Anything but an “Arthur Morris”

I should start by clarifying the subject and stating unequivocally, that to be compared to Arthur Morris is always a high compliment. Arthur Morris was a left-handed opening batsman who played for Australia in the late forties and through the fifties. He was a key member of the 1948 “Invincibles”, and was, in fact, the most successful batsman in that Test series on average and total runs. Bradman (173 not out) and Morris (182) shared a monumental partnership of 301 at Leeds, in the fourth Test as Australia famously scored 404 in less than a day to win the Test. One can only find good things to read about Arthur Morris, both on and off the field.

This article is about Adam Gilchrist and some discussion that transpired around his century in the 3rd Test against Pakistan, in Sydney earlier this year.

During Gilchrist’s onslaught in Sydney, an ABC listener called Jim Maxwell to say that in all of the Australian innings where Gilchrist had scored a century, except for one, at least one other Aussie had also made a ton. Some discussion followed about whether this diminished some of his Gillie’s achievements. I’m happy to say that Jim stood buy Gillie and declared that he still rated him as one of the very best ever.

Evidently, someone at the Daily Telegraph must have been listening because an article along those lines featured in the Telegraph the next day. I was fortunate enough to be having dinner at Hungry Jacks with the family and was reading the Tele (something that I normally would not do) and it listed all of Gillie’s centuries and those others that had scored well in the innings. Australian coach, John Buchanan (whose comments are generally best ignored, in my opinion) expressed that Gillie had played “another Arthur Morris”.

This refers to Bradman’s final innings (the match after the previously mentioned Leeds Test) where Bradman mad a duck (which every person in the world knows). Morris was at the other end when Bradman fell and indeed was at the other end when all other wickets fell. He made a sensational 196 (run out) from a score of the 389 and Australia won by an innings with only two other batsmen passing fifty in the match. Of course, Morris’s wonderful innings is not remembered due to other events.

The parallel being drawn with Gilchrist is that many of his wonderful centuries have been scored while someone else takes the limelight. In Sydney, Gillie made 113 while Ponting ended up with 207. Gillie was at the end another time when Ponting made 200, in the West Indies. Gilchrist and Hayden plundered Zimbabwe with Hayden making the then world record score of 380.

However, to say that Gilchrist’s contributions were superfluous to requirements or have come as easy runs in the majority of cases is simply not true. I am perhaps the biggest fan of Adam Gilchrist in the world, and the suggestion galls me.

As it was late in the day, I wondered if Hungry Jacks may not miss one copy of the Telegraph and considered taking it for the list of innings. However, my conscience got the better of me and I have done my research. And it confirms what I believed: Many of Gilchrist’s “double acts” were rescue missions. The most spectacular of course being his very first century, scored as he and Langer won the day in Hobart, against Pakistan. I have listed all of his efforts below and you can see that there are several cases where he came in at five down with Australia in big trouble. Even recently against New Zealand, he rescued the situation with Katich.

And few obvious points:

Gilchrist gives the guys at the other end the chance to make big scores by staying with them.

And visa versa – Gilchrist, even scoring at the pace he does, needs a partner at the other end so that he can keep batting. Having a recognised batsman at the other end (who is busy scoring a century) gives him his best chance to make a century.

How many centuries more would Gillie have scored if he had not run out of partners? As recently as the last Test played, he was left stranded on 60 not out.

And my opinion is that playing with Gilchrist is inspirational. There is no doubt in my mind that Australia would not have won in Hobart without Gilchrist. Langer got the man of the match because he had made 70 in the first dig along with his second innings hundred. I think the award should have gone to Gillie – the pace at which Gilchrist scored (and always scores) made such an enormous target seem achievable because it was achieved in half the time expected (mathematically reducing the chance of getting out).

Gilchrist does not need any defending. I don’t think that anyone was seriously trying to denigrate his achievements. They would not be so bold. But even the hint of it gets me on the defensive. Not only is Gilchrist a once in a lifetime player, his behaviour off the field has always been exemplary. As he waited and waited for Healy to move on, he only ever had good things to say about Heals. Of course, that was prudent but it always seemed genuine. His love and support of his leaders (especially Steve Waugh) is admirable, he interviews well and is natural and charismatic in the ads. It should also be mentioned that he has joined Steve Waugh in humanitarian work in India. And that is not to mention Gilchrist’s stance on walking. That deserves a separate discussion in itself.

Gillie’s centuries
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1. 149 not out (163 balls). Hobart, Nov 1999 v Pakistan. 4th innings. Came in at 5/126 with Aust requiring a further 243 for victory. Famously won the match with Langer (126).

2. 122 (112 balls). Mumbai, Feb 2001 v India. 2nd Innings. Came in at 5/99 chasing India’s 176. Shared a 197 run stand with Hayden (119), helping Australia to 359 and eventually victory by 10 wickets.

