Cricket chat
Smitty's due a big one. That, along with our epic bowling lineup and Warner back might just get us over the line. Agree with above comments on India though, they're an amazing team. That's why it stings to lose!
Fark, I didn't realise Starc and Hazlewood are both so tall. Like you say, from an average person's point of view they're all tall. Haha. I'm 5'8.
There was a play about this tour called Black Cockatoo at the Syndey Festival 12 months ago, would make a good film.
Ajinkya Rahane’s performance as captain in the Boxing Day Test made him the first recipient of an accolade that goes a short way to addressing the wrongs of the past. As man of the match, Rahane was awarded the Mullagh Medal, named after Johnny Mullagh, who this week became the first Aboriginal inductee — and non-Test player — to the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.
This was 152 years in the making. Mullagh was a protagonist in one of the most remarkable, controversial and underappreciated episodes in sport. He is the most famous member of the Australian Aboriginals who came to England in 1868 on a cricket tour, the first organised excursion overseas by Australian sportsmen.
Charles Lawrence — the captain who played first-class cricket for Surrey, Middlesex and New South Wales — assembled 13 stockmen of varying cricketing acumen and brought them to Britain after 79 days at sea, having covertly left Victoria for Sydney. They had no agency but they had talent. They were, to quote The Kyneton Observer, “strange knights of the willow”.
Even the fact that Mullagh is known by that name is an old slight. His real name was Unaarrimin. The Times wrote on May 26, 1868: “As most of their native names are polysyllabic, and not very euphonious, each has adopted a sobriquet under which he will doubtlessly be recognised in this country.” Among the team were Dick-a-Dick (Jungunjinanuke), Peter (Arrahmunyarrimun) and Jimmy Mosquito (Grougarrong).
The Australian Aboriginals had previously played against Melbourne Cricket Club in 1866. They received vast support but newspaper clippings from the time show how the players were regarded. The correspondent for Bell’s Life in Victoria wrote: “They showed the stolid indifference and imperturbable behaviour for which the savage race is remarkable and they took their beating with the best grace imaginable.”
This combination of surprised approval with racism is present throughout. After the first match of the tour against Surrey at the Oval, The Times correspondent remarked that they seemed “perfectly civilised, and were quite familiar with the English language”. A sense of curiosity drove events — often in unpalatable terms by modern standards — but there was interest in how the tourists would fare on the field. Sporting Life had heard only that Johnny Cuzens (Yellanach) and Mullagh were precise bowlers.
They started with defeat by an innings and seven runs. A correspondent wrote that “it was apparent to everyone on Monday that these Aboriginals had little or no chance against the cultivated team which Surrey had summoned”. He diagnosed a lack of power and defensive attributes in the batting — save for Mullagh, who scored 73 when following on — but he was certain that their hesitant running between the wickets would improve from “practice with good players” in Britain. Mullagh was carried around the Oval on the shoulders of his opponents for his deeds.
This was a gruelling tour. Between May 25 and October 17, the Australians played 47 matches all over the country. They won as many games as they lost, overcoming Carrow, Bootle (twice), Longsight, Tynemouth, Scarborough, Hunslet, Burton-on-Trent, Witham, East Hampshire and Reading, as well as the Gentlemen of Lewisham, Halifax and Swansea (during a brief stint in Wales) respectively. Off the field, ladies were reported to delight in playing piano for the tourists’ amusement at parties.
There was tragedy among the positive results. Sundown (Ballrinjarrimin) and Jim Crow (Lyterjebillijun) returned home because of ill health. King Cole (Bripumyarrumin) died of pneumonia, thousands of miles from his land, and only Lawrence attended the funeral in Tower Hamlets (it is not known when the team-mates were told of the news). Meanwhile matches continued, with William Shepherd and William Norton leading the XI while Lawrence was at King Cole’s bedside at Guy’s Hospital.
