Test of Will

by Glenn McGrath

  When I look back on the teams I played in over the years, there were some big egos; but they were kept in check by good managers. I also think the fact that I was asked to volunteer my opinion at that first team meeting in 1993 sent out a positive message that defined my time in the team. It told me that everyone was entitled to have their say, but that ultimately the final decision rested with the skipper, because it was his call, and in professional sport he lived or died by the outcome. It was a transparent structure and by being empowered to offer my thoughts, it gave me a sense of ownership over what happened out in the middle.

  I also liked that my leaders were blokes who led by example and who never demanded their men do things that they didn’t have the stomach for. For instance, I remember during the 2001 Ashes series when Steve Waugh was stretchered off The Oval during the Trent Bridge Test with a badly torn calf muscle. Rather than ease up and relax because we’d already won the urn, he put himself through a tough 19-day recovery program and managed to play in the final Test, although he was hobbling after being at the crease for a while. Australia was in a dominant position when he took strike. We were 3–489, and there wouldn’t have been any shame if he retired hurt because it was obvious he was in pain. Steve instead stood his ground and clubbed 21 fours and a six, and batted until he finished the innings with an unbeaten 157. Rather than retire hurt he declared when Australia reached 4–641. I interpreted his actions that day as a statement of what Steve expected from his men. It also sent a message to England that even though we had our foot on their throat (we won the series 4–1), he refused to take the easy option. It was an effort that proved to many people that he was first and foremost a fighter.

  Steve was the same as every captain I played under. Each had inherited the team at different stages of its development and they took it upon themselves to push it further, so when it came time to hand it to their successor, the team was in better shape than how they found it. I think the fact that Border, Taylor, Waugh and Ponting all led Australia to World Cup victories spoke volumes for the Australian cricket team’s succession plan. Business could learn a lot from studying the mechanics of the way in which the team operated.

  Each captain had a different approach to how he led and it worked. While Allan Border took Australia from being a pretty ordinary team to world champions, his aim was to get us into a position to win before we went for it. Mark Taylor inherited a very good team and his aim was to win from ball one. I enjoyed that approach. Something I remember about Mark’s leadership was that even though his form during the 1997 Ashes was described as scratchy, he had the mental strength to put that criticism aside and make great decisions.

  Steve Waugh led the best team in the world but he didn’t merely want to win from ball one, he wanted us to crush the opposition from ball one. His favourite word was ‘ruthless’ and he gave the opposition no chance at all. He liked mind games and even changed the word ‘sledging’ to ‘gamesmanship’ because he thought it sounded better.

  While Ricky Ponting fulfilled the predictions that he’d one day captain Australia, within two years of his appointment he lost seven senior players. If a team loses just two players at one time it can potentially destroy it, but Rick was tough and he oversaw the rebuilding of the side. I think the way in which he handled that transition proved his leadership calibre. He won two World Cups, but the achievement that resonates most with me was how in 2004–05 he ended Australia’s 35-year drought by winning a Test series in India.

  The reason why our captains enjoyed success was straightforward. They knew their team and how to get the best out of the players. I think what makes a great team is the ability to adapt to change and to learn from disappointment. I remember in 2005, when England took the Ashes urn for the first time since 1987, we returned to Australia very focused. We were hurting but were determined to redeem ourselves. We became more specific in our game plan, and when England toured Australia in 2006–07 they didn’t stand a chance, because we put our plan into action and defeated them 5–0. What I learnt that summer was that while winning is great, the lessons are often forgotten amid the euphoria. I appreciated that people could learn from their defeats and setbacks, because no matter how you look at losses they sting.

  14

  THE PIGEON’S TEST SQUAD

  The role of chairman draws a lot of public and media scrutiny and seldom receives the recognition it deserves.

