The Test: A New Era for Australia's Team (2020–…): Season 1, Episode 6 - Episode #1.6 - full transcript

REPORTER: The 12-month bans
on Steve Smith and David Warner

for ball tampering have ended,

but there are still questions
about how they will be received

by the current Australian squad.

The former captain and his deputy
will not only be without leadership roles,

they will also have to earn their spots
in an in-form team

that's embraced a new culture.

First, welcome back, Smith...
Smithy and Davey.

It's great to have you back.

Cape Town.

What do we do? It's a dark time.
It's a dark time for everyone.



Everyone in this room,
it should be a really dark time.

OK? What do we do about it?

Well, we learn from it.

We learn from it.

And we're going to make
Australian cricket awesome again

and keep moving forward
and getting better, OK?

In the last 12 months,
I've had a lot of reflecting to do

with cricket
and what happened in the past

and about getting better
as a team person as well.

I think from looking outside in,

you can tell the whole team itself
as a we

has grown a lot.

How... how we've been accepted
the last 24 hours, basically, you know?

I don't really feel like I left,
to be honest.



You know, there was no unease
or anything like that.

It was back to, like, you know, it's like
I went out of the team yesterday

and came back today.

From a personal point of view,

it's... it's been a pretty hard 12 months,
to be honest.

And I've had times
throughout the year where

I didn't even really want to come back
and play, to be perfectly honest.

And it probably wasn't until
I got my brace off my arm a few weeks ago

where I said, "Shit, I'm ready to go."

Like, "I want to play again."

Going to England for a World Cup,
I know what to expect.

It's going to be incredibly hostile.

And I think for us over in the UK

just maybe like
reading our body language.

If we're feeling a bit down
with, um, sort of external things,

just throw an arm around us and making sure
we're in a good headspace.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Keep the bat there
and spin your head around to me now.

GIDEON HAIGH: They are a cut above
the average cricketer,

but if you spend a year
out of doing anything,

you may potentially lose some of your edge.

So there was a question about

how badly that hiatus
had interfered with their skill set.

You bring two world-class
players back into the side,

it gives guys around you
a lot of confidence

and it brings a little bit more fear factor
to the opposition.

The crowds will be all over them

because the first games they play

are the biggest international
one-day games on the calendar,

in England, where the crowds can be
very, very hostile.

MAN: What we're going to do

is gonna put the cricket
kit away for a few days.

We're going on a journey
of understanding.

We're gonna learn a little bit about

what another mob
of young Australians did

when they went on their tour of duty.

What an experience.
Gallipoli was unbelievable.

Where we're actually sitting now
is where the landing occurred.

So, first light on the 25th,
the men look up

and this is exactly
what they're faced with -

getting up here.

So many people talk about
the Australian culture

and their identity being found
in that Gallipoli campaign.

We'd just newly federated,

so it kind of felt like
it was a link to us players.

We're a newish side
going off overseas,

trying to still find our identity.

And didn't have to look too much further
than all the great traits

a lot of those diggers had over there.

We know that wealth and the size
of a country doesn't matter.

But what really matters
is the character of its citizens,

the character of people who represent it -

that's what matters.

LANGER: The vision for us
isn't just to win games of cricket.

For me, the most exciting thing

is developing great cricketers
and great people,

and great people means great leaders.

So the more we can give these guys
the opportunity

to be mentored by great people,

the more positive that
is for Australian cricket.

In combat, soldiers live and die
by the creed of mateship.

I think mateship, um...

...it's the reason why I play cricket.

It's about going above and beyond
to care after a mate.

If he's had a hard day,
if he's struggling on or off the field.

And I think it's a big area
where we can probably get better at.

SMITH: I think there's a difference
between mates and friends.

And I think we're really
fortunate in this group

to have a lot of friends,

but not everyone's going to get on
like Zamps and Stoin, for example.

But I think for me,
mateship is when you cross that line,

you're playing for each other.

