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Authors: Michael Clarke
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in the deep by Hughes, and we were very confident we could have them out by stumps.
Then, on 6/297, the temperature in the game went up.
Ashton had bowled with great control all day, and was now a constant threat to Broad, who was verging on losing his patience nearly every ball. He went back to one, and cut at it. He got a big outside edge, which deflected off Brad Haddin’s thigh and ballooned to me at slip. We were excited, of course, but it wasn’t an appeal, it was just a celebration. A regulation wicket.
The surprise, as we gathered around Ash, was that Broad hadn’t left. When we looked to the umpire, to our absolute astonishment Aleem Dar was saying not out. We looked back at Broad.
We kept appealing to Aleem, but he was saying nothing. I was that close to having the top of my head blow off, it was everything I could do to walk to first slip for the next over and take a few deep breaths. It’s a crucial moment in Test cricket when these things happen, and a captain’s job is to keep control of himself and of his team. We were at absolute boiling point. But the game wasn’t going to stop, and we weren’t allowed to refer the decision. The next ball had to be bowled.
I didn’t hold it against Broad. It was ironic that his father, Chris, was the match referee who had recently banned the West Indian wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin for cheating by claiming a catch he’d dropped. But I’ve played cricket for long enough to have seen this many times before, and it’s not the batsman’s job to walk – it’s the umpire’s job to give him out. That’s what frustrated us: that it was a bad decision by the guy whose job it was. But to their credit, our boys held in their frustration. I said, ‘Come on, let’s get on with it,’ but that’s pretty much all I had to say.
Inevitably there’s something you can laugh about in these moments, and the funny side of this was that I’d just stuffed about two full packets of chewing gum into my mouth, and while I was appealing, my cheek was bulging like a chipmunk with a mouthful of acorns. Mum always said, ‘Don’t speak with your mouth full!’ and here I was being beamed around the world, with a gob full of chewing gum.
Anyway, there was nothing to laugh about at the time. I wish we could have stayed ‘in the moment’ and been able to forget the matter instantly. Peter Siddle bowled to Bell, and he defended it. I took my gum out of my mouth and threw it away. The game doesn’t stop just because something’s gone against you.
Next ball, Bell drove at a ball that tailed away, and got a nick. It flew very low between Hadds and me. Hadds dived to his right, but the ball went below his glove. Being such an outstanding keeper, Hadds would have expected to take it. Sidds was filthy – at the situation, not at Hadds – and it was one of those moments when a piece of freakish cricket could have changed the mood back our way again. I don’t blame Hadds for one moment, as he kept going with great polish throughout a long hot day, and he had enough recriminations against himself. It was barely even a chance, that’s how low and fast it went. It’s always a good lesson, but it happens so often: the game doesn’t stop.
This was one of those critical moments when the senior players have to show leadership. Jimmy Pattinson had a good appeal against Bell turned down, and umpire Kumar Dharmasena had to have a word to calm things down. But I felt that the boys showed remarkable restraint in the circumstances. Hadds and I decided to run fast between overs, like it was the first over of the day and we were full of spring, to gee the team up. We just had to show that we weren’t going to lose our bottle. At the end of play, I personally went around to each of the bowlers and congratulated them. Whatever had happened in the last hour was something that involved the umpire and the batsman. Our part in the day was to have bowled and fielded with great patience and discipline,
Then, on 6/297, the temperature in the game went up.
Ashton had bowled with great control all day, and was now a constant threat to Broad, who was verging on losing his patience nearly every ball. He went back to one, and cut at it. He got a big outside edge, which deflected off Brad Haddin’s thigh and ballooned to me at slip. We were excited, of course, but it wasn’t an appeal, it was just a celebration. A regulation wicket.
The surprise, as we gathered around Ash, was that Broad hadn’t left. When we looked to the umpire, to our absolute astonishment Aleem Dar was saying not out. We looked back at Broad.
We kept appealing to Aleem, but he was saying nothing. I was that close to having the top of my head blow off, it was everything I could do to walk to first slip for the next over and take a few deep breaths. It’s a crucial moment in Test cricket when these things happen, and a captain’s job is to keep control of himself and of his team. We were at absolute boiling point. But the game wasn’t going to stop, and we weren’t allowed to refer the decision. The next ball had to be bowled.
I didn’t hold it against Broad. It was ironic that his father, Chris, was the match referee who had recently banned the West Indian wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin for cheating by claiming a catch he’d dropped. But I’ve played cricket for long enough to have seen this many times before, and it’s not the batsman’s job to walk – it’s the umpire’s job to give him out. That’s what frustrated us: that it was a bad decision by the guy whose job it was. But to their credit, our boys held in their frustration. I said, ‘Come on, let’s get on with it,’ but that’s pretty much all I had to say.
Inevitably there’s something you can laugh about in these moments, and the funny side of this was that I’d just stuffed about two full packets of chewing gum into my mouth, and while I was appealing, my cheek was bulging like a chipmunk with a mouthful of acorns. Mum always said, ‘Don’t speak with your mouth full!’ and here I was being beamed around the world, with a gob full of chewing gum.
Anyway, there was nothing to laugh about at the time. I wish we could have stayed ‘in the moment’ and been able to forget the matter instantly. Peter Siddle bowled to Bell, and he defended it. I took my gum out of my mouth and threw it away. The game doesn’t stop just because something’s gone against you.
Next ball, Bell drove at a ball that tailed away, and got a nick. It flew very low between Hadds and me. Hadds dived to his right, but the ball went below his glove. Being such an outstanding keeper, Hadds would have expected to take it. Sidds was filthy – at the situation, not at Hadds – and it was one of those moments when a piece of freakish cricket could have changed the mood back our way again. I don’t blame Hadds for one moment, as he kept going with great polish throughout a long hot day, and he had enough recriminations against himself. It was barely even a chance, that’s how low and fast it went. It’s always a good lesson, but it happens so often: the game doesn’t stop.
This was one of those critical moments when the senior players have to show leadership. Jimmy Pattinson had a good appeal against Bell turned down, and umpire Kumar Dharmasena had to have a word to calm things down. But I felt that the boys showed remarkable restraint in the circumstances. Hadds and I decided to run fast between overs, like it was the first over of the day and we were full of spring, to gee the team up. We just had to show that we weren’t going to lose our bottle. At the end of play, I personally went around to each of the bowlers and congratulated them. Whatever had happened in the last hour was something that involved the umpire and the batsman. Our part in the day was to have bowled and fielded with great patience and discipline,
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