The art of supreme illusion

This Age of Aquarius belongs to the power of the mind, just as much as it does to technological advances and global warming. This Age of Aquarius belongs to the power of the mind just as much as it does to technological advances and global warming. Many would say the mind should and will take precedence over the rest, and as the new Ms. World so adroitly put it, given the chance she would like to take a pot shot at influencing peoples thoughts and actions for isn't that the most powerful weapon at your disposal, this ability to make people behave as you would like them to?

Of course she meant it in a positive way, for presumably she will now demonstrate qualities of compassion and intelligence to be emulated by us. The Australians meanwhile, are displaying an act few can emulate when it comes to making the opposition behave as they want them to. Steve Waugh and his trusted magician are demonstrating in their crude but effective way, just how far they've mastered the art of the illusory unplayable delivery. The one that takes the edge of the bat even before it's bowled.

Here's how it happens. Mcgrath says he's looking forward to amassing 500 test wickets one day. Dennis Lillee pooh poohs that figure and remarks that 600 should be easy if the boy continues to do his daily sit ups. Mcgrath then modestly say's let me take my 300th one first, and for a feel-good thing I'll make it Lara's. Roger Harper retaliates with the air of a doomed man and calls it hogwash. Mcgrath meanwhile takes the 299th wicket and rests until Lara comes to the crease. 'Go, Lara,' we all cross our fingers, 'don't let him get to you,' only before the sentence can be finished 11 pairs of hands go up to celebrate the dismissal.

Nasser Hussain understands how this works. His admiration for Steve Waugh increased when the latter confided to him 'Most of it, Nass, is kidding the opposition.' Waugh is not invincible, nor a robot. He admits that there are times he is as scared or nervous as any other, but his body language will never give that away. His mind refuses to surrender to fear and he always walks out with a swagger. Unlike the English batsmen who, as he sees it, walk in to bat looking shy, making it obvious that Mcgrath and Warne have already got a hold on them.

These tactics are nothing new for the Australians, which is why perhaps some of the greatest battles on the field have featured these doughty players. Indeed, it just makes life that much more competative and interesting. Especially when opposing teams have got the better of the Aussies, and have dominated them for a change.

One such battle was the 1977 England vs Australia test in Melbourne. England were on a high and fancied their chances even against a devastating pace attack spearheaded by Lillee. England won the toss and chose to field. The first innings scores for both the teams read 138 and 95. Australia then piled on 419 runs for the second innings and set what seemed to be an impossible target for England to overtake. At the fall of the first wicket in walked Derek Randall, the eccentric, almost clownish batman who had made his debut just a short while back. He took on Max Walker and played some heart-warming shots. But the real test was Lillee. In one over, Lillee banged six of them in short and Randall took 12 off the over. At a particularly fast or vicious bouncer Randall would duck and doff his cap to the bowler, at another one he took a backward somersault. Aided by some good partnerships, he kept going; stroking, pulling, cutting, now taking his cap off and now cupping his ear as if to hear better the bowlers insults.

When Randall finally fell at 174, the remaining batsmen lost their way and England lost that test by 45 runs. But man of the match Randall had made a place for himself in history.

History will also remember battles like the one Sachin Tendulkar won against Warne in Sharjah. With the Australians coming to India soon, the excitement of an impending duel or two quickens the blood once more. There's only one way to take on Mcgrath. Walk in with a strut and step out and lift him over the top. Fiddle with his mind. We saw Sachin, Saurav and Yuvraj do that in Kenya. Can they, will they do it again? They might go down, but at least they'll go down fighting. Something tells me Mcgrath and Waugh will get a dose of their own medicine.