Justin Langer is perhaps the first Test opener in history to average in the mid-forties yet still be forever scrabbling for his spot in the side. Or at least that’s the perception: in a land of dashers and crashers Langer is seen as a grafter, a battler, only ever a couple of failures away from oblivion. The reality is somewhat different. Yesteryear’s ugly duckling is now a strokeplaying swan, racking up more Test hundreds than those national treasures Doug Walters, Ian Chappell, Mark Waugh and Bill Lawry, and scoring an eye-popping 1481 runs in 2004. Always an effective cutter and driver, he now indulges in unseemly crossbat hoicks from the first over. Together with his bludgeoning comrade Matthew Hayden, they have screwed up textbooks and record-books alike, making Greenidge and Haynes look like strokeless stonewallers. It is a miraculous reinvention. Clanged on the helmet by Ian Bishop on debut, Langer fought on to make 54, but played only eight Tests in six years. He returned at No. 3, as the selectors sought to mould him into the next David Boon - and for a while he exceeded even those lofty ambitions. After rescuing the unrescuable Hobart Test of 1999-2000 with Adam Gilchrist, then slaughtering a blistering 122 in Auckland, Steve Waugh called him the world’s best batsman. The feeling was mutual; Langer’s devotion to Waugh saw him nicknamed 'Mini-Tugga'. His bond with Hayden is even closer. The pair miss each other when they’re apart, exchange bearhugs in the middle, and give the impression always of two boys living out a dream. Still the knockers persist, but they should watch out: Langer may be short of stature but he is tall in enthusiasm (he's already written two books) and boasts a black belt in taekwondo. He has played only eight one-day internationals, something that bugs him no end, despite a Gilchristian strike rate of 88.88. With Langer, you see, perception is everything.

Going in first or seventh, wearing whites or coloureds, Adam Gilchrist is the symbolic heart of Australia’s steamrolling agenda and the most exhilarating cricketer of the modern age. He is simultaneously a cheerful throwback to more innocent times, a flap-eared country boy who has walked when given not out in a World Cup semi-final, and swatted his second ball for six while sitting on a Test pair. "Just hit the ball," is how he once described his philosophy on batting, and he seldom strays from it. Employing a high-on-the-handle grip, he pokes good balls into gaps and throttles all others, invariably with head straight, wrists soft and balance sublime. Only at the death does he jettison the textbook, whirling his bat like a hammer-thrower, caring only for the scoreboard and never his average. Still he manages 15 runs per innings more than any other keeper in history, at a tempo - 82 per 100 balls in Tests, 94 in one-dayers - that makes Viv Richards and Gilbert Jessop look like stick-in-the-muds. When he signed a record A$2million sponsorship deal with Puma last year, though Cheetah might have been more apt, few people questioned his value for money. Indeed it was arguably Gilchrist’s belated Test arrival that turned the present Australian XI from powerful to overpowering. He bludgeoned 81 on debut, pouched five catches and a stumping, and has barely paused for breath since. In Tests, two Gilchrist innings rank among the most amazing by Australians: his death-defying unbeaten 149 against Pakistan at Hobart when all seemed lost, and his savage and emotional 204 not out against South Africa at Johannesburg. In one-dayers, his 172 is one short of Mark Waugh’s Australian record and his overall number of one-day career dismissals might take decades to top. A family man and dedicated newspaper columnist, his 2003 World Cup diary - Walking To Victory - was miles superior to Ricky Ponting and Glenn McGrath’s meat-and-three-veg versions. As Australia’s 41st Test captain he found the extra burden tiring, and was happy for Ricky Ponting to step in. But as Ponting's fill-in he crossed the final frontier, leading Australia to their first series win in India for 35 years. As a wicketkeeper he lacks Rod Marsh’s acrobatics and Ian Healy’s finesse, and he probably peaked at 30 in 2002. But if he clutches few screamers he drops even fewer sitters. Eventually his jangling knees might tempt him to give up the gloves and move up the order as a specialist batsman - he owns the most centuries of anyone to combine both roles. But tomorrow can wait.

