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No. 2, December 2011 Australia v India

A proper series to savour

Theres no escaping the long-distance lovehatred of the Ashes or the neighbourly viciousness that attends the occasional meetings between India and Pakistan but, over the last decade, Test matches between Australia and India have been as blistering as any. Until recently, their games could casually be billed as crickets on-field champions against its off-field leviathans, the glory versus the power. Now, the meeting of one team in transition a clich, but it works and the other in search of redemption after the events of the English summer feels headline-grabbing in a less red-top kind of way. Even Bollyline, as recent an eruption as January 2008, seems like a relic from a more furious past. And so the second edition of Wisden Extra, our new online magazine, previews that rare luxury in an age of groaning schedules and ear-splitting Twenty20s. It may be that the four-Test series inhabits the strange territory between the tantalising glimpse offered by the three-match rubber and the full monty of five. But since Australias two most recent encounters, against South Africa and New Zealand, were both two-game affairs which cried out for a decider, this series is a treat to savour. With a cursory apology to the inaugural Big Bash League, which missed our editorial cut after not especially fierce debate if weve made a mistake, dont be afraid to tell us we are happy to lavish the Tests with the attention they deserve. We hope youll agree that our writers and photographer have caught the mood. Take your pick. V. V. S. Laxman tells Dileep Premachandran, Wisden Indias new editor-in-chief, about his fondness for Australias bowling (and explains why one shot in particular from his life-changing 281 in Kolkata still demands liberal use of the rewind button more than a decade later). Gideon Haigh examines the curious relationship between the Australian public and the most important man in the country, Michael Clarke (the only Aussie ahead of him in the pecking order is a woman). Rahul Bhattacharya delves into the Indian psyche for signs of life in the aftermath of the England whitewash, while Alan Tyers and Beach dip a satirical toe into the choppy waters of chatroom badinage. Dan Brettig recalls five classic AustraliaIndia Tests no shortage there and there are two superb pieces of writing from the Wisden Cricketers Almanack archive by Greg Baum and Matthew Engel. In an issue containing Patrick Eagars personal choice of his favourite snaps of Australian cricketers, we also have details of our second annual WisdenMCC Photograph of the Year competition, in association with Park Cameras. And theres a chance to win a copy of our popular anthology, Wisden on India. All you have to do is predict the score of the AustraliaIndia Test series (our contributors have all had a crack) and for tiebreak purposes, well also need your tip for the seriess leading run-scorer, plus the number of runs. Its a mugs game, I know, but what the hell: Im going for 22. As ever, your views are very welcome: feedback@ wisden.com. Enjoy the magazine and the cricket. Lawrence Booth
p11 p15

Eagars Eye
Patrick Eagar, the doyen of cricket snappers, has been photographing cricket for almost 50 years. In that time hes taken more than 750,000 images and attended 324 Tests. These are a personal selection from the tens of thousands hes taken of Australian cricket.

Wisden Extra Australia v India

The Big Hit

If God were a middle-order batsman, most Australians reckon hed look something like V. V. S. Laxman. Indias Test No. 5 tells Dileep Premachandran why the baggy green has always provoked his most purple strokeplay

A very, very special relationship

The seeds for V. V. S. Laxmans epic 281 at Eden Gardens in March 2001 were sown seven years earlier, in front of a sparse crowd at the Vellyani Agricultural College Ground in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Playing for Indias Under-19s against their Australian counterparts, he stroked an unbeaten 151 in the first innings. After the big-hitting Andrew Symonds made an exuberant 163, Laxman was at it again, crafting 77 on a wearing pitch to set up a comfortable Indian win. All these years later, he hasnt forgotten the matches he believes were the making of him. They had a formidable side, including Brett Lee, Symonds, Matthew Nicholson and Mike Hussey, he says. I was the highest run-getter in that series [441 from three games]. Playing that quality of bowling helped me believe I could make a career at the highest level. Sport can be cruel too, and Rob Baker, who led the Australian side, was one of those who didnt make it: first a fractured cheekbone sustained in a collision with a club team-mate, then chronic fatigue syndrome
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defeated his efforts to establish himself in the Western Australia team. At one stage, Laxman too wondered whether he would last the distance. He had made his debut for India in November 1996, just before he turned 22, but his first 16 Tests produced an average of only 24. Vinod Kambli, Sachin Tendulkars schoolboy accomplice, had been dropped while averaging 54, and there were many who thought Laxman fortunate to go to Australia in 1999-2000. Even accounting for the recent 40 whitewash in England, that Australian misadventure was the most wretched tour in Indias modern cricket history. On the eve of their departure, Jaywant Lele, the board secretary, indiscreetly but prophetically told a reporter the team would lose 30. Laxman made 41 and nought in Adelaide, then five and one in Melbourne. India lost both games by a distance. By the time the team reached Sydney, morale was as low as it had ever been. Kapil Dev may have been the greatest all-round cricketer India has produced, but by

On the up: V. V. S. Laxman strokes his way towards a career-defining 281 against Australia at Kolkata in 2001.

Hamish Blair, Getty Images

no stretch of the imagination could he be called a coach. His brand of off-field leadership involved slogans like Enjoy, boys and Play for country and very little of the nous required to combat a team that Steve Waugh was moulding into ruthless world-beaters. It was a difficult series for us, says Laxman, who opened the innings in those days. A lot of us were playing in Australia for the first time and, though we were badly beaten, it was a great learning experience. Lee, his old Under-19 adversary, bowled like a zephyr in his debut series, and the line-up for the SCG also included Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Damien Fleming. No other Indian batsman made a half-century in a match India lost by an innings inside three days. Of Indias second-innings 261, Laxman made 167, an insouciant effort that spanned 198 balls and featured 27 hits to the fence; the next-best effort was Sourav Gangulys 25. From someone on the verge of losing his place Laxman had scored seven in the first innings it was quite a statement. Against that attack, it was a very satisfying innings, he says. As a young boy, I used to wake up early in the morning to watch cricket from Australia, when we had a telecast, and I loved to listen to Richie Benaud, Bill Lawry and Ian Chappell give insights about the game. To actually make runs there was something special. Despite that innings, the axe soon fell, and Laxman made it clear to the selectors he would no longer be used as a sacrifice at the top of the order. Telling them he was willing to bide his time until a middle-order spot opened up, he went back to domestic cricket and scored hundred after hundred. Then came Kolkata and the transformation of a career. He had failed in the opening Test in Mumbai, but after a defiant 59 from No. 6 in the first innings, John Wright then the coach decided it might be worth trying him at one down in the second. I remember the way Rahul Dravid and I gradually built that partnership, he says with a smile, more than a decade on from the innings that has come to symbolise Indian crickets golden age. Just how we kept on batting right through the fourth day, gradually wearing them down. The identity of the opposition made the innings even more memorable. You always want to prove yourself against the toughest opposition, he says. Most of the Australian teams Ive played against had some great players, and it was a challenge to take them on. It always brought the best out of me. As did further tours of Australia. In 11 Tests there, he averages 54. There have been four centuries, including a gorgeous 178 that put both Tendulkar and in his farewell game Steve Waugh in the shade. He hasnt done himself justice in England and has shone only intermittently in South Africa. But in Australia, Laxman bats with the ease of the home-grown natural.