3. 152 (143 balls). Birmingham, July 2001 v England. 2nd innings. Came in at 5/336 with Australia already in front of England’s first innings of 294 thanks to S Waugh (105) and Martyn (105). Shared a last wicket stand of 63 with McGrath (1) in eigth overs as Australia made 576. Australia won by an innings and 118 runs.

4. 118 (158 balls). Brisbane, Nov 2001 v New Zealand. 1st innings. Came in at 5/260 following a 233 opening stand (Hayden 136 and Langer 104) and then a collaspe that was typical of the time. Helped the lower order to 486 and was last man out. Match drawn following a bad weather is remember as one that Australia was lucky not to lose – but only after NZ trailed by 199 on the first innings and Australia made an extremely sporting declaration.

5. 204 not out (213 balls). Johannesburg, Feb 2002 v South Africa. 1st inninsg. Came in at 5/293 (Hayden already out for 122) and put on 317 with Martyn (133) as Australia made 7/652 and won by an innings and 360 runs.

6. 138 (108 balls). Cape Town, Mar 2002 v South Africa. 2nd innings. Came in at 5/176 with Australia chasing 239. Partnership with of 132 with Warne (63) helped Australia to 382 and victory by 4 wickets.

7. 133 (121 balls). Sydney, Jan 2003 v England. 2nd innings. Came in at 5/150 chasing 362. Partnership of 91 with Steve Waugh (102 – yes, that innings) as Australia struggled to 363. Australia lost by 225.

8. 101 not out (104 balls). Port-of-Spain, April 2003 v West Indies. 1st innings. Came in at 3/371 at the fall of Lehmann (160). Shared partnership of 171 with Ponting (206) ad Australia made 4/576 and went on to win by 118 runs.

9. 113 not out (94 balls). Perth, Oct 2003 v Zimbabwe. Came in at 5/502. Shared a partnership of 233 with Hayden (380) as Australia posted 6/735. Aust won by an innings and 175 runs.

10. 144 (185 balls). Kandy, Mar 2004 v Sri Lanka. 3rd innings. Came in at 1/11 with Australia still trailing Sri Lanka by 80 runs on the first innings. Shared a partnership of 200 with Martyn (161) and saved the test. Australia made 442 and won by 27 runs.

11. 104 (109 balls). Bangalore, Oct 2004 v India. 1st innings. Came in at 5/256 and shared partnership of 167 with Clarke (151 on debut). Australia made 474 and went on to win by 217 runs.

12. 126 (151 balls). Brisbane, Nov 2004 v NZ. 2nd innings. Came in at 5/222 with Australia 131 in arrears of New Zealands 353. Shared a partnership with Clarke of 216 as Australia recovered to 585 and won an innings and 156.

13. 113 (120 balls). Sydney, Jan 2005 v Pak. 2nd innings. Came in at 4/318 with Australia 14 runs in front of Pakistan’s 304. Shared partnership of 153 with Ponting (207) as Australia made 568 and won by 9 wickets.

14. 121 (126 balls). Christchurch, Mar 2005 v NZ. 2nd innings. Came in at 6/201 (Gillespie had been night watchman) with Australia 232 in arrears of New Zealand’s 433. Shared a partnership with Katich of 212 as Australia recovered to 432. Australia won by 9 wickets.

15. 162 (146 balls). Wellington, Mar 2005 v NZ. 1st innings. Came in at 5/247. Shared partnership of 256 with Martyn (165). Final score 570. Match drawn due to rain.

New Zealand wins a Test match

Australia may not be currently engaged in action, but there is cricket going on around the world.

Please let’s hear it for the Kiwis. Discounting a series against Bangladesh in October 2004, NZ has won their first Test match since March 2004, when they beat the Boks in Auckland. In the interim that have been beaten in three series against the world’s two best teams – flogged at home and away against Australia and away to England. As can be the case, as long as your morale is not totally shattered, being put up against the best (and losing badly), can make playing the lesser lights seem that much easier.

In this series, New Zealand has scored handsomely in both Tests, while they managed to bowl Sri Lanka out twice in the second Test, thanks to James Franklin and Chris Martin. It is interesting to note that the Kiwis who showed some promise against the Aussies (Hamish Marshall, Astle, Vincent and Franklin) have sparkled against a weakened Sri Lankan attack. Also note that after taking two wickets at 198.5, Chris Martin managed 6/54 in Sri Lanka’s first innings.

In India, Pakistan and India are at 2-2 in the ODI series, with Pakistan successfully chasing 316 from a maximum of 48 overs.

Over in the Caribbean, the West Indies have lost the second Test to trail 0-1 in the four Test series. Special mention to Makhaya Ntini who after just one wicket in the first Test as Hinds and Chanderpaul both plundered double centuries, took motm figures of 13/132 (6/95 & 7/37). Special mention also to Brian Lara. Say what you like about him: He might be soft-headed, egocentric, illusive and enigmatic but the man is a batting genius. Having not played a first class match for five months, he walked up cold (I guess he had a net) and reeled of 196 (with the next best of his team mates being 35).