The crowds flocked to North Sydney Oval yesterday to see the heavyweights of Australian cricket turn out for NSW against what they thought would be an easy win against a Tasmanian side who didn’t even field a specialist wicket-keeper.
Easy points and a chance to cement their selection in the upcoming Windies series? well, guys, take note, teamwork wins matches, not reputations.
It was the no-names of Tasmania who stole the show from the crowd favourites with smart, aggressive, and stylish cricket – something that had slipped the minds of the opposition.
They played as a team, all 11 starters contributing something to the win.
Jason Krezja again had us scratching our heads as to why he has been ignored these last 12 months, Brendan Drew and Brett Geeves, who are hardly household names in NSW, showed patience and skill to take the key wickets when Tasmania needed them, and undaunted by the sight of Australia’s test stars running in at them, the Tassie batters kept their heads and gave their bowlers a reprieve from taking to the crease again.
In contrast, Australia’s vice-captain Michael Clarke gave his wrist a workout. The queue for his autograph was longer than the bar – and given he only made 8, there was plenty of time to satisfy the fans!
Stuart Clark managed to take two wickets, but looked nowhere near the miserly bowler we have come to rely on in limited overs cricket. Phil Hughes did not have a happy time at slip, dropping two catches and making a certain run-out into a farce (I could only imagine Punter’s face if that had been a Test), and Brett Lee, who promised so much last week, again succumbed to his war-torn body.
NSW played the names on their backs, not the team in front of them.
Maybe next time we should be applauding the better team, not the individual stars?
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