Clarke Brilliant With Bat & Leadership

Glen McGrath is tickled pink

As any suburban kid knows, when batting on a road you have to becareful of the cars but for Michaels Clarke and Hussey, no such danger existed.After batting for an additional three hours today, the Australian captain declared at the halfway point of the match with a lead of 468 and the second half of the match left to bowl the opposition out.

When Clarke declared, he and Hussey had added 334 unbeaten for the 5th wicket and to most school boys, that figure might well have beenfamiliar. Not familiar enough to bat on for six more runs and own the record for the highest innings score by an Australian captain or to press on intothe rarefied air and chase down Matt Hayden or Brian Lara. In fact,records never have featured all that strongly in Clarke's appreciation of thegame and his comments last night and again after play today, were not some attemptat grand self-effacement in order to woo back the public. They were genuineClarke. His reaction to scoring 300 isn't sorted out yet but in the meantime heis "stoked". His main concern was that so many scores above 300 havefeatured in draws and he wants to leave Sydney 2-0 up over an ageing but stillquality opposition.

Clarke reaches 300

It was a steady start this morning, with the first hour only harvesting 37 runs from the cowered Indian attack and had it not been forHussey, it would have been much less. Clarke struggled until drinks, mistimingmostly and often hitting attempted big shots to the field. Hussey, bycomparison, opened up after twenty minutes with cover drives from Zaheer Khanwhich ended his morning spell of five overs. Despite 40 more overs being bowledby India today, Khan would not bowl again. The second half of the morning saw Australiaback to run a minute pace. So much is made in 50 and 20 over games of runsagainst balls that most forget that run a minute scores you 360 runs in a Testmatch day. Clark and Hussey added 64 in sixteen overs and by lunch Hussey hadhis century and Clarke had the highest score on the SCG, surpassing Englishman REFoster’s 287 made in December, 1903 and one of the oldest records remaining inAustralian cricket. Descendents of Foster can take some solace as one part ofhis record may never be beaten as his was his debut innings in Tests. At 270,Clarke passed Bradman as the highest individual score by an Australian captainat home.

If yesterday had been a day where the achievements rolled on onand on, the third day was a ditto.

In what was to be the last hour of the innings, after lunch, 76were added in just 12 overs as India slowed the game to walking pace and bowleddreadfully. Hussey took himself to 150 and Clarke to 329 before the pair headedfor the dressing rooms at the drinks break, appearing to catch MS Dhoni and hisplayers, the media and the spectators completely by surprise. Even Ian Healy hadn’tfound time to complain about something in the session before the Australiansgone.

Of all the statistics that such mammoth innings bring, the mostdestructive for the Indians are the scoring rate and the absolute lack ofpenetration. Australia scored at four an over for 163 overs. Four an over isfast in Test cricket but to hold that rate over that number of overs isstaggering. The Australian innings lasted 671 minutes, meaning that they scored a huge total at a run a minute. The last point – penetration – comes downto this: India had Australia 3-37 in the ninth over on Tuesday afternoon andthen Australia scored 1-622 in the next 154 overs.

India began at a clip, totally thanks to Gautum Gambhir, who somewould say is playing for his Test place in this second innings, although chosewhat you believe carefully as the Australian media has compelling record ofhyperbole in such matters. He certainly needed runs and was helped by somewayward bowling which allowed him to drive where previously it had restrictedhis options rather more severely. It was to be a symptom of the afternoon thatthe Australians lost their way, forgetting the basics of the McDermott plan andbowling lines that provided the batsmen with too much width and lengths whichmade choices much easier. If Gambhir has been suspect, it has been because hehas struggled to cope with the bounce of Australian pitches not the bouncer. Herepeatedly drove James Pattinson through the covers and threaded the needlepast two gullies and a deep third man for fours. Pattinson again lost hisbottle and stood mid pitch and starred when what he needed was a good hard lookat himself. He is a fine bowler but young yet. Siddle was also too full andwide early and then plied the bouncer with boring consequences.

