It’s very sad the Australian summer of cricket is over. Great work by the Aussies though, winning all three series with commanding results. It seemed to go kind of quick though, didn’t it? Jazzy Jeff and myself got into an in depth conversation about the “old days” of 90’s One Day Australian Cricket, which lead to us both reminiscing about the days under Steve Waugh.
It was the beginning of the “After-Taylor” era where Steve Waugh stepped up to become One Day captain. Out was Taylor and Healy, in was up-and-coming “Super Star”, Michael Di Venuto and a “Young Buck” named Adam Gilchrist. It was a real change up at the time as a whole group of new players got to play in the green and gold.
(The Italian Stallion)
After Di Venuto “sadly” left the team, Mark Waugh stepped up to become opening batsman along with Gilly and these two actually became quite the dominant pair. This was a time the Waugh brothers were very consistent and some might say, in their prime.
(Honestly one of the best opening combinations ever)
During this era we were introduced to another set of “dominant” brothers. The Lee brothers. Up and coming Brett Lee made it into the One Day team to join his big brother, all rounding “powerhouse”, Shane Lee! Arguably the best thing that came from this “lethal” combo was ‘Six And Out’!
(Six And Out band members)
There was another, “little-known” bowler during this era that had batsmen trembling with fear, the very aggressive Andy Bichel. You could see the fear in batsmens eyes as Andy lined them up one by one, with his cheesy grin starring back at them.
The golden days of Australian Cricket!
(The very scary Andy Bichel)
Probably the biggest “hero” of these years was another One Day “champion all-rounder”, Ian Harvey. With a career high score of 48n.o. and career best bowling figures of 4/16 after 73 One Day Internationals, it’s easy to tell the diamond in the rough….
(Ian Harvey is best remembered for this picture)
These were the days of coarse when Ricky Ponting really began stamping his name in the history books, so not everything about this era is completely embarrassing. Next year the World Cup is happening here in Oz though and hopefully the Aussies can keep it here in Australia!
