Day of reckoning at hand for Bangladesh
Lynn McConnell - July 17, 2003
Much as Bangladesh would prefer it otherwise, the attention of the cricket world is going to be focussed on their performance against Australia for all the wrong reasons, when the first Test begins at Darwin tomorrow.
Questions like "How quickly can Australia win?" and "What records will they break?" are generating the only interest in this out-of-season fixture in Australia's far north. The world's newest Test venue - cricket's 87th, and only the 11th to acquire first-class status with a Test - is going to be the scene for the most searching study yet of Bangladesh's membership into the game's elite club.
It would hence be of little comfort that the pitch for the game will be different in nature to the one on which Bangladesh beat the region's Chief Minister's XI last weekend. That was a low and slow pitch of sandy nature, but the portable pitch that has been dropped into the middle of the Marrara Oval has a concrete base and is made of local clay.
The only possible impediment - and a remote one at that - to a dominating Australian performance will be the fact that the home players have not had the benefit of recent play in their preparation for the match. But it was only six weeks ago that they were in the West Indies, so technique and confidence should not have evaporated in that time, especially in an outfit as competitive as Australia have consistently shown themselves to be.
The match is just reward for the long-serving administrators of the Northern Territory, who would never have dreamed that they would be hosting a Test match, let alone the agreed four in the next five years. NT chief executive Jim Ford said that Bangladesh's participation in Darwin's first Test had not precluded keen interest in the game. The locals will get a chance to be part of history by attending the match and seeing their own team in the flesh.
Ford confidently expects that the audience numbers on Friday or Saturday will give the ground capacity of 13,000 a nudge. "Our administrators started out wanting to foster this part of the world as a winter haven for cricket. We have hosted pre-season camps and have had New Zealand's team and the Academy side here, and that has helped promote awareness of us and what we have to offer. The ground is looking an absolute treat and there will be quite a carnival atmosphere," he said.
It's the last week of school holidays, and local schoolchildren and cricket fans have been making good use of the Australian team being in town at a variety of functions that have been taking place.
Having already admitted that they might struggle to focus to perform against Bangladesh, it is not hard to imagine the effort that has been going into preparation by coach John Buchanan and captain Steve Waugh. For those players who need a focus, there are some individual milestones worth keeping in mind.
Adam Gilchrist is sitting on 2897 runs, at 59.12, and 183 dismissals. Matthew Hayden is set to crack the 3500 mark on 3475. Ricky Ponting, on 4787, has a chance to go past 5000 in the series, while Waugh's accumulation of runs beyond his 10,265 will give him a shot at getting his average back over 50 and his total nearer Allan Border's world record mark of 11,174. If he reaches three figures, Waugh will also have scored a century against every Test-playing nation.
Apart from the vast reserves of experience the Australians can call on, the Bangladesh's biggest problem will be that which has dogged their tenure in international cricket - a lack of application. With a background of poor exposure to first-class cricket, the tourists struggle to withstand the pressures of international play for long periods. It would surprise no-one if they struggle even more in Australia, playing as they will be under the shadow of being the weaker team in what is being called the biggest mismatch in Test cricket history.
Teams:
Australia (from): 1 Steve Waugh (capt), 2 Ricky Ponting, 3 Andy Bichel, 4 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 5 Jason Gillespie, 6 Matthew Hayden, 7 Brad Hogg, 8 Justin Langer, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Darren Lehmann, 11 Martin Love, 12 Stuart MacGill, 13 Glenn McGrath
Bangladesh (from): Khaled Mahmud (capt), Javed Omar, Khaled Mashud, Habibul Bashar, Mohammad Rafique, Hannan Sarker, Mohammad Ashraful, Al-Sahariar, Manjural Islam, Alok Kapali, Sanwar Hossain, Tareq Aziz, Tapash Baisya, Anwar Hossain Monir, Mashrafe Mortaza
Umpires: Rudi Koertzen, David Shepherd, Simon Taufel (3rd), Steve Davis (4th)
Match referee: Mike Procter
Australia v. Bangladesh - Test Series
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gobbles21
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Donny
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Australia opt for four specialist bowlers in final XI
Wisden CricInfo staff - July 17, 2003
Australia have decided to strengthen their batting for their first Test against Bangladesh, and have reverted to a four-bowler strategy. Or perhaps they've decided that they don't need five specialist bowlers. Brad Hogg and Andy Bichel were both omitted from the side, as Martin Love and Darren Lehmann both got a look in.
