Hello and welcome to Stumped, your intercontinental hit of news, features,
and debate from the quirky world of cricket. I'm Alison Mitchell in Melbourne, and I've
been exploring a little bit of Victoria since the end of the last Ashes Test match. I went up Mount
Macedon looking for a lovely sunset photograph but then a huge grey cloud came down on me. But
then I went drove out west and checked out the Bellarine Peninsula, west of Melbourne, some
lovely wineries and surf beaches around there. But now as far as the men's Ashes is concerned,
eyes turned towards a little island off the south coast of Victoria; Tasmania, which is where one of
my co-hosts is. It's Jim Maxwell, I'm in one of Britain's most famous penal
colonies: Tasmania, where they're going to have an Ashes Test for the first time.
And hopefully the weather is good. The trouble is, most of us will fall asleep before the end
of the day, because it's not starting until three o'clock in the afternoon. And I can tell you,
the stack of thermal underwear is at the ready because in Tassie, it's not summer,
it's cool at night I can tell you that. For All India Radio, I'm Charu Sharma, for this week
holding steady in Bangalore. Alison, I'm glad you're getting around because some, of course,
were stuck at the airports. We've all been following the Djokovic versus Australia matter.
And I suspect we haven't heard the end of it yet. But also, of course, more than a billion eyes on
what's going on in Cape Town because the final frontier for India is balanced on a knife's edge.
We'll see how the final Test ends. Yeah, there's been a lot going on. Even the England team,
talking about airports, the England men got delayed at Sydney Airport trying to get to Hobart
because they're just not enough staff to man the aircraft or the or the airport because of Covid
and isolation. So, there's an awful lot bubbling away behind the scenes. But first on the show
this week, we will ask whether another fight back could be on the cards by England in the fifth and
final men's Ashes Test. The urn, of course, is already secured by Australia - they lead
3-0 in the best of five match series. It could have been 4-0, but for that tense, nail-biting,
climax to the fourth match at the SCG. And we saw England's Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad helping
England bat out that last session on that final day. It earnt them a draw and restored little
bit of pride. And it was nail biting for sure. Jim, you were at the SCG, I was stuck in a studio
commentating off tube as they say, but just describe the atmosphere from actually being in
that historic ground with Australia striving for the victory? Well, yes, it was a kind of perverse
reverse irony that two of England's greatest bowlers, certainly in combination, should be
out in the middle of the SCG trying to save the game with the bat. And Anderson
really had the experience, didn't he? His 103rd not out. And he did it easily. So,
it was a good moment, it was a tonic for England. And it was a boost for the series,
which had been one sided for the first three Tests to see England fight, even though Australia
declared twice and set the game up for another win. Well done, England, they played with the
spirit that's been lacking throughout this series. And hopefully, that continues. But there were over
10,000 fans there on the last day, they all got their way in with a gold coin donation for the
McGrath Foundation, which raised a fortune over the course of the match.
So, the atmosphere throughout the game was spot on for Test cricket. And you know, having
watched games from South Africa around the same time and still where there's no one
in the ground, it was wonderful to have a crowd to create the atmosphere so well done.
Another great day and match for the continuity and sustenance, I would say, of Test cricket.
Yeah, I think there's a case isn't there for just sort of discarding the score line as it is and
starting the series now because England clearly had their warmup matches. They had the first
three and now they're just about getting into the groove, and we've talked, haven't we about that
lack of preparation that they've had. But Charu, when we talk about this match; it's a day night
match, England famously got their selection quite wrong for the Adelaide day night match - the other
one in the series - and now they've got a lot of decisions to make over injuries. We could see
Ben Stokes playing as a batter only, troubled by the side strain, so that creates some more questions,
doesn't it about how to balance the side once more? Well, England, of course have not been
able to do well enough with the ball, whether it's selection or just not getting the right length.
So of course, just the ability of the Australian batsmen their own pitches. So yeah, they've got an
additional problem now. Ben Stokes would fit into just about any team as a batsman, of course much
more so as an all-rounder, but if he can't bowl and you've got other bowling problems, then I'm
afraid and of course this day night record that Australia has: They haven't lost a day night Test match,
have they? A red-ball match or a pink-ball match, I beg your pardon.
I think all, you know, the scales tilt very heavily once again in Australia side,
and I feel for England because with their best XI or the best available resources,
they have not been able to win. And if those resources are now more limited, then I'm afraid
it's just too much I think for England to do. They can expect, they can hope, they can kind of
rally around and prove that they are better than the first three matches, but it's just a very
uphill task. Well, let's turn our attention to the action in South Africa because
the Proteas are playing their series decider against India. South Africa won the second Test in Johannesburg to
level of series at 1-1 and managed to bowl India out in their first innings of this latest match
for just 223. Then they suffered a little bit of a collapse of their own and were all-out for 210.