MARSH: We're gonna have our challenges
over in England, no doubt.

Just knowing that whatever happens,
we've all got each other's backs.

And it's the bad days that we've
got to stay together and stick together

and do whatever we can for each other.

And... if we do that,

we're gonna give us every chance
to be there on July 12th.

And that's what we want so badly.

LANGER: We know how to play
one-day cricket. We're really proud of it.

This is where you actually pit yourself

against every team
in one tournament.

Such a great history.

You know, we've won
four of the last five.

COMMENTATOR: Australia have won
the World Cup of 2007.

FINCH: The World Cup is obviously
the pinnacle of one-day cricket

and, as a player,

to represent Australia
on the biggest stage is unbelievable.

I think everyone from my era, Ricky Ponting
is one of their... one of their heroes.

Two-time World Cup winning captain,
three-time player,

and someone who rose to the occasion
every time the game was on the line.

LANGER: He's one of the best of the best,
that's what Ricky Ponting is.

And in that comes not just skill,
but character.

He's tough.

Everything that we talk about
in the elite people of Australian cricket,

he ticks every box.

- Late on tour.
- Late on tour?

What's going on?

LANGER: When I was working
at West Australia,

I always had a saying
up on my wall in my office.

"I never went to Harvard,
but I employ a lot of people who did."

And guys like Ricky,

they are Harvard graduates
of the greatest ilk.

How are you, mate?

I'll sit next to you so
I can get on the doco.

[ALL LAUGH]

He's been on my back
for 12 or 18 months,

to get involved,
back involved in Australian cricket.

And, look, I love it.

We are very, very close.

And, look, to be totally honest, if it
wasn't him coaching that World Cup squad,

I mightn't have gone back
and been around the team.

The game's in my blood
and coaching's in my blood

and trying to make people better

is what I get a lot of joy out of.

Try and improve people,
that's what coaching's all about.

So I'm not going to let a minute go by
or a training session go by

where if I think
something's not quite right,

that I'm not going to put
in the time myself to fix it.

The thing that you have to...
with your timing

is getting that right with your feet moving
at the same time.

KHAWAJA: The best thing about him
is he's so humble.

When he's around the team,

he's just like another...
he's like another lad.

That bounced... that actually
bounced a bit, that one.

STOINIS: The energy he brings
to the room, and the passion.

He's inspiring.

When he goes to training,
he's just throwing balls

and he looks like he's
having the most fun ever.

If you stand like that and then
if your back knee goes that way at all...

...where does that make everything else go?

That makes me go to mid-wicket.

So your hands and your bat
automatically go further out there.

So it's OK for you to stand that way,
but have that knee flexed...

CUMMINS: I think if someone knows a topic
really, really well,

they can simplify it easily,

and he does that.

Just breaks it down
to one or two little things,

gives you real clarity,

and suddenly you go, "Oh! Easy!"

You know, "I'm batting like Ponting now."

LYON: He's just got a brain
just built for cricket.

If Punter says it, it's right.
It has to be right.

It's Punter.
That's just the Punter effect.

It doesn't matter what... what sport
we're talking about.

If you're talking about a drop punt in AFL,

and you've got Alex Carey who's played AFL
teaching us or Punter, I'm going with Punter.

- There we go!
- Yes, Garry!

Thanks, Punter.

Genius.

LANGER: Righto, everyone here?

Probably a good opportunity just quickly

to go through all the players,
to see where they're at.

Finchy.
I know they're training tomorrow.

But everyone happy with where Finchy's at
at the moment?

- In a pretty good space, isn't he?
- Very good.

Usi - travelling OK?

Excellent.

Good shape. Training well.
Really happy with where he's at.

Carey? How's he going?

His batting's good. He's got his mind set
around what he's got to do at seven, so...

- He's pretty good.
- He's amazing. He's improving.

He's getting better at that back end too.

Davey. A couple of things on Davey.

He's still a bit rusty
with his batting, I reckon.