  —Cricket Australia statement when Trevor Hohns resigned as chairman of selectors in 2006

  I’ve never thought much about picking my best-ever Australian Test team because in my opinion whatever team I was selected for, be it for a Test match or World Cup game, I believed it was the best national side possible for that particular game. I always believed the Australian team was selected on form, and, now I have had a chance to think long and hard about it, I realise I was fortunate to have played in a talent-rich era. The guys I played alongside from 1993–07 included the likes of Michael Slater, Mark Taylor, Damien Martyn, Michael Bevan, Damien Fleming, Greg Blewett, Stuart MacGill, Darren Lehmann, Michael Clarke, Simon Katich, Andrew Symonds, Shaun Tait, Michael Hussey and Shane Watson—all of who should feel entitled to be named in many of these ‘best-ever’ teams.

  When I sat down to select my team during a lull in my commitments at the MRF Pace Foundation, I really wrestled with this job because I think it is an exercise that can risk bruising the egos of the friends I leave out. Nevertheless, I’ve bitten the bullet and among the criteria I’ve used to select my crew is consistency, character, ability to perform under pressure, and effort. It’s taken me the better part of a week, but after much deliberation and scribbling on hundreds of pages, I have come up with a 13-man squad to take on the world. It is as follows: Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Allan Border (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Craig McDermott, Jason Gillespie, Andy Bichel and Michael Kasprowicz.

  I’d like to think the selections are seen by even the harshest critic as ‘givens’. After all, Langer and Hayden formed one of cricket’s most successful opening combinations. Rick Ponting is the second most successful run-scorer in Test cricket history. Twins Steve and Mark Waugh were so different in their approaches to the game, but they brought unique and invaluable traits to their teams. Allan Border was perhaps the bravest player to ever wear the baggy green cap because he was targeted by the opposing pace attacks. Adam Gilchrist is arguably the greatest batsman-keeper cricket has ever seen. Brett Lee’s longevity as a genuine pace bowler—he was still bowling in the high 140s at 38 years of age—puts him in a league of his own. Do I really need to justify Shane Warne as a walk-up starter? Craig McDermott carried the burden as Australian cricket’s great spearhead after Lillee and Thomson retired and he did an outstanding job. Jason Gillespie was a quality bowler who I was fortunate to have partner me in many tough battles. My 12th and 13th men, the big-hearted Queenslanders Andy Bichel and Michael Kasprowicz, were two of the greatest team men you could have wanted on tour or in the dressing room because they threw themselves into their roles.

  I think it’s a well-balanced team and while there are three captains in my squad, four if you include Adam Gilchrist who led the team on a couple of occasions, I am certain that both Steve and Rick would have no objections to my decision to bestow the title on Allan Border. I have named him as my skipper because of the job he did to single-handedly drag Australian cricket from an era where it had struggled—after being gutted by the impact of the World Series Cricket war and then rebel tours to South Africa robbing the establishment of its experienced and best performers—to reach the top of the world; an effort that was realised in the 1987 World Cup victory over England in India.

  So, it’s been a long process and without any further ado it’s my pleasure to introduce the Pigeon’s Australian XIII to take on all comers …

  NB: * denotes not out

  MATTHEW HAYDEN

  You never want an Australian with his back aga
inst the wall. Put any 12 blokes together and you’ll get a job done. Whether it’s getting a bogged four-wheel-drive off the beach or standing in front of a cricket wicket and making sure we’re in a dominant position. It’s the same dog, different leg action, so to speak.

  —‘HAYDOS’ ON THE AUSSIE SPIRIT

  Full name: Matthew Lawrence Hayden

  Nickname: Haydos

  Birthdate: 29 October 1971

  Birthplace: Kingaroy, Queensland

  Major teams: Australia, Queensland, Brisbane Heat, Chennai Super Kings, Hampshire, ICC World XI, Northamptonshire

