came in 1900 when he conducted his own (unsuccessful) defence in a divorce case when he accused the private secretary of Cardinal Moran, head of the Australian Catholic Church, of adultery with his wife. The trial and retrial enthralled the public, and although Coningham lost, the priest, Francis O’Haran, was guilty. Coningham’s wife subsequently admitted that the couple’s third child was O’Haran’s. The couple emigrated to New Zealand where Coningham worked as a book salesman until being sentenced to six months in prison for fraudulent conversion. In 1912 his wife divorced him after he committed adultery in a beach shed. He returned to Australia and died in a mental institution.
Match officials will be meeting with the ground staff at 2:30pm
That’s 15 minutes from now. Given the rain is so soft, I don’t reckon they will be in a position to call it off, as it would only take an hour to get back on. And I don’t believe the skippers are permitted to shake hands until 4:30pm. Interesting. We’ll see.
Anyway, back to our conversations for now...
“Lovely shout out to Dan Lucas there,” begins Robert McLiam Wilson, the OBO’s mighty Paris correspondent. “Running with your email cue, I just looked back at several dinks, smashes and lobs he sent over my virtual net, including this from the long-lost pre-Trump days of 2016. I had osbcenely belaboured (and perhaps vituperatively praised) him for describing a batsman as ‘coming over a bit Northern Bavaria circa 1934 there’. Dan replied with quizzical patience. ‘I’m touched someone appreciated that. Sometimes, I get the feeling I’m a couple of rehashed Simpsons jokes and a rain-affected draw away from real spiritual breakthrough.’ Epic comedy stylings.”
He was so bloody smart. And I’m glad this email included a bit of his Simpsons’ fandom.
Back on our previous topic with Geoff. “I am not sure if Lee Henderson is still online,” says Gervase Greene, “but the other interesting aspect of that Trumper knock was that back then when you hit a Five (what we’d now call a 6) you had to change ends. I think it was Clem Hill who recalled Trumper used to hit them at the end of the over so as to retain the strike. Which was very clever.”
How is it possible that I never knew about the five/six thing? Thanks for this! Speaking of early internet days in our newer topic (crude segue), the place where I first found likeminded cricket nerds on the net was called the Victor Trumper Cricket Board. Are there any old VTCB alumni reading on here today? There’s usually one or two of you.
“Rain is good and bad,” emails Mahendra Killedar. “It saves this game but also means centuryless series for the Aussies!!”
In relation to the underperforming Australian batting line-up, I can report some news from the ground: the squad for the two Sri Lanka Tests will be named on Wednesday with Justin Langer answering questions from the media after the announcement.
“I am going to Vietnam in a few days,” says David Blackah. “If I am asked about sport in Australia I will say well, there is this game we play where all the players sit in a shed all day looking out the window at non-existent rain.”
Yes, this might be the first time today that a brolly is actually required out there. I can understand why punters and pundits alike have been fairly frustrated, especially about the bad light situation yesterday. I spent most of last night arguing for a new way to deal with this problem, which includes the pink ball. Have a read and see what you think. Strangely, for something a touch left-field, I’m getting a fairly positive response.
This is my all-time favourite Ric Finlay factoid, which he gives a run every year. Remember that the SCG Trust have been campaigning for a second Test a summer at this ground, at the expense of one of the smaller Australian cities. Nup.
Time to trot out the old stats on complete days of play washed out in Australian Test cricket:
— Ric Finlay (@RicFinlay) January 6, 2019
24 Sydney
9 Melbourne
8 Brisbane
2 Adelaide
1 Hobart
0 Perth
“My first ever email address was marlon_samuels@hotmail.com,” emails Barnaby Lever, “after I saw him make a 50 on debut at the MCG and being a massive West Indies fan, mistakenly took for a resurgence in their fortunes. In the age of MSN messenger I used to get lots of friend requests and chats from the Caribbean who were always disappointed it was a 15 year old from Newy rather than their hero.”
This is outstanding. Just adopting the name - why not? One of the great regrets of my life relates to Marlon. On my first overseas tour covering the team in 2015, Marlon was in the Windies XI in Dominica. Sure enough, he was friendly and very chatty throughout the week. After the Test, he invited me and another colleague to his house in Jamaica for a party he was holding three days before the Second Test.