The tourists also put on exhibitions of “native sports”, with running races (including over 100 yards, backwards), high jump, spear throwing and Dick-a-Dick dodging cricket balls (he was hit only once all tour). On September 14, The Times reported that Mullagh’s boomerang caught the wind and “struck a gentleman on the head, the brim of the hat saving the face from severe laceration”. The spectator returned home after the wound across his brow was seen to. All the while money would be changing hands.
George Tarrant, the All England Eleven bowler, acclaimed Mullagh as among the finest batsmen he had encountered. Cricket Archive records him as having played in 45 of the fixtures; he scored nine half-centuries in a haul of just under 1,700 runs and took 245 wickets from more than 7,000 balls bowled. Both of his tour bests came in a thumping innings-and-218-run victory over Reading, scoring 94 and taking eight for nine.
He was not without support, though contributions came from only a handful of players. Lawrence scored four half-centuries, while Bullocky (Bullchanach) and Red Cap (Brimbunyah) passed 50 once apiece. Mullagh’s equal in the batting stakes was Cuzens, who matched his tally of nine fifties.
In October, English batsmen stood little to no chance against the fast round-arm of Twopenny (Murrumgunarriman): in three consecutive innings, he took nine for nine, six for seven and nine for 17. Fifteen years later, The Maitland Mercury reported that Twopenny had died of dropsy and his feats had done nothing to shift the dial of prejudice. “One of the finest-looking and most intelligent Aboriginals I ever saw,” the author wrote, “but, like most of his countrymen, endowed with a great hatred of work.”
Had WinViz existed, the tourists would have been favourites at the halfway stage against MCC at Lord’s in June, where Mullagh gave one of his finest all-round performances. Having bowled throughout the first innings for figures of 45.2-13-82-5, he scored 75 from No 5 (Lawrence was the only other man to pass 13) and then took 16.1-6-19-3. The tourists needed 101 to beat the sport’s most famous club, but they were all out for 45.
The Australians eventually returned home and never toured again. Under the Aboriginal Protection Act 1869, every aspect of their lives was controlled. Despite proving themselves as capable sportsmen, no new freedoms came their way.
After the tour, Mullagh was a professional with Melbourne CC and would go on to play one first-class match for Victoria in 1879. He died the day after his 50th birthday, on August 14, 1891. Sydney’s Evening News carried a report of his death, noting that he was the “principal bat in the famous Aboriginal team”. It continued: “Mullagh had often refused overtures made to him to provide him with a suitable home in his old age, but he chose to live near his birthplace at Pine Hills, and to some extent after the custom of his forefathers. He was the last of his tribe.”
The last of his tribe, but hopefully the first of many to be recognised for his achievements on this pioneering tour.
David Sampson has written a very good essay on the tour: Culture, ‘Race’ and Discrimination in the 1868 Aboriginal Cricket Tour of England (2009). Also worth looking up is a piece, now on the Wisden website, about Dick-a-Dick - a fascinating character; the photograph of the parrying shield and leangle included in the piece helps convey a sense of the exhibitions of “native sports” the team performed and the skill of Dick-a-Dick in evading those cricket balls.
Happy for Joe Burns to get some runs. Still think he needed to be dropped, but hopefully this is a turning point for him, even tho it's 20/20.
Upnorth , great article , there were reports that Australians Aboriginal team were totally ambidextrous......could bat/ bowl and field , even run backwards fielding....a remarkable story ....
Pops wrote:.
Joel Garner 6' 8" met the big fella in 1978 shooting the WI v Aust Test in Bridgetown Barbados
Taller but not as fast as Thomo though who was so quick back then, shows power more than just height generates the speed
Great read Upnorth. Cheers for sharing.
Thanks Upnorth
Surely using his birth indigenous name rather than a moniker would be more appropriate.
I've always wondered whether the speed gun measured velocity on a single pane rather than true ball speed.
Not doubting Garner and McGrath weren't the quickest but maybe they 'lost' a k or 2 to the shorter blokes due to radar limitations (as opposed to the true experience of the batsmen).