Where other Indians have struggled to cope with the extra bounce, Laxman taller than most of them has thrived with his ability to drive off the back foot and pull in front of square. Ive always enjoyed pitches where the ball comes on to the bat, where theres pace and bounce, he says. Australian grounds also tend to have fast outfields where you get full value for your shots. His ability to raise his game against those in baggy green has made him as popular a tourist as Sachin Tendulkar. At the SCG, where he has hit three centuries, youre likely to hear more than the odd comparison with Victor Trumper, another tall and graceful batsman whose game was based on imagination rather than simple accumulation. But theres far more to Laxman than wristy shotmaking and a sense of style. In times of crisis, he has often been Indias go-to man. Nearly ten years after being responsible for Australias Eden heartbreak, he was at it again in Mohali, shepherding the tail and rescuing India from an apparently hopeless position with an unbeaten 73. He batted with a runner, having taken three pain-killing injections for a back problem that has often troubled him in recent times. India won the game by one wicket and the series 20, and Australia have now slid down the rankings. But theres not even a hint of complacency as Laxman looks ahead to what will be his final tour of the country. Their fighting spirit and the refusal to give up make them the toughest opponents, he says. Theyll not give you anything easily. Even at Under-19 level, it was that way. They were very aggressive and they were quick to identify your weaknesses. Given the issues with his back and the fact that miscued pulls have been his downfall several times this year, he can expect a fierce short-ball examination from Australias emerging pace pack. But even before he left for Australian shores, Laxman was in the St Johns Coaching Foundations nets, a stones throw from where his maternal uncle first taught him the game. There, they have pitches of every variety for their favourite ward. Hell also tap into the highlights reels for inspiration. Each of the centuries in Australia was an aesthetic delight, but only one the 148 in Adelaide in 2003-04, a match dominated by Dravids monumental 233 resulted in an Indian victory. Its a statistic hes especially eager to change. From time to time, he still looks at the old Kolkata tapes. One shot I get a thrill from watching even now was when I stepped out to Warne and played him through the covers after hed pitched one outside leg stump, he says. He was bowling round the wicket at my legs and the way I played it still sticks in my memory. Millions of others are unlikely to forget it either. Dileep Premachandran is editor-in-chief of Wisden India. Sticking my neck out, he is going for a 21 win for India.
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Australians are not quite sure what to make of their new captain, says Gideon Haigh. And the waters may get murkier

Learning to love Michael Clarke

Quiet news day? Slow afternoon at the radio station? Its become an Aussie staple. Set in motion a comment thread or open the talkback lines on the subject of Michael Clarke. Then sit back, and let the public do your work for you. The prejudices will run thick and fast. Hes flash, selfish, vain. Therell be mention of the metrosexual airs, of the silly advertisements, of his lingerie-model ex Lara Bingle, of his dressing-room contretemps with Simon Katich, who subsequently alleged that Clarke was responsible for his exile from the side. Were the Australian cricket team run along the lines of Big Brother or The X Factor, Clarke would not get beyond the end of the first week. Mention is rarely made of his on-field nous, or indeed any alternative candidates; its more just a collective exhalation, national pub talk, accumulated received wisdom. Its a little strange. Australians are great ones for telling you its what happens on the field that counts, that its the English who have hang-ups about proper deportment and correct breeding. Popular folklore has it that Shane Warne was unfairly penalised or should that be penilised? for indiscretions that had nothing to do with cricket. But Clarke is very seldom viewed in terms of cricket alone: the 12,000-plus international runs from the 300-plus caps, the continuous availability, the irreproachable disciplinary record. The irony is that Clarke emerged on the scene cut very much from the baggy green cloth. As he approached his storied Test hundred on debut in Bangalore seven years ago, he famously swapped his helmet for a cap, so as to plant a smacker on the badge when the time came. An emotional Darren Lehmann said he was prepared to forego his place in Australias starting XI in order that Clarke might live his dream. Blending perfectly into the afterglow of Waugh-time patriotism, Clarke was marked from the first for higher honours, and initially could barely err, winning back his place after a brief form lapse and returning an apparently better and hungrier player.
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So what went wrong? New South Wales, from which Clarke hails, has Australian crickets most selfconsciously old-school, blue-collar culture. Clarke is hardly of the purple, as they say, hailing from workingclass Liverpool, but nor does he hide his enjoyment of material and temporal pleasures. Australians favour face-value assessment, and the slick, shiny Clarke assuredly lacks the vernacular cred of a Ricky Ponting, let alone the charisma of a Waugh or a Warne. He struggles, too, with the perception that much of what he has he was handed. He served only a brief first-class apprenticeship before vaulting other nearly men into the Australian middle order, such as Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Martin Love and even Mark Cosgrove plus, of course, Katich, who was compelled to re-enter the batting line-up at the top. The accident-prone Bingle has been dismissed from her public role as the Australian teams Yoko Ono; Clarkes current squeeze is the improbably named Kyly Boldy. But he will need to be wary of the gossip pages, where no bouquet comes completely unbarbed. Interestingly, when Clarke was shopping a newspaper column around after his appointment as Pontings successor, he decided not to go uptown with The Australian, like his predecessor, but downtown with the Daily Telegraph, the aggressive, censorious tabloid which has written most scathingly of him. Perhaps he was simply heeding Machiavellis famous advice about keeping ones friends close and ones enemies closer. Despite his eager-to-please demeanour, he has professed himself capable of hard decisions, big calls. But Australian cricket not now being what it was, there is an incipient desire for scapegoats: the bloody selectors, the bloody coach, the bloody administrators, the bloody Indians, the flaming ICC. Being present after the fact, as it were, Clarke becomes suspect, like the bystander by the broken window of the looted jeweller. Clarke has trod carefully since taking office after the World Cup. The early reviews for his captaincy were mostly good. Australia succeeded in Bangladesh

A point to make? Michael Clarke sets his field during the Johannesburg Test in November.

Duif du Toit, Gallo Images/Getty Images

and Sri Lanka, and came back from demoralisation in Cape Town to redemption in Johannesburg. There were back-to-back Test hundreds in there for good measure at No. 5 after a trot at No. 4 that was lean to the point of emaciation. Only a seven-run defeat by New Zealand in Hobart has removed some of the gloss, and he joins an enhanced regime: newly appointed coach Mickey Arthur and full-time national selector John Inverarity. The question may shortly be asked whether he is not too powerful. In August, Cricket Australia published the Argus Review the deliberations of a panel of former Australian captains, chaired by a high-profile banker, meant to set Australias poor on-field record to rights. Among its recommendations was the incorporation into a new national selection body of Australias coach and captain. A coach, in this day and age, is not a selection novelty; a captain, in Australia, is. Donald Bradman was the last skipper to serve also as a full-time selector; it is ten years since Steve Waugh gave away the vestigial powers that captains and vice-captains enjoyed on tour.

