Captains courageous
Hemant Kenkre
Early birds may have had the opportunity to watch the live coverage of the third Test between Australia and New Zealand played at Hobart, Tasmania. The Test was considered as 'dead' since the series had been bagged by the host country.
For the New Zealanders, a win in this Test would have been a facesaving measure while for the Aussies a positive Test would have reiterated their supremacy over their neighbours. The two captains, Australian Mark Taylor and Stephen Fleming of the Kiwis, made the match an interesting encounter by quick and result-oriented declarations.
Most of the playing time, at Hobart, had been wasted thanks to the intermittent rains that lashed the island and whatever little time available was made exciting for the spectators thanks to the positive attitude exhibited by the two sides.
New Zealand went for the kill since they had nothing to lose and Taylor, God bless his soul, did not rest on the series win and decided to give his opponents a fair chance of making a match of it. Taylor's approach, when compared to that of Indian captains of the past, is refreshing. Statistics will show that after a series win, most Indian captains have preferred to take the safe route by making it practically impossible for their vanquished rivals to even think of winning.
Of course, the dry, flat sub-continental wickets added to their misery and that of the spectators who over time decided that the one-day version was preferable to the boring five day affair -- even if the same was laden with records. If one compares the Australian experience with what happened in the India-Sri Lanka series, the writing is on the wall.
If captains and players do not take the initiative and continue to put themselves above the spectator, the paying public will stay away and Test cricket, considered by many the 'real thing', will die an untimely death.
As far as the just concluded series was concerned, the blame lies with both sides. If Arjuna Ranatunga was responsible for negative tactics, so were Sachin Tendulkar's men who decided to put pad, instead of bat, to ball.
South African Hanse Cronje and Ranatunga have for the most part played positively -- perhaps because they are the only two on the international circuit who have the full backing of their respective Boards and know that a loss or two will not result in their sacking. Taylor's attitude, in light of the fact that his neck was on the chopping block for more than a year, deserves kudos since he decided to opt for a result and not go the safe way by drawing a dead match.
Hemant Kenkre
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