Well, in short, we didn’t. Logistics, work and all the rest. Why does it hurt not having gone? Well, Marlon missed Jamaica Test with what was reported as a bout of conjunctivitis. Or so we were told. But I found out later, via the team doctor (one of our callers on radio that week) it was due to how written off he was... after his party. Sigh!
It is raining harder at the SCG now. On SEN, they say the radar might clear in an hour or so, but I doubt it. To kill five minutes, I had a pop at this yesterday and, contrary to what Tom suggested, nailed 9/12 rather than running the table. Have a go. Don’t cheat.
While there is a break at the SCG, which cricket lovers can name as many of these bowling greats as possible? I got 9/12. Money is on @collinsadam for perfect score. pic.twitter.com/RvviEOi9NP
— Tom Morris (@tommorris32) January 6, 2019
“Great by the whole OBO team the last few days.” I probably didn’t need to include that first line from Scott Jacobs, but here we are. “My first email was related to an obsession with Team America just after finishing high school. Myself and a friend or two had seen the movie and then went away rock climbing for nearly a month. That month was filled by constant and unending repetition of calling out quotes from the movie to each other, echoing around the rock faces and gullies of Mt Arapiles in the Wimmera. If any of your readers were there, they may have heard a teenager calling from the top of a cliff ‘Get out of the alley you f*@!ing bum!’ ringing around the gumtrees.”
Not quite Garden State, but you’ve got me hooked. Please continue.
“Shortly after getting home, I made my first email: getoutofthealley@etc. (I decided that I should keep the swears out of the email, given I would be using it for job applications - without really connecting that I wouldn’t want that email on job applications as a grown man). We also then went to the movies to see Team America again - and realised we’d been misquoting it the whole time as the actual line was ‘Get out of the street you...’. Ah well. It’s the thought that counts.”
What a twist! Your first email is a Hold Me Closer, Tony Danza. Thanks or sharing.
Meanwhile... Advance Australia Fair.
how broadcasters attack the rain delay. pic.twitter.com/EWXHTUiREl
— Sam Perry (@sjjperry) January 7, 2019
Speaking of the OBOing the rain. Whenever this happens, I think of the late and wonderful Dan Lucas. The first time that I went into Guardian HQ to OBO the cricket, instead of doing it at the ground, he was on deck with me and we had a lovely old time.
One of his little tricks was to go through all of the TV stations available on the internal directory and OBO about a minute of each when the rain came. On this occasion, it included soaps, panel shows, snooker, advertorials, parliament - the works. There was nothing that man could not find humour in. We sure do miss him in these parts.
Updated
No news is bad news
Hello world. I’m afraid the status update from the press box at the SCG is much as it was: mizzle... persistent mizzle. Plenty of people are on the ground looking around and none of them have umbrellas, but while this persists, the status quo will prevail.
Thanks to Geoffers for a predictably entertaining rain OBO. That’s the third of those he has steered over the last two Tests, and as he says himself, it’s where he does his finest work. Stick with me over the next couple of hours and we’ll make our own fun, yeah?
To begin, the formalities. We can email and we and tweet. I will give you my phone number if you want. My first email address related to the fact that I ran an Anna Kournikova fan site when I was a mid-teen. Have that too, if you ask nicely.
In fact, why don’t we start there? This is always good at parties (read, nightclub balconies). What was your first email address? If you from the Gen Y side of the divide, I’m tipping it was an absolute shocker. Did it have a cricket bent? Many of my passwords still include “139” as a consequence of Mark Waugh’s debut. Reveal all to me.
It's lunch time
The covers are still on. It doesn’t look like it’s raining, but this rain is so fine that who even knows any more. But I have a lovely session with you all – so many interesting emails, so many discussion points, and everyone has been polite and curious and engaged. What a delight.
That’s it for me this series, but hopefully you’ll join us again when Australia play Sri Lanka in the upcoming Tests, plus a couple of India ODIs. It’s always more fun when you lot get involved.
Adam Collins will be in next, and we’ll be writing and podcasting after the Test as well, as always.
