Frontier Spirit

Et Al celebrates one of our favourite Test match experiences

Gideon’s reaction when I tell him that I’d forgotten to press record on the podcast machine again.

Et Al’s last night in Darwin was perfect. In a quiet restaurant on Mitchell St, a group of well-groomed young men in matching blue polos entered the restaurant and made their way in single file across the spacious main floor. Quiet applause began from one corner, and soon every single table in the establishment had joined in.

The Bangladeshi cricketers, unassuming to a fault, didn’t quite know how to respond; some raised a hesitant hand in acknowledgment, some ducked their heads, as if embarrassed to be the centre of attention.

A small confession. I may have been the one who triggered the applause, but only because I was sitting near the door when they came in. It came from the heart. I’ve only ever done that once before; it was for Shamar Joseph after he’d single-handedly cleaned up the Australians in Brisbane.

Would Usman Khawaja have approved? The former great has, understandably, quibbled about the reaction to Bangladesh’s historic victory in the first Test.

“What has annoyed me is people saying it is ‘embarrassing for Australia to lose, it’s disgraceful for Australia to lose’,” he said on social media. “It’s Test cricket; you do realise both teams are allowed to win. It’s the whole point of this game. I know we are the number one team in the world; we are expected to win, but saying words like ‘embarrassing’ and ‘disgraceful’ is just disrespectful to Bangladesh.

“They thoroughly outclassed Australia, right from the start to the end. You’ve just got to give them a tap on the back and say ‘well done, let’s move on to the next game’. I really don’t understand why people are disrespecting a team like that.

“I just want to say, ‘well done, better team on the day’. I still think overall Australia is the better team when they do play up to their standard, which hopefully we’ll see in the next Test match, but who knows.”

Usman went on to congratulate Cam Green, saying he is a big fan and expressing hope his consistency can improve. “I’m a big Green fan, I’m a big Green believer”.

Cheeky bugger finished by berating the fans for being fickle and calling for change, noting that a year ago they were celebrating the same outfit.

Hang on a minute, weren’t you playing in that XI, Usman?

Not Maxwell Smart’s colleague

Gideon and I are so happy and grateful that we were able to make the trip north. We wouldn’t be able to do it if it wasn’t for the support of Et Al’s subscribers, and it’s been great to see how much interest there’s been in the comments and via other channels.

Et Al’s post-match recording studio.

It’s just been so good to have Test match cricket on again.

Speaking of subscribers. Bernard Fanning sent a note saying this morning saying, “So good to have you two back talking about cricket, not the fucking business of cricket, important as it is”