The Argus Reviews argument was that such an arrangement enhanced accountability, as though the captain was insufficiently accountable as it was. Yet the risk is surely opposite. When Clarke walks towards the out-of-luck batsman in his team and asks after his state of mind, who is he? A team-mate, a friend, a captain or a selector? Thats a formula not for accountability, but for ambiguity and evasion. Clarke will get the blame for enough, without presenting an even bigger target. Lets say Ricky Ponting is punted. Who takes public responsibility? Lets say Phillip Hughes struggles to make headway this summer, or more chances are given to Steven Smith. How long before the talkback lines and comment threads pulse with assertions that they are only there because they are Clarkes mates? Clarke can claim all he likes that he is unafraid of unpopularity, but that is no reason to court it. Gideon Haigh writes about cricket for The Australian. He predicts a 11 draw.
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From the Archive

Wisden 2005

Australia and India reached the last Test of the 2003-04 series locked at 11, only for the denouement to be overshadowed by the retirement of one of Australias finest. Matthew Engel was there

The final wave of the red rag

Scorecard: click here

Fourth Test, at Sydney, January 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 2004. Drawn. Toss: India. In strict cricketing terms, this should be remembered for the way India batted Australia out of the game, ensuring a drawn series, maintaining their hold on the Border Gavaskar Trophy and consolidating their presumed new position as No. 1 contenders to Australias crown. But cricket was a secondary feature of this extraordinary occasion, a mere backdrop. The contest was compelling enough, but it was taken over hijacked almost for a farewell the like of which cricket, normally a diffident kind of sport, had never seen. Steve Waughs 168th and positively last Test (no one would dare attempt a comeback after this) turned into one long wallow, starting with adulatory wrap-around newspaper souvenir supplements and culminating in Waugh being chaired round the SCG by his teammates. John Williamsons nostalgic anthem True Blue competed with the roars of a record last-day crowd, many waving red rags, Waughs customary comfortobject. No one had ever left the cricketing stage like this; no one had dared. The show resulted from a benign (though presumably tacit) conspiracy between Cricket Australia, Waughs personal management, the broadcasters Channel Nine, and the Murdoch press, to whom Waugh was contracted. Most cricketers, especially captains, go when the selectors choose: Waugh himself was forced out of the one-day captaincy in disagreeable circumstances two years earlier. By announcing his retirement date from Test cricket in advance, he controlled the timing. The other parties were able to leap aboard for the ride, and everyone cashed in. The total crowd of 181,063 had been surpassed at Sydney only by the 1946-47 Ashes Test, which lasted six days. The Indians? They just dominated the Test match. The most important decision of the game was made by Ganguly, who called correctly and condemned
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Australia to the field on a belting wicket, in extreme heat, with a weakened attack and less than 72 hours after the previous Test. The crowd had come to watch Waugh, and could indeed watch him throughout the first two days: standing at mid-off, issuing occasional instructions and provided they didnt blink bowling a couple of overs. It was tough for Australia on the first day, which started with a blistering 72 from Sehwag and an outbreak of no-balls from Lee. But there were even more ominous features for Australia. They were set intently, behind the grille of his helmet, and they belonged to Tendulkar. Shrewd observers of the series sensed that he might impose himself in this Test, though no one would have guessed quite how. Tendulkar had thought through his problems to the point of cutting out one of his most distinguished strokes, abandoning the coverdrive and instead just waiting for the chance to hit to leg. He maintained this policy for ten hours 13 minutes and 436 deliveries, scoring an unbeaten 241, his highest first-class score and perhaps the highest ever made by a man still nowhere near his own top form. Twenty-eight of his 33 fours and 188 of his runs came on the leg side. His 32nd Test hundred matched Waugh; only Sunil Gavaskar, on 34, remained ahead. He was also the fourth man to reach 9,000 Test runs, two days ahead of Brian Lara in Cape Town. Tendulkar put on 353, an Indian fourth-wicket record, with Laxman, whose 178 was of a different order: a lovely innings, full of perfectly timed caresses. The crowd never gave the partnership the credit it deserved, partly because they were obsessed with Waugh, partly because the over-elaborate Sydney scoreboards failings meant only statisticians noted the 300 stand. When Laxman was out, it was 547 for four, which in a normal series would be deemed unassailable. But

Australia had scored 556 in Adelaide and lost, and Ganguly rightly decided to bat on and on, 39 minutes into the third day. This infuriated many Australians, including the TV commentators, who had been anticipating the declaration minute by minute the previous evening. It was yet another sign, however, that India were now playing cricket every bit as ruthlessly as Australia. When Ganguly finally gave over, at 705 for seven Indias highest Test total, and the second-highest conceded by Australia the response was predictably savage. The Australian openers put on 147 and the onceintrospective Langer played an innings so impertinently confident that he felt able to reach his hundred with a reverse sweep. At 214 for one, Australia might even have been sniffing first-innings lead. However, the real difference between the teams lay not in the batting, nor in the modest seam bowling, but in the fact that India had a spinner capable of maintaining control while Australia did not. MacGill had offered a four-ball almost every over; Kumble varied his pace while maintaining his line and was rewarded with eight for 141. The third-day crowd were mostly interested in Waugh, who scored a cameo 40, after which they streamed out. Waugh himself was still intent on business and refused to doff his helmet, sensing this was not his real farewell innings. Less noticed, Katich became the fourth centurion of the game next day with an innings of lithe grace and huge promise, thus restricting Indias lead to 231. Again, Ganguly was criticised by pundits for not enforcing the follow-on, though again he was right: avoiding any risk of defeat before thinking of victory. Dravid and Tendulkar extended the lead to 442 before Kumble set to work again, sharing the new ball on the fourth evening. Realistically, Australia never had much chance of chasing that. But this match had long since left reality behind. At 196 for four there was some danger of an Aussie defeat, but that presupposed a failure by Waugh. Not here, not today. He never quite got the century all Australia wanted though his 15 fours were all cheered as if he had and certainly never glimpsed victory. But he batted with the ease and grace of a man at the peak of his career, flicking the ball to the off-side boundary whenever the spinners dropped short until he got to 80 and was caught, trying to hit Kumble for six, at deep square leg. It shows that after 168 Tests you can still lose the plot under pressure, said Waugh. Katich was staunch again; Kumble finished with 12 for 279. Their achievements were lost amid the hubbub. Then, cricket being cricket, Waugh finally slipped away, not quite to oblivion, merely to New South Wales v Victoria at Newcastle. Man of the Match: S. R. Tendulkar. Attendance: 181,063. Man of the Series: R. Dravid.

