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Review by John Polack
Potentially, the 1999-2000 season offered much in the way of change for
Tasmanian cricket. Yet somehow, the more things altered, the more they
stayed the same. The side again finished in fifth place in interstate
first class competition (and in the bottom half of the table for the fifth
time in six years) and once more it was unable to secure a semi-final berth
in the Mercantile Mutual Cup. And by the cessation of proceedings it did
not really appear any closer to formulating a clear method of progressing
further up either set of rankings than it had been at the start.
The reality that the Tigers would find themselves in unfamiliar territory this summer had been well understood since as early as the previous March (when the State's all time favourite cricketing son, David Boon, had announced his retirement from the Australian first class arena). And, initially, the team seemed to have geared itself well to meet the challenge. Under a new captain in Jamie Cox, with new personnel in the middle order, and a number of enthusiastic bowlers at the ready, a convincing win to open their one-day campaign came in Adelaide in their very first outing. A cruel umpiring decision (a caught behind appeal against Mike Hussey on 0 inexplicably turned down and allowing him to make a match-saving century) went some distance toward denying them another win in the consistently impressive four day performance which followed in Perth.
But from there, matters deteriorated and the encouraging form that had been exhibited during those two games was never really rekindled. It was at about this time, in fact, that the ongoing distraction of a clearance wrangle involving their brilliant two-in-one bowler, Colin Miller, reached its high point. There quickly grew a sense that the unwitting distraction provided by the Tasmanian Cricket Association's attempts to prevent him heading to Victoria was affecting the team and reducing the general level of confidence of its bowlers. Miller wished to transfer to Victoria for both personal and employment reasons, yet had already committed himself contractually to another season with Tasmania; the question boiled down to the principle of whether his Australian Cricket Board contract overrode the provisions of all others. After months of protracted negotiations, Tasmania finally won the battle but, in the end, it probably lost the war. Miller played only five first class matches and, even though there was no question that he characteristically devoted himself wholeheartedly to the team's cause, it seemed to take him a while to find his way again and he was unable to generate the kind of results that he had produced in previous seasons.
Further problems were encountered when promising young paceman Gerard Denton (one of Australia's quickest bowlers) succumbed in mid-November to the effects of stress fractures and was sidelined for the remainder of the season. That a combination of international commitments and a series of injury concerns limited star batsman Ricky Ponting to just two appearances for the State only exacerbated matters.
Traditionally, Tasmania's strength has been its batting and it was again the highlight of the team's play this season. But even it seemed to founder at various times and breaches in the team's defences that had not been evident for some time were exposed. As he has done so many times over recent seasons, Cox shouldered a vast workload and he again fulfilled the challenge with enormous distinction. Dan Marsh's excellent response to the burden of being shifted higher up the order also tended, for a time, to mask some deficiencies further down the list. Together with Dene Hills (who recovered well after a finger injury had restricted his normally prolific run scoring talents through the early part of the summer) and Michael DiVenuto, that pair were the stars in an otherwise all too inconsistent line-up. It should be said that Andrew Dykes came of age with fine centuries at either end of the season, and wicketkeeper Mark Atkinson kept a growing number of wolves howling for his omission from the team at bay with a string of typically feisty efforts. But that was about where the good news ended. The Tigers squandered excellent chances to successfully chase targets in consecutive matches late in the summer in Hobart and Adelaide and, in doing so, they put the seal on a steady tale of frustration and wasted opportunities.
For the bowling attack, the problems were at least three-fold in dimension. Miller's absence left a gaping hole; Denton's injury was one the team could ill afford; and despite the manful efforts of Bellerive Oval curator Peter Apps, the side's home ground continued to offer predominantly benign pitches. After being promoted to the eleven in mid-December, left arm paceman Andrew Downton brought youth, variety and enthusiasm (not to mention twenty-four wickets) and his was a welcome presence. In his farewell season, fast bowler Mark Ridgway also performed another lionhearted job, even if, by his own admission, he eventually lost the desire to be out on the field of play toward the summer's end. Otherwise, it was another arduous experience for Tasmania's long suffering leather flingers.
In his first season as captain, Cox was impressive, albeit against the backdrop of a setting in which significant results did not tend to come his team's way. The enormous challenge of binding a struggling team together and in gradually lifting the confidence level of more inexperienced personnel (like Dykes and all-rounder Scott Kremerskothen) was one to which he responded skilfully in most of the situations which confronted him. Complemented as it will be by his ongoing experience at the helm of Somerset in the winter, it is also a position in which it is likely he will become even more confident in future years.
Prior to the season, the team's coaching staff and its key players were optimistic that the new dawn in Tasmanian cricket would bring with it a new era of success. A number of public pronouncements that the side would offer a more exciting and attacking approach were made and there was a sense of energy and expectation that bode well. For the most part, though, such pronouncements were not honoured. By season's end, most aspirations had failed to materialise and there was evidence throughout its latter stages that many diehard Tasmanian fans were not entirely happy with the situation. They, like the players and senior coach Greg Shipperd (whose reappointment in late March - for another two seasons - looked far from a certainty for a while), will indeed be seeking a significant improvement in the near future. Moreover, all of them will court serious disappointment and dejection if the call for the Tigers to conceive some more positive and fruitful cricket is not answered soon.
Site: Tasmania
Key Player: Daniel Marsh
Rising Star: Andrew Downton
Pura Milk Cup: 5th
Mercantile Mutual Cup: 6th
ACB Cup: 4th (Group A)
Under-19s Championships: 4th
Under-17s Championships: 6th
Statistics:
First-class
Pura Milk Cup
Mercantile Mutual Cup