OldLion
3 Mar 2001, 10:28
The Australian Test team's emotional tribute to mark the passing of Australia's greatest ever batsman, Sir Donald Bradman, appears likely to hand the first Test to the Indian team.
Captain Steve Waugh has revealed that every member of the top seven, from Michael Slater to Adam Gilchrist, plans to be bowled second ball for a duck while trying to score a four and then deny the fallen wicket was because they had tears in their eyes.
This will mirror the Don's final innings in Test cricket, on August 16, 1948, when he required only four runs to achieve a lifetime average of 100.00 but was bowled for a duck, second ball, by England spinner Eric Hollies.
The Don always denied that he was bowled because he was emotional after an enormous crowd ovation as he strode to the wicket. He maintained that Hollies was such a crap bowler that he was simply taken by surprise when a ball was on the stumps.
Waugh said the string of second ball ducks was an appropriate tribute to Australia's greatest cricket legend. "The boys know they've got to do something special to mark Sir Don's passing. Committing cricketing suicide to virtually wipe any chance of extending the team's world record Test-winning run seems like a good way to do it."
Waugh admitted throwing away the best part of an entire innings was extreme but shrugged off the after-effects. "We could still manage some kind of total. Kaspa the Friendly Paceman has been getting some runs low down the order and Warney is free to have a hit. Glenn McGrath wants to be part of the tribute but let's face it, even if he is bowled second ball, nobody will really know whether it was a tribute 'out' or just crap batting."
Indian captain Sourav Ganguly said he respected the planned Australian tribute and would play his part in the name of the greater good of cricket. "If Steve and his team go through with the tribute, the chances are that we will bowl the Australians out for a very low score," he said. "If that happens, I think it would only be right that my team tries to score 600 runs or more to put the match result beyond doubt."
Meanwhile, in Australia, Canberra cricket fans applauded the Australian team's plan, not least because Prime Minister might decide to join in the tribute and deliberately get himself voted out of office almost immediately tomorrow.
www.thebladder.com (http://www.thebladder.com)
Captain Steve Waugh has revealed that every member of the top seven, from Michael Slater to Adam Gilchrist, plans to be bowled second ball for a duck while trying to score a four and then deny the fallen wicket was because they had tears in their eyes.
This will mirror the Don's final innings in Test cricket, on August 16, 1948, when he required only four runs to achieve a lifetime average of 100.00 but was bowled for a duck, second ball, by England spinner Eric Hollies.
The Don always denied that he was bowled because he was emotional after an enormous crowd ovation as he strode to the wicket. He maintained that Hollies was such a crap bowler that he was simply taken by surprise when a ball was on the stumps.
Waugh said the string of second ball ducks was an appropriate tribute to Australia's greatest cricket legend. "The boys know they've got to do something special to mark Sir Don's passing. Committing cricketing suicide to virtually wipe any chance of extending the team's world record Test-winning run seems like a good way to do it."
Waugh admitted throwing away the best part of an entire innings was extreme but shrugged off the after-effects. "We could still manage some kind of total. Kaspa the Friendly Paceman has been getting some runs low down the order and Warney is free to have a hit. Glenn McGrath wants to be part of the tribute but let's face it, even if he is bowled second ball, nobody will really know whether it was a tribute 'out' or just crap batting."
Indian captain Sourav Ganguly said he respected the planned Australian tribute and would play his part in the name of the greater good of cricket. "If Steve and his team go through with the tribute, the chances are that we will bowl the Australians out for a very low score," he said. "If that happens, I think it would only be right that my team tries to score 600 runs or more to put the match result beyond doubt."
Meanwhile, in Australia, Canberra cricket fans applauded the Australian team's plan, not least because Prime Minister might decide to join in the tribute and deliberately get himself voted out of office almost immediately tomorrow.
www.thebladder.com (http://www.thebladder.com)