*Responsible for:
<a href="http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=player&player_id=1820208">Giacomo "Pirco" Barbieri - Lavino Fighting Hellfishes - Niggling Injury</a>
<a href="http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=player&op=view&player_id=1590839">Anyad Apad Hatan - Everliving Plague - RIP</a>
<a href="http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=player&op=view&player_id=1196687">Tree Shadow - Hidden Dangers - RIP</a>

Andrew Symonds brings gusto to whatever he does, whether firing down offbreaks or mediums, hurling his ungainly bulk round the outfield or vigorously ruffling the bowler’s hair at the celebration of a wicket. He saves his loudest grunt for his batting, where he is that rarest of modern-day creatures – an unabashed six-hitter – in the mould of a George Bonnor or a Colin Milburn or a David Hookes. Batting for Gloucestershire at 20, he scythed 16 sixes in the first dig (a world record) against Glamorgan at Abergavenny, 20 for the match (another first), and then announced he couldn’t care less about the milestone; he wanted only to help his team. He has been matter-of-factly demolishing attacks ever since. His flaw has been to attempt one six too many – invariably off the wrong ball. "I used to hate watching him bat," his old coach Toot Byron lamented recently. "He wasn’t in control of his shot-selection ... he’d get 24 off an over and then go out on the last ball of that over." Legend has it that Symonds, a curly-haired Queensland larrikin, once turned up barefoot and wearing a cowboy hat for a contract meeting with Cricket Australia’s then-chief executive Malcolm Speed. During almost five years in and out of the one-day side he frittered away golden opportunities galore. One day changed everything. Striding out with his team in turmoil against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup, a game and tournament he never expected to play in, Symonds sculpted a masterly 143 not out in 125 balls. Until that day, he had mustered just 762 one-day runs at only 23; ever since he has averaged over 50. "In the past," he admits, "I was a man without a map when I went out to bat." Born in Birmingham, Symonds could have played for England but dreamed only of wearing the baggy green. In 2004 his fantasy was fulfilled in decidedly unGabbalike surroundings: the crackling minefields of Sri Lanka. He batted gamely without looking altogether comfortable, and was dumped after two Tests. If this really is the end, though, you’d bank on him going out the same way he always does – with a bang.

Michael Clarke already boasts a possibly unique claim to fame in Australian cricketing folklore: he was anointed as his country’s next captain before he'd played a single Test. When he made his debut and a thrilling 151 against India at Bangalore his future looked even brighter than the yellow motorbike he received as Man of the Match. The amazing ride continued with another stunning century on his home welcome at the Gabba, and his first Test season ended with the Allan Border Medal. A ravishing shotmaker with an unshakeable temperament, Clarke does not so much take guard as take off. His arrival is typically the cue for a string of wristy, audacious flashes through the offside. Crowds warm to his innocent exuberance, to the buzz and energy and daredevil edge he brings to the crease. All the while he radiates a pointy-elbowed elegance reminiscent of a young Greg Chappell or Mark Waugh, who, like Clarke, waited long and uncomplainingly for a Test opening and then marked the occasion with a century. Unlike Chappell and Waugh, who learned the ropes in domestic and county cricket, Clarke has cut his teeth in Australia’s one-day side. His impact in pyjamas was startling: he racked up 208 runs in four games before he was finally dismissed, and now averages a tick over 46 at a strike rate hovering around 90. His bouncy fielding adds to his run-value, while his left-arm tweakers cajole nearly a wicket a game, and dropped six surprised Indians in the second innings at Mumbai. A cricket nut since he was in nappies, Clarke honed his technique against the bowling machine at his dad’s indoor centre. Affably down-to-earth, he is meticulous about his hair – which is blond and always looks freshly showered – and adores fast cars. Meeting David Beckham counts among his life’s wishes. He is proudly patriotic too, wearing an Australian flag on the back of his bat, and last year signed a record-breaking A$1.25million deal with Dunlop-Slazenger. "On captaining Australia, I’d love to," he commented early in 2004. "It’s another goal and something I’ll have to work hard for." He worked hard for his first Test hundred, but made it look stunningly easy, and a future star became a current one.

