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Fox Cricket commentator and legendary Australian wicket-keeper batter Adam Gilchrist remembers long days in the Top End watching his teammates pile on the runs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI batted in the Darwin Test match against Bangladesh, but didn\u2019t in the Cairns game,\u201d Australia\u2019s then No.7 told foxsports.com.au.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe guys batted pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The scorecards match up with Gilchrist\u2019s memories.<\/p>\n
Australia won by an innings and 132-run win inside three days in Darwin.<\/p>\n
They followed that up with an innings and 98-run victory by lunch on day four in Cairns.<\/p>\n
The one-sided scorelines are partly to blame for the fact Bangladesh have not played Test cricket down under since that 2003 series.<\/p>\n
JULY 18, 2003: Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh (2\/L) tosses the coin as Bangladesh captain Khaled Mahmud (2\/R) looks on.Source: AP<\/p>\n
But with the ICC determining that Australia must host Bangladesh this World Test Championship, the merits of red ball cricket in the Top End have been remembered.<\/p>\n
While the rest of Australia is consumed by the football codes in the winter months, Darwin\u2019s dry season offers a slice of cricketing nirvana for those bidding their time in the chilly southern states until football posts are taken down and cricket pitches are rolled.<\/p>\n
Many club cricketers make the pilgrimage north to hone their skills in the warmer climate.<\/p>\n
As the results suggested, it was an opportunity that Waugh\u2019s all-time great XI relished.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not quite the focus and glare of the traditional summer Test matches. There\u2019s a somewhat more relaxed feel up there,\u201d Gilchrist told foxsports.com.au of playing in Darwin.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s refreshing. My recollection is it\u2019s new. It\u2019s different. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut for a Test match, it\u2019s a change in the landscape and the familiarity you have with other venues. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think that air of freshness can bring about a really exciting feel for a group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Refreshed Marnus ready for Test | 02:06<\/p>\n
Marrara Stadium\u2019s debut was not the only slice of history to emerge from Australia\u2019s crushing victory over Bangladesh, who were awarded Test status only three years earlier and were yet to register a victory.<\/p>\n
Khaled Mahmud\u2019s side were truly thrown to the wolves.<\/p>\n
Mahmud was already Bangladesh\u2019s third Test captain and had played only five Tests himself to that point.<\/p>\n
They were a shell of the current side, who pulled off a clean sweep of Pakistan in their last two series, drew a series in the Caribbean in 2024 and won a Test in New Zealand in 2022 when the Blackcaps were world test champions.<\/p>\n
The late David Hookes even wrote in a newspaper column, with the headline \u201cNow for a one-day Test\u201d, that Bangladesh were not worthy of Test status.<\/p>\n
\u201cSteve Waugh should send them in to bat, bowl them out before lunch, bat until tea and declare, then send them back in and roll them again before stumps,\u201d Hookes wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be all over in a day. Bangladesh doesn\u2019t deserve to be in Test cricket and they shouldn\u2019t be given any favours out on the field. If the Australian team is being true to the Test cap their aim will be to go out there and annihilate Bangladesh.\u201d<\/p>\n
JULY 19, 2003 : Australian captain Steve Waugh goes down on one knee as he plays a pull shot during the first Test, Australia v Bangladesh, at Marrara Stadium, Darwin, 19\/07\/03.Source: AFP<\/p>\n
It was a comment that did not sit well with Waugh, who revealed as much in a classy interaction with his counterpart on the eve of the match.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore the Test series kicked off in Darwin, there was a get-together, and we were having evening tea, and while we were standing out at the balcony and chatting among ourselves, out of nowhere Steve Waugh suddenly came over and asked me how I was doing?\u201d Mahmud recalled to Cricbuzz.<\/p>\n
\u201cLater he (Waugh) asked, \u2018Do you guys read the newspapers?\u2019 I said, \u2018Not usually, but sometimes.\u2019 He asked, \u2018Did you read David Hookes comment?\u2019 I said, \u2018Yes, we did.\u2019 He told us, \u2018Don\u2019t worry about it. It\u2019s just a mad man talking and I believe you are a much better team than that and you\u2019ll play well against us. I wish you all the best.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the men in baggy greens had once again brushed England side the previous summer \u2013 with Waugh dismissing retirement talk with his iconic last ball of the day century at the SCG.<\/p>\n
Under the guidance of ODI skipper Ricky Ponting and despite Shane Warne\u2019s shock drug ban, the Australians went unbeaten in South Africa on their way to claiming a second straight World Cup crown earlier in the year.<\/p>\n
They then followed that up by claiming a 3-1 Test series victory in the West Indies.<\/p>\n
Darwin, July 18, 2003. Australia’s Brett Lee appeals for a wicket during day 1 of Australia v Bangladesh 1st Test cricket at Marrara Stadium in Darwin. Bangladesh opened the batting and were all out for 97. (AAP Image\/Dean Lewins)Source: AAP<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s team chock full of all-time greats then set their sights on ticking off some milestones against Bangladesh.<\/p>\n
But they did so with class.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe heard the Australians sledge a lot, but we didn\u2019t see any of it on the field,\u201d Mahmud recalled to Cricbuzz.<\/p>\n
\u201cSteve Waugh\u2019s team didn\u2019t go anywhere near sledging. Even against a weak and inexperienced team like ours, their approach and application was 100% professional. They didn\u2019t bowl any loose deliveries – full toss, half volley, over pitched or short of length. They played with a 100 per cent professional approach.<\/p>\n
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