Genghis81 reporting from the Gabba

Genghis81 was out at the Gabba to follow all the action of the first ODI betweenn Australia and Pakistan.

By Haroon Khan

23rd January 2010

I left work early so I could maximise my day at the cricket. With Pakistan you just never know how long a game will last. I arrived at the Gabba a bit nervous. Nervous not only for Pakistan and the start of a new series, but also as today was my first day as a media representative of PakPassion. The hassle of trying to find where and how to enter the media section had me miss most of the first over action. Eventually I got hold of my pass and made my way up to the media centre. Walking along the narrow alleyway, I saw doors to my left with “ABC Radio”, “Channel 9” and I had to pinch myself that I was really just a door away from Richie, Tony, Tubby, Heals, etc.

I walked a bit further and there was Michael Slater talking on his mobile. He must have sensed my nerves and he smiled at me as I passed him. A couple of door further was the media room. As I stepped in, standing towering in front of me was Michael Kasprowich. I greeted him and introduced myself and PakPassion. To my surprise Kasper replied “Oh yes I know the website.” Kasper pointed me to an available spot up near the front where I could set myself up.

As I settled myself down and took out my notebook and camera, I was still star struck by where I was. I had probably the best seats in the house with a perfect view to watch the game. Up above my head were a couple of televisions showing the game as well as the Australian Open who some of the reporters may have been reporting. Just to my left was the Channel 9 commentary box and I could see the commentators through the glass window. Just in front and below was the players dressing rooms. The Pakistanis looked relaxed and in a jovial mood. To the left of me were also a few Pakistanis from GEO TV.

A Gabba representatives handed me a booklet - “Gabba One-day International History”. Flicking through, I saw Pakistan’s track record at the Gabba - 14 games, 6 wins and 7 losses. Then as I went down the page was another record for the Gabba which didn’t make for good reading. Pakistan made the lowest total of 71 all out at the Gabba back in Jan 1993. In fact I was at this very ground that day as a young 11 year old. Looking at the scorecard and our good start, I knew things weren’t going to be that bad today.

Looking through the playing list, I noticed Gul had missed out. So Rana with his good form in the KFC Big Bash was playing. Later I was to find out that he impressed so much in Tasmania that they have requested Rana to return again next year.

Before I knew it the first free hit of the day was offered to Butt by Bollinger. Butt duly obliged and gave himself room before hitting him over the off side field. It was the impetus that Salman needed and along with Kamran they set about building a solid partnership. Kamran was a bit more edgy and he eventually found the fielder as he skied a Watson ball miles into the atmosphere. It seemed like an eternity but eventually Clarke held onto it. This brought our ex-captain Younis Khan to the middle and everyone was a bit unsure of how he would go after a long layoff. He opened his account with a typical flick off his legs off the spinner as the ball rolled behind square.

Salman Butt meanwhile was really enjoying the bowling of McKay and hit him for 3 boundaries in the 21^st over. Pakistan were finally back with some confidence and with a long batting line-up we were looking set for a good score. The 50 partnership was up in no time with most of the scoring coming off Butt’s bat (Younis had only managed 7). Ponting looking for the breakthrough went to his lion heart Bollinger and in his second ball, Butt top edged a short ball to a running Haddin. He had made 72 but would have been disappointed as a century was there for the taking.

In came the new captain to bat with his ex. With both playing cautiously, you sensed that the swashbuckling that was happening with Butt and Akmal would be put on hold. Although Yousuf didn’t last long as he dropped a ball and watched it as it bounced right on top of his stumps. The bails were dislodged and Yousuf must have regretted not trying to hit the ball away.

However the disappointment was soon converted to excitement as the livewire Umar Akmal made his way out to the middle. The Aussie crowd haven seen his attacking batting in the test arena were hoping for more in this game. And he didn’t disappoint. Mixing power with some deft touches. But even he did not last long. Shoaib Malik came to the crease and with Younis also looked to build a good partnership.

All the while Pakistan kept losing wickets and when Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik and a promoted young Mohammad Aamer went in quick succession, there was a real danger that Pakistan’s innings may fade away. In stepped Shahid Afridi. He hit three powerful sixes and five fours to all parts of the ground to propel the scorecard. He fell for a well made 48 trying to hit one too many being caught at deep midwicket. The tail was not able to find the gaps and so Pakistan’s total finished on 274.

It was a fighting total as Salman Butt later described. Australia in fact had never chased greater than 267 at the Gabba and with a strong bowling line-up Pakistan were going to be a real challenge.

Aamer and Asif began proceedings and Aamer was particularly impressive with his pace troubling the Australian openers. He got his just reward by surprising Watson with a short ball which hit his bat handle before falling easily to Ajmal at mid on. Asif on the other hand was just doing what he does best in bowling line and length. Eventually frustrating Marsh enough to force him to chip straight to Rana at mid off.