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this excellently random missive from Lee Henderson.
“Up until 1910 the laws of cricket said that a ball had to go right out of the ground to count for six. Hits over the fence counted five [in some countries / eras - ed.] So you have an innings from Trumper in grade cricket playing for Paddington at Redfern oval. He scores 335 in 165 minutes without a six... but he did hit 22 fives and 39 fours in adding 517 for the first wicket with teammate Dan Gee. Paddington’s innings began at 2.25pm and ended before 6pm and it would have ended sooner but for interruptions while players and spectators searched for the six balls lost during the innings. They scored 618.
“The famous Yabba described it thus: ‘In one [six-ball] over, Trumper and Gee got three fives each. It was a case of one hit and one walk down the wicket. The uninitiated would have thought they were walking a single. If they had sixes in those days Trumper would have retained the strike and heaven knows what he would have scored. Nine fieldsmen on the boundary including slip with just bowler and keeper close to the wicket.’
“Uncovered wickets of course, and in a later innings for Paddo, Trumper whacked 189 not out with 15 fives and 22 fours. In successive scoring strokes he made 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1, 4, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, and later 4, 4, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5.
“Could you pass this onto to our batsmen as inspiration. 2.15pm till just before 6, we could still romp this in!”
Updated
A couple of emails in on a related theme. From Nick Bron. “So much focus has been on the missing Australian batters, but not much has been said (correct me if I’m wrong) about the fact that Australia’s bowling attack, much vaunted in the lead up as the best in the world, have been unable to bowl India out for three innings in a row.”
And from Nick Banks, headed “Oscillating not so wildly.”
“Been thinking some more about the apparent lack of reverse swing found by the big Aussie quicks in this series. Adopting a Columbo-style stance and voice, here goes.
“How is it that Australia’s supposedly ‘best bowling attack in the world’ has been so blunt and lifeless while India’s has found prodigious swing in each test? Could it be anything to do with South Africa? Has there been any data analysis done on how much reverse these bowlers found pre and post SA? Or is this all far too unseemly to even suggest? (I still don’t buy that a professional fast bowler wouldn’t be able to tell that something had been done to the ball).
“It seems the share of criticism has been unfairly weighted to the batsmen. Yes they’ve been woeful, but so were England’s in good measure back in the English summer even while dismantling this supposedly world-beating Indian team. Principally that was because of some quality bowling in friendly conditions. Could a similar bowling display by Aus this series have produced a similar result?”
A bit to unpack here. The best in the world thing is deeply parochial. South Africa - Steyn, Rabada, Philander. England - Broad, Anderson, Woakes, Curran, Stokes. India in this series, as they’ve showed. Even the Windies now have Holder and Gabriel firing. Pakistan - Mo Abbas, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir. There are some pretty good attacks going around, and 2018 was the best bowling year in decades.
I would argue that it’s easier for a bowling attack to dominate in English conditions than on fairly flat Australian decks, especially like those in Sydney and Melbourne. In Adelaide, Australia’s bowlers did the job and the batsmen failed them. In Perth, the bowlers did the job and Australia won. And on the lifeless pitches, they’ve struggled. You could put that down to exhaustion or lack of quality depending on your perspective.
As for reverse swing though, I’ve commissioned some data from CricViz (they’re sitting two seats to my left) and they say that India’s bowlers after the 40th over have not swung the ball much more than Australia’s. Very marginal. India have swung the new ball a bit more. That could have various facets too. Swing doesn’t mean much if it’s swinging a metre down leg side. And swing might not get good batsmen out, while it might get struggling batsmen out.
Jay Rose is taking an analytical approach. “Are there any stats on post-GOAT teams and relative performance? Do national teams reliably go into a period of decline after X years of domination, with a higher than average loss/win? Or do they go from a high win rate to an average win rate and the rest is myth?
“I’m not sure it’d even be possible. Where do you draw the post-GOAT line? 50 per cent of the long-term players in a team have retired? In my cricket-watching time, I’ve seen the West Indies and Australia peak and fall demonstrably, but two is hardly a reliable N.”