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<a href="http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=player&op=view&player_id=1860795">Scakz - Legion of the Abyss - -1Str </a>

GREATEST MOMENT SO FAR: <a href="http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=match&op=view&id=725536">Against Morlock's Last Run</a>, Michael Clarke impressed all spectators, scoring a turn 8, second half Td by dodging into a tacklezone, out of a tackle zone, picking up the ball in one tackle zone, dodging into a tackle zone, back out of said tackle zone, GFIing it twice and scoring. Total arse, but very impressive. Due to his heroics, we salvaged a 2-2 draw.

Sir Donald Bradman of Australia was, beyond any argument, the greatest batsman who ever lived and the greatest cricketer of the 20th century. Only WG Grace, in the formative years of the game, even remotely matched his status as a player. And The Don lived on into the 21st century, more than half-a-century after he retired. In that time, his reputation not merely as a player but as an administrator, selector, sage and cricketing statesman only increased. His contribution transcended sport; his exploits changed Australia’s relationship to what used to be called the “mother country”. Throughout the 1930s and ’40s Bradman was the world’s master cricketer, so far ahead of everyone else that comparisons became pointless. In 1930, he scored 974 runs in the series, 309 of them in one amazing day at Headingley, and in seven Test series against England he remained a figure of utter dominance; Australia lost the Ashes only once, in 1932-33, when England were so spooked by Bradman that they devised a system of bowling, Bodyline, that history has damned as brutal and unfair, simply to thwart him. He still averaged 56 in the series. In all, he went to the crease 80 times in Tests, and scored 29 centuries. He needed just four in his last Test innings, at The Oval in 1948, to ensure an average of 100 ­- but was out second ball for 0, a rare moment of human failing that only added to his everlasting appeal. Bradman made all those runs at high speed in a manner that bewildered opponents and entranced spectators. Though his batting was not classically beautiful, it was always awesome. As Neville Cardus put it, he was a devastating rarity: “A genius with an eye for business.”

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Ram it Seez - Miasmic Deadfins - RIP (Foul)

At first there were nerves and chubbiness. Then came wild soaring legbreaks, followed by fame and flippers. For a long while there were women, then a bookmaker, then diet pills, then more women – and headlines, always headlines. Now he has come out the other end, his bluff and bluster and mischief and innocence somehow intact. The man who in 2000 was rated among the five greatest cricketers of the 20th century was, in 2004, bowling better than ever. When Shane Warne likened his life to a soap opera he was selling himself short. His story is part fairytale, part pantomime, part hospital drama, part adult’s-only romp, part glittering awards ceremony. He has taken a Test hat-trick, won the Man-of-the-Match prize in a World Cup final and been the subject of seven books. He was the first spinner to reach 500 Test wickets. He has swatted more runs than any other Test player without making a hundred, and is probably the wiliest captain Australia never had. His ball that gazoodled Mike Gatting in 1993, bouncing outside leg stump and cuffing off, is unanimously esteemed the most famous in history. He revived legspin, thought to be extinct, and is now pre-eminent in a game so transformed that we sometimes wonder where the next champion fast bowlers will come from. For all that, Warne’s greatest feat is perhaps his latest. Returning from a one-year hiatus for swallowing forbidden diuretics, he swept aside 26 Sri Lankan batsmen in three Tests. Nowadays he is helped by his stockpile of straight balls: a zooter, slider, toppie and back-spinner, one that drifts in, one that slopes out, and another that doesn’t budge. Yet he seldom gets his wrong’un right and rarely lands his flipper. More than ever he relies on his two oldest friends: excruciating accuracy and an exquisite legbreak. Except that he now controls the degree of spin – and mixes it – at will. Like the great classical painters, he has stumbled upon the art of simplicity. His bowling has never been simpler, nor more effective, nor lovelier to look at. Maybe, as with Posh Spice or Kylie Minogue, Warne is more famous than he is loved. Maybe we don’t fully appreciate his genius; maybe, like Bradman’s, it will become ever more apparent with the passing of decades. One thing’s for sure, though. We’ll weep when he’s gone.

