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[Blwe_torch]

'One of my best hundreds' - Hayden

Peter English

December 26, 2007


Matthew Hayden made his sixth Test hundred at the MCG © Getty Images
 
Matthew Hayden conquered the MCG with his sixth Test hundred in the stadium before calling it the toughest surface he had batted on for two years. It was hard to know how serious he was after Australia had scored 339 in a day and his 124 had come from 183 balls. However, as his analysis of the pitch grew and talk of his 28th century was pushed to the background, he became more convincing.

"Quite difficult" was cut to "difficult" and he was certain things would "deteriorate" much more than they did for the drop-in wickets that have held together and forced attritional play during Pura Cup games. Despite the predictions, Hayden felt batting would not get any more challenging than it was in the first 30 overs of the opening day, when they reached 0 for 122. He might have been trying to scare the Indians, but if it does wear like Hayden expects it will become more like a home game for the tourists.

The predictions led Ricky Ponting to bat and Hayden and Jaques survived the early difficulties in a stand of 135 that would produce the innings' highest scores. Instead of things getting easier, they quickly became harder as Australia lost nine batsmen and their ability to follow the tradition of dominating the opening exchanges.

"We lost a few too many wickets, but it was difficult enough and those conditions will be revealed over the next four days," Hayden said. "The fact is we are facing a difficult wicket. The score is definitely a par effort."

Hayden started by going hard at the ball as it seamed in the morning, benefiting from gaps in the slips during a couple of thick edges, and then turned his attention to the spin of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Jaques beat him to fifty and even though Hayden was keeping pace his run-scoring speed was surprising. By the time he reached his century, which was celebrated with a hug from Michael Clarke, he had struck only nine fours, but it came from 126 deliveries.

"It was one of my best Test hundreds because of the conditions we had at hand," he said. "I was pretty pumped, it was great."

The MCG stirs Hayden, who played his first home Test here in 1996-97, and he had extra reasons to perform this time. "I've built this match up more so than any other," he said. "It announces the start of the summer for us."

The series began with an eventful and intriguing first day, but Hayden does not expect things to happen quickly over the rest of the match. "It's definitely going to be a wicket that's going to be hard to score on," he said. "There are slow conditions and I can see us really putting the pressure on through good in-out fields. We'll try to constrict India and I definitely think the wicket's going to deteriorate."

Two years ago Hayden played on an MCG pitch that he said was worse than this one. It was wet on the first day, when he scored 65, but he managed to overcome the difficulties in the second innings with 137. Over the next couple of days his forecasting will be tested.

Peter English is the Australasian editor of Cricinfo

© Cricinfo

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ausvind/content/current/story/327524.html

[Blwe_torch]

Pleasing everyone at once

Peter English

December 26, 2007


Anil Kumble's wickets caused both sets of supporters to cheer © Getty Images
 
Groups of Australians spent the afternoon wondering whether they were being unpatriotic for smiling when India started running through the home team. For the first session those local supporters who demand nothing but dominance by Ricky Ponting's men were satisfied with the direction of the game. Their disgruntlement when it changed in the second session was offset by the joy felt - and heard - at the ground by cricket supporters who are desperate to see Australia challenged. After the first day there is hope this series might be the fair fight fans have been craving since the 2005 Ashes.


Australia's Test pattern seemed to be continuing when Matthew Hayden and Phil Jaques reached 135 in front of the ecstatic sardines in Bay 13. Was it too early to call the series? Sri Lanka were suffocated after giving up gigantic first-innings totals in November and India looked set to suffer the same problem.


Fortunately Anil Kumble arrived after lunch with a couple of precise wrong'uns and Australia quickly lost 3 for 30. For any other team it would not qualify as a collapse, but it does for a side that has such a celebrated order. A stadium that was two-thirds full was quickly taking extra notice. Australia, who have been so dominant in their 14-match winning streak, were experiencing a slice of pressure on a tricky surface and optimistic locals started smirking behind their hands.


The players talk about their love of being tested and competing under the toughest conditions. Since England arrived in 2006 the scenario has occurred infrequently and usually only in one-day internationals. Nothing is better than watching high-quality players when they are being eyeballed.


Having lost three top-order wickets in a session, Australia's batsmen started to behave differently. Michael Clarke, who left slashing at a wide delivery, was particularly nervy when he arrived in the unusual situation, looking for a single that wasn't there and being sent back by Hayden, who was immune from the problems while producing a steadying 124. Hayden would later speak in depth about the difficulty of the pitch, but external stresses also contributed to his team-mates' discomfort.