Eagars Eye

Warney, eh? Id seen him bowling at Radlett earlier in 1993, and had a fair idea just how much he could turn the ball (I dont think England had been quite as good at doing their homework). So when Warne delivered his first ball in a Test in England, I was prepared. Well, sort of. Trouble was, Mark Taylor was right in my way at slip, and I couldnt see Mike Gatting at all. Luckily, though, Id placed another camera higher up and, when I heard the commotion, I pressed the remote. The light wasnt great and the photos a bit on the soft side, but at least I got it. The really lucky fellow was Steve Lindsell, whose image from the other end is one of the most famous in the game.

Wisden Extra Australia v India

ON COMPETITIONS COMPETITIONS COMPETITIONS COMPETITIONS COMPETITIONS COMPETITIONS COMPETITI

Guess the score

and win a copy of Wisden on India
First, a warning: enter our competition and you automatically forfeit the right to be wise after the event. If that doesnt put you off, then you could win one of three copies of Wisden on India, our beautifully presented anthology edited by Jonathan Rice. All you have to do is correctly predict the result of the four-Test series between Australia and India, starting at the MCG on Boxing Day. Our contributors have had a stab themselves, and you can laugh at their efforts below. But well also need an extra guess from you to sort out the inevitable tiebreak, so please include the name of the player you think will finish the series as the leading run-scorer and tell us how many runs you reckon hell make. Please email your predictions, marked Predictions Competition, to feedback@wisden.com, to arrive no later than Friday December 23. Best of luck! Wisden Extra contributors predictions:
Dileep Premachandran Gideon Haigh Rahul Bhattacharya Dan Brettig Alan Tyers Beach Benedict Bermange Patrick Eagar Lawrence Booth 21 to India 11 21 to Australia 21 to Australia 21 to Australia 22 21 to Australia 22 22

And while were on the business of competitions, dont forget that you can now enter the WisdenMCC Cricket Photograph of the Year, in association with Park Cameras. The rules are simple in essence the photograph must have been taken during 2011, and it must have some connection with the game of cricket and its free to enter. The prizes are generous too: there are 11 in all, with the value of the awards ranging from 200 to 1,000. And the best three photographs will be published in the colour section of Wisden 2012. For more details, go to www.lords.org/photooftheyear
Last years 1, 2, 3: Scott Barbour took 2010s winning image, of the England team congratulating Matt Prior; Gareth Copley came second with his sculptural image of South African fielders; while a cordon of close catchers grabbed third for Supriya Biswas.

Wisden Extra Australia v India

Wisden Supporters Tour to

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Join broadcasting legend Henry Blofeld for the most prestigious of cricket tours, including:
Wisden Welcome pack including a copy of Wisden 2011, the Wisden Guide to International Cricket 2012 and a Wisden polo shirt Breakfast daily at the fabulous Emirates Palace Welcome party on evening of arrival Q&A drinks reception Accommodation at one of the Worlds leading luxury hotels set in 85 hectares of landscaped garden with 1.5km of private beach 52 inch LCD, private balcony or terrace and butler service in each room The opportunity to participate in a cricket match on the hotels private ground (subject to
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Wisden Extra Australia v India

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The two sides have met in 21 Test series home and away stretching back to 1947-48. Benedict Bermange picks out the vital statistics of one of the sports most engrossing fixtures

And the luckiest batsman is...

Australia and India have met in 78 Tests. Australia have won 34 to Indias 20 with 23 draws and one tie in Madras (now Chennai) in 1986-87. But India are unbeaten in their last eight meetings, of which they have won five. The sides have contested nine series in Australia, of which India have drawn three and lost six. The most recent series there was four years ago, when Australia won 21. In fact, India have won only five of their 36 Tests in Australia, losing 22 and drawing nine. This is in contrast to matches in India, where they hold a 1512 advantage, with 14 draws and that tie. Two of Indias five wins in Australia have come at Melbourne in 1977-78, when Bob Simpson came out of retirement at the age of 41 to help a team ravaged by defections to World Series Cricket, and 1980-81. The others were at Sydney in 1977-78, Adelaide in 2003-04 (when, like England three years later, Australia lost after scoring more than 550), and Perth in 2007-08. Indias left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has taken 62 wickets in his first 14 Tests. No Australian slow leftarmer has taken more than the 79 claimed by Jack Saunders, who played in 14 Tests between 1902 and 1908. Test cricket is still played on ten of the 11 grounds to have hosted the format in the 19th century; the exception is Old Wanderers in Johannesburg. Of those grounds, Adelaide has the highest average runs per wicket:
Adelaide Trent Bridge The Oval Lords Old Trafford 35.80 32.22 31.95 31.52 30.94 Cape Town Sydney Melbourne Headingley Port Elizabeth 30.29 30.08 29.76 29.48 26.27

In his first three Tests all against West Indies Ravichandran Ashwin scored a century and took two five-wicket hauls, a feat matched only by New Zealands Bruce Taylor.

The first Test at Melbourne involving play on Boxing Day was in 1950, against England. The first Test to start Australia and India first met at Brisbane in 1947-48, when Lala Amarnaths side crumbled to 58 and 98 and there on Boxing Day was in 1968, against West Indies. This years will be the 17th consecutive Boxing Day an innings-and-226-run defeat. Ernie Toshack bowled only 19 deliveries in Indias first innings, but claimed five to be the first day of an MCG Test. The last 13 have all produced results, with Australia winning ten. for two the quickest five-for in Test history. Two Indians have suffered the ignominy of being dismissed for a king pair in Tests against Australia: Bhagwat Chandrasekhar at Melbourne in 1977-78, and Ajit Agarkar, also at Melbourne, in 1999-2000 (Agarkar began that series with 19, followed by five successive ducks). Alone among Australians, Adam Gilchrist has suffered the same fate in reverse, at Kolkata in 2000-01, when India won after following on. Sydney has been similarly result-friendly: 17 of the last 18 Tests there have produced results 14 wins for Australia and three defeats (plus the one draw, against India in 2003-04). The last 19 captains to win the toss at Adelaide have chosen to bat. The last nine Tests there have produced ten totals of more than 500.

Benedict Bermange is the Sky Sports cricket statistician. Virender Sehwag has been dropped 57 times in the field over his Test career, more often than any other Test He has taken time away from the day job to predict a 21 win for Australia. player since 2000.
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Eagars Eye

Eagars Eye

I really like this one. Ricky Pontings in seventh heaven after winning the World Cup at Johannesburg in 2003, but it wasnt a floodlit game. The godfather of all thunderstorms is about to break you can just make out the first raindrops above the trophy and the sky had gone black, black, black. We all knew we had seconds to grab an image, so I just clicked, and the light turned out to be perfect. I had an early digital camera, and looked at what Id got. Thats OK, I thought. Dennis Lillee came over to England in 1972 and few bowlers have ever been quite so photogenic. Australia lost the First Test, and Bob Massie eclipsed everyone at Lords, but at Trent Bridge Lillee just flew in. In fact, his speed reminds me of the limitations of photographic equipment back then: even in bright sun, hes not quite sharp. And look at that huge delivery stride and the flowing hair an athlete in his prime. The following winter, Lillee injured his back, and neither he nor his action was ever quite the same again.

