World record with an asterisk
Three wickets in five balls to win a test match, with the clock ticking and the sun setting.
A world record equalled.
The stuff dreams are made of.
Has victory ever felt so sour?
Think Australia at $1.45 to win at the WACA is good value? Bet now with Lasseters.
This fan finds it difficult to get excited when so many incidents conspired against one side. We are a nation that supposedly thrives on fair play. Remember when Fabio Grosso pretended to dive in Kaiserslauten? The outrage that emanated from the masses was ferocious.
To salivate in this SCG injustice would be the height of hypocrisy.
India did not deserve to lose. Fact. If any one of the minimum half-dozen wrong calls went their way, odds were the Indians would have held out for those final eight minutes. Eight minutes. C’mon.
Just imagine if the decisions were split down the middle.
It is difficult to imagine such a cluster of wrong calls in a single test, let alone all of them - bar one - cruelling one side.
That the worst reaction to a dud decision came from Ricky Ponting is an apt irony.
What is evident from Sydney is technology needs to be incorporated. Quickly. As was made painfully obvious, the ability of umpires to make correct decisions will not improve through time. Technology will. Things like Snicko, the heat detector and super-slo mo barely existed a decade ago, so who knows what lies ahead. That information must be made available to the decision makers.
(Notice Hawk-Eye wasn’t in that list? The people that run Hawk-Eye claim its technology derives from the department of defence. After seeing Kumble’s straightener to Symonds completely misread by the computer makes it obvious what they aren’t telling you: It’s the same technology used in Collins Class submarines.)
The ‘captain’s challenge’ would help as well. Perhaps in the same vain as tennis – two incorrect challenges - per innings. Therefore if a bad call is missed, blame doesn’t wholly have to rest on the umpires.
The umpires. Oh, dear.
Mark Benson’s shotgun firing of RP Singh late on day five brought back visions of the Madras tied test, when Maninder Singh was instantly given out by Vikram Raju on the penultimate ball, even though Maninder appeared to get an inside edge. Clarke’s appeal might have actually been correct, something to be savoured, but you can’t help but remember Raju’s supposed reaction to the 1986 firing: “I’m glad to be part of history”, when thinking of Benson.
Poor Mark Benson. An Englishman that had the smarts to cover his mouth – Mission Impossible style - during the racial allegation conversation with Harbhajan, Ponting and Symonds, yet he couldn’t complete the simplest of tasks, like detecting from 22 yards what hit the bat and what didn’t.
That the abominable Steve Bucknor is still on the international scene almost makes one ready to forgive Steve Randell.
Or Billy Bowden.
Okay, so the umpires were awful. Does that excuse some the behaviour of the Aussies?
Michael Clarke is the hero, right? Won’t be in India. And not for the three wickets in that final over. Standing his ground when a straight forward catch at slip was taken was cringe-worthy. A more powerful image was his accusation that Sachin Tendulkar was time wasting, when the little master had something in his eye. Michael, Sachin is beyond your petty gamesmanship.
Scenes of Adam Gilchrist, in his private world of ecstasy moments after victory, pumping his fists to his team, the crowd, the light towers and anything else within the precinct will endure. A born-again walker, the image of his vociferous, if not dishonest and ultimately successful appeal against Rahul Dravid on the final day will last longer. Gilchrist had a poor test, and it had nothing to do with the glut of dropped catches and lack of runs.
Ponting used a post-match interview on ABC Radio to harangue Tony Greig. A petulant spray to a former test captain that simply sounded childish. Punter may have the win and a new place in history, but he did not have his finest hour. His batting was weak, his captaincy only getting a pass mark because of the Clarke miracle.
The favouring of Mitchell Johnson over Stuart Clark in both innings was almost stubborn. Almost as if Ponting wanted to prove a point, refusing to budge until the Queenslander did something. Anything. Johnson simply doesn’t ask enough questions.
It was also clear that Brad Hogg was not the answer.
Ponting gave an insight to his reservations in Melbourne, when he opted for Symonds’ offies well before employing the chinaman. Yet with the SCG test on the line, the skipper persisted with Hogg’s impotent leggies, despite his obvious lack of ability to run through a team. The West Australian may well be the third best spinner in the team. His time in whites is surely close to an end.
In the United States, the most revered mark in sport is the Major League Baseball home run record. When the unpopular Roger Maris overtook the beloved Babe Ruth in 1961, media outlets demanded an asterisk be placed on his mark of 61, on the basis that Maris had eight extra games to acheive the feat.
The Australian cricket team might be sitting on a world record, but those who saw this test will know it’s 16, with an asterisk.
Has a nice ring to it.
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Seconded! Best summation of the Australians lack of skill gracefully, tactically, and clinically
They were extremely lucky not to lose this test, let alone win it, let alone draw it! But 10-12 controversial umpiring decisions can do that for you to the tune of about 300 Australian runs and half a dozen cheap Indian wickets
Refreshing to read a different take on the Sydney test. Had enough of biased opinions in both the Australian and Indian media over the last 24 hours. No doubt that Ponting’s men deserved their victory, just for their hunger to win that test. But I’ve seen a boxer like Floyd Mayweather being more gracious in victory, than Ponting in this supposed gentleman’s game. The fact that Michael Clarke is touted as his successor sure speaks for the future of sportsmanship in Australian cricket. Or perhaps, this is the new brand of cricket that I am supposed to digest if I want to watch the game in future, the game where winning is not everything, winning is the only thing. Congrats to the team for their victory (an asterisk will always remain)
Great article! Aussies are quickly losing support in their own country. M. Clarke is a disgrace, and I was as shocked as you when he stood his ground when smashing it to first slip. How the umpire can accept his and Ponting’s word for a dubious catch - what a joke of a match..
Well I don’t agree. Yes terrible umpiring occurred. And there were players who stood their ground or called appeals when perhaps they shouldn’t have - on BOTH sides. It seems to me that’s always been how cricket is played and in such a highly charged match as this it’s not suprising that Australia may have over-stepped the mark towards the end. But that’s all it is. A slight over-step that merely needs to be commented and reflected on. It doesn’t deserve the ugly vitriolic anti-Australia sentiment that has spilled out over the last couple of days. Aussie-bashing seems fashionable at the moment, despite the more serious and legitimate issues that have come out of this fascinating match. I’ve never been one to follow the herd though. I wouldn’t be upset if, in the interests of good will and the tour, Australia agreed to deem the SGC match void and the rest of the series moved on at 1-Nil. Something needs to shift in order to break the power struggle between the ICC and the BCCI and that would be a small price for Australia to pay. But I do not think Australia’s talented team deserve the treatment they are currently receiving.
Excellent Article.
I think it would be a bigger insult to the tour for the SCG test to be annulled. So I do not agree with Jacki’s comment. There has been some great cricket from either sides. The result could have been different if not for those bad decisions. But it would not do justice for the baggy greens, since they actually got so many Indian wickets on the 5th day. The score should stay 2-0. The change needs to be in the way the Australians conduct themselves on the field, and some thought about the game of cricket, than records.