Some better signs yesterday,
but just looks a bit rusty.

Just needs to spend a bit of time,

get some throws,
get his feet moving a bit.

Smithy looks really good, doesn't he?

- Mm.
- Jesus.

I had the first net session
and I was throwing balls to Steve Smith

and I've got this smile on my face.

Mate, I know he's good, but
I was just watching it with my own eyes.

I thought, "Phwoar, he's coming back
into our team? We'll take him!"

Nice, Smudger.

That's when I started thinking,

"We might go alright here."

Hey.

REPORTER: Can you give us
an idea of what it's like

to have Steve and Dave
back in the squad properly?

LANGER: It's really nice having them back.

They've had 12 months to have a good think
about a mistake they and the team made

and I'm sure they'll be
better people for that.

Those two guys, are they the type of characters
who will be fired up more than anything

by any kind of adverse crowd reaction
or heckling or booing or whatever it is?

The boys are very well prepared.
They've paid a heavy price.

We're expecting always to come here and
to face the fire and we're ready for that.

- Thank you.
- Thanks.

ELEVATOR: Going down.

- How are you, Phil?
- Alright, mate.

SMITH: I'm not one to really get nervous.

I never really have throughout my whole career,
regardless of game situations or scenarios.

I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to
be back playing for Australia, that's for sure.

But I really just think of it
as another game of cricket.

COMMENTATOR: Australia versus Afghanistan.
First match.

Australia, of course, ex-world champions.

They know how to win the world titles.

COMMENTATOR #2: This will be the first time
that Steve Smith and David Warner

have played in front of an English crowd since
they served their bans for ball tampering.

ANNOUNCER: Batting for Australia, number five,
Aaron Finch, and number 31, David Warner.

[CROWD BOOING AND HECKLING]

LANGER: Yeah, I hated it. I hated it.

I think it's ignorant. I
think it's disrespectful.

But it made me really angry to start off.

There's not one person who was booing
who hasn't made a mistake in their life.

[BOOING]

COMMENTATOR: So good to have David Warner
back in this team.

Obviously being out of the team
for such a long period of time,

he'll be looking to start this World Cup
with a bang.

COMMENTATOR #2: Oh, trouble here for David Warner.

Didn't have a clue where that ball was.

PLAYER: Wait, wait!

COMMENTATOR: Sent a lot of balls
to the fieldsmen today, David Warner.

WARNER: You have this expectation
of high scores when you go to England.

And then you go out there and you bat

and I was struggling to hit the ball
in the middle.

COMMENTATOR: It's just a bit of a
battle at the moment for David Warner.

It was a hard sort of thing because I was
battling my demons, just going, well, I usually...

I can hit boundaries fluently,
I can take the guys over top,

but I don't know if it's something in my mind
or something that's telling me I can't do that.

[CROWD BOOING]

PONTING: At different times, probably
both of us had to hold each other back

from not jumping over the fence
and getting in amongst the crowd

and shutting a few of
them up, to be honest.

[CROWD BOOING]

[PLAYERS SHOUT]

COMMENTATOR: And given.

Khawaja's got to go. Smith to the crease.

Smith and Warner
batting together again for Australia.

[CROWD BOOING]

SMITH: For me it actually makes me think,
I must be some kind of a threat perhaps

if they're booing me and want me to fail.

So I kind of take a bit of joy in the fact that
they're doing it and use it to motivate me.

[CROWD BOOING AND HECKLING]

When I'm out in the middle and batting and I get
in that zone, it's kind of like my happy place,

where I feel, like, untouchable in a way,
if that kind of makes sense.

COMMENTATOR: He's a run-making machine
in any format, Steve Smith.

Both boys did really well.
They handled themselves brilliantly.

Davey to get 89 not
out just sealed the win.

He was struggling at the start. It felt
like... I know he felt like he couldn't hit it.

COMMENTATOR: Well done to Australia.

It is a good start to their campaign,
and they win by seven wickets.