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Four years on from the vitriol of Sydney and only a few months after the traumas of the English summer Mahendra Singh Dhonis side have to turn up the heat in Australia. By Rahul Bhattacharya

Tune in, India:we could be heading for another scorcher

The last time India toured Australia, the world almost ended. One moment it was two cricket teams in a streetfight, the next it was an entire civilisation raging against another. They called it Monkeygate, a seemingly flippant name for an issue which invoked race and nation, honour and humiliation, and featured roundthe-clock firing on Indian news television, heavy artillery from the Australian press camp, and a blazing cyberwar between supporters. Nearly four years on from that New Year Test at Sydney, Monkeygate feels like an unimprovable moniker. You can almost visualise the scene: a pair of brats dressed in monkey suits fighting over a giant banana. Yet it was that kind of time, when an overheated kindergarten tussle in a cricket match could easily spill into national rage. Australia were the undisputed bullies on the field in conduct, if no longer in performance. Indias offfield bullying was approaching high perfection. The Indian Premier League was still to be inaugurated. Rather than dance away their anxieties and ambitions, their passions and discontents, at clubby Twenty20, followers as much as players poured them into the hot crucible of Test cricket. So much has changed since. The brats have exhausted themselves. Andrew Symondss international career is finished, Harbhajan Singhs is stalled. The temperature is far from the boil. Indeed, in India, one fears it is tepid. As much could be inferred from recent responses. After the Indian teams surrender in England last summer, for example, fans failed to burn effigies, and parliament omitted to discuss the crisis. In subsequent months, stadiums echoed half-empty across the country and the formats: in September, the Champions League Twenty20; in October, one-day internationals against England; in November, Test matches against West Indies. Since Indias World Cup victory in April, television ratings have been as subdued as discussions at the tea stalls.
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But if a tour of Australia cannot shake the apathy, nothing can. The volatile history, of which Sydney 200708 was the tipping point; the epic battles of the past decade, of which Kolkata 200001 was the glorious apogee; the knowledge that Australia is one of only two lands where India have never ever won a Test series (South Africa is the other but in five attempts, to nine in Australia); Sachin Tendulkars continuing quest for the Bradmanesque in the land of Bradman all of this invests the tour with an urgency. It offers, also, the Indian Test side a chance at redemption following their 04 blowout in England. It is tempting, and in some respects plausible, to think of the Indian cricketers as the silver-spoon boys of the sport. But it had been a long, hard climb towards the No. 1 position in Test matches, which they held for 20 months until the English summer. They built from the debris of the match-fixing scandal in 2000, following a 03 demolition in Australia and an insulting 02 clean sweep at home against South Africa, and on the back of a generation of stalwarts: Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, V. V. S. Laxman, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan. Along the way the team have had to negotiate the many contradictions of the changing game and economy in India. In England last summer these contradictions collided to make a perfect storm. What is motivation in the age of limitless rewards? What is preparation in the age of 24/7 cricket? What is a career in the age of the IPL? Indian supporters fear these contradictions may catch up with their team for a second successive away tour. The over-scheduling which impeded preparation before the England trip is now reproduced. There is very little downtime: by way of acclimatisation, there will be one two-day and one three-day game before the Boxing Day Test. As before England, the spearhead Zaheer Khan is struggling with injury, while no young batsman has settled into the No. 6 slot vacated by Ganguly three years ago.

This Australian side is not Andrew Strausss team, much less the baggy-green dynasty that ruled cricket for over a decade. Australia have been demythified. This, even for opposition supporters, has come at a price. There was a thrilling friction in watching players of that fantastical calibre: the captain who evoked the spirits with a tatty felt cap; the opener larger than the sightscreen; the No. 7 who streamed parabolas into the stands; the grumpy fast bowler who located nail-heads on the pitch; the leg-spinner who never quite conquered Indias batsmen but, well, wasnt so bad against the rest. The friction was in admiring these players and loving to hate them. Australia were the touchstone and the target. Now Australia romp around with others in a kind of middling siblingness. Indeed, their position is quite similar to Indias in that both have been utterly dismantled by England in the past year. The response from the two boards, however, has been very different. Where Australia, like England before them, conducted a top-to-bottom inquisition of their cricket system after losing the Ashes, the Indian administrators have found it simpler to blame the summer on bad luck. For the

Indian bean-counters, a review of the system would be too much a case of turkeys voting for Christmas. As ever, it falls on the players to front up where the administrators have not. If Peter Roebuck were with us, he would have reminded his Indian readers, as he did evocatively and often, that Australia remains a land of fires, droughts, floods, flies, kangaroos and koalas. Even the birds have bright plumage and make a lot of noise. It is not sensible to expect its cricketers or newspapers to tiptoe around like characters in an Edwardian play. It is a place that crushes the spirit or enhances it. It is, after all, Australia. Ganguly and Kumble, who led courageous campaigns there, retired without winning. For Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman, giants against Australia all, it will be a last tour and a last chance. And so too, you think, for another man in the rooms. Duncan Fletcher wouldnt half mind winning this one. Rahul Bhattacharya is the author of the novel The Sly Company of People Who Care, winner of The Hindu Literary Prize 2011. He predicts a 21 win for Australia.

Eagars Eye

There were far fewer photographers back in 1975 perhaps just half a dozen or so were there for the New Year Test at Sydney and the players were much happier to let us in to the dressing-room at the end of a match. Ian Chappell was pretty laid back after his Australian team had just recaptured the Ashes. Theres a real intimacy and immediacy to the image, in part because I was trained to avoid flash whenever possible. Typical Chappell, with a glass and a fag!

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Dan Brettig licks his lips and selects five classic Tests between Australia and India

