Bizarre end to forgettable match

From the moment that Tasmania rested Ricky Ponting and India left out five key players of its own, it was probably inevitable that the tour match between the sides would not develop into one of the more attractive games of this Australian summer. And that is certainly the way it materialised - the contest concluding in the most ridiculous of draws at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart on the fourth and final day today.

As with each of the three which preceded it, there was very little to be said in a positive sense about this day's cricket. It began with Tasmania electing to bat on almost interminably in its first innings and ended in a predictably early finish when the captains mercifully called a halt to the proceedings half an hour before the scheduled drawing of stumps.

In between, its utility amounted to barely anything more than five and a half hours of batting practice. The principal beneficiaries of this exercise were Tasmania's Daniel Marsh and India's VVS Laxman.

Relying on the same brand of powerhouse strokeplay that had characterised his hand yesterday, the burly Marsh (157) again stole the show through the morning. He registered his highest first class score 20 minutes into the day and continued to take liberties against a wholly uninspired attack. He hit some terrific cover drives, pulls and leg glances today and was at complete ease throughout. It said much about the Indians' inability to beat his bat that his innings ended when he was caught on the deep mid wicket boundary by Rahul Dravid off the bowling of Vijay Bharadwaj (3/105) attempting another huge blow.

In the afternoon, it was the turn of Indians to continue the pattern on the placid pitch. Well supported by fellow opener Sadagoppan Ramesh (27) and a painstakingly restrained Bharadwaj (15) in an innings in which the score ultimately reached 3/130, it was Laxman's play which was the highlight. Illustrating the same coolness of temperament and elegance that marked several of his early innings on tour, the right hander from Hyderabad punished anything loose. Typical of the grace of his predominantly back foot strokeplay was the glorious straight batted shot that he played to the mid wicket boundary (off left arm spinner Daniel Marsh) to raise his half century. Indeed, his sense of assurance and the quality of his play would have represented one of the few genuinely encouraging signs to have emerged from this match from the tourists' perspective.

Unfortunately, the match approached and then duly deteriorated to the point of farce not long after his dismissal, Tasmanian captain Jamie Cox instigating as many as eleven consecutive bowling changes at one point and a total of 19 in the space of 24 overs. During a ludicrous final 90 minutes, he also utilised all eleven of his men as bowlers. Perhaps it was to be expected that, amid all of this mayhem, the wrong batsman also took strike after drinks - Rahul Dravid (18*) taking guard when Bharadwaj should have done.

It should also be noted that there were at least two other oddities of rare portent which featured today - the first coming 84 minutes into the proceedings with the sight of one of the most bizarre acts of declaration imaginable. After the Tasmanians had hitherto appeared unwilling to pull the pin on their batting exhibition, most observers were taken by surprise when the closure did actually materialise at 5/548.

This surprise turned into near amazement when unbeaten batsman Shaun Young (62*) seemed to make a unilateral decision to end the Tasmanians' effort, tucking his bat under his arm and striding off to the pavilion after teammate Scott Kremerskothen had eased the last delivery of a Bharadwaj over into the leg side for a single. Even Kremerskothen appeared oblivious to the declaration, only sheepishly following his partner off and the umpires and Indians did not depart for at least another minute after that.

The second of these incidents also involved Young. In the late afternoon, the medium pacer captured the wicket of Laxman courtesy of a brilliant leg side stumping from wicketkeeper Mark Atkinson. In recognition of the fact that the scalp represented the Tasmanian's 200th first class wicket for his State, his teammates gathered in a huddle around him and threw their caps into the air in unison as a means of celebrating the milestone. Following that, they may as well have gathered in the same circle to belatedly mourn the very regrettable passing of this eccentric match.