I think you’d track it with a combination of win-loss, batting averages, bowling averages, strike rates, etc, over a period of time. Then contrast those with subsequent eras. Like it’s notable that Australian in 2018 had the worst team-wide batting average per wicket since 1978.
Now this is remarkable, from Jonny Sultoon. “Overlooked stat in all the Bumrah love-in. He’s slowly moving to the top of this list – a genuine chance of sitting pretty among other giants of the game.”
The list, folks, is for the worst batting average of all time. Currently Jasprit is leading all comers with a mark of 1.55. But he’s only played 15 innings, so he needs 20 to get to the cut-off for most batting statistics.
Pommie Mbangwa with 2.00 and Jack Saunders with 2.29 lead the People’s Champion Chris Martin with 2.36 from 104 knocks.
I was doing some research on what percentage of Shaun Marsh’s dismissals were in single figures, and I discovered that Martin’s career rate was 100%. He made double figures once, for 12 not out, from memory with at least two edges through the cordon. Impressive that he actually got as high as 2.36 to be honest. The many innings of 1 not out probably helped, as his batting partner panicked and found deep midwicket.
“The fact is Australians are no longer the outdoor, athletic bunch of people they were. Property prices have resulted in units or small backyards, kids don’t play as much, sticking to video games and phones. The quality of Australian athletes will only continue to diminish.”
Email from Darius Rana. It’s a popular contention, of the sort you often hear being treated as self-evident. Like the idea that T20 cricket has ruined Test batsmen. It’s easy to assert but isn’t necessarily supported empirically. Like I’m not sure how athletic people were when they were malnourished during the Depression, or on rations during WWII.
The fact other nations have caught up to Australia in sports funding, where previously we were an outlier in that regard, is another influence to be considered.
“I completely agree with Nicholas Booth,” writes Mark Pickering. “In an age where aggressive bullies are being shamed in all aspects of life, for the past 10 years Aussie cricket has looked like an anachronism and a sport that is going to lose out in recruiting vs other sports. Moving from England to WA and playing club cricket in the 90s I was shocked at the overly aggressive sledging and bullying that went on in a relatively friendly match and I’m no shrinking violet. Probably why I’m now playing cricket in New Zealand!”
The game here certainly has been out of step as other aspects of life clamp down on bullying. Which isn’t to say it’s not still rife, but there’s movement in the right direction. Certain heads of state aside.
Here’s Robert Wilson. “Though there’s not a whisper of Test cricket about him, Samuel Beckett has got to get a shout as an interesting cricketer. A jug-eared geek when young, movie-star handsome when old, the bold Samuel managed to parlay once waiting a vexingly long time at a bus-stop in the Vaucluse and a vocabulary consisting of the words not, never, nowhere and nothing into an actual Nobel Prize. The first class average of 8.75 and zero zilch of his zip wickets explains, I think, quite a lot. No wonder he felt a touch glum.”
If you think this is whimsy, Slammin’ Sam Beckett did in fact play two first-class games for Dublin University. If he’d ever made a good score he could have been Dublin his average as well. And no, he never did take a wicket. Those 138 lonely deliveries sent down for nothing.
I can’t even tell if it’s raining any more. The covers are still down. I’m enjoying this non-session, though, with all your correspondence.
Speaking of speaking to you all: if you’re an OBO reader in Melbourne, Adam Collins and I are doing a live version of our cricket podcast The Final Word next week. Thursday Jan 17th at the Commercial Club pub in Fitzroy.
Here’s Olly. “Although I imagine the average age of us OBOers is probably above 40, such is the immediacy of modern times with access to online services and instant knowledge gratification I think we only remember the good times. In the history of Test cricket all countries have had their ups and downs and the beauty of it is, is that they don’t coincide. So right now India are brilliant and the Aussies are struggling. Roll on ten years and the picture may well be different. Or, as Plato put it better than me when he and his fellow philosophers were constructing the cradle of civilisation that was Ancient Greece: ‘Some days you’re the statue, and some days you’re the pigeon.’”
Or as I similarly wrote in a poem not quite so long ago, “Some days you’re bowling, and some days you’re batting / and some days you’re Warnie, and some days you’re Gatting.”