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<a href="http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=player&op=view&player_id=1846403">Rotura - LosPupitas - RIP </a>
<a href="http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=player&op=view&player_id=1861697">Ritchie Blackmore - Legion of the Abyss - Niggling Injury </a>

It is clear that Andy Bichel treasures every match he plays at international level. The enthusiastic, hard-working Queensland paceman seems to have been Australia's perennial 12th man in recent years, but he has gained a reputation for making match-winning contributions when he is given the opportunity.
Something of a late developer, he has become a wonderfully effective bowler in recent years with his combination of superb line and length and the ability to produce tight, accurate spells over sustained periods. Bichel's stock ball is an outswinger that moves appreciably away from right-handers but he bowls with brilliant variation, altering his pace and length surreptitiously. His batting is also far superior in quality to that of most tailenders, featuring a straight defence, attractive drives and cuts and a determined, level-headed approach.

Bichel's all-round talents proved invaluable in Australia's triumphant 2003 World Cup campaign. In Australia's group match against England he claimed 7 for 20 with a scintillating display of bowling, before sharing a 73-run ninth-wicket partnership with Michael Bevan to nurse Australia to victory. Bichel, who also top scored for Australia with a vital half-century against New Zealand, finished the tournament with 16 wickets (av 12.31) and 117 runs to his name.

Among the other highlights of his international career are a five-wicket haul against West Indies at Melbourne in 2000-01 and involvement in Australia's crushing Frank Worrell Trophy-clinching win over the same opponent in the fourth Test of the teams' 1996-97 series.

Bichel has also had a central role in Queensland's success in recent years, not the least of these coming in 1999-2000 as his return of 6 for 47 against Victoria powered the Bulls to the first of three successive first-class titles. He has scored centuries for both his state and county side Worcestershire.

A superbly talented player, the stockily-built Darren Lehmann is a free-scoring left-handed batsman, and an underestimated left-arm orthodox spin bowler. As an out-and-out strokeplayer, he treats spectators to an audacious mixture of swashbuckling aggression and deft finesse.
From the time that he burst on to the first-class scene in Australia as a 17-year-old in the 1987-88 season (he smashed 228 on debut), Lehmann has built an imposing record in both his home country and with the county team Yorkshire. He achieved a telling milestone by playing more first-class games and scoring more runs than any other Australian before making his Test debut – in Bangalore in 1998. His first-class average is well over fifty, and after appearing to have blown the few Test opportunities that came his way, he bucked the trend of youth winning out by establishing himself in the Australian side at 33 with a maiden hundred at Port-of-Spain (in his tenth Test), and then two against both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the next 12 months. Named stand-in vice-captain for the 2004 India tour when Ricky Ponting broke his thumb, Lehmann offered to give up his place to Michael Clarke after his amazing debut century at Bangalore, and limped out of the series after the third Test with a torn hamstring.

Lehmann's talents won him far more regular opportunities in Australia's one-day international team - particularly during the late 1990s, and on the restructuring of the country's limited-overs squad in early 2002. In 1999 he had the honour, on the hallowed turf at Lord's, of hitting the winning runs in the World Cup final, and was a key member of the side which defended the title four years later.

On the domestic front he was no less effective, and was an integral member of winning Sheffield Shield sides in 1990-91 and 1995-96 and Yorkshire’s victorious County Championship team of 2001. He is now the leading run scorer in Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup history.

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<a href="http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=player&op=view&player_id=1846403">Suicidal Dude Two - Elite Suicide Squad - RIP</a>
<a href="http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=player&op=view&player_id=1512009">Sigmund Sauer - Nachtburg Ancients - RIP (Foul) </a>
<a href="http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=player&op=view&player_id=1809962">Anton Maulwurf - Nachtburg Ancients - Niggling Injury (Foul)
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