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Justin Langer's Postcards |
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TUESDAY 4 January 2000
Day three, third Test versus India
After a memorable celebration at the Crown Casino last night, it was back on the road this morning for a short flight to Sydney. Hangovers were multiplied by the extra Australian cricket team entourage, which included my two daughters, and Stephen's, Warney's, 'Buck's' and Misso's kids. After checking in to Quay West in Sydney it was off for a light training session at the SCG. If you ask me this was the perfect practice run. The batsmen had a bat against bowlers from around Sydney who had come down for a spell and the rest of the time was spent stretching, relaxing and a swim in the pool. Obviously being 2-0 up in the series gives us the opportunity to lighten the load a little, but more importantly it has been the mountains of cricket played that convinced Buck and Tugga to ease the load during today's training.
In seventh heaven after victory at the SCG
He was more nervous than I have ever seen him before. When he told us of his plan to help commemorate the first Test match of the century, Tugga was visibly apprehensive because he wasn't sure how his team would react to wearing the same skull caps that the team of 1900 wore. He should never have worried because after we had all got over the shock of the new look, every player was thrilled with the idea.
Being presented with our new baggy green caps by the Prime Minister, John Howard, was a great honour for the 12 guys in this first Australian Test team of the century. I felt a little sorry for Colin Miller who missed out on receiving a cap but I guess that is just part of not being selected in the final team. The caps are fantastic, and something I will cherish for the remainder of my days.
After the cap presentation Mark Waugh was honoured for his outstanding achievement of 100 Test matches for Australia and this was followed by the national anthem ceremony. Any player who reaches the century of Tests is a legend and 'Junior' is certainly one of these.
Luckily we have already won this series because had the team as a whole been less relaxed the events of the morning could have hampered some of the guy's preparations. As it was though we had a very enjoyable lead-up to this historic third Test against India.
When it came to cricket time Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and, surprisingly to some, decided to bat on a well grassed and harder-than-usual Sydney pitch. Before the game 'Tugga' had said that he had never seen a SCG pitch like this in his whole career. With the pre-game hype, a chance to bowl on this lively surface and win every Test of the summer and Warney chasing the record, there were 11 players in the middle of the SCG trembling with an adrenalin hit. It was no surprise to me that by stumps the Indians were in all types of bother. If not for a rainy spell, we could easily have been batting before stumps on day one.
As the rain was falling during the afternoon Pat Farmer, Australia's truly inspirational ultra, ultra long distance runner, visited the changing room. Having seen him on 'This is Your Life' I was ecstatic to have had a chance to meet the man face to face. What a fantastic bloke and Australian he is. Among other things his message was that you can achieve whatever you set out to achieve by giving it your all and never giving up on your dream. He also shared with us that he gets through his immensely long runs by always picturing the finishing line in his mind. By seeing the finishing line, it helps him get through every tough moment along the way and you can be sure there would be plenty of those as he is running his two marathons per day.
His words of motivation helped me get through a few tough periods during my first century at the SCG. There was times early on day two where I felt terrible with my bat in hand but I kept telling myself to hang in there and if I did there would be a Test century for the taking. My finishing line was initially the hundred but that turned into a bigger and more productive innings with the words of Pat Farmer ringing through my ears. Scoring a Test century is a marvellous feeling especially when it goes a long way towards putting your team into a commanding position.
With the help of 'Punter', who has had a brilliant last four Test matches, I always knew this game wouldn't last very long when the Indians had to bat for their second time. When India took the new ball at the end of day two I was amazed at how much life remained in the pitch. If I was still playing and missing on 150 then I thought it was going to be more than a battle for the Indian batsmen who must be down in confidence.
My predictions came true as Glenn McGrath, Damien Fleming and Brett Lee exploited the lively pitch perfectly. When Sachin pushed an easy catch to me at cover, the game again was as good as over. With an extension of a half-hour on day three we were able to clean up the Indian line-up and the Test match was ours in three days.
After winning six Tests this summer and seven now in succession, our celebration fitted the feat. At around 1am Punter led the team through "Underneath the Southern Cross". Rather than the normal changing room rendition, it was out into the centre of the SCG for a chance to sing our song for the last time this summer. With plenty to reminisce about, 'Punter' gave us one of the best ever versions of the victory song which is a part of Australian cricket folklore.
This summer has been so much fun. The team is very close and very, very determined to win Test matches. John Buchanan has been brilliant, Steve Waugh inspiring and the rest of my team-mates awesome in their individual and combined efforts. To be part of such a team is a dream come true. I only hope there are many more times like these to come.
From Sydney, JL
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