The bowling attack remains formidable: Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee will be supported by Stuart MacGill, who will be hoping, given Bangladesh's recent record, that he gets a chance to bowl.
With Damien Martyn still unfit, Lehmann and Love have both got a chance to pile up some easy international runs. Adam Gilchrist is slated at bat at No. 7.
Australian XI 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Justin Langer, 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Darren Lehmann, 5 Steve Waugh (capt), 6 Martin Love, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Brett Lee, 9 Jason Gillespie, 10 Stuart MacGill, 11 Glenn McGrath.
Wisden CricInfo staff - July 17, 2003
Australia have decided to strengthen their batting for their first Test against Bangladesh, and have reverted to a four-bowler strategy. Or perhaps they've decided that they don't need five specialist bowlers. Brad Hogg and Andy Bichel were both omitted from the side, as Martin Love and Darren Lehmann both got a look in.
The bowling attack remains formidable: Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee will be supported by Stuart MacGill, who will be hoping, given Bangladesh's recent record, that he gets a chance to bowl.
With Damien Martyn still unfit, Lehmann and Love have both got a chance to pile up some easy international runs. Adam Gilchrist is slated at bat at No. 7.
Australian XI 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Justin Langer, 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Darren Lehmann, 5 Steve Waugh (capt), 6 Martin Love, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Brett Lee, 9 Jason Gillespie, 10 Stuart MacGill, 11 Glenn McGrath.
Donny.
It's a game. Enjoy it.
It's a game. Enjoy it.
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Donny
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Bangladesh no match for Australian fire
The Wisden Bulletin by Lynn McConnell - July 18, 2003
The Australian crawl used to be the style that powered their swimmers to the top of the world rankings, but it was never a term meant to describe their batting against the minnows of world cricket. But that was what happened today in Darwin, when Australia cold-footed it to 121 for 2 by stumps - a lead of 24 - after Bangladesh had become the first Test side to score less than 100 at Test cricket's newest outpost.
For all but the last dozen or so overs, the Australian run rate sputtered along at around 2.5 an over, before climbing to 2.69. Coming from a side that has made scoring at a fast clip one of the cornerstones of their success - since the Ashes series of 2001, they have scored at 3.96 per over - it was bizarre to watch.
However, despite the loss of Matthew Hayden (11) and Ricky Ponting (10), Australia were in a formidable position with Justin Langer and Darren Lehmann at the crease, and the threat of Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist and Martin Love to follow. Bangladesh will be thankful that the Marrara Oval has such a painfully slow outfield. While it denied them more runs, it frustrated the Australians as much, if not more.
The Australians walked out to field wearing black armbands, in memory of Victoria stalwart John Scholes, who died earlier this week aged only 53. The Bangladeshis, as expected, struggled to cope with the experienced bowling attack when asked to bat first on a pitch of variable bounce. Poor technique was ruthlessly exposed, with several dismissals attributable to failing to get in line, leaving gaps between bat and pad or playing down the wrong line. Glenn McGrath added three scalps to lift his career haul to 428, while Brett Lee, despite an inconsistent spell, took 3 for 23.
Mohammad Ashraful briefly suggested that he could provide the necessary solidity to the Bangladesh innings, but then, in the vital moments before lunch, he miscued a hook off the last ball of the first over of Glenn McGrath's second spell, chipping it up for Jason Gillespie to take the catch behind square leg.
