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Written by Jonathan
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Wednesday, 06 December 2006 |
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Them
two little pals of mine, Ramadhin and Valentine" was the popular refrain
of a local calypso following the famous West Indies overseas series victory
over England
in 1950.
The two
spinners continued to mesmerize the cricketing world through most of that
decade before giving way to the region's more popular pairings of
Hall-Griffith, Sobers-Gibbes and or course onto the foursome pairings of the
1970s and 80s. Our last claim to fame in this unique Test phenomenon is of
course Walsh and Ambrose whose ultimate retirements seemed to bring a coda to
it all here.
Most Test countries have enjoyed similarly popular bowling pairings over the years
but has there been anything like Warne and Mc Grath. The killer striker
forever setting up the innings for the spinner to mop up (particularly in a
fourth innings) ad nauseum. Over the last 10 years, Australia has been well
served by many gifted and effective batsmen as well as willful and clever
captains but let's be honest, its fortunes have been built on the shoulders of
this partnership, both now the most successful bowlers in their respective
formats.
They were at it again last night with Warne flipping the script a bit by doing
the early roughing up before leaving it to the taller half to clean it all up
most ruthlessly. Once placed on the backfoot, England were kept there while
facing a relentless array of variable pace, turn and cut. No other team
would have lasted.
And all this while global audiences had been inundated over the past few days
with commentary teams that repeated that they were now both past their prime!?!
Like their peers Lara, Murali, Gilchrist and Tendulkar*, these two 'mates' have
now established themselves as historically peerless. They exemplify the final
characteristic of being winners, relentlessly unhappy with their performance
until briefly being sated with another success. More than on any occasion, this
is the one that I shall remember best when I think of them - Test bowling could
not have been better illustrated.
* - Tendulkar's temperament remains a question mark yet his ODI record shall
not be bettered in my lifetime and his gritty knock last weekend was a reminder
of what he is about.
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