Ben Hilfenhaus struck early with a dismissal that had two out ofthree elements being rather mundane. The ball was ordinary –short andmeaningless outside off stump – and Virender Sehwag's response to it was tiredand lazy. He played half forward and slashed slightly behind point. It was DaveWarner who provided the gloss, with a catch taken high and to his left as he leapt from point.

Rahul Dravid joined Gambhir and played second fiddle and by tea,India were also ticking along at a run a minute on a deck that was flat and easy.

After tea, Dravid broke clear of his shackles and the real Rahulsurfaced with consecutive fours from Hilfenhaus – one hooked past square legand the other square cut forward of point. A few overs later he was at itagain, with more consecutive fours from Hilfenhaus, this time a glorious backfoot cover drive and then an on drive off a full toss gimme.

The Swami Army were singing up a storm and the Australiansunderneath the Trunper Stand were giving it the “Oi, Oi, Oi” and before long,the rest of us had the spectacle of both camps waiting turns to chant to eachother. After play, the groups stood together in Driver Ave, singing songstogether about Tendulkar and joining in each other’s chants – the Australianbeing instructed in the Indian words. Cricket doesn’t have to be tribal to thedeath.

Clarke was busy changing the field, experimenting with reducing theslips to one and having two men short on the drive to Gambhir, looking for anysign that the pitch might hold up. With that field set, Pattinson angled theball back at Gambhir and the Australians all went skyward for an lbw –Pattinson pleading to umpire Erasmus, Dennis Lillee style. Replays indicated aninside edge.

Pattinson was replaced at the Paddington end by Hilfenhaus whorattled one through Dravid and once again the Wall came down.

Tendulkar - with the 4th day be his?

Tendulkar entered to another sustained standing ovation whichthundered around the ground but with the task for India being survival, he andGambhir waited for the Australians to come to them. After drinks at 4:30pm, 15overs were bowled in 75 minutes and India scored 15 runs. 8 consecutive maidenswere bowled, broken only when Pattinson bowled a no ball. In this, no blame canbe attached to the Indians but for the first time in the match, the Australianslet themselves down. With the Indians under pressure, they needed to make themplay and in most of those last 15 overs, there was rarely more than one a over thatbat was required to intervene. Hilfenhaus, Siddle and Pattinson bowled a foot outsideoff stump or wasted useless bouncers over their heads.

That will be corrected tomorrow.

For me, slow as it was, it was one last chance to watch Tendulkarbat. Some found it unbearable and left early ... go figure. Worst of all, I saw a fathers leaving with their young sons. Had I still been a public official withresponsibility for such things, I would have reported them for neglect.

The only close calls came near the end when Tendulkar again usedthe inside edge to brush past the leg stump in an unconventional way to scorefour. Hilfenhaus, forever the unlucky Australian bowler, did some more worktowards removing his hair by the handful. In the next over, Pattinson foundGambhir's edge but Healy dropped it between he and Clarke at first slip - one that heshould have gobbled.


The last session passed very pleasantly, chatting with a new friend Ranjan Kumar, who gave me an insight into the Indian players and the pressure they are placed under at home.

Two bug bears to complain about from these three days and thethree days I spent in Brisbane, is the amount of unplanned stoppages which arebeing allowed by the umpires. Batsmen change gloves every forty minutes andsometimes take another two drinks in between the scheduled drinks breaks and fieldingsides are tardy in fetching pads and helmets and drinks for bowlers. Its an areaof the game which needs tightening up. The other is the cost of tickets. Thesame standard and position of seats which cost $115 in Sydney, cost only $45 inBrisbane. The end result is that I may become a regular there instead. Almostcertainly the reason for the difference will be as complicated and as absurd asthe petrol price lies Australians are always told.

Still ... wouldn’t swap the last three days even if it had costtwice as much!