  Role: Opening batsman

  Batting style: Left-hand bat

  Bowling style: Right-arm medium

  TESTS: 103

  Test debut: v South Africa at Johannesburg, 4–8 March 1994

  Last Test: v South Africa at Sydney, 3–7 January 2009

  Test runs: 8625

  Highest score: 380

  Average: 50.73

  Strike rate: 60.10

  Test centuries: 30

  Catches: 128

  ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS: 161

  Runs: 6133

  Highest score: 181*

  Average: 43.80

  Strike rate: 78.96

  ODI centuries: 10

  Catches: 68

  Few batsmen went out of their way to impose themselves on the opposition’s bowling attack quite like Matthew Hayden. Tall, powerfully built and boasting a chest that always seemed to make his shirts appear a size too small, Matt had a formidable physique. Over the years his menacing presence (and ability to murder the attack) resulted in him being described by sportswriters and commentators as a ‘bully and a brute’. As I say, he differed to other batsmen because he was happy to get to the crease, scratch around like an old chook, squat and stretch, and before the first ball was bowled he’d get stuck into the bowlers by shouting out to them that they were ‘rubbish’. While some might consider that an act of lunacy, Haydos did it to fire himself up, and just for good measure he targeted the biggest and the best in the opposition’s attack. For instance, when we played against Pakistan Matt would go out of his way to pick out their express bowler Shoaib Akhtar and let him know that he didn’t have too high an opinion of the way he bowled, and it lit the fuse for a duel. I view Matt’s approach to psyching himself up as the ultimate sign of a batsman backing himself, because getting into the bowler’s face was a different approach to that of the vast majority of batsmen who liked to overcome the opening bombardment and ease themselves into their innings.

  The record book shows how good a batsman he was—only nine batsmen in the history of Test cricket scored more than his 30 centuries and the list contains the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara, Brian Lara, Sunil Gavaskar and Steve Waugh. He opened the innings for the Australian Test team at a time when we’d set the goal to score at four runs per over—a big ask—and he did his best to get the ball rolling every time he took strike by unleashing powerful drives or hitting balls over mid-wicket. We all treasured our baggy green cap but it had extra meaning to him because few batsmen were made to work as hard to secure their spot as Matt. He was given his first taste of Test cricket in 1994 but it wasn’t until after Australia’s 2001 tour of India, when he scored 549 runs in the three-Test series at an average of 109.8, that he cemented his place in the team. It’s worth pointing out the secret to his success during that trip to India was that in the weeks before we left he spent plenty of time playing against spin bowlers in Brisbane on churned-up pitches—and it worked a treat when he had to face the music on the subcontinent.

  He held the world record Test score, with 380 against Zimbabwe before Brian Lara hammered 400 against England. In terms of Australia’s greatest one-day international players, he rates alongside Michael Bevan and Dean Jones. He is religious and would cross himself after a century. I think the man upstairs looked after him one particular night in South Africa when Haydos did a nude surf on the cable car that took the team to the top of Table Mountain—1086 metres above sea level—after Australia won the opening Test of the 2006 series against South Africa. Adam Gilchrist spilt the beans on this story and it’s worth repeating. The team was taken up there late at night to sing our victory song ‘Under the Southern Cross’ and, as Gilchrist recalled, our opener stripped down to his birthday suit, pushed the latch to open the manhole in the roof of the car, and despite the dangerous winds that swirled around him he cable-car surfed wearing only an Australian flag draped around his shoulders. That was Matt Hayden, whether it was giving lip to the world’s fastest bowlers to fire himself up, or stripping for the ride of his life thousands of feet above the earth; he had the ability to surprise anyone. When he retired I said it had been an honour to play alongside Matt Hayden and that it was a privilege to call him my ‘mate’, and I meant it. I also meant it when I said he’d be picked in any of the teams I have played for and I’m making good on that right now by naming the big Queenslander as one of my openers.

  JUSTIN LANGER

  Look, I’m a big fan of Australian colloquialisms. I love Australia—I’ve got an Australian flag outside my house—but the line ‘She’ll be right’? Nup. Nah. That’s not how it works. Having the attitude ‘She’ll be right’ means everything will just stay mediocre. I hate it. To tell you the truth ‘she’ actually won’t be right. Not unless you do something about it. You’re the one who can change things. They don’t change by themselves.