The tie, the follow-on and a batting god

Adelaide, 1977-78
Australia won by 47 runs The hero While Matthews never bowled better and Kapil Dev was a somewhat parochial choice as man of the match, Dean Joness monumental 210, in only his fifth Test innings, and his first at No. 3, towers over the Test in a tweet India crept to within 48 runs of 493 to win before Australia sealed the match and clinched a rest. In the words of Mike Coward, an eloquent witness to Joness courage as he battled nausea, vomiting and series played head-to-head with Packers WSC. leg cramps, it was an out-of-body tour de force that The hero Bob Simpson, returning to the Australian defied belief . team at the age of 41 to cover for World Series Cricket The villain Maninder Singhs exit has been shrouded defections, played measured innings of 100 and 51 in debate for years, after his protests of I played the against Indias fabled spin trio of Bishan Bedi, Erapalli ball found no favour with umpire Vikramraju. His Prasanna and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar while leading counterpart, Dara Dotiwalla, had hinted at infamy a young side that had to cope with five changes from earlier on the final afternoon when he threatened to the Fourth Test. He also snaffled the Tests final wicket send off Australias captain Allan Border because of a Chandrasekhar c Rixon b Simpson 2 to secure the slow over-rate. series 32. Why it mattered The contest provided succour to The villain Had India won, Jeff Thomsons loss to an Australian team in the midst of a desperately barren a hamstring tear after bowling only 3.3 overs for streak of 14 winless Tests. It also added lustre to Indias two wickets might have looked most damaging. contests with Australia, though it would be another 13 But in a relatively high-scoring Test, Sunil Gavaskars years before that developed into the frequent contact of contributions of 7 and 29 were meagre. today. Why it mattered Australian cricket had been split The vital statistic Matthews bowled 39.5 overs in two that summer by Kerry Packer and, while the on the final day, resting on a stool at the boundary establishment team could still just about see off between overs and fielding in the shade wherever an Indian side rich in batting and spin bowling, the possible. He wore a handkerchief around his face to stand-off would continue. The following summers 51 stop his eyes watering from the stench of a canal which slaughter of Graham Yallops lambs by an organised ran past the ground. England hurried the truce. The vital statistic Bedi, Indias captain, complained bitterly about the umpiring, yet the only two lbw Kolkata, 2000-01 appeals upheld went in the favour of left-arm seamer India won by 171 runs Karsan Ghavri. Test in a tweet VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid halted a previously dominant Australia with a stand of Madras, 1986-87 376, the catalyst for Indias victory after following on. Match tied The hero Laxmans 281 was his masterpiece, as he defied Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and the rest Test in a tweet In enervating heat, Test crickets time and again with the deftest hands in the game. His second tie came when, with a ball remaining, fluent 59 in the first innings had been the only Indian Maninder Singh fell lbw to Greg Matthews his tenth resistance. wicket.
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 The villain It is difficult to criticise a captain who leads his team to 16 straight Test wins, but for once Steve Waughs aggression backfired. Had he batted again, he would have made the game safe and so conquered his final frontier. But the follow-on was enforced on a good pitch and it all started to unravel. Why it mattered Australia would remain a dominant team for several years yet, but India went on to claim the series in Chennai and announce themselves as the nation most likely to challenge. The follow-on, meanwhile, became unfashionable, with Waughs successor Ricky Ponting perhaps the most reluctant of all captains to enforce it. The vital statistic Two the number of balls Adam Gilchrist faced in the match, even if he had reason to dispute both lbws.

were held to a 11 series draw that kept the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Indian hands. The vital statistic 400 for five was Australias score at stumps on day one. Seldom has such a dominant start been squandered.

Mohali, 2010-1 1
India won by one wicket

Test in a tweet Laxman again denied Australia victory with an innings of rare composure to take India thrillingly home after a match of epic fluctuations. The hero Laxman added to his Australian legend by fighting through severe back spasms that had left him almost completely lame in the first innings to compile an unbeaten 73 and give India the match. The villain Doug Bollinger had landed in India three days before the start of the series because of the Adelaide, 2003-04 Champions League Twenty20, only to suffer abdominal India won by four wickets pains with victory in sight. His absence allowed Test in a tweet Dravid and Laxman reprised Kolkata Laxman to wriggle clear, and he has never been quite the same bowler since. to match Australias first innings before Ajit Agarkar Why it mattered An Australian win against swung through the second. Dravid then sealed it. India, then ranked the worlds best team, would have The hero If Kolkata was Laxmans Test, this was provided a surge of confidence ahead of the Ashes. Dravids 305 runs for once out and two sharp catches at slip to help Sachin Tendulkar outfox Damien Martyn Instead, defeat and Bollingers injury tipped Ricky Pontings side into the troubled state it would carry and Steve Waugh. Sourav Ganguly reckoned: Rahul throughout the drubbing by England. batted like God. The vital statistic Shane Watson batted seven hours The villain Try villains: a series of agitated strokes 41 minutes for a patient first-innings 126. He hasnt from Australias batsmen in the second innings paid lasted even half that time in a Test innings since. insufficient respect to both the pitch and Agarkar. Geared to intimidate, they lacked the flexibility to adapt. Dan Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. Why it mattered Shorn of McGrath and Warne, He reckons Australia will win 21. and saddled with Waughs retirement tour, Australia

Adam Gilchrist was one of the great wicketkeeper-batsmen, and a very good keeper: hes completely off the ground in taking this catch to remove Michael Vaughan, diving about as far as where youd expect first slip to be. And it wasnt any old game: the Oval Test of 2005 was one of the highestintensity matches Ive seen. It was the last morning of the series, with the Ashes riding on the result, and something told me that a wicket was in the offing. Id been down at pitch level, but to record a dismissal, its often better to have a bit of height, and so I climbed up to a balcony used by TV, getting pretty much behind the bowlers arm. It worked: Ian Bell edged the next ball to slip, and KP wasnt far from giving Glenn McGrath a hat-trick.

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Eagars Eye
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From the Archive

Wisden 2008

Indias 2007-08 tour of Australia proved incendiary on and off the pitch. Greg Baum rounds up a series, never short on drama, that reached an explosive finale at Sydney and gave rise to a new cricket term

High politics, low farce, and a bit of cricket too

Bollyline in Sydney will go down in history as a kind of cricketing six-day war. It was all too real and nasty while it was happening, but it was over almost as soon as it had begun. By the start of the next Test in Perth ten days later, there was such peace and harmony on the surface it was as if nothing had ever happened. As in real wars, circumstances conspired fatefully. Questionable sportsmanship, poor umpiring and alleged racism set the Second Test at Sydney on a daily more precipitous edge, and tipped it over as Australia pursued a record-equalling 16th successive win on the last day in typically relentless fashion. They did snatch improbable victory from the jaws of stalemate, but it seemed to be made pyrrhic in its moment by the engulfing firestorm. There were casualties, not least among them the games dignity. Harbhajan Singh was given a three-Test ban (later rescinded). Posturing Indian authorities threatened to abandon the tour. Commentator Peter Roebuck called for the sacking of Ricky Ponting. Steve Bucknor lost his umpiring commission, and seemed unlikely ever to regain it. Indias captain Anil Kumble dramatically invoked the spirit of a previous cricket war when he declared that Only one team was playing in the spirit of the game. But the least-expected damage was collateral. Up and down the country, there was an outpouring of anger at the disposition of the Australian side. Roebucks controversial call for the captains head polarised the public in a way that shocked the team. More broadly, this war deepened unresolved tensions between Australia and India, crickets on-field superpower and its financial powerhouse. Their scramble for the high moral ground made for an unedifying spectacle. An animus had been brewing for months, since
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the World Twenty20 championship in South Africa. Some of the Australians thought Indias victory celebrations in that tournament were disproportionate to the achievement: Andrew Symonds was one who said so publicly. During a subsequent one-day series in India, the crowds taunted the distinctively daubed and dreadlocked Symonds with monkey chants, perhaps imitating the European soccer many of them now watch on pay TV, prompting a clampdown by the authorities. Later, the Australians alleged that Harbhajan also taunted Symonds on the field. Publicly, Harbhajan said the Australians were in no position to complain; they were as vulgar as ever. Behindthe-scenes manoeuvres to broker a peace between Symonds and Harbhajan evidently failed. But Symonds seemed unaffected; he played brilliantly in India and was named Man of the Series. Indias preparation for their tour of Australia was short and rushed, and they were thrashed in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. But there was little sign of rancour. Some of the tourists remarked on how pleasantly surprised they had been by their warm reception in Melbourne, and on the Australian publics deep affection for Sachin Tendulkar. The spirit between the teams appeared passably good. Kumble was the first visiting captain to accept Pontings standing proposal that the teams should take each others word about low catches, since technology had shown itself to be manifestly inadequate. Outwardly, the humour remained intact as the teams moved on to Sydney for the New Year Test. In its unfolding, it was a classic, with a century every day including a gem from Tendulkar and a breathtaking denouement, with occasional spinner Michael Clarke taking the last three wickets in five balls when all seemed drawn.

