He eclipsed the previous best,
achieved by Alastair Cook only a year ago in Melbourne. However, remarkably,
one man has carried his bat twice this year: Dean Elgar. At Jo’burg in January
he ran out of partners in a losing chase against India then, two months later,
his unbeaten 141 laid the foundation for a thumping victory over Australia, a game unfortunately remembered more for Steve Smith Cameron Bancroft and David Warner coming a cropper for cheating.
Latham is typical of a traditional bat-carrier:
an old-school blocker, the guy you need in a Test side to anchor an innings
while others make the strokes. He spent more than eleven hours at the crease,
facing 489 balls, representing a strike rate not too shabby, even by modern
standards. Mind you, he didn’t start to push on until joined by the Black Cap
tail, and only 90 of his runs came in boundaries. But of course that doesn’t
matter when you have colleagues like Williamson, Taylor and de Grandhomme at
the other end upsetting the Sri Lankan attack.
Two players have carried their bat in Tests
three times: Elgar and the great West Indian from the '80s and '90s, Desmond Haynes. The latter was no
slouch but, when compared with his long-time opening partner Gordon Greenidge and
the likes of Viv Richards, Carl Hooper and Brian Lara, he was a stonewaller. These
three occasions were in a mixed trio of circumstances, the matches resulting in
a draw defeat and victory.
There are some familiar obdurate
openers on the list, from Atherton to Lawry, Gavaskar to Dravid, Kirsten to Turner, but also some of the most flamboyant cricketers of modern times. In
2009, Chris Gayle struck 165 out of a second innings 317 at Adelaide which effectively
prevented defeat against the Aussies.
One of the most memorable displays of
bat-carrying came at Hobart seven years ago. In a very low-scoring game against
New Zealand, Australia needed 244 to win. Up to then, only two players had
passed 40 and the Aussie batsmen were maintaining that grim record – all except
David Warner. While Bracewell was causing carnage at the other end, he produced
a brilliant innings of 123 which took his side to within seven of the target
before Lyon was bowled.
However, perhaps the greatest effort
happened in 2008 at Galle. As all around him lost their wickets at an alarming rate,
Virender Sehwag just stuck to his normal game and flayed 201in 231 balls out of
a first innings total of 329. He added 50 on his second outing and India went on
to win decisively.
I wouldn’t mind betting that Geoff
Boycott would have relished carrying his bat. Even if he scored only one not
out. But if there was one thing the Yorkshire legend loved even more, it was
scoring centuries. Therefore, he must have been fuming when, in Perth almost
four decades ago, whilst endeavouring to stave off almost certain defeat, he
was left high and dry on 99 not out. Coincidentally, the Aussie Kim Hughes had
earlier been dismissed on 99 while Boycott’s 20-ball first innings facing
Lillee and Dymock had yielded precisely nothing.
In the end, carrying the bat is a feat
nobody aims for. It may boost your average but, more often than not, it’s
indicative of a poor team performance overly reliant on one batsman. Tom Latham’s
case is an exception: he just kept on going and showed why old-fashioned values
of knowing when to play and when to leave can reap dividends in what is likely
to be a winning cause.