  —’J.L.’ ON DIGGING IN

  Full name: Justin Lee Langer

  Nickname: J.L., Alfie

  Birthdate: 21 November 1970

  Birthplace: Perth

  Major teams: Australia, Western Australia, Middlesex, Rajasthan Royals, Somerset

  Role: Opening batsman

  Batting style: Left-hand bat

  Bowling style: Right-arm medium

  Cricket relative: Uncle Robbie Langer (Robert Samuel Langer, WA & WSC Australia)

  TESTS: 105

  Test debut: v West Indies at Adelaide, 23–26 January 1993

  Last Test: v England at Sydney, 2–5 January 2007

  Test runs: 7696

  Highest score: 250

  Average: 45.27

  Strike rate: 54.22

  Test centuries: 23

  Catches: 73

  ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS: 8

  Runs: 160

  Highest score: 36

  Average: 32

  Strike rate: 88.88

  ODI centuries: 0

  Catches: 2

  To pick Matthew Hayden as an opener and not select Justin Langer as his partner would be like separating Charlie Brown from Snoopy, Batman from Robin or Skippy the Bush Kangaroo from Sonny. They were an outstanding partnership and after the West Indies dynamic duo of Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge they formed Test cricket’s most successful opening combination with 5655 runs from 113 innings. They provided Australia with a rock solid foundation and any selector who had them at their disposal would be a mug not to name them—and I’m not a mug!

  J.L. is one person you’d want alongside you in a foxhole. He’s a fighter, he’s very loyal and I have no doubt he would be the bloke who’d throw himself on to a grenade to save everyone else. When he made his debut for Australia against the West Indies in Adelaide in 1993 he was hit on the helmet by the first ball he faced in Test cricket, from Ian Bishop. The ball crashed into his helmet so hard he told people he saw three Bishops run in to bowl the next ball at him. In that same innings he copped a Kenny Benjamin cannonball in the belly before he was caught on 20 while hooking a Benjamin fireball. If the two deliveries that left him bruised and shaken up didn’t make him appreciate Test cricket was combat with a bat and pads, he was sure to realise it when he was at the other end of the wicket as a Curtly Ambrose delivery broke David Boon’s arm and yet another cracked Steve Waugh on the shoulder. After his tough initiation into the big time, Langer gave some insight into his pugnacious batting style in the second innings of th
at match when he scored a fighting 54 that almost guided Australia to a historic victory and Test series triumph. Unfortunately Australia fell one painful run short of creating the upset.

  Justin Langer was a player of great character. He was respectful, he had time for friend and foe, and he played cricket in the same way he conducts himself as a man, with what I consider a great decency. I have no doubt his character is as much the reason for his success as the coach of Western Australia and the Perth Scorchers back-to-back title-winning Big Bash League team as his knowledge and ability to communicate. His approach as an Australian player was to put the team first and to do anything for it. I wasn’t at the 2006 Test against South Africa when he was left badly concussed by a Makhaya Ntini bouncer. But it’s not hard for me at all to picture him—a few days after being advised by doctors that he’d risked death by batting again in, ironically, his 100th Test—padding up and preparing to bat when it looked as though Australia might need his skills with the bat to win the match. And with the advice from medical staff ringing in his ears there he was, running up and down in the change room trying to convince himself that he’d be okay. That was the attitude that made Justin Langer a mainstay in whatever team he played for.

  While plenty of people are well aware he is a devotee of martial arts and does such things as spar with the former world boxing champion Danny Green for fun, something that isn’t as readily known is that in 2009, while playing for the English County team Somerset, he surpassed Sir Donald Bradman as Australia’s greatest scorer of first-class runs when he hit fellow Aussie Matt Mason to the boundary along his way to 107 against Worcester. He’d come a long way from the 13-year-old who ‘borrowed’ a bat that his father had in his study that was used by J.L.’s all-time hero, former Australian skipper Kim Hughes. Even though he had been told by his dad he wasn’t allowed to use it, that was the bat he scored the first of his centuries with. ‘I thought if it’s good enough for Kim Hughes, it’s good enough for me,’ was Justin’s view.