Lots of philosophy coming in about the state of Australian cricket, which is very nice to see. “Late 88, I recall coming home from school and being horrified at the performance of the Australian team that summer vs the Windies,” writes Daniel Guidone. “At the time, I wasn’t across what the problem was. I’ve looked at the scorecards, and like this series, the selectors seemed unsure of their best team, and were searching for answers in a home series against the greatest team of the time. Back then, the bowling attack in particular seemed unsettled. I was too young to understand if there was the same head-shaking about a selection policy that saw Tony Dodemaide and Chris Matthews picked for the first test, but I’m sure some questions were asked.
“So maybe these things just go around in cycles? After that sad summer 30 years ago, Australia went to England and was able to find a winning identity, and a winning team to build on. On that tour, the uncertainty disappeared as bowlers like Hughes and batsmen like Taylor finally developed into world-class players. I don’t know if history will repeat itself this year specifically, but Paine is doing his part in developing a team identity, and I’m sure soon one of the young batsmen will find their feet and things will turn around.”
Ray Murphy emails in. “While the Keith Miller Messerschmitt quote is one that is well known to cricket nuffies, so doesn’t qualify as obscure, still shows what an extraordinary bloke he was – not to mention being extraordinarily socially dapper. Cricket’s just a game, an absolutely beautiful and life enhancing one to play and follow, but just a game after all. Should be remembered when the Chicken Littles lament the state of the Australian game, players and/or skills when we aren’t bullying and dominating the opposition. Sometimes you just play and get beaten by a better team. Well done to India for superb batting and bowling this summer, and well done to Tim Paine’s team for playing the beautiful game of cricket.”
@GeoffLemonSport Re: Hedley Verity ... playing for Yorkshire against Oxford University in 1939, he bowled future Australian historian Manning Clark. (Reference: Cricket: the game of life, by Scyld Berry.)
— Paul Cooke (@paulccooke54) January 7, 2019
“Can’t say I agree with Shane George’s thesis - kids always want to emulate successful teams. The All Blacks never seem to run out of fresh young talent,” emails Bob Biddulph.
“As for intriguing former cricketers, I always thought Bill Johnston was a man who never received the plaudits he deserved: grew up on a struggling dairy farm (you may guess my occupation as similar and you may be right), became an Invincible, bowling left-arm fast behind Lindwall and Miller, then would revert to left-arm tweak when the ball was old. Averaged 100 with the bat on an Ashes tour thanks to not outs, and won a Test against the West Indies with an improbable last wicket stand of 30-odd. Would be a handy addition to the current side.”
“Can I nominate Jack Iverson as a truly remarkable cricketer, and subject of the brilliant book Mystery Spinner, by the peerless Gideon Haigh,” writes Brian Withington. “The book was recommended to me by one of the OBO brotherhood (Rob Smyth or Adam Collins I think) and it’s a masterly tale of an enigmatic riddle of a man who emerged from obscurity in his early 30s to rapidly achieve national acclaim via a Melbourne club 3rd team, and then at the peak of his amazing powers retired from international cricket and soon faded from view. Apparently Iverson developed his baffling repertoire of leg breaks, googlies and top spinners practicing with a table tennis ball in Papua New Guinea during WW2. Great read.”
Table tennis. Responsible for so many twists on the tortured roads of fortune.
“The world of cricket needs a bloodthirsty, arrogant, talented, brutal Oz team,” writes Fantie from London. “Spanking that team is much better than this one which seems more like a squeaky clean accountant. We need a feral thug on speed.”
Yes, but then we have to put up with them over here all the rest of the time when they’re not playing your lot. Rather not, thanks.
Covers update: still on. The forecast is for “light drizzle at times.” So far those times have not been a-changing. Also the Bureau has recorded 0.0 millimetres of rain today, which is another occurrence supporting the theory of the last couple of years that we’re all in the Matrix and it’s glitching.
@GeoffLemonSport I’ll agree with Shane George about the result but not the cause. I think a highly successful team lulls administration into thinking their structures are perfect, when often that success is the result of highly skilled individuals rather than the system.