All the Australian grounds of my youth seemed to have white picket fences. Its hard to believe now, but there was no rope or white line to mark the boundary: just the fence and no adverts. This is the Sydney Cricket Ground in early 1975 and Geoff Arnold is bowling to Ian Redpath, but Ive chosen it because its as close to history as any of my photographs. With the fence, the Hill everyone you can see is sitting on the grass and eight-ball overs, very little had changed since the days of Bradman and Bodyline. At the start of the day, the Hill was a friendly place, but as the sun and the beer had their effects, things could get pretty foul

Eagars Eye

But at another level the match was slowly deteriorating. A series of shocking decisions by umpires Bucknor and Mark Benson had an unsettling effect. It began on the first day when Ponting was wrongly given not out and then wrongly given out, to Harbhajan, his bte noire. The Australian captain registered his dismay, which was something of a cheek in the circumstances and an act he said later he regretted. It became item one of the evidence when Australias sportsmanship was at issue later in the match and after it. Later that first day, the impressive teenager Ishant Sharma was denied Symondss wicket from an edge so obvious that even Symonds subsequently admitted he had hit it. He was 30 at the time; he made 162 not out. The preponderance of bad decisions was against India, though not all. Tendulkar was haplessly lbw to Clarke when he was 36; he made 154 not out. More troublesome decisions followed. Partly, the players had only themselves to blame, as much intemperate appealing put pressure on officials already losing confidence. Superficially, the spirit between the sides remained intact. Sharma congratulated Symonds on his innings, Lee congratulated Tendulkar on his, and Ponting refused to claim an apparent catch from Rahul Dravid at second slip because he was unsure whether it was clean. But there was a quickening undercurrent. As Harbhajan played a defiant hand in support of Tendulkar, which propelled India into a first-innings lead, a slanging match erupted. Principally, it was between Harbhajan and Symonds, whose mutual dislike was now well known. Ponting reported to the umpires that Harbhajan had uttered a racist epithet, perhaps monkey or big monkey. Some said Ponting acted preciously, even provocatively, given Australias history of waging so-called mental disintegration. Unsustainably, some even alleged that Ponting seized on the race card in an effort to rid himself of Harbhajan, whose bunny he had become (he fell to him twice more in this match). Others, including Ponting, said he did only what he had been enjoined to do by the ICC in its anti-racism campaign. A hearing before referee Mike Procter was set down for the end of the match. Tension escalated. The last day was at once ugly and memorable. Ponting extended Australias second innings, gaining Mike Hussey another century but seemingly leaving himself too little time to bowl India out again. Playing for time, India used elaborate and cynical ruses to slow the over-rate, which would remain problematic throughout the series. Left 72 overs to survive, India faltered, but time was tight, and two dropped catches looked likely to cost Australia dearly. Both sides felt the heat. After tea, Bucknor gave Dravid out caught at the wicket from a ball that plainly brushed only his pad. India were doubly enraged that there had been an appeal in the first place, and then that it was upheld. Shortly afterwards Clarke, backed by
continued overleaf

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Eagars Eye

Port-of-Spain 1973, and Doug Walters pulls Inshan Ali for four. On flat wickets, and when Walters was in the mood, there was never a dull moment. His handeye co-ordination was phenomenal. Here hes heading for a hundred in a session, something Ive seen only twice, and both times it was Walters doing the demolition (the second occasion was against England at the WACA in 1974). Ali did get him in the end, and Walters struggled in England against the moving ball. He was on the payroll for Rothmans, and if ever he saw you taking a photograph of him, hed immediately produce a packet.

Ponting, claimed a low slip catch from Sourav Ganguly. The batsman stood his ground, but was given out. Later, India would argue that, despite the agreement between the sides about catching, they were under no obligation to take the word of Clarke, who the previous day had refused to walk when cleanly caught at slip first ball. This contretemps led to another between Ponting and Indian journalists after the match. Victory, gained in long shadows with nine minutes to spare, prompted unbridled jubilation among the Australians, leaving Kumble, who had played a gallant unbeaten innings, to cool his heels. Thats about as good a win as Ive been in, chortled Ponting. But at a press conference soon afterwards, Kumble charged Australia with a lack of sportsmanship as grievous as Douglas Jardines
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in 1932-33. It was an overwrought claim: though Australia had behaved less than nobly, India were also guilty of breaches of the games spirit. Indians objected to Australias triumphalism at the end, but forgot the exuberance of Harbhajan upon dismissing Ponting in the second innings, when he ran almost to the pavilion and performed two inelegant forward rolls on the turf before team-mates caught him. In the small hours of the next morning, after a long hearing, Procter suspended Harbhajan for three Tests. Meantime, India brought a countercharge against Brad Hogg for referring to them as bastards. The next few days were inglorious. Indias authorities claimed, bizarrely, that it was impossible for an Indian to be racist. They threatened to call off the tour unless

Harbhajans ban was overturned, and the team, instead of travelling to Canberra as scheduled, took refuge in their Sydney hotel. The ICC called in their chief referee Ranjan Madugalle to broker a truce between Ponting and Kumble. They also replaced Bucknor with Billy Bowden for the next Test, saying they were acting in the best interests of the umpire and the game, but absurdly denying that they had yielded to pressure from India. Meantime, Roebucks demand for the removal of Ponting reverberated around the country, prompting fulminations on letters pages and websites worldwide. One of the noteworthy aspects of this controversy was the role of the internet in fanning it so widely and quickly. In the cacophony, many ill-considered voices were raised. In his newspaper column, Indian legend and ICC cricket committee chairman Sunil Gavaskar questioned Procters role, saying millions of Indians want to know if it was a white man taking the white mans word against that of the brown man. Symonds scarcely helped by saying that a bit of racial teasing between friends was fine, but not between strangers. A frivolous debate arose about the word monkey and whether or not it was a pejorative in India. Protagonists asked us to believe that crowds in India were possibly offering Symonds endearment. The idea that the ill will between the teams was all down to cultural misunderstanding was the greatest nonsense of all. International cricketers travel widely, make friends across team divides, and learn to grasp cultural nuances. Whatever Australia and India said and did to one another in Sydney, they meant it. The spirit of cricket is unambiguous in any language. At length, cooler heads prevailed. Harbhajan was given leave to enter an appeal, which conveniently would not be heard until after the series. The Indian boards threat to abandon the tour had always been fatuous anyway, given the television interests involved. The Indians moved to Canberra for their tour match, then on to Perth. Madugalle met Ponting and Kumble, and negotiated a peace of sorts, each captain declaring that the game was more important than any individual. But, curiously, the pact on low catches was torn up. The Hogg hearing was set for the night before the match, but at the eleventh hour, the Indians withdrew the charge in what was widely praised as a magnanimous gesture. Still, twists remained. Having been cleared to play, both Harbhajan and Hogg were dropped anyway, not for the sake of goodwill, but because the WACA pitch looked to be back to its fast, bouncy old self, and each side wanted an extra paceman. (Both had been paradoxical performers: Hogg had made a valuable 79 at Sydney, but not taken a wicket on the last day; Harbhajan was good for only three wickets a match but, likely as not, two were Ponting.) The effect was to remove from the game two of the central players in the Sydney drama, and the sacking of Bucknor made it three. Benson, the other umpire, had not been scheduled to stand in Perth anyway. Following

