Boxing Day Test #1

It was a very interesting opening day of the Boxing Day Test at Uncle J-Rod's 'G.

At days conclusion I would have to say the visiting team took the honours.........something very rare indeed. With a day with the bat to come, up against Australia's weakest displine - bowling - , India may continue to hold the whip hand.

Australia had the fortune of winning the toss on what looked to be a good batting wicket. In typical fashion the openers were pro-active from the start, with large slices of luck mind you, but who dares wins. Khan and Singh were getting plenty of good swing early on. The turning point for me came after an hour or so, around the time the ball got a little softer and the swing began to disappear. The openers weathered the early storm and I felt the above mentioned opening bowlers began to panic slighly and bowled miles to full from then on. Things were looking very ominous.........we've all seen it many times over for years now. The whole series was on the line.

Enter Anil Kumble. He's been around for ever, but this time he is captain. In a single afternoon, when the heat was well and truely on, he responded. Showing all his guile and skill Kumble changed the face of the game taking five wickets and playing a huge hand in restricting Australia to 9/337 come stumps. A far cry from o/134 when he coaxed Jacques fataly out of his ground for a well made, yet at times, crab like 66.

Kumble rose to the occasion and bowled a captains spell, leading by example with the ball, inspiring his side. He is to be commended for a bold showing.

The same can't be said about Michael Clarke and Adam Gilchrist. Clarke, a very high profile personality, had a golden opportunity to perform on the big stage, when Australia needed him most and push forward his claims to one day ascend to the captaincy.........something that, up until now has just been paper talk.

Well, unlike Kumble, he failed spectacularly, making a very scratchy and nervous looking 20. Gilchrist too, had a big opportunity, but like many other times he played a reckless shot to Kumble and was out for 23. For all the praise heaped on Gilchrist as well as his inglorious headline grabbing sessions, I am disappointed he doesn't stand up more often than he does in Test match situations with the bat.

Matthew Hayden deserves praise for his magnficient innings saving effort, which has recieved less than it's far share in this column, but regular readers will be aware of how highly I rate Hayden and his contributions to the side.

Day 2 promises to be very interesting.......www.cricketwithballs.com "the hooking & pulling specialists"