Western Australians Mitchell Marsh (211) and Sam Whiteman (174) rewrote the record books when they put on an amazing 371 for Australia A against India A in Brisbane on Tuesday.
This broke an 80-year-old record for a seventh-wicket partnership in all first class matches in Australia. So who held the record?
In 1934, in the New Year’s match against New South Wales, little-known Queenslanders WC Andrews and EC Bensted came together at 6 for 113 chasing New South Wales’ total of 318.
In the 336-run stand that followed, they both registered their highest first-class scores. Andrews made made 253 and Bensted scored 155. While they each played over 30 matches for their state, they never played for Australia.
Marsh and Whiteman put themselves into second place for the highest seventh-wicket stand anywhere in first class cricket. Who holds this record?
Again it involved two little-known cricketers, Pankaj Dharmani and Bhupinder Singh junior, who put on 460 for Punjab against Delhi in a 1994-95 Ranji Trophy semi final. Coming together at 6 for 298 in reply to 554, Singh was dismissed for 297, while Dharmani remained 202 not out. Dharmani played a single one-day international, scoring just 8 runs, while Singh never gained national selection despite averaging 46 in first-class cricket.
Can Marsh and Whiteman go on to greater things in cricket than these men? They certainly are both young and talented and must have gained great confidence from their efforts in Brisbane. What do you think Roarers?
Trenno
Guest
I see your point but I still feel Whiteman is at least 3 years away from selection if not 4. CA made the mistake of throwing young players in before their time (Agar, Hughes,ect) in the past few years and would have learnt from it. Payne is really at the point in his career that if he is going to make it it has to be now. Look at Matthew Hayden, the years it took him to get in to the team permanently made him the player he was once in. It's a balancing act, but one the officials at CA get paid well to handle.
Tom from Perth
Guest
Yeah Trenno, but CA TV asked him about whether he'd ever play for Eng now. He said he wouldn't, but that answer might have been different a couple years ago. So glad he's committed to playing for Aus. I think Whiteman should be the next keeper. There's little point in having Payne for a year. Haddin is good enough until Whiteman is ready to takes over. As Chappel says, it doesn't matter what age they are, pick them when they're ready.
Trenno
Guest
At 22 and only 20 first class games under his belt I think he needs a little more time to develop. The poms would have been after him, ESPN stats say he was born in Doncaster Yorkshire, so his inclusion in Australia A team may have been more to claim him as our own. Lucky we did if he is going to play like he is. Wade isn't the answer this year either. Payne should get another crack, I think it is a little self doubt that is holding him back from his absolute best at the moment. I would give him a shot against Zimbabwe,SAF & Pakistan in the ODI's as a No 3 then play him at 7 in the first test in Brisbane. Mitchell Marsh could push his way in however, his medium pace is more than handy and obviously does mind batting under pressure so he could be batting 6 for us before we know it.
Tom from Perth
Guest
I have the same concerns about Haddin. I'm not sure that Whiteman is ready though. If we could give him a try in this trination series coming up then it would be ideal. But with Haddin wanting to play in the World Cup he's not going to give up his spot.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I'd almost be tempted to be slotting Whiteman into the test side in the UAE. While Haddin had a brilliant home summer for Australia, he really struggled in South Africa and was actually quite poor with bat and gloves in the World T20. Maybe the Summer against England was a real last hurrah for him. If he retired from test cricket now it would be going out on a high, I fear that if he continues into next summer that he won't be able to replicate the form of the last Ashes and will end up having the tap on the shoulder and finishing with a bit of a low point.
KevC
Guest
I'm sure WC Andrews and EC Bensted's mums remembered their feat and celebrated their cricketing abilities - lets hope its not just Mrs Marsh and Mrs Whiteman who recall these two.
Pope Paul vii
Guest
'mazing