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Committed Australian
Australia is a great cricket playing nation. They earned this status through hard work and their commitment to the task. One of their players strong and wonderful presence made one high school girl to believe that one day he might lead his country in the match. So she wrote the essay bellow with this conviction long before Ricky Ponting became the Captain of Australian cricket team.
Dear Journal, After arriving from Tasmania on the 22nd of January I was very nervous because the next day my team was to play against South Africa to win the World Cup Cricket Final. That night we stayed at the Eden park hotel. When I was unpacking my gear at the hotel the selector rang me and told me that they wanted me to captain the side for the world cup final, which was very unexpected. After hearing that news I was very happy and terrified at the same time. All my mates were congratulating me for becoming the captain. They also informed me that I was going to be the youngest captain to lead Australia. Since I was a kid I had passion for cricket and always imagined that one day I would become a famous cricketer to represent Australia. My dad was a cricketer and my uncle Greg Campbell was an Australian test cricketer. I wanted to become like them. For this reason I went to the Commonwealth bank cricket Academy in Adelaide and that’s where I graduated. Once my coach said “ you are once in a generation player and one day your country will be proud of you”. Which I thought would be tomorrow. To captain a country in a world know sports is a prestigious job but a lot of pressure is also involved in it. There is a saying if you work hard you will succeed, which I did this summer and won the “Cricketer Of The Year Award” and also helped my state(TAS) to win the Sheffield Shield. Being a cricketer of the year was a great but being able to captain my country feels marvellous! I can’t put in into words. I always dreamt about captaining Australia but never thought that it would happened so early in my career. After doing all this thinking I rang my parents in Tasmania and told them the news. They were overwhelmed. Later that night I went to bad at 10:00 pm but couldn’t fall asleep because I remembered the memorable victory against South Africa that was the last time we won a one-day match against them. That match was held in Johannesburg at Newlands Capetown, and it was a fabulous victory. This time the story is different because I have to captain the side last time
Steve did. Last time I was a captain of a side when I was 10 years old. All
these memories swept through my mind before I fell asleep. By the time I got out of my room it was 8:am. While having my breakfast I glanced at today’s Herald Sun and the front cover had a photo of me with an article titled “ That’s the Trick Rick”. Then I rang the TAB to bet on race on 6 at Caulfield racecourse because I enjoy gambling thus my friends calls me punter. At 9:30 we got on the bus and left for MCG.
We trained at the east part of the field and the South Africnas at the west. The South Africans are good mates to us outside the field but in the field it’s a different story. Bay 13 was covered with Aussie flags and there were lots of kids waiting for autographs. Some of the kids were holding placards with Tasmanian Devil drawn on them, which I though was quite funny because they were my favourite cartoon character. As we were giving autographs I read some of the banner one read “ Panther versus predator, jovial Jonty Versus pinpoint Ponting”. For half an hour we just signed auto graphs for people. It’s unbelievable how quickly I became centre of attention. As the tiem passed by the MCG was filling with people. At 10:30 am we started practising batting, bowling and fielding with our coach Geoff marsh. The members stand was filled by 11:00am except for few seats, which were empty. Later I found out that those seats were for chief guests. Chief guest was like John Howard and nelson Mandela. They were coming to the match which wasn’t surprising. The South African players informed us that Nelson Mandela always came to see the final matches. The other Aussie sports persons who I saw in the crowd were Kiren P, Patrick R, Andrew G, Harry K and Gary A. there were also former cricketers from around the world like Curtly A, Dennis L, Sunil G, Ian B and Martin C. The American band Hanson was there as well. The band members wanted to visit the glorious MCG. Most people around the world know about the phenomenal Melbourne Cricket Ground stadium whether they are living in Africa or brazil. At 12:30 we were off to the dressing room. We wore our green and gold coloured uniform. By that time the MCG was full house. The players of Australian team were myself, Shane Warne, Michael Bevan, Steve Waugh, mark Waugh, Darren Lehman, Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, Ian Harvey, Stuart Law, Brett Lee and 12th man Tom Moody. In the other team there were Hansie