Aussies reach 'Dizzy' heights

YOU just cannot beat the Aussies for the quality of cricket they play whether it is against a strong or weak opposition as witnessed in the recently concluded Test series in South Africa and in Bangladesh.

To beat the home country in their own territory is what makes Australia supreme amongst the other nine Test-playing nations. None of them can match upto what the Aussies achieve away from home.

From the fast seaming and bouncy pitches of South Africa to the slow turners in Bangladesh under oppressive heat the Aussies have shown that they can adapt themselves well to any condition and be successful at that. They made a clean 3-0 sweep of the series in South Africa and followed it up with 2-0 win over Bangladesh.

The Aussies are at their best when the chips are down. This was amply demonstrated in the first Test against Bangladesh at Fatullah where from a hopeless position of 93-6 in reply to Bangladesh's first innings of 427, they fought back magnificently to turn the odds in their favour and eventually pull off a remarkable victory. How many of the current teams can achieve a feat similar to that?

Having overcome that rather unexpected opposition from Bangladesh, the Aussies with their shaken confidence restored, really grounded cricket's minnows to the dust in the second Test at Chittagong winning by an innings.

If it was the batting of Adam Gilchrist and skipper Ricky Ponting that helped Australia to win the first Test, the second was won purely by the batting of fast bowler Jason Gillespie and to a certain extent Mike Hussey who together shared a record fourth wicket stand of 320.

World record

For Gillespie whose career seemed at an end following a poor performance in last year's Ashes series in England where his three wickets in three Tests cost 300 runs.

He was dropped from the side for the next nine Tests, but recalled for the Bangladesh tour he went on to create a world record score for a nightwatchman by scoring an unbeaten double century.

It was the first time in the history of Test cricket that a nightwatchman had ever scored 201 not out. The previous highest was 105 by compatriot Tony Mann against India at Perth in 1977.

Unbeaten on 102 overnight, Gillespie moved to his double hundred the following day which happened to be his 31st birthday. What a way to celebrate.

The manner in which Gillespie batted, facing 420 balls displayed determination and commitment. The message he sent out to other players is that a bowler's job is not finished with bowling alone but he is required to show his skill as a batsman also at times. Cricket is not just batting or bowling or fielding, but a combination of all three.

Eye opener

Gillespie's performance is an eye opener to our bowlers who don't take their batting quite seriously and fail to contribute to their team total.

The manner in which Muralitharan threw his wicket away the first ball of the day in the Kandy Test against Pakistan was a poor reflection of how our bowlers treat their batting.

Gillespie nicknamed 'Dizzy' after the famous American jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie is best remembered in Sri Lanka for his head-on collision with his captain Steve Waugh in a Test match in Kandy in 1999 as they attempted to take a catch offered by Mahela Jayawardene. They both ended up in hospital, Waugh with a smashed nose and Gillespie with a broken leg and wrist.

Waugh admits in his autobiography 'In my comfort zone' that since that collision he suffers from 'migraines at fairly regular intervals ranging from just bad headaches to severe pain plus blurred vision, vomiting and, in extreme cases, trouble with balancing'.

Another interesting aspect of Gillespie which Waugh reveals is that he is the only Australian team member he has played with who never looked at the pitch before a game. Gillespie's answer to that is: "It doesn't affect how I'm going to bowl, so why let it play a role in my preparation?"