Andrew Symonds stepped out, started flaying from the first ball, which he pulled into his foot, and never gained composure. His game is built on aggression, but tension had spread through the order and he was trying unsuccessfully to shake it off. The policy also didn't work for Adam Gilchrist, who batted on the opening day of a Test for the first time in more than a year.


Indians in the stands danced again after Gilchrist, who tried to thrash a Kumble offering that was too far outside off stump for the shot, was caught by Sachin Tendulkar. Gilchrist's method is similar to Symonds' and no punishment will be invoked, but the dismissal added to a strangely casual performance from players who have grown used to pummeling.


The visitors are being supported by thousands at the MCG, but the noise made during the dismissals came from more than those whose affinity is with India. Some of the locals who had wished for wickets early in the day might have started squirming as the departures refused to stop, but the crowd remained glued to the game.


Australia are not in trouble - India's batting order is under-prepared and 9 for 337 will never be handed back - but the excitement will hang around the MCG. People will walk to the ground on day two not knowing what will happen. A contest is here and it's exciting.

Peter English is the Australasian editor of Cricinfo

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ausvind/content/current/story/327513.html

[Blwe_torch]

A timely revival of the jet-lagged

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan in Melbourne

December 26, 2007
So jet-lagged were a few Indian players on arrival that some spent the first few days in Melbourne sleeping. It helped that the warm-up match against Victoria was rained off, allowing them a longer rest. And if they were still struggling, there was always Boxing Day, a bank holiday. India normally spend the first day of an away series sleeping and by lunch today they were sleepwalking. What followed was pleasantly shocking and not Indian cricket as we've come to know it.

Nobody should have been surprised at the opening. Once the toss and national anthems were done, the scorers might as well have given Australia a head-start before the first ball. There was a buzz around the ground but India were taking their time. In the tenth over of the day, RP Singh, just crunched past point for four, was asking for another slip. But he seemed the only one awake at the time; Phil Jaques promptly edged the next one through the vacant fourth-slip region.

India seem to have replaced their poor travelers tag with one of poor starters. Series-opening days for India on tour are full of butterflies. Take out Virender Sehwag's mayhem in Multan and you have a forgettable record for the Indian team. West Indies began the 2002 series with 270 for 4 on the first day in Georgetown, England managed 257 for 4 at Lord's, Australia smacked 262 for 2 in Brisbane four years ago, Pakistan piled up 326 for 2 in Lahore and England settled into 268 for 4 at Lord's earlier this year. Things aren't that different when India bat first: 187 all out in Galle, 161 in Wellington, 241 in St John's, and 156 for 5 in Johannesburg.

At lunch today, Anil Kumble might have been wishing he'd won the toss but there was some comfort in the logic that it's better to slip up on the field rather than collapse with the bat. Also, he could always bring himself on, peg away and irritate. He had his googlies, toppies, and legbreaks to bank on. More importantly, he had been in this position all his life.

India returned from lunch revived - fittingly, given that their countrymen were waking up back home. Kumble set the alarm bells ringing with a fizzing googly past Jaques before Zaheer Khan, slicing through Ricky Ponting's defences, showed he was wide awake as well. Kumble then accounted for Mike Hussey with another googly, probably his best ball of the day. The ground was buzzing. Yuvraj Singh was bouncing up and down at point. India had finally arrived, not only in body but also in mind. Australia had dealt the early blow, India were unleashing a counter-punch.
RP Singh wasn't to be left behind. He had missed the previous series against Pakistan and started shakily here but he cranked it up a notch. "Drink, drive, bloody idiot," said a hoarding on the boundary. Michael Clarke couldn't be accused on the first count but he tried to drive a wide one at a wrong time and edged to slip. VVS Laxman's eyes lit up and, crouching low, he snapped up a beauty. This was the sort of cricket India usually play on the second day of the series, fighting back gallantly after being down. Instead they had turned their body clocks a good day ahead. What a difference five-and-a-half hours makes.

It wasn't naked aggression that won India the day (that was left to the two streakers who interrupted the show towards the end) but a controlled, planned, thought-filled approach. Put a short midwicket in for Andrew Symonds, who was swishing wildly, and you had a wicket. Slip in a googly to Adam Gilchrist and you had a wild hoick - a shot that was as ugly as the word itself. India will be thrilled that they've got rid of the first-day blues. There's little more they could have done to earn a wonderful night's sleep.

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan is an assistant editor at Cricinfo

© Cricinfo
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ausvind/content/current/story/327522.html