[SCATTERED HECKLING]

MAN: Cheat! Cheat!
Cheat! Cheat! Cheat! Cheat!

[CROWD BOOING AND HECKLING]

With all the distractions I'll say
this to you and Smudge particularly,

it's more a reflection of them, not you.

OK, and the way you hung in there today and got us
over the line, took us deep, won the game for us,

that was a brilliant effort.

[APPLAUSE]

Man, it wasn't unexpected, the reaction. It's
funny, actually. It turned into a bit like...

You know what, they can do what they want.

They don't know Steve or Dave.
They don't know us.

I don't really care.

KHAWAJA: They're two very different people, but
when you get them on the field, like most of us,

extremely competitive,
they just go about it differently.

Shot! Hallelujah.

LANGER: There's so much perception
of what Davey Warner is like.

It's like having Floyd Mayweather
in your team. It's classic.

The way he plays, he's got energy,
loves playing cricket.

He's a gun player and
he's a little smart-arse.

Actually, I'll take this one.

- You can't...
- Mate, what do you mean? I can.

- Put it back.
- I can.

We're gonna get more anyway sent.

I like how you help your teammates out.

Me? I am the most generous person.

Oh, you gave me one bat. Thanks.

LYON: Davey's Davey. Nothing fazes him.
He knows everything.

You could be talking
about the price of cars,

if you're looking to purchase a car,
he'll know everything. So...

He's good value. I like Davey,
just the way he goes about it.

He's resilient and he wants to be the best.
And then you look at Steve.

Steve Smith's weird, mate.

All he wants to do is bat.

He bats in the shower, he bats in the
corridor, he bats in the lunchroom, he bats...

Mate, like, he just wants to bat.

It's just relentless
but it's unbelievable to watch,

and it's no secret why he's the best,

because he lives and breathes it.

MAN: Nice, mate!

I've been at the pub with him and suddenly he just
starts shadow-batting in the middle of the pub.

I'm like, "Mate, come on.
Just let go of cricket for two minutes."

LANGER: Someone like him,
how do you argue with his preparation?

He is one of the all-time great players.

What I do know over time is that everyone
prepares differently and you've got to trust that.

WARNER: For me, the less I do, the better.
That's my biggest thing.

PONTING: Almost feeling
like you're underdone.

- 100%.
- I used to be the same.

That's the biggest thing
I learned in the last 12 months was just...

...like, giving yourself that time.

It's almost like...

You know you've done the work
over the years, so you're not losing it.

Yeah.

So for myself to get myself ready, my preparation,
you don't want it to come across to look lazy.

I know it's not lazy and other people
have trained the same way as well.

That's why I said to JL the other day,
he asked me, what was up?

I said, "Nothing's up. Just the
fact that I don't like going into..."

So, I'll have a net
session against someone.

But then leading into the game,
I don't need to face them.

Doing stuff like this and this is good.

I won't normally hit this much before a
proper game, but I'll just work on 20 minutes

of solid hitting the ball over the middle
and making sure I'm just fresh.

Yeah.

Thanks, mate.

♪ In joyful strains, then, let us sing ♪

♪ Advance Australia fair. ♪

COMMENTATOR: That's brilliant!
That is magnificent.

Finch has gotta go.

COMMENTATOR #2: Another one gone!

WHATELEY: The West Indies'
brute pace bowling unsettled Australia,

and if you lose one of those pool games
early, your World Cup campaign can drain away.

[CROWD BOOING]

COMMENTATOR: Steve Smith
now starting to stamp his authority.

LANGER: Mentally tough teams
win the ones they should win.

The way the boys fought back in that game
was brilliant.

Nathan, of course, got 90.

This sounds so obvious,

but unless you're winning games and end up in
the top four, mate, you're not winning the final.

So every single game is important.

The highlight of my whole day
was the national anthem.

I'm actually not joking.

Because we're seeing it.

Everyone is against us. Everyone.

Doesn't matter who we play. We played
West Indies and you guys stay together.