Jasparit Bumrah taking 5-42. Charu, first of all on Virat Kohli's return, he was kept
out of the last match with an injury, but India always pleased to have him back in the ranks?
Without question, I think any team around the world would love to have him back. I know he's
suffering from a string of poor scores according to his own standard. But that 79 in the first
innings was worth its weight in gold for Virat Kohli and for India. Now a lot of people
in cricket, this whole statistical thing is sometimes you know, ridiculous because a lot of
people say: "Well, you missed out on 100 again," and saying it was a terrific 79. So, he held that innings together.
And as we know, of course, when South Africa also couldn't quite get those runs that
was very important innings, especially the first innings of that Test match. Conditions were
a little tough, as they always are in Cape Town. So yes, it's a welcome return to form.
As a leader, he was only too aware that if you are not performing, then the rest of the team is also
suffering a bit because the trust in the whole leadership, you know, tends to waver a bit. So
very important innings for him. The second Test was lost. Now he might well say: "I wasn't even there,
so let me try and show my mettle as a leader and as a captain in this third and final Test match,"
because there's been a lot of controversy surrounding him about
the T20 captaincy and now of course the ODIs and stuff as well. So, in Test match cricket,
he needs to once again stamp his class, stamp his authority and he's done
as well as he possibly could and as well as any batsman possibly could for India so far. The Test
match itself is very dangerously poised; they're difficult batting conditions, low scoring match,
a very welcome return for Kohli without doubt. Forget about the 100, it was just a great knock.
On the other side, it was Jasparit who hit form. Do you reckon that's Bumrah back to his best?
Well, I'd like to say almost, but not quite, because you go back to the Joburg Test match,
he went wicketless or near so in the second innings and gave a lot of runs - 70 - away.
Maybe he was just trying too hard to get back to his best, because India knew they had a good
opportunity in Joburg and I don't think he quite hit his straps there, but of course he's a very
very good bowler. There's no denying that, he has very clever variation, a lot of control. So, he'll
be glad that he picked up those four wickets. All were not prime, some were late in the innings.
He is clearly the spearhead of India's fast-bowling attack, perhaps you can argue that Shami's sort
of almost there as well. But the question is there was the sole treatment factor that we talked about
fast bowlers, right? How well do India treat them? Do they keep them wrapped up in
cotton, expose them only once in a while? If he breaks down or he loses the zip,
then I think there'll be a major setback for India in the fast-bowling department. On one hand, we
talk about all the riches, you know, lots of fast bowlers coming through in India, but none quite I
think of the calibre of Bumrah. So, he's such a vital cog that the need to just ensure that he's,
you know, bowled just right, just enough, not overboard, as he perhaps was in Joburg.
It's almost... let's take a percentage - 90% back to his fabulous abilities.
Finally, on Stumped we're going to head to Melbourne to hear from a very special
cricket fan. Now in the first few months of the Covid-19 pandemic, 12-year-old Ollie Healy
has found himself a bit bored of playing his regular card games. So, what did he do? With
the help of his dad, Brooke, he invented his own game and he based it on his best
and biggest passion, cricket. Now the lead up to the pandemic had been a really difficult time for
the family because Ollie's mom was fighting cancer and she died sadly, just two days before the first
lockdown in Melbourne in 2020. Ollie started selling his card game "First XI cricket" and he
decided that 50% of the profits should go to the Cancer Council of Australia, the cancer charity.
He is a remarkable cricket fan, Ollie and when I caught up with him earlier this week, he told me
how the idea of the game came about. Basically, it's made up of player cards and action cards and
players will take turns picking up and discarding cards. And to win the game, the first player
to get either a batter, bowler, wicket keeper or all-rounder player card from the same country,
or six player cards from the same country, wins. Brooke, you must be really proud of Ollie and
where this card game has gone? Yeah, no, look, it's been it's been a really amazing, and also
quite a fun journey to be part of. I remember when Ollie first came up with the idea and
as a parent, your kids will often be there with great ideas for things and you sort of politely
nod and say: "Oh, that's that's a really great idea," even when it's not. When Ollie he told
me the idea of this game, I just remember thinking: "That's a really good idea!" One of
the things that Ollie didn't mention is he said, there's the player cards and the action cards.