— Atom Ant (@AtomAnt77) January 7, 2019
Jack Faine has a Fascination Vote: “Whilst he is not in the same heroic echelon as the war heroes, Ric Charlesworth AO is a remarkable cricketer. He opened the batting for WA for five or six years, played hockey in five Olympics captaining twice, coached the men’s and women’s hockey teams to world dominance. A genuine giant. I believe he also had ten years or so as a member of WA Parliament. Not quite sure how he found the time for any of it. Oh yes, Wikipedia has just reminded me that he also completed a medical degree at UWA. Ho hum.”
Nicholas Booth has the first response to Shane. “It could that parents steered their kids towards other sports due to the struggles of the likes of Hayden, Langer, MacGill etc, but I think it’s more likely that the perception of the team as boorish bad winners did way more damage.”
Imagine that.
I’ve condensed a fairly lengthy Twitter thesis posed to me by Shane George. Not necessarily one I agree with but an interesting contention that I haven’t heard anyone argue before. Go on?
“My contention is that the current uncompetitive Australia team is directly attributable to the excellence of their forebears for 20 years. The children of that era will have watched players like Stuart Law, Blewett, Love, Lehmann sit out. Langer and Hayden had a long time out and were forced to change styles, Martyn had to concede he was never going to be Mark Waugh. Gillespie & MacGill would have been all-time greats in other teams. The kids will have seen the struggles of these excellent players to squeeze into 11 spots and determined that there were more rewarding athletic pursuits. Awesome teams are an active discouragement to children.”
Unique. Thoughts, anyone?
“Hello,” writes John Larmett. “After observing all summer, and having time spent in the UK, I hope Australia stick to their new policies and don’t revert to earlier ways. A brand new world awaits. It always was going to be a bit painful, but this country has got a massive part to play in Test cricket worldwide. Just be patient.”
Updated
It’s 10:50am local time. The main covers are still down. There’s still very light misting precipitation floating around like Bonnie Tyler’s dress.
John Goldstein has nominated Hedley Verity as his fascinating cricketer. Aside from taking a million first-class wickets and getting Bradman out in Tests more often than anyone, and being Jardine’s right-hand man during Bodyline, Verity then joined up during WWII, got posted to India and the Middle East, then got hit by shrapnel and captured by the Germans during the invasion of Sicily. He died in a hospital in Italy in 1943.
Tibby Cotter is the next nomination, via Mark McGrath. “Slinging fast bowler from early last century. Took 89 test wickets at 28.64. Was the premier fast bowler of his time in Australia taking 442 first class wickets at 24.27. Participated in what was effectively a players’ strike against the Australian Cricket Board of Control in 1912 and never played for Australia again. Joined the AIF in 1915 at the age of 31. Killed in the light horse charge at Bersheeba in 1917.”
Industrial action? Against a recalcitrant board? Thank goodness those days of mismanagement are a century behind us.
“In answer to Andrew Benton’s question about extraordinary cricketers, may I offer up CB Fry,” writes Olly. “He played 26 Tests for England, played for Southampton in an FA Cup Final, won Blues for athletics at Oxford and turned down the chance of becoming the King of Albania. But he’s probably best remembered for his party trick of jumping backwards, from a standing position, onto a mantelpiece. Keep up the good work.”
I guess that’s one way to do the dusting.
Nick Jones has a novel solution for Australia. “Was thinking intra game substitutable squad members (including staff) might be a great idea. Out go Usman and Marsh. G Hick to open up followed by Langer at No3 today.” I reckon they’ll rely on the rain in the first instance. Which is still drizzling.
Could have been talking about a drawn series today with a bit more application from the top seven in Melbourne. #AusvInd
— Ethan (@ethan_meldrum) January 6, 2019
Gareth Frith starts out as a global citizen and ends up as a partisan, a striking transition.
“We’re down to the final day of the final test of a thoroughly absorbing series, one of those you’re a bit sad to see the back of. It’s played havoc with my sleeping pattern but it’s been worth it. For a neutral with no dog in the fight, it’s been gripping viewing, and also shows how fortunate and/or skilful England were in key moments last year.
“It’s been a pleasure reading you and the Guardian OBO team, still the best cricket section on the whole bloody mastiff interweb. Some words on how Joe Burns and Glenn Maxwell may as well just concentrate on their Red Rose contracts and Cricket Australia would be better off looking elsewhere in the post mortem would be most appreciated.”