You sing the national anthem like that, you
celebrate like that, you stick together,

and I'm telling you,
everyone in Australia's feeling it as well.

So the national anthem set the scene.

'Cause you're gonna have to stick together,

and good teams stick together when the
pressure comes on, and you did that today.

COMMENTATOR: This is a huge game
and in terms of quality of cricketers,

this is probably the biggest game
of the World Cup.

And I think whichever team wins it
will send a strong message to everyone.

LANGER: They're a great team.

The upside is we know we can beat them because
we beat them in India a few months before,

so that's the heartening side of it.

Let's go, boys. Have a good day.

COMMENTATOR: Away we go!

Oh! It's put down.

That's a beautiful shot.

And they've just got incredible batsmen
that just play the game so beautifully.

It's like the Harlem Globetrotters.

COMMENTATOR: Just over the keeper.

And he'll put that in the gap.

Doesn't matter where the gap was,
because it sailed over.

That's a terrific shot.

That flies over point.
Virat Kohli gets going.

The Australians now,
they have to worry about this a bit.

Maybe not a bit, maybe a little bit more.

COMMENTATOR #2: And India,
they bring up 350.

Australia will need 353 for victory.

COMMENTATOR #1: It's gonna be
a hell of a run chase for Australia.

LANGER: Nothing changed,
OK? We're right in this.

Fast outfield, beautiful wicket,
we're right in the hunt.

Let's be up and ready for the hunt.

We know we can easily score
90 plus in the last 10 overs here. Easy.

COMMENTATOR: And Warner and Finch
are gonna have to start well.

Someone's got to go deep.

COMMENTATOR #2: That sounded good off
the bat. They'd be looking for two. But...

Oh, just about get it. Just about get it.

And Finch is starting to walk.

COMMENTATOR #1: The communication,
the hesitation.

The Australian captain, he will be fuming.

COMMENTATOR #2: Aaron Finch
was looking really good - 36 off 35 -

and he's charging off
without a look at his colleague.

Now back with Warner.
How much has that affected him?

WARNER: I feel like I've got no rhythm.
I feel like I've got no timing.

The only thing I can think of is I've got a
fear of getting out, and that's not how I play.

I play with a free mind, a clear mind,
and back myself all the time.

It just felt like I had this sort of...

...I don't know, something was over me.

COMMENTATOR #2: And Warner finds the man
at deep mid-wicket.

David Warner has got to go.

LANGER: No, it's never easy chasing 350.

We fell a bit short. We had a crack at it.

COMMENTATOR: Bowled.

And he's gone.

Has he picked him out? He has. He has.

It's a win to India, by 36 runs.

Alright, boys.
Obviously the result didn't go our way.

They're obviously a very good team but
they got the better of us for a lot of it.

There's areas we can tighten up in.

I think from the batting side point of
view, I was quite rattled after I got...

...after they run out Finchy.

I felt like I had a fear of getting out.
I didn't feel like I...

I didn't feel like I could take that risk.

If you're scared about
getting out, fuck that.

You've got to be thinking about getting
runs, not be worried about making mistakes.

I've been there. You start thinking about
making mistakes as a player, you're fucked.

At the end of the day, all of you have got
nothing to fear, nothing to lose right now.

We haven't got the World Cup.

All you've got is things
to gain, things to win.

You need to think that way.

You are the best cricket
team in the tournament, alright?

If you keep holding back and being fearful of
things, it's just gonna get harder and harder.

Keep backing yourself, backing your skills,

and imposing yourself on the game
when the opportunity presents itself.

Like a few of us did today.

There's some good stuff there.

They're a good side. Yes.
No better than us.

And we'll show that in a couple days' time,
I reckon, against our next opponents.

It just really hit me after he spoke about
that because when you're in a team environment

and you're giving feedback in front of a
group, it can be quite confronting sometimes,

and it really hit me and I was
just like, OK, I'll take that on board.