Pakistan were off to a flyer and the Pakistanis in the crowd were jubilant. Chants of “Jeete ga, jeeta ga, Pakistan Jeete ga” were heard from each corner of the Gabba. Not much later Ricky Ponting was also on his way back to the pavilion. Three down and still almost 200 runs behind, Australia needed a partnership and it is precisely what they got.

White and Clarke played sensible cricket. Clarke was intent on finding gaps, and he ran the Pakistani fielders ragged. White was a bit more aggressive and played some meaty blows off all the bowlers. Ajmal in particular was attacked bowling from the Vulture Street end (shorter part of the ground). Sensing this, Yousuf decided to bring Ajmal back on at the Stanley Street end where Afridi was having a bit more luck. Yousuf continued to change his bowlers around but these two continued to find the gaps.

Aamer came back into the attack and looked the most likely to get a wicket. He hit Clarke in the ribs with a nasty short ball which stopped play for a while. A little later he bowled another short ball to Clarke who pulled him to Butt who made a meal of it. The GEO TV reporters next to me were all of a sudden into action. Who dropped it, who was the bowler, who was the batsmen – they wanted all the answers. Obviously fielding is definitely the big topic in Pakistani cricket at the moment.

Rana also came back to try something different but was met by two boundaries hit by White. On the third ball, Rana pitched it up and White tapped it to the offside looking for the quick single. Anyone who has watched the KFC Big Bash games will have seen Rana run out a few batsmen off his own bowling, and he did it again tonight as he showed good awareness and speed to run out Clarke. Clarke left for a well made 58 which included 40 singles.

Afridi had bowled his 9 overs from the Stanley Street end and had been fairly successful, but Yousuf decided to give him his last over from the shorter Vulture Street end. If it was a gamble, it didn’t pay off as White hit Afridi for 3 consecutive sixes to kill the game. Not much later White brought up his second ODI century but his first on home soil. Rana did bowl White deceiving him with a slower ball, but the damage was done and Australia romped home with 5 wickets in hand.

I sat disappointed and felt sorry for the Pakistani players. They remain winless on this tour. I started packing up my gear as I was now to make my way down for the press conference. I began thinking about what I needed to ask Yousuf and Ponting. Although I was disappointed to hear from the GEO reporters that Yousuf had decided to send Salman Butt down instead for the press conference. So the tough questions on team selection, strategy and ODI expectations were put in the backburner.

Butt arrived eventually and sat down in front of us. His mood was quite clearly of disappointment. He began by stating “I thought it was a good fighting score and provided that we bowled well, we could have won this game.” In regards to the Gabba pitch, he said that “This pitch had more bounce and pace than any pitch we have played on this tour.

When asked if he felt after the Ricky Ponting dismissal they were ahead in the game, he said “In One Day cricket there are moments in the game where you feel if you get one more wicket you will be on top, when Ricky got out, I still feel we still needed one more. Instead a partnership developed and they played really well.”

Regarding his good hitout in the middle today, he said “Today the ball was coming on nicely and I was seeing the ball well which allowed me to play positively”

When queried on his good record in Australia he said “Australia is a lovely place to play cricket.”

In regards to his drop, he admitted it “was a catch I should have taken.”

As Butt made way, Ponting came in a much happier mood along with Man of the Match Cameron White. He began by stating “it was a very good win tonight which was made to look rather comfortable thanks to a couple of good partnerships. It was a bit hard at the start of the game with some moisture on the pitch.” Ponting was obviously really proud of the win, particularly praising White and the way he constructed his innings and attacking Afridi with those late blows when the time was right. He stated “I was actually going to tell the 12^th man to tell White to take the powerplay next over, but he didn’t bother taking it and ended up hitting 3 sixes in the over. That’s a good sign of reading the game. Obviously he was hitting to the shorter boundary.” White said “I wasn’t going to hit Afridi to the long boundary so I was waiting for him or Ajmal to come on the other end. I felt it was a good time to go and get up to the run rate. And it came off tonight.”

Ponting was also asked about the low crowd turnout at the game today and whether the end of ODI cricket was nigh. The crowd of 19,758 was in fact the lowest for an international game at the Gabba for over a decade. Ponting still feels that ODI have a place in the game. “The last few series we have played in we’ve played some incredible one day games and tonight is another one of those. If that keeps happening I don’t think anybody will be talking down the 50 over game. If you look at it, tonight was a great spectacle,” he stated.

As Ponting and White walked off, I looked at the time. It was late! As I left the ground, the Pakistani player bus had just pulled up, I passed on my regards to my good friend Rana, and then got a quick photo with captain Yousuf as he made his way to the bus. It’s 4am now as I finish writing up this article. That’s one long, long day ... I think I will hold onto my day job.

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