Thanks for sharing Upnorth. What a remarkable story. Those guys were heroic.
New mystery case in Vic visited day 2 of the cricket at MCG.
Apparently not infectious at that time, but yeah....
Good luck Sydney
Great story of first Australian team, legends!
NZ beat Pakistan 2-0. Could well be NZ vs Australia at Lords now.
Well that gamble certainly didnt pay off......
Good day. Really happy for Pucovski with the battles he's had. I thought S.Smith went out with real intent to dig in and show some focus and he looked pretty good... certainly better than he's been of late. Marnus was solid as well.
Given the turn Ashwin got late in the day, I think the goat could be in for a big game.
Yeah Pops, when he played straight he looked just like M. Waugh. I really like the look of both him and Cam Green, but as an observation I think they both have a tendency to let their head fall over towards the off stump opening up the opportunity of being bowled or lbw. If they work that out I reckon they could be there for a long time.
Now that was unexpected. Just tuned in expecting to see a mammoth total and they are all out. Interesting.
It didn't feel like 338 was enough yesterday but there you go, 94 run first innings lead.
Well played India. Some people say Test cricket is boring and can't understand how there isn't a result after 5 days. This game had the ebbs and flows that make me a die hard fan, even with the result being a draw.
Be interesting to see what shape the teams make for Brissy. Don't think Aus will change, but India have a few decisions to make... great stuff
Great fight by India but what is wrong with Smith? And Paine for that matter, the mask slipped for the Aussies in this match. Smith is a rare talent but he does himself no favours. He's already been caught ball tampering, he lied to officials until the moment the pictures came to light, had a lengthy ban, had to step down as captain in disgrace and now he's scuffing up the crease to remove Risbah Pants guard while pretending to shadow bat. Again caught on camera. Its just embarrassing, this side to his character will be remembered over what he achieves with the bat.
And Paine was brought as captain as Australia sought to rebuild its reputation, this was meant to be Australia 2.0 after sandpapergate. Granted the report commissioned by Cricket Australia was a joke, they still insist only three people were involved in the ball tampering conspiracy, but wasn't there meant to be a cultural shift around how the game of cricket is played by Australia? The win at all costs mentality, abuse the shit out of opponents if you can't win fairly attitude was meant to be a thing of the past. Those attitudes cemented in grade cricket are hard to change but it seems the willingness to change isn't there, its disappointing that Australia have again lowered the bar and its not a good look.
Paine should concentrate on catching the ball rather than annoying the batsman with his endless boring sledges. It looked like a big dose of karma was dished out to him.
Hopefully some big fines are forthcoming for Smith and Paine. Also, could someone please advise when the rule was changed to allow fielders' shadows to be on the pitch? Wade and Labuschagne were so close to Ashwin (in particular) that surely they were intimidating/distracting the batsmen (I hate the PC term, 'batters').
I think Paine already had a fine of 15% match fee from day 3, swearing at the umpire when a DRS review didn't his way, then he was caught on the stump mike abusing Ashwin on the last day.
Pops, Re smith, Sehwag tweeted a clip from the stump cam and its pretty clear, he walks over to the crease, checks no one is looking then scuffs the guard mark and walks off. Even if it wasn't deliberate, Smith knows enough about batting to appreciate how that could unsettle an opposition batsman. Just play the game fairly.
Yeah that was class from Wade wasn't it. Considering the shit the Indian team have had to put up with even before this game, you'd hope Paine and co would play hard but treat the visitors with a bit more respect.
Great to see Paine front up in the cold light of day & explain/apologise for his recent poor actions. I’ve personally been a big fan of Paine since he stepped up to Captain & attempted to drag the Aussie team to a place of respectability. He deserves much credit for that. No doubt he recently had a shocker not only with the gloves but also his mouth & agree it was ugly & arrogant & needed to be nipped in the bud. JL also needs to take some responsibility too. He is driving the culture change & the buck stops with him. Regarding the banter via stump microphone I reckon it’s a great insight into the game so long as it’s in good spirit.
