Cricket's finest writer pays tribute to master batsman Sachin Tendulkar and Aussie pace ace Brett Lee, who bid farewell to Test cricket recently

Adventures of Sachin Tendulkar and Brett Lee

Cricket's finest writer pays tribute to master batsman Sachin Tendulkar and Aussie pace ace Brett Lee, who bid farewell to Test cricket recently

It was the Boxing Day Test of 1999. India were showcasing their champion batsman, Sachin Tendulkar, no longer a brilliant stripling, already acknowledged as one of the masters of the age. Australia had summoned a brash young fast bowler with a toothpaste smile going by the name of Brett Lee.

Their confrontation was compelling, a match within a match. Eleven years later, they shared the headlines again, Tendulkar for becoming the first batsman to score 200 in a one-day international, Lee for announcing his retirement from Test cricket. Such are the cruel ironies and sweet pleasures of sport.

Lee was magnificent in that MCG Test. Bowling at roughly the speed of light, he pounded the Indians with bumpers, tormented them with outswingers, demolished them with late inswing. The debutant took 5-47 as Australia secured a large and eventually decisive lead of 167 runs. It was a searing start from a superb athlete destined to become his country's fourth-highest wicket taker.

But Tendulkar was his equal. Defiant and courageous, he refused to give second best to the surging speedster.
Countering with thrusts of his ownu00a0-- cuts, pulls and glides off his pads - the maestro scored 116 of India's 238. Tendulkar collected 52 in the second dig but could not stop the visitors losing by 180 runs.

As far as Test cricket is concerned, Lee's fire has been extinguished. He's had a wonderful career, and everyone will wish him well, but it's hard to see him regaining his place in any form of the game.

His best hope is to join the emerging brigade of ageing speedsters able to focus entirely on the shorter format.

Once his greatest asset, his body is not to be trusted.

Dazzler
Contrastingly, Tendulkar continues to go from strength to strength. His dazzling double century in Gwalior reinforced his reputation as the finest batsman to appear in the past 60 years. After two decades of intense scrutiny and hard campaigns, he was fresh enough to bat an entire innings and collar all sorts of bowling. He has been sustained by a simple love of the game and, especially, batting. As Andre Agassi has confirmed, it's not as easy as it sounds. A lot can be lost once sport becomes a job.

Nor was Tendulkar playing against mugs. The might of South Africa was arrayed against him. Certainly the pitch was amiable and the outfield fast, but that has often been the case and the mark had remained intact.

Moreover, he conquered not with brute force but with the purity of style that has been his hallmark since first he arrived as a child at Shivaji Park, a young boy seeking opportunity and competition. His ability to combine classical and virtuoso has been unique.

Rewarding
No batsman has been as rewarding to watch in the past decades, and none has been superior. Among past masters, Viv Richards and Sunil Gavaskar stand out. Gavaskar ruled with meticulous technique. Often he played within himself, relying on patience and precision to build his score. As much was the duty of the stoical opening batsman. Not that he was always cautious. Indeed, he played some of the most breath-taking innings the game has known. Then his range of shots was extraordinary and the execution vibrant. Before him, too, Indian batsmen were regarded as frail. After him the word was never again spoken. That is the measure of his triumph.

Richards dictated with relish. He was a majestic batsman who thrived in the heat of the hottest battle. But he was moody. In his pomp, from 1976 to 1983 or thereabouts, he imposed himself by force of stroke and character. For all his magnificence, though, he averaged 50 in Test cricket, a modest return for a batsman of his stature not called upon to face the West Indies pace machine. The figures tell of a batsman at the mercy of his temper. Longevity has a part to play in the assessment.

Among the moderns, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Brian Lara stand apart. Ponting's greatness is an established fact. Over a long period, he has scored heavily in all forms of the game and against all types of bowling. Kallis has been underestimated. In part it is because he often ends up in the all-rounder section. As a batsman he is a colossus. The figures speak for themselves.

Lara has been the genius of the age. His best has been the best. On his day, no one could touch him, not even Tendulkar. Almost single-handed he has won Test matches, even series. But he was fitful, endured too many bad patches. Lara has acknowledged the merits of his rival, an opinion at once humble and accurate.

Tendulkar is not flawless. Of all modern batsmen, though, he has been the most complete. And he's not finished yet. Alas, it's not possible to be as sanguine about his foe and friend from that epic confrontation in Melbourne, the popular paceman from the southern beaches, Brett Lee.