So, you got the player cards, which have real players and their real Test statistics. But then
there's also the action cards and you play the action cards as a way to improve your team and
sort of rob players from the opposing teams. And when he sort of told me this idea and some of the
ideas he had for the different types of action cards and how they might work, I remember just
thinking this is really, it's a really good idea. Like I think this could actually be a really good
game. I sort of said: "Why don't you go and give it a try?" So, then he then spent so many hours
in his room with his cricket books, trawling away through all the statistics and trying to decide on
which would be the top four, because each country has four batters, four bowlers, two all-rounders
and two wicket keepers for each country. And he had to choose sort of the best four batters,
the best four bowlers, two wicketkeepers and two all-rounders from throughout history,
and it covers all eras of cricket. So, just aside from anything else, it just it gave him a great
activity for what ended up being months and months and months of lockdown. And he just loves
cricket history and cricket facts and figures, so it was amazing to see him just apply himself
that way. And then for it then to go from I guess concept to design to then completion,
and the finished product that that looks and plays every bit like something you'd get in a
game store is amazing. I just think it's amazing. So how did you actually make that step from
what was Ollie's idea in his bedroom and some notes to actually having it made into a proper card game?
How many was our initial print run? 250. 250 decks, and the idea was to sort of
sell that to you know, family and friends in the lead up to Christmas. And we just got such an
amazing response. I think they sold in about four days, that sort of 250 cards, just when we sort
of put it out. A friend helped us put a website together so that people could order it online,
and it went out and people then were getting back to us - people who I think had just initially
bought it to be supportive - but who would then play the game and said this is this is a really
good quality game. You know, you should try and do more with this. So it sort of steamrolled from there.
When did the idea first come about that actually, with these profits, there was something you know,
a force for good that you wanted to put them towards, and one that's very close to your heart?
Well, that was pretty much from the start, wasn't it? Yes.
That was always a driving force?
The minute we had the idea of making these to sell, the idea of using it as a way to raise money for the Cancer Council,
but the two went hand in hand. Ollie and his sister have both done a few other sort of fundraising efforts before.
Ollie's always been pretty entrepreneurial.
He had an ice cream making business for a while there. We had an ice cream making machine
secondhand on eBay and Ollie was making litres and litres of ice cream and going and selling them
door to door.
Do you know how much you've managed to raise already for the charity?
Around about AU$10,000 or AU$11,000 at this point with that we've raised.
It's fabulous. So, Ollie, anybody listening if they're thinking about getting this pack of cards, but they're maybe not a particular
cricket fan, do you need to understand cricket in order to play the game?
No, it's a cricket game but it still works for people who don't like cricket.
Like your sisters? Yes.
So, tell me to finish with, where else can your game go? Can you expand it? Can you do, I don't know,
women's cricket? Or have you got plans for another game?
Ah yes, we have been thinking of doing a women's cricket version and maybe doing adjusting it for different sports.
Oh, yeah. That sounds exciting. Maybe AFL or soccer.
Brooke and Ollie, thanks so much for speaking to us. Oh, just briefly, Ollie, tell me about the dog that we can see in the camera
and the name of the dog? Yeah, hang on. I'll just get Sachin. Sorry I've been a bit distracted
by our puppy. What's the puppy's name, Ols? Sachin, after the cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.
No surprises as to who named the dog, but the dog was named about three years before we got the dog.
That was locked in didn't matter. That was not a dispute. Well, that was Ollie, Brooke,
and Sachin. Charu, I knew you would enjoy that, I could see you throwing your head back with laughter when
you heard the dog's name! I hope the great Tendulkar doesn't mind
but imagine somewhere in Australia in Melbourne somebody goes out to the street and says: "SACHIN!
SACHIN, COME BACK!' It's a lovely story, you know, and where will we be without the imagination of
youngsters? You know, well done Ollie. I feel for you, you know, condolences to the family,
but I'm so glad he utilised his time well, unlike so many other youngsters out there. Ollie... *CLAPS*
Yeah, and I love the fact, Jim, what he was saying about you know, his sisters
really loving the game and finding that they actually knew a bit about cricket without
actually being into cricket.
Yes, I love the imagination. It reminds me of French class.
I didn't like French, and I had two pencils. And there's six sides to the pencil, right?
On one pencil was 6,4,3,2,1 & out. The other pencil was bowled, caught, LBW, stumped, run out
or not out. And I used to play with these during the French class. And when I was at home, he was
talking about the ice cream, and I like that. I used to make passionfruit milkshakes, but no one
ever bought them. I had to drink them all.
That's all we've got time for on this week's Stumped here on All India Radio. Don't forget you can follow us on Twitter. We're
@BBCWSSport and use #BBCStumped and check us out on YouTube as well. Go to BBC World Service on YouTube
My thanks to Charu Sharma and Jim Maxwell, and to you all for listening. Speak to you next week. Bye bye.