Steve Smith needs to pull his head in real quick. He had no need to be shadow batting/marking guard etc on Day 5 in the full knowledge he would not be batting again. It was arrogant & completely unnecessary. By all accounts it’s not against the rules but maybe it should be. No need for the fielding team to be on the pitch unless bowling or fielding the ball etc.
It was a great test match. Credit to Australia for getting into a position to be able to clearly win the game & equally to India for their incredible resistance & resilience. Hopefully the Gabba Test is a pearler too. The Aussies may have a great record there but India will be licking their lips at the prospect of another series win.
ljkarma, yeah, power & efficiency in harnessing it.
Were you shooting as in photography for the papers?
If you were involved in cricket media back then you might well have known my grandfather... I thiiink he still would have been commentating then.
Hey Pops,
surf trip to Barbados, St Lucia and always travelled with all my Nikon photog gear lenses tripod etc. So walk into foyer of our hotel in Bridgetown and run into David Hill who I knew well from Surfabout/Coke days and he asks me to come and cover the match for the day. Big call as Soup Bowls was going off which I had to myself but went along and had a great day and big night with the teams drinking too much good rum.
Those guys got so pissed on Mount Gay and Cockspur but fronted to play...freaks!
So maybe met your dad as my coverage was used back home here in the press.
Pucovski out. Harris in. Good luck Harris. No pressure :-)
Walking wounded alright Pops! The stage is set for someone to cover themselves in glory. Hopefully there’s a result either way.
Well pops was not that hard to choose as I was almost surfed out scoring both North and South shores of Barbados, mini Oahu, but no one out.
Never forget the cricket as the previous matches were riots and this one was escalating as rain threatening to cancel but sun came out and it was game on.
Crazy Basians pissed on rum and corralled being high wire fences chanting and going off. We were holed up in the tiny members stand with wire messing and police on horseback for security until game started.
I was allowed on field to shoot and caused big stir showered with bottles for stopping game for being in batsman line of sight.
Made surfing big Soupbowls a whole less scary.
Why didn't you point out the offenders to the authorities and have them removed from the ground (a la Siraj)?
On field banter is shit now cause the players know stump mikes are on.
Google 'best test match sledges' and there's some fucken rippers pre stump mikes.
Cricket has been usurped by wokesters even worse than surfing.....
“.....was seated in a section where several men dressed as lifeguards had a beer snake dismantled by security guards and another man was escorted from the ground for standing on his seat and starting an "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie" chant“
The beersnake gestapo are the worst.
Well bugger me, that was a surprise. Big ups to India. Showed a lot of heart after the 36 all out humiliation.
This forum went quiet haha. Gutsy performance by India. We lacked a bit of tactical nous and creativity in trying to get wickets IMO. Earlier in this thread someone mentioned India paying $7.50 for the win after falling for 36 in adelaide. The same odds were offered in Brisbane but I thought no way could this India B team win at the gabba so went for the draw. At least it made for an exciting final days test cricket.
Yep full credit to India. That will have to go down as one of the great series wins (by any team) & one of the great sporting triumphs. They had an amazing desire to compete through the whole series, even with all the odds stacked against them, which proved beyond my expectations of them. Great stuff.
Pity the Poms (not really) who are about head over to India for a test series.....
I think it more than anything exposes the fragility and weakness of the Australian batting lineup that a complete second string attack could bowl us out twice multiple times over the test series, yet our much vaunted "best attack in the world" couldn't do similar. I've had multiple conversations with cricket friends over David Warner and been shouted down mercilessly. First of all, in my opinion he should never have played for Australia again after the ball tampering, but that aside, he is NOT a test opening batsmen.
A huge well done to India who played proper TEST cricket with much more character and composure through significant adversity and injury.
Australia seemed to fall back into their deluded sense of superiority and arrogance after the 36 dismissal. Under pressure themselves they lacked grit and application and looked completely one dimensional.
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