Roaring Tigers turn up the heat again

With its best efforts at emulating Lazarus receiving another emphatic expression in the process, Tasmania has today swept to an innings and 76 run crushing of Western Australia here at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart.

Two weeks ago, the Tigers looked down and out.

But, after surging to their second successive innings win in a bare 29 minutes on the third day of this match, they had done the near-unthinkable and vaulted to second spot on the Pura Cup table. Their form - post the axing of three of the most experienced players in the state's history - has suddenly become as warm as the weather in Hobart in recent days.

"I think we've played better than our opposition in both games; we've fought harder with the bat in both games; and we've bowled better in both games," said a delighted Tasmanian captain Jamie Cox of his side's effort in backing a thumping win over competition pacesetter Queensland with an equally commanding success over the previously second-placed Western Australians.

The Tasmanians had started the day needing three wickets to complete their win. On recent precedent - they had taken 17 wickets in a day to define the shape of this match yesterday, and 20 in the space of six hours last weekend - it didn't look an exacting assignment.

So it proved.

Matthew Nicholson (13), who has saved games against Tasmania previously in his career, cut powerfully at a David Saker (3/21) delivery in just the second over of the day but hammered a sharp catch to Scott Kremerskothen at point.

Jo Angel (27), who had resisted with a degree of defiance that put his teammates to shame, had his stumps powerfully disturbed as he tried to work a Shane Watson (4/35) delivery to leg shortly after.

And Watson, characteristically breathing fire at the bowling crease, then ended the match symbolically as a swift ball of full length ripped out the off stump of Brad Oldroyd (7).

With Western Australia thus dismissed for 134 - four runs short even of surpassing its paltry first innings total - Watson's teammates proceeded to jubilantly wrap themselves around him like a human ball of velcro.

Western Australian captain Justin Langer later apportioned some of the blame for his state's first-ever outright defeat at Bellerive to a testing pitch. Though he also conceded that the Warriors had been thoroughly outwitted and outplayed.

"It was a disappointing performance but I think a lot of it had to do with the surface we were playing on. The wicket was very up and down and it was two-paced," said Langer after the game.

"To their credit, though, they performed very well. They played very very good cricket.

"They took a courageous move in leaving out some of their senior players and you can feel an energy back in Tasmanian cricket. They're young, they're enthusiastic. There's real energy there and they're all going in the same direction."

The Warriors' mood wasn't helped by Simon Katich's appearance before Code of Conduct Commissioner Bruce Neill following an incident late yesterday. Upon his dismissal in the Western Australian second innings, Katich had appeared to attempt to elbow Saker - as the Tasmanian paceman rushed past him to join a behind-the-wicket celebration.

The charge was ultimately dismissed but his team's woes still continued to mount.

Bellerive, traditionally a tranquil setting, has suddenly become a nightmare venue for visiting sides - with their inability to read a changing micro-climate at the ground being further tested by Tasmania's new-found spirit and determination.

The oval, which currently blends a construction site at the northern end with an impressive new grandstand at the other, is no longer breached by the southerly breezes that sweep off the nearby Derwent River. Under the more humid conditions that now prevail, the wicket square seems to have become blessed by a more consistent level of moisture.

Though, that said, it's the development of a high-class pace bowling quartet that seems the most important factor in Tasmania's resurgence.

Man of the match Damien Wright, who supplemented an invaluable innings of 63 with four wickets at negligible cost, has translated impeccable limited-overs form to first-class level. Shane Jurgensen, though still underrated, is as hard-working and consistent as any player in the side. Saker is producing his best and most consistent bowling for his adopted state. And the aggressive Watson, a key in the revival, has ensured that the prospect of playing Tasmania has become one that no state will relish.

Scott Mason and Shannon Tubb have also added a sense of zest and zeal in the field that had previously been missing.

The Tasmanians' season was painfully slow to begin - and they were on the bottom rung of both domestic competition ladders as few as ten days ago. But they are anew, full of excitement and full of enthusiastic innocence. Almost like a side setting out on a great adventure.

Only recently, they were struggling to detect a way of approaching games with any confidence at all. Now in with every chance of playing in just the third first-class final in the state's history, they can't wait for the next one.

Their revival is fast becoming the story of all stories this season.