Over recent seasons, inclement weather seems to have become moresynonymous with the Boxing Day Test than the sense of theatre andexcitement for which it has always been renowned
John Polack26-Dec-1999Over recent seasons, inclement weather seems to have become moresynonymous with the Boxing Day Test than the sense of theatre andexcitement for which it has always been renowned. And this year’sexperience will do little to alter the impression; more than two and ahalf hours of play lost at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on a dayduring which the quality of the conditions rarely exceeded themediocre.In those passages of play that were possible, another relativelyfamiliar pattern was also afforded repetition – namely, theAustralians’ indefatigable ability to recover from a poor start fromtheir top order batsmen.Following a three hour delay at the commencement, the locals hadindeed looked to be courting trouble when Greg Blewett (2) and JustinLanger (8) fell inside the first hour of play. But, around the oddfortuitous escape, they thereafter showed exactly the same sense ofsteely resolve that has marked several recoveries from poor startsearlier in the summer and progressed to a scoreline of 3/138 by thetime that bad light finally forced a cessation at 5:48 pm.It was essentially opener Michael Slater (64*) who was the main starof the action that was conceived and he hit a number of delightfulshots forward of the wicket throughout his exhibition. Despite theevidence of significant bounce and pace in an unusually whiteMelbourne pitch, the opener trusted his desire to play off the frontfoot for the most part and it reaped excellent rewards for him. Hisplay through the covers was sparkling and he was also impressive whentaking toll of those few deliveries directed on to the line of hispads.Together with a still fidgety Mark Waugh (41), Slater added 93 runsfor the third wicket and it was this association which essentiallydictated the course of the day’s proceedings. Moreover, it was aliaison which might ultimately come to be reviewed as one of the mostcritical of the Test. While there were signs that he was growingnoticeably in confidence the further his hand progressed, Waugh wasnevertheless scratchy right until the time that he was finally trappedlbw by Ajit Agarkar.Although he played some fine shots when permitted the opportunity tolaunch on to the front foot, he was noticeably cramped a number oftimes by short balls which cut back into him. At no time was this moreevident than when he fished hesitantly at an off cutter from JavagalSrinath (on 25) shortly after tea and survived a huge appeal for acaught behind verdict.Exhaustive replays seemed to confirm the validity of Umpire DavidShepherd’s verdict but it again underlined the notion that full timingand placement still remained a distant ideal for him for the moment.To some extent, this was confirmed by the notion that he also lookedunsure of himself when playing balls seaming away just outside theline of off stump.Prior to the Slater-Waugh association, the Australians had struggledagainst an Indian attack which seemed to relish the statement of faiththat had been invested in them by their captain’s decision uponwinning the toss to invite the Australians to bat. Although hisspirits must have been deflated signficantly just two balls into theday by the sight of Anil Kumble inexplicably snatching at and droppinga regulation chance to catch a nervous looking Blewett prod into thegully, Srinath (2/35) opened especially impressively.On a hard whitish pitch, he attained movement both in the air and offthe seam and also capitalised on the substantial pace and bounce in asomewhat atypical MCG pitch. It indeed served as no surprise that hewas able to induce a continually uncomfortable-looking Blewett tohorribly bottom edge a short ball from wide outside off stump into hiscastle with an attempted pull in his following over. So accurately didhe bowl initially, in fact, that the lbw dismissal of Langer 37minutes later did not represent any real shock either, even though theWestern Australian appeared to have been struck a little too high onthe pad for Umpire Shepherd’s decision to be wholeheartedlyconvincing.Agarkar (1/23) also bowled determinedly at the outset and again in thelate afternoon. Along with his new ball partner and an unimpressiveAnil Kumble and Venkatesh Prasad, however, he was substantively unableto cash in on his team’s two early breaks. Indeed, there was littlejoy for the Indians once Langer exited the stage, the Australiansshowing they were not in a sufficiently festive spirit to gift theiropponents any further opportunities to make regular incisions.