Caonje, Gary Kristen, Daryll Cullinan, Jacques Kallis, Brian McMillan, Shuan Pollock, Jonty Rodes, David Richardson, Pat Symcox, Allan Donald, Apul Adams and 12th man Lance Klusener. At 1:00pm Cronje and I went to the centre of the pitch where the toss took place, I won the toss for my team and decided to bat. Our opening batters were Mark W and Adam G. Opening n\bowler for South Africans was Allan Donald. The opening partnership was going great till Mark went out on the 15th over for 75 runs to his name. I was next in the batting line so when Mark returned I went out to bat. When I looked at the crowd I saw my parents and grandma there which was surprising because I didn’t expect them to come. At the start I was nervous but once I started I felt confident and batted very well. I enjoyed batting and scored a century. After that the crowd gave me a standing ovation. When I reached 70 Adam got out Steve came to join me at the centre. Today 50 overs seems to go very fast. At the end of 50 overs we scored 275 rusn for 4 wickets. We left the South Africans to score 276 to win from their 50overs. At 6:00 pm we had half an hour break. Usually young children play mini cricket to entertain crowd. But today was different “Savage Garden was performing for the crowd at the centre of MCG. At 6:30 pm we went out on the field. It was our turn to bowl and get the South African’s out before they scored 275. Our open9ing bowler was Glenn McGrath. In the first over Glenn took a wicket, which was unbelievable, and the crowd was standing up clapping and jumping which I though was very interesting. Glenn took the wicket of Gary K , which was a vu\ital wicket for us, before South Africa reach 15 overs we took 3 wickets in succession. The scored looked like 4/95. Though they scored their runs quickly and tried hard to reach the trget, we stopped them by taking wickets. After 15 overs I told Shane Warne(Sultan of Spin) to take up the bowling attack from tej Southern Stand. Just when the crowd saw Shane Warne they were screaming their heads off because they were so happy to see the worlds number 1 spin bowler whom the Aussies love. At 35 overs South Africa scored 200 for 7 wickets. The wickets were distributed among Mark, Brett, Shane and Glenn. The 8th wicket was taken by Steve which I caught. After the 40th over I decided to bowl and took a hat-trick. The South Africans were sent home without reaching their target. When I took the final wicket of Allan Donald the crowd behind me was roaring as if they have never seen anybody take a hat-trick so quickly. After that on the big screen they wrote that history been created by me because I was the first Australian player to take a hat-trick at the MCG. At the end of the final we shook hands with our opponents and congratulated each other. Everybody swapped their T-shirt with the South Africa’s, I swapped my one with Jonty Rodes. Then the presentation took place at the center of the MCG. The runners up were called first to the podium to collect medals and their cheques. Then they told Hansie to say say something about the match. He congratulated our team, the MCG crowd, the South African team and also thanked sponsors. Then they called us to the podium to collect the cup and the cheque so we went and they presented me with the cup.Once I picked up the cup I felt that I was the happiest person in the world. I was named man of the match for today’s game as well. After that I also gave a speech. At about 11:00 pm both teams were in one dressing room celebrating. At 11:30 we were off to the hotel. Before leaving we said bye to the South Africans because they were leaving early next morning. The South Africans invited us over there for the next series. At 12:00 am when we arrived at the hotel there were newspaper reporters waiting for us to take our photos and they asked some questions. Then editors from several magazine (Inside Edge, The Cricketer etc) rang me and made request that they want me to write something about today’s match for their next issue. Later I talked with my parents who were waiting for me. I told them that I wanted to have a party tomorrow night and all my mates to be invited . They said they would be glad to arrange a party for me. At 1:00 am I went to sleep. It had been the happiest day of my life. Arlinda Chowdhury, Melbourne _ |
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When we arrived at the MCG we had a short team meeting, and then we were off to
training. When I reached the field I couldn’t believe the number of people
waiting patiently to see us train. I heard on the radio this morning that it was
going to be 40 degrees so I though people would come later but not at 10:00 am
to see us train so I was shocked. Later I remembered that there were Aussie
supporters around the world so didn’t matter where we were going to play. From
the pommy land(England at the Lord’s stadium) to the Mugal kingdom (India at
Eden Garden stadium), especially at the MCG we do expect the fans to cheer for
us.
