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The Australian juggernaut rolls on

Luck can play a part in any sport. In cricket, it can mean the difference between an edge and playing and missing or a bowled dismissal and a no-ball because the bowler oversteps by a few millimetres. But the aphorism "you make your own luck" holds true, and that is exactly what Justin Langer did on the second day of the third Test.

Langer, a pugnacious batsman from the Steve Waugh school of hard knocks, has done it tough over the course of his career. On the fringe of the Australian team for a long period, when Langer was selected he was plagued by inconsistency. He would make a hundred, it would be claimed that he had cemented his place in the side, and then a series of failures would raise question marks over his position once again.

A gritty, committed player in the mould of David Boon, Langer truly does appear to have established himself as the long-term Australian No. 3. Not because of his sole hundred against India, but because it is his third of a season in which he has been one of the leading batsmen.

Langer has always possessed fierce determination and self-belief. When others had dismissed him, he was working hard to regain his place in the Australian team. Fast bowlers are selected and discarded with regularity, but the competition for places in the batting order is intense. It is one thing to believe you can perform, but another to go out and prove it. Langer has done that, and now no-one can question his ability as a Test batsman.

Because of his unattractive style, Langer is harshly judged by the fans. After a few failures in Sri Lanka, some were calling for his head despite a productive tour of the West Indies in the previous series. This is probably because the runs he contributes don’t stick in the mind the way those of a stylish player do. He is the antithesis of Mark Waugh and idolises Australian captain Steve, with his pride and steely aggression.

Langer has modelled his batting on the Australian captain, which includes a propensity to grind on to a big score once he passes 100. He cherishes his baggy green cap and everything it signifies. When he brought up his hundred, and became the answer to a future trivia question as to who made the first century of the century, Langer was purposefully wearing the replica baggy green from the1900s era, which he flourished to the crowd. The wearing of these caps for the first Test of the millennium was another Steve Waugh initiative, one of several he has made to enrich the spirit of Australian cricket and maintain a sense of history and tradition.

Langer will never be one of Australia’s elite but the difference he makes to the team, in the vital and previously unstable No. 3 position, should not be underestimated. It is not a coincidence that Langer’s successful run aligns with Australia’s period of six successive Test victories, a streak now certain to reach seven. He has the crucial ability to make "ugly" runs, a trait which was in evidence yesterday, and can makes teams pay for a let-off, as India discovered to their dismay.

Coming in with Australia 1/9 after another limited opening stand, Langer survived numerous lbw shouts and play-and-misses outside off stump on the way to batting for over four hours in an unbeaten 167 and ensuring Australia took a stranglehold on the Test. Langer has had questionable umpiring verdicts go against him earlier in the season and a few in his favour, as well. In this innings he has definitely enjoyed the benefit of the latter.

On a day which seemed destined to belong to the Waugh brothers, with Mark receiving a tremendous ovation in his 100th Test and Steve making a half-century, Langer upstaged them both with a fighting hundred. For his first fifty runs it seemed like he had not found the right gear, being beaten outside off and edging past the stumps or through slips regularly. Those initial runs came almost exclusively from the outside half of the bat, but once set he began to middle the ball and prosper.

Most importantly, Langer’s intentions were to bat positively and this, ultimately, is why the cricket gods smiled upon him. Srinath bowled extremely well and had Langer bowled off a no-ball from an inside edge in the 40s and troubled all batsmen, without receiving just reward for his efforts. Langer knows how to demoralise an opponent and Srinath, who has an exceptionally good temperament for a fast bowler, was clearly frustrated after another Langer edge when facing the second new ball. Srinath had several things to say to the batsman and appeared to indicate how many times he had beaten him. Langer just grinned and nodded, but the conversation continued at the non-striker’s end with Srinath at mid on.

Srinath is a phenomenon with a new ball in his hand and has made it seam dramatically both ways but he is not the same bowler later in the innings. When the second new ball arrives, though, he is at it again, and it took him just one delivery with the second ball to trap Steve Waugh in front.

Srinath and Prasad bowled marvellously without the luck they deserved but overall did not create enough chances against a remorseless batting team which knows precisely how to make the fielding side unravel. A key difference between India’s innings and Australia’s was that the Aussies looked to play shots and keep the score moving with singles, whereas India were tied down and batted tentatively. Langer went hard at the ball and played some terrific shots in between the edges and air swings, mainly through the on side where he pulled the short balls. By batting aggressively he created a positive energy for himself and when he was beaten, it was more often than not because he was looking to score. India, on the other hand, failed with defensive pushes and there was barely a forceful a stroke to be seen by someone other than Tendulkar.

Australia has always appeared the team to win this Test match as a pattern has developed over the course of this short series. India bowled superbly with the new ball but their performance fades away as, after a couple of early breakthroughs, the Australians fight back and capitalise on their opponents’ lapses and periods of poor play. They lack the persistence to keep bowling in a disciplined manner and become negative when the front line bowlers are unsuccessful, which can probably be attributed to the captain.

Tendulkar has not exactly exuded positivity with his on-field actions as captain and India’s over rate has been abysmal as he labours with field placements and regularly confers with bowlers in the middle of an over. India were fined for a slow over rate in the second Test and could be penalised again for their delays here. What was already going to be a long, tiring day because of the extra hour became more protracted by dawdling through the overs to drag out play for another 37 minutes and further drain the flagging enthusiasm.

India, generally, has played worse instead of better in this Test, which isn’t really surprising when the series has already been lost. Their fielding was on the poorer side of ordinary and that has been another difference between the teams. This day, though, belonged to the fighting spirit of Justin Langer as he rode the necessary luck to set up what should be an innings win for an Australian team going from strength to strength.

With greater mental resolve Australia is no longer a victim of dead rubber syndrome and it finished off Pakistan by an innings in the third Test after claiming the first two. India is set to suffer the same fate as the Australian juggernaut rolls on.

Daniel Laidlaw