WACA off limits, phones banned and early shots fired in Border Gavaskar skirmish
Not long now until the first Test in Perth
The WACA nets are in a state of purdah, prying eyes discouraged and mobile phones banned; Gautam Gambhir’s got his punk on; David Warner has shot a tourism ad for the Indian market, and any minute now I’m expecting a text from Ravi Shastri that says simply “Laaaaaalooore” - his traditional way of announcing that he is in town and it is time to get the Border Gavaskar Trophy underway.
This is going to be fun. Hell, it already is.
A BGT guarantees a “stink” or two (terrible phrase used by the journos to describe a controversy on tour) and we’ve had a taster with the “deteriorating” ball and the umpires in Mackay during the Australia A game. That incident passed without rising to anything too serious, but there will be more. There always is when Australia and India get together. This is a series that sucks up a lot of oxygen.
A quote from Jason Gillespie was doing the rounds at the end of the ODI series against Pakistan that seemed to imply Cricket Australia had not done enough to promote those three matches because the main game is the Test series.
It appears that was the case. I’ve heard about one Melbourne cricket fan who only realised the ODI game was on there when they drove past the ground. And, if they have concentrated on the Border Gavaskar at the expense of the ODIs I have no great problem with that. Yes, it was a bad look for Pat Cummins to be watching Coldplay (if he’d been at Viagra Boys I would have understood) rather than the side he is supposed to captain, but if that’s what it takes to ensure Australia’s most important asset on the park then I’m all for it.
The Indians were supposed to play a game among themselves but have decided to have centre wicket practice later in the week instead. They have the A team in the country and could have had a hit out as the Australians did before the 2019 Ashes, but this way they get to carefully curate their preparation. You may recall that the curators at Southampton had provided a sub par wicket for the Australia match which denied the hopefuls and incumbents any chance of a good hit out.
The paranoia of an Indian side in training is next level. They have put up black shade cloths to block eyes from the nets. They might come across all Michael Jackson in this space, but there must be some sympathy for a group of people who live under the intense scrutiny they do. The Australians have a degree of freedom at home that the Indians players can only dream of. Subcontinental cricket fans are considerably more passionate and can be more intrusive.
Someone tells me that black is the colour used to ward off the evil eye. You can make of that what you will.
Reports that WACA staff have been banned from using their mobile phones outside of the offices indicate a level of paranoia from the visiting camp that is, well, over the top. What is that supposed to achieve?
It gets better …. I’ve just heard that construction workers at the WACA have been told they are banned from using mobile phones and they are not to sit and watch when the Indians are practicing after a request from the visitors.
The Indians appeared to already be in a funk before boarding.
Gautam Gambhir and Australian cricket have history, but the combative Indian coach seemed especially prickly when he fired back at a pretty harmless observation from Ricky Ponting about Virat Kohli’s form.
“What does Ponting have to do with Indian cricket,” Gambhir said at the departure press conference. “He should be talking about Australians.”
GG, who stepped down as a minister in the Modi government to accept the job, is feeling the heat after losing at home 3-0 to New Zealand. Sunil Gavaskar was less than generous in his assessment of the side’s performances under the former player.
“The results speak for themselves,” he said recently. “Even in Sri Lanka, India lost an ODI series after a long time. And now here (after the third loss to NZ), it’s a loss, it’s a terrible loss. So, I think the results speak for themselves.”
If the side loses again Gambhir may find himself in an awkward spot, even with his political connections.
India arrive with some concern over the form of their senior batsman and some confusion in the air as to how many Tests Rohit Sharma will be available for as his wife is due to give birth.
The conditions in Perth promise to be, well, spicy. And if the early going in Melbourne is any guide the MCG may be similar.
Have you seen the advertisement (image above) Warner has shot for the tourism board? India loves the Australian batter and it could be argued that he has a more devoted fan base in that country than he does here, so it is fitting that he is the one drinking coffee in Melbourne, holding a koala on “the Goldie” and asking “howzat for a holiday?” while yachting on Sydney Harbour.
Last time Australia played a Test series in India Anthony Albanese flew in with a plane load of journalists and business types before doing a celebratory lap of the Narendra Modi stadium with Narendra Modi in the open topped Modi mobile. There has been no talk of the two PMs doing similar on Boxing Day but if there’s a trade rupee or two in it you can guarantee Albo will be doing his sycophantic best.
I’ve been in Victoria this week and the level of interest in the series is as big as any Ashes I’ve seen. A good crowd showed up for the unveiling of Nathan McSweeney at the MCG on a sunny Sunday morning. The Herald Sun even put aside its AFL obsession to publish an edition front and back pages half in Hindi and half in English. The wrap around was published in all of News Corps papers and is a cross promotion with Fox Cricket who have skin in the game given they share the coverage with Channel 7.
I stopped at the newspaper stacks in the Lorne supermarket this morning and found that all three papers: The Australian, the Herald Sun and the Age all have stories relating to the Border Gavaskar trophy.
Gideon and I will be saddling up and flying the Cricket Et Al gyrocopter across to Perth next week for the commencement of hostilities. We’ll be filing every day from the cricket all summer thanks to your support. If we’re in your town hopefully we will see you for a beer after play somewhere.
Come and say hello, it’s Gideon’s shout.
I have overstated Gautam’s role in Modi’s government. He was a member not a minister. Thanks to Aditya Roy for pointing that out.
Dear Gideon and Pete, it’s exciting to think the Perth Test, Australia v India, is almost upon us. I’m reminded of the time about 20 years ago when Pakistan’s team arrived in Australia. Inzamam-ul-Haq was asked what he thought about a lively WACA pitch and a “baptism of fire” that awaited his side.
He said something along the lines of “I’m not a Christian and I don’t know what you’re talking about”. By the end of this series we are all going to need a bit of Inzy’s laid-back humour to ease tension. GG, take note.