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dav-whatmore
Dav Whatmore, Bangladesh coach and all round good guy.
2 years ago, at the end of AprilThis is a man who clearly knows a lot about cricket.
BANGLADESH may have pushed a weary Australia in the first Test but their coach, Dav Whatmore, believes Ricky Ponting’s team is certain to reclaim the Ashes this summer. Whatmore, whose side has played Australia and England in Tests in the past year, said Australia’s persistence made them favourites.
“I think they will do very well,” he said on Tuesday. “I think they will win it. The measurement of a good team is over time, it’s not just over one series, as is presently the case with England beating Australia last year. They’re going to have to repeat it to be considered a good team like Australia.”
Course, he used to play for Australia, but I’m sure he’s being impartial. His Bangladesh side is proving to be harder then anyone expected them to be.
Not quite the great escape, but that was actually a very good Test match.
2 years ago, mid-AprilSo Australia escaped, mainly through the remarkable deeds of Ricky Ponting, once again demonstrating that he is the peerless Australian batsman of his age, a great age of Australian batsmanship.
This was his 31st century, and his first against Bangladesh. A lot of batsmen have scored a lot of easy runs against Bangladesh, but this was no easy century; I can think of almost a dozen that Ponting has scored that were easier; two against West Indies in Brisbane, and his second against South Africa in Sydney spring to mind just in this latest Australian season. This was close to being a masterpiece in fact.
It wasn’t quite perfect; he was dropped on 97, a difficult chance to Mashrafe Mortaza. It was watchful, thoughtful and dripping with purpose and energy. Ponting is no great shakes as a captain, but he’s one of the all-time great batsmen at the height of his powers, and he is a delight to watch.
But just as Ponting can be credited with saving a lost cause, Bangladesh can be faulted for losing it. In his Verdict for Cricinfo, Osman Samiuddin puts the case for the prosecution:
Even if we accept that Australia were tired - this was their 11th Test since October - five days ago nobody expected them to nervously chase just under a hundred on the last day with five wickets in hand. Five days ago, most expected the last day to be a day off. In this context alone, the performance is remarkable. But while everyone celebrates, Bangladesh might choose some serious contemplation instead. Should Bangladesh be happy they pushed Australia so close? Or should they grumble about having missed the opportunity to win it?
Their second-innings collapse - after Dav Whatmore had said he was hoping they wouldn’t do just that - will gnaw at them. Habibul Bashar has already repented his sin of a dismissal and if they were smart, then Aftab Ahmed, Rajin Saleh, Mohammad Rafique and Khaled Mashud, would follow suit. More than just a hundred runs separates chasing 300-plus and 400-plus.
And though Steve Waugh claimed he never told nobody about dropping World Cups, surely his successor Ricky Ponting could have told Mashrafe Mortaza that he had just dropped history through his fingers. Australia needed 24 when Ponting miscued a pull with only Stuart Clark and MacGill to come. And Mohammad Rafique might curse the pitch for offering too much spin when he beat Ponting’s outside edge. Ultimately, will it be any consolation that, like Multan, they should not have lost this Test? Or solace in Ponting’s words that, “They’ve played very, very well. For them to score 355 on the first day was a terrific effort. They certainly have come a long way.” Just one of the many intriguing after-effects of this Test will be how the home side now responds in Chittagong.
Australia have played eleven Tests since October and they’ve won ten of them. You don’t get a chance to beat Australia very often at all, so when the cricketing fates flow your way, you just have to take them. England did that last year to win the Ashes, but consider this. Since Ricky Ponting became captain of Australia in early 2004, Australia have lost just three Test matches.
It may well be a long time until Bangladesh get another chance to beat Australia and while they deserve commendation for pushing Australia as close as they did, which after all is way above what we expected, in the long run they will rue this missed opportunity.
Stuart MacGill keeps upbeat
2 years ago, mid-AprilStuart MacGill is still in a bullish mood, suggesting that Australia can still win despite Bangladesh now having a lead of 282, with five wickets in hand.
“The game is not finished. The game is far from finished. Although Bangladesh is in a very strong position, I know that Australia will fight very hard to firstly get another bowl and then see what happens,” MacGill said.
“We certainly haven’t given up at this stage … the talk in the rooms is certainly still about how we would go about winning the game. That’s what’s being talked about.”
I’m glad to see that the players are keeping positive. No point running up the white flag! Meanwhile, Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore is unsurprisingly up-beat.
I think coming from South Africa and Australia in the last six months, it [the conditions] probably needed a bit of adjusting,” Whatmore said of Australia. “We’re really enjoying the situation at the moment. It [the bowling] puts Bangladesh very much on top in this game and barring any mishaps in the second innings, we’re in the driving seat.
It’s a hard ask to adjust to totally different conditions without a warm-up game, and I would guess that is Cricket Australia’s doing, trying to do the right thing by the players in not working them too hard. But there IS something to be said for proper preparation. It is very hard to escape the conclusion that Australia has taken Bangladesh far too lightly and may pay a heavy price for their arrogance.
Who was that masked man, anyway?
2 years ago, mid-April
A long time since I’ve written. Not been well, writers block, work, etc. Will is sick of hearing my excuses.
Anyroad, as The Corridor of Uncertainty’s resident Australian and cudmurgeon-in-chief, I thought it was appropriate that I comment on the extraordinary events in Bangladesh, where the locals have just bowled Australia out for 269 to get a large first innings lead.
Old grumble-bum I might be, but I am fine with Bangladesh doing well against Australia. The national pride is a teeny bit mortified, to be true, to see my team struggle against the minnows-in-chief of world cricket. But my first loyalty is to Test cricket, and you can not argue that this Test is going to be a huge boost to Bangladesh cricket, regardless of the eventual result.
If you haven’t had a chance to watch, the wicket is slow, and the odd ball is keeping very low. I think this is what’s caught out the Australian batsmen.
But one batsman didn’t have any trouble- Adam Gilchrist got 144, with six sixes, and although he was slightly more cautious then of old, for the most part it was the authentic Gilchrist, with a smile, swagger, and confidence galore. After his recent form slump, he’ll be delighted to find that he can still smash bowlers all around the park.
But it got me thinking how, for a batsman out of form, a change is as good as a holiday. Gilchrist has been struggling for ages on the pacey, bouncy wickets of Australia and South Africa. Soon as he arrives to the sub-continent, he’s hit his straps, and he’s back to his best. Coincidence?
By the way, Habibal Bashir mis-read the situation with the latter part of the Australian innings. I’ll give him a pass on that- he’s not used to dealing with batsman manipulating the strike to avoid the follow on. But the way Bangladesh are improving since Dav Whatmore took over, he’ll get more practice in the future.
Anyway, I think Bangladesh will set Australia a huge target. Lee is lining up to bowl, but his back is dodgy. Warne’s shoulder is crook too. The Bangladesh batsmen should be able to cope with the pitch, and it’s up to them to get out there and seize a famous victory. And good on them.