Thanks from me and all the others. There wouldn’t be much of an OBO without the readers. There has to be something pleasant and friendly in the wilds of the internet, doesn’t there? I only wish I could be describing some cricket for you, rather than describing weather.
God bless Andrew Benton. “Have any Test cricketers been kidnapped and held to ransom? Saved a sinking ship, stopped a runaway train, or rescued a drowning maiden? Or do they lead and have they led rather pedestrian lives in this regard? There must be some amazing facts out there. You wouldn’t believe it! Oh yes I would! And I do say it’ll be a draw, I do. I still do.”
I’m reading that paragraph in a kind of breathless Vivian Leigh voice, I don’t know about you. Andrew did indeed predict the draw on the first day and I told him he was a fool, a damned fool. But from memory I did add the caveat that only the weather could create one. And here we are, perhaps (cue poor mental arithmetic) 68 overs lost and counting.
The big covers are coming down now. If anyone can answer Andrew’s questions about exceptional lives, do so. There were plenty of cricketers who served in the World Wars and returned from daring exploits, it must be said. Any other great stories? Send them in.
Tell you what, I don’t know why they even bother playing cricket in Australia, rah rah rah. The West Indies Test here a couple of years ago could better have been called the Wet Sydneys Test – the middle three days were washed out. God knows how we filled hours of airtime and metres of column space in that day and age. The rain is light but persistent. The big covers aren’t down, just the pitch cover.
Play will – again – be delayed. We will not start at 10am local time. Because there’s drizzle and seven minutes to go. Arooooooo.
Ed Cowan on the radio is firing a few good shots at the pitch. He’s saying don’t let the curators get away with having prepared a road, just because Australia’s poor batting means the result is possible, and just because rain will be a factor if there’s a draw.
Brad Haddin is speaking with the ABC about the light policy yesterday, too. “I’m with you, and I think I’m with the crowd as well. From a cricket spectator point of view, I don’t think it was dangerous for the players.”
Maybe if we swapped our cricket first XI with our football first XI? Would that be any better?#AUSvJOR #AUSvsIND
— Steven Wilson (@swilsonsbs) January 6, 2019
Fair suggestion. You’d get a lot more run-outs from balls kicked onto the stumps.
I regret to inform you that there is definitely a bit of drizzle around the northern inner suburbs, my sources say. Brad Stafford is also spotting enemy action from the crow’s nest. “Hi Geoff, really odd that the lights aren’t on yet – supposed to start in 25 minutes (although from my 43rd storey CBD window it looks very much like it did yesterday).
“Speaking of which, I was there yesterday, and it seemed pretty poor form from the umpires to not get players out there earlier in the day. There’s no way players would go off in that level of intermittent drizzle, so why not start play in it?”
I largely tend to agree. Light and rain are the two things that cruel cricket the most as a sport (aside from match-fixing and sandpaper stories and all the rest). To a degree, waiting around at a cricket ground for play to start is just part of the deal. But if we dig a bit deeper, should it be? Not to say they should play in thunderstorms, but surely we could be a bit more dynamic and trade a few millimetres of principle to get more action on the field?
As always, tweet me your thoughts at @GeoffLemonSport, or email me at geoff.lemon@theguardian.com.
Preamble
Good morrow. Today, the cricket equation is simple. Australia must bat a full innings for a full day to avoid defeat. India must take 10 wickets to win a match. The sky is cloudy but no rain is falling. And that is that. Easier said than done, in a season where Australia has been incapable of batting long periods of time. And on a final day pitch which is holding up well but still has a few signs of wear and some bounce keeping low.
Of course, this result won’t affect the series result, because India already lead 1-2. So win or draw today, they’ll still win the series.
The only way Australia could win this match and level the series would be to pile on perhaps 400 runs in two sessions, then pop India back in and rissole them within 30 overs. Theoretically possible, if time travellers brought together one of those Greatest XIs of All Time, but let’s call it improbable for now.
Australia followed on yesterday, they’re no wicket for 6 runs today, and they’ll start in about 45 minutes’ time.
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