the anthem ceremony on the first morning, all the players on both sides shook the hand of every other. So, notionally, did Bollyline finish, ten days after it began. The twists were not quite done yet. India won the Third Test, the first Asian side ever to win at Perth, snapping Australias winning streak at a record-equalling 16. To what extent Australia were distracted by the mini-crisis of Sydney was impossible to say; Ponting thought not at all. To what extent India were galvanised was also impossible to say; some of the Indians thought plenty. But India won the match wholly on their merits. They outplayed Australia in their own conditions. Both sides misread the pitch, which was bouncy but only moderately paced. Shaun Tait, replacing Hogg, proved a liability, and two weeks later announced that he was quitting cricket for the time being. Irfan Pathan, replacing Harbhajan, won the match award. Australia secured victory in the series after a highscoring draw in the Adelaide Test, Adam Gilchrists last. The next day, an independent hearing before New Zealand judge John Hansen downgraded the charge against Harbhajan from racism to abusive language, rescinded the ban, and fined him half his Sydney match fee instead. Justice Hansen said that in such a serious case, a higher standard of proof was necessary: the word of three Australian players was not enough. He made it clear that Symonds had been the provocateur. He also amplified confusion about whether Harbhajan had said monkey, big monkey, or teri maki, words in Hindi that sounded similar. For the previous week, the former Indian board chairman I. S. Bindra had been in Australia, negotiating with Australian officials. Simultaneously, Indian board vice-president Lalit Modi was reported to have said that, unless Harbhajan was cleared, the tour would be cancelled and India would reconsider future engagements with Australia. He also said that an adverse finding would affect the prospects of Australians in the new Indian Premier League. Australian players muttered anonymously about how Indias money was now ruling the game, which was a bit rich pun intended since many of them were greedily eyeing the vast spoils available for the new Twenty20 tournament in India. Justice Hansen indignantly denied media reports about a deal between the two countries, or that he had been under pressure to reprieve Harbhajan for the sake of future series, and rebuked the Indian authorities for even allowing that impression to form. He had, he said, reached his decision independently. But Hansen regretted the ICCs incomplete data about Harbhajans disciplinary record, which might have affected his sentence. So ended Bollyline for now. Three things were clear. Hypocrisy still drags the game down. The ICC remains toothless. And India, failing to learn lessons from long periods of powerlessness, are intent on throwing their newly acquired weight around at every opportunity.
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Its Australia v India on Boxing Day, and its getting edgy in the chatrooms. Alan Tyers dreams up the banter, while Beach illustrates his worst fears

Cyber war:
crickets battle for virtual supremacy

AussieAussieAussie

This writer is a very bad man. How can he write Sachin Tendulkar played another brilliant innings??!?!? So disrespectful to Sachin. Sachin always plays a brilliant innings.

If only the Indian team could play the game in the spirit of the great Aussie sides of recent years. Those guys were awesome champions and real ambassadors for the sport.

SachinFan90123912 Typical lazy journalism to say Sachin was given out caught behind after review when it was 100 percent clear that Sachin had walked before the review had even hapended!! In fact Sachin gave catch to get out and let the team score quicker. Who do you think knows more about cricket this journalist or Sachin???

TuggaBoyNSW

Imran Khan rules!!! He much better than Sachin ever will be.

TigerImran MumbaiMan

Steve Waugh was in the most amazing form in 1989, hitting an unbeaten 177 at Leeds and then following it up with this 152 not out at Lords. Despite Australia rattling up 500-plus, John Emburey was having a decent time, and Waugh was treating his off-spin with a certain amount of respect. Its more fun shooting loose rather than going in tight for a close-up, and can give you some interesting shapes. This is classic getting-to-the-pitch-of-the-ball defensive play made all the better by the lack of a helmet. There was still demand for black-and-white images at the time, and somehow I never managed to get the same shot in colour.

Eagars Eye

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Who carez is only TEst match yawnborrrrree. Go Chennai Superkings number 1!1LOL!

IheartDhoni

What Indian fans have to understand is that Yeah but could Sachin cricket is only our 11th most popular sport have given himself out behind rugby union, rugby league, Aussie Rules, like that on eNglish football, swimming, surfing, barbequing, having pitches? Once again an awesomely competitive positive mental the IPL is ruiniing true attitude, horse-riding and fooling around in cricket like it is played the sheepdip, so really our first innings by England. score of 125 all out should actually be worth more like 450. FreddieLad86 Out Back

Aussie Aussie Aussie! Mr Tendulkar is a fine player but not in the same class as the players I used to watch in my boyhood at Yorkshire, particularly Little Johnny Pigg. A tough and unyielding competitor who never knowingly played a scoring shot, that was Pigg. I once watched him score a redoubtable 1* over eight hours at Scarborough, he was furious with himself for having edged one down to third man for his only run of the day. He could certainly have taught Tendulkar and company a thing about batsmanship and I for [COMMENT SHORTENED FOR REASONS OF SPACE] GodsYorkshireman49 This article is borderline racist for saying that India were all out for 345. What on has nationality got to do with it?

Proud Indian

Cricket is all about mony these days why wont the Mainstream Media wake up to this?

Cant be long before the Poms start filling their team with Indian players LOL

@OzFan is right.Why can we not have an English team for English people? Our identity is being eroded by constant immergration and we are loosing what makes us who we are. I got so sick of Broken Britain I moved to Gibraltar.

SomeoneWhoKnows OzFan EnglishAndPROUD

Tyers and Beach are the authors of W. G. Grace Ate My Pedalo and CrickiLeaks The Secret Ashes Diaries, both published by Wisden. Their next book, Gin And Juice: The Victorian Guide To Parenting, is out in Spring 2012. Tyers thinks Australia will win 21. Beach forecasts 22, with Tendulkar finishing 99 not out in the Fourth Test in Adelaide

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