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Review by John Polack
It should not have represented any surprise to those who follow interstate
cricket in Australia that Queensland's cricketers came out smarting this
summer. After all, professionalism and discipline have been the defining
features of Queensland teams for much of the last decade. That their
surprise home loss to Western Australia at the end of last season had
conspired to deprive them of a Sheffield Shield title which had looked
theirs for the taking had only heightened the motivation for the Bulls to
produce another grand season.
But to expect that they would advance their quest for further success to almost obsessive levels would probably have been taking matters too far. To anticipate eight outright victories from their ten preliminary Pura Milk Cup matches; an easy win in the competition's Final; the achievement of runner-up status in the Mercantile Mutual Cup; and the attainment of crushing wins over Pakistan and India to throw in for good measure as well, certainly would have been stretching the imagination to absurd limits.
That was nevertheless the basic narrative of what, in short, was a sensational season for Queensland cricket. It was a fabulous summer in which almost everything went right; the only time when the Bulls really illustrated any capacity to revert back to the status of mere mortals was when they suffered two disappointing lapses in the space of one week in Perth. One of these took the form of an act of self-destruction in the Mercantile Mutual Cup Final (and more specifically, involved a collapse in which they surrendered ten wickets for a mere seventy runs) - one which most Queenslanders would prefer to forget - but there were hardly any other black moments at all.
Fundamentally, the Queenslanders' success exemplified the notion that a strong bowling attack is the key to success in domestic cricket. As many as twelve times this season, the Bulls' opponents failed to reach a total of 200. Only twice did they exceed 300. By any measure, such statistics are phenomenal. For years, the hard, fast and bouncy pitches around Brisbane have provided suitable encouragement to pace bowlers but it is hard to remember a time when the State team has possessed a trio as consistently devastating as Andy Bichel, Michael Kasprowicz and Adam Dale. All have played for Australia in the past, all have remained on the brink of a permanent recall to international duty over recent years, and all have shown themselves to possess talents which are, sadly, almost wasted within the comparatively limited confines of interstate cricket. Like so many unlucky cricketers in their country these days, they would each be walk-up starts in the Test teams of other cricketing nations at present. Although it was a season which involved many downs as well as ups for him (one of the sadder aspects of it will probably never be forgotten in fact), Scott Muller was regularly a handy wicket taker too. And, although his opportunities proved relatively limited, young left arm spinner Matthew Anderson showed enough talent in his first season to suggest that he has a long and fruitful career ahead of him as well.
No mention of the Bulls' attack would be complete without additionally saluting the achievements of wicketkeeper Wade Seccombe. Although many among them were straight forward, Seccombe nonetheless assumed a forceful role in reinforcing his bowlers' dominance with a stellar season during the course of which he equalled Rodney Marsh's twenty-four year old record for the most number of dismissals effected by a gloveman in an Australian season.
Most of the members of opposition batting line-ups were simply incapable of stumbling upon a method of resisting the Bulls' pacemen this season. That several of Queensland's more fancied batsmen did not perform especially well in a context within which the team was winning so handsomely says much in itself about the effectiveness of the bowling attack's effort in laying the foundations for the brilliant run of success. As it was, Andrew Symonds underscored his growing maturity as a batsman by averaging close to sixty runs per innings around his commitments with the Australian one-day team. Otherwise, however, it was hard to identify stars with the bat. Openers Matthew Hayden and Jimmy Maher enjoyed a very productive Mercantile Mutual Cup campaign at the top of the order but their efforts in four-day matches were as weak as their one-day performances had been strong. The elegant Martin Love struck a magnificent double century in the opening first class match of the season and registered another century in the ultimate game but did little of equivalent note in between. It was not until the very last match that captain Stuart Law finally cast aside a run of very poor form. That those two - and others lower down the list - were able to make runs precisely when they were needed, though, was in itself a measure of the spirit and unity that was also such a crucial precursor for the team's great success.
To express it bluntly, a single-minded determination was etched in virtually everything Queensland did this season. It is true that the players did not engage the emotions of their fans anywhere near as clearly as they had done during their other two triumphs in the nation's premier interstate first class competition, but that will count for little in the way in which history will remember this outfit. Statistically, theirs was the best season ever by an Australian first class team; a total of eight wins in a single summer has never previously been recorded for as long as Sheffield Shield (and now Pura Milk Cup) cricket has been played.
There would naturally be several early New South Wales teams which would rival this one for the extent of its domination. Of post-Second World War vintage, though, possibly only the New South Wales team of 1961-62 and some of the Western Australian sides which played in that State's golden era through the 1970s would come close. Whilst Victoria played excellently in the Pura Milk Cup and Western Australia acquitted itself equally impressively in the Mercantile Mutual Cup, there certainly was no other side which consistently came near this season. The only hope for the five other States is that they can somehow find it within themselves to upset this fantastic team's rhythm and set about creating a more equitable balance next summer.
Site: Queensland
Key Player: Andy Bichel
Rising Star: Matthew Anderson
Pura Milk Cup: Winner
Mercantile Mutual Cup: Runner-up
ACB Cup: 1st (Group B)
Under-19s Championships: 1st (Joint)
Under-17s Championships: 4th
Statistics:
First-class
Pura Milk Cup
Mercantile Mutual Cup