The seventh-wicket pairing of the two Khaleds, Mashud and Mahmud, achieved the highest partnership of the innings, adding 27. Mahmud relished successive fours off McGrath - a pull and a hook - but the bowler had the last word, breaking the stand by having Mashud leg before wicket.
Mahmud followed soon after for 21, when an attempted cut off Stuart MacGill was top-edged to Adam Gilchrist. Gillespie and Brett Lee polished off the lower order. The Australian bowling bore the hallmarks of an out-of-season campaign but it was still too much for Test cricket's newest boys.
Lehmann's half-century was his fifth in Tests, coming off 93 balls, while Langer - who edged one from Kapali between Mashud and Habibul Bashar, at first slip, when he had made 35 - was unbeaten on 40 at the close.
It proved a slow first day, and the tourists - after an embarrassing batting display - could feel well pleased about having forced the Australian batsmen to treat them with respect. How long that respect lasts will be the story of the second day.
The Wisden Bulletin by Lynn McConnell - July 18, 2003
The Australian crawl used to be the style that powered their swimmers to the top of the world rankings, but it was never a term meant to describe their batting against the minnows of world cricket. But that was what happened today in Darwin, when Australia cold-footed it to 121 for 2 by stumps - a lead of 24 - after Bangladesh had become the first Test side to score less than 100 at Test cricket's newest outpost.
For all but the last dozen or so overs, the Australian run rate sputtered along at around 2.5 an over, before climbing to 2.69. Coming from a side that has made scoring at a fast clip one of the cornerstones of their success - since the Ashes series of 2001, they have scored at 3.96 per over - it was bizarre to watch.
However, despite the loss of Matthew Hayden (11) and Ricky Ponting (10), Australia were in a formidable position with Justin Langer and Darren Lehmann at the crease, and the threat of Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist and Martin Love to follow. Bangladesh will be thankful that the Marrara Oval has such a painfully slow outfield. While it denied them more runs, it frustrated the Australians as much, if not more.
The Australians walked out to field wearing black armbands, in memory of Victoria stalwart John Scholes, who died earlier this week aged only 53. The Bangladeshis, as expected, struggled to cope with the experienced bowling attack when asked to bat first on a pitch of variable bounce. Poor technique was ruthlessly exposed, with several dismissals attributable to failing to get in line, leaving gaps between bat and pad or playing down the wrong line. Glenn McGrath added three scalps to lift his career haul to 428, while Brett Lee, despite an inconsistent spell, took 3 for 23.
Mohammad Ashraful briefly suggested that he could provide the necessary solidity to the Bangladesh innings, but then, in the vital moments before lunch, he miscued a hook off the last ball of the first over of Glenn McGrath's second spell, chipping it up for Jason Gillespie to take the catch behind square leg.
The seventh-wicket pairing of the two Khaleds, Mashud and Mahmud, achieved the highest partnership of the innings, adding 27. Mahmud relished successive fours off McGrath - a pull and a hook - but the bowler had the last word, breaking the stand by having Mashud leg before wicket.
Mahmud followed soon after for 21, when an attempted cut off Stuart MacGill was top-edged to Adam Gilchrist. Gillespie and Brett Lee polished off the lower order. The Australian bowling bore the hallmarks of an out-of-season campaign but it was still too much for Test cricket's newest boys.
Lehmann's half-century was his fifth in Tests, coming off 93 balls, while Langer - who edged one from Kapali between Mashud and Habibul Bashar, at first slip, when he had made 35 - was unbeaten on 40 at the close.
It proved a slow first day, and the tourists - after an embarrassing batting display - could feel well pleased about having forced the Australian batsmen to treat them with respect. How long that respect lasts will be the story of the second day.
Donny.
It's a game. Enjoy it.
It's a game. Enjoy it.
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The Prototype
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