Though it has hosted just 10 Test matches in 23 years, the story of Test cricket at Bellerive - while less advanced than the other capital city venues - has nonetheless provided some unforgettable, historic and just plain dramatic moments.
Here's a selection of five such moments (in no particular order) from Grandstand's Peter Newlinds, who has watched on as Test matches have unfolded on the shores of the Derwent River.
1. When Adam Gilchrist joined Justin Langer late on the fourth day of the second Test against Pakistan in 1999, Australia's caused looked lost.
A pulsating game that had showcased the finest skills of the game had seemingly turned the visitor's way.
Chasing 369 to win Australia was 5 for 126, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis had the ball moving either way at pace and Saqlain Mushtaq's 'doosra' seemed a mystery to all.
'You never know' was Langer's encouraging advice to his junior team-mate, playing in just his second Test, and the magic started to unfold. The Bellerive wicket, as it tends to do, got better for batting and the two West Australia left-handers built a famous partnership of 238 in 59 overs to take Australia to the brink of a famous Test win.
At the time it was the fourth highest successful chase in Test cricket history.
2. One hundred and twelve years after the first Test was played in this country, Tasmania got its chance.
A ground that had until a few years before been a suburban venue little known outside of Hobart sporting circles was now a part of the Australian cricket vocabulary.
When David Boon the moustachioed, barrel-chested state icon strode out to open the batting on the first day of the test, Tasmanians everywhere enjoyed their moment in the sun.
3. In late 2007 Australia had outplayed Sri Lanka in the manner of the team on a long winning streak; efficiently and ruthlessly.
Set what seemed an unlikely 507 to win, the Sri Lankans found late on the fourth day that the Bellerive batting surface remained true and run scoring was by no means impossible. They reached 3 for 247 at stumps.
On the final day of the match as bush fire smoke enveloped the ground, the small crowd was treated to a batting masterpiece. Kumar Sangakkara, in the prime of his career and in a deep and rich vein of form, stroked the Australian bowling with left-handed grace to every corner of the ground.
Just when it seemed inevitable he'd score the first test double century at Bellerive an umpiring 'howler' brought it to an end (South African umpire Rudi Koetzen later admitted the ball had hit Sangakkara's shoulder not his bat as he had judged).
The sting went out of the game which Australia went on to win by 96 runs, the purists were denied more batting of the purest skill and advocates of the DRS system had more proof: the time had come they said to remove the 'howler' from the game.
4. The Test match of January 2010 can't be assessed without reference to a greater sadder context.
Pakistan was veering from one extreme to another on the field, had just lost a Test in Sydney from, if not an unlosable, then a very strong position and its team was operating in an acrimonious and inharmonious manner. Great fun for body language readers.
As it turns out three members of that Pakistan team would do time in jail for match fixing. In the swirling environment of the time Ricky Ponting received a gift.
On the first morning, before he had a run to his name he lobbed a ball to fine leg where Mohammed Amir (sadly one of the aforementioned culprits) dropped a sitter.
The press box fell silent as the ball hung in the air and groaned the sigh of the knowing when it went down. Ponting resurrected his career with a double century - the first on the ground. Pakistan wilted; a dark year for the game lay ahead.
5. It's become known since as the 'Incredible Hulk' a green seamer of a wicket that produced one of the great Test finishes.
A year ago to the day New Zealand won a test by seven runs in which it made 150 in the first innings. David Warner with 123 not out carried his bat through Australia's fraught fourth innings chase of 240, announcing himself at once as a player of rare adaptability and substance.
Compelling theatre.
Tags: sport, cricket, hobart-7000 First posted December 14, 2012 03:32:48
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