COMMENTATOR: Massive game coming up.

It is Australia against Pakistan,

and all eyes have been on David Warner for
any number of reasons in this World Cup.

It's pretty incredible
watching Dave at times.

He makes batting look so easy sometimes and
he makes it look really difficult at others.

COMMENTATOR: And Warner...
Why isn't there a flow?

Why isn't there a strike
rate at the moment?

I knew I had it in me. Just...

How it was gonna happen because
I was so slow and a bit tentative.

And they're the times when I sort of just gathered
my own thoughts and started singing to myself

and just relaxing a little bit.

I've always got a nursery rhyme or something in
my head that I'm just thinking about or whatnot,

just takes me to a bit of a happy place.

COMMENTATOR: Nicely played.

That's what you really want to see from Warner.
If he's in good nick, that's the way he plays.

And I just chanced my arm a bit.

I played a few shots,
got a good couple of cover drives away.

COMMENTATOR: Looks on today, Warner.
Nice and aggressive.

It's just like, OK, I'm in here. Sorta just
ignited the spark and fight into me again.

COMMENTATOR: Has it gone long enough?

It has. He'll pick up a six off a free hit.

Because he can be so destructive in such a short
space of time, he can turn it on in an over,

and then once he gets
away you can't stop him.

COMMENTATOR: Well played.

COMMENTATOR #2: That's a nice shot.

Another beautiful shot.

Oh, beautiful.

David Warner is ecstatic.

101 not out.

That means the world to him.

PONTING: To get that hundred and sort of
announce himself back into international cricket

and make a real statement himself
on the World Cup was incredible.

GLENN MAXWELL: To see him go out and perform
as well as he did with all that pressure,

the boos, the jeers from the crowd,

it was us against the rest of the world
and he made sure he was the man for us.

COMMENTATOR: He's gone!

Australia win by 41 runs.

We've had some unbelievable individual
performances, which has been great.

David, welcome back
with your hundred, mate.

COMMENTATOR: Australia's starting
to ride their confidence into this fixture.

COMMENTATOR: That's away.
Boom, Aaron Finch.

Ah, good shot.

COMMENTATOR: Warner.

Beautiful.

Warner's in really good form by this stage.

In fact, it's all being done
at the top of the order.

Warner and Finch are guiding the Australians
to big scores and a sense of confidence.

COMMENTATOR: And Australia have done it.

Well done!

COMMENTATOR: Khawaja.

Yes!

Beautiful shot.

Great shot.

What a shot that is.

David Warner gets a century.

Another brilliant performance.
Second hundred in this World Cup.

A victory to Australia by 48 runs.

COMMENTATOR #2: Brothers in arms.

And in all of that,
Australia now go to the top of the table.

LANGER: We knew the top four batters
had to score hundreds for us. They all did.

But what I did know for us to win the
tournament, we couldn't have any passengers.

I think...

...if we turn all our attention to
England now, we should focus on that,

but there might be a few things
that we can do to beat England.

I reckon we've got to go after them and try
and get them out in their first 10 balls.

Yep.

Don't let them come out and dictate
and play the way they want to.

We will fucking set fields
and go after each one of them.

All of you have probably got some ideas
about how we can be a little unorthodox.

I know our two key bowlers
are Starc and Cummins,

and that's certainly worth
putting up against them.

But if we happen to go with another left arm
pace bowler, that's worth considering as well.

We knew every bit of data for the last five years
tells us they struggle, most of their batters,

struggle against left armers.

We could then open with a Behrendorff.

Left arm matches up well,

and Starky and Cummo might have to realise
the reason we're doing this is what you said -

we've got to get them
out, we've got to beat them.

Not just let the game flow.

Yeah. I personally think you could start
with both left-armers.

'Cause that's our best match-up,
is left-armers against them.

I reckon we have to be a bit more daring.
Nothing to be scared of.

Nothing to lose. Just
fucking go after them.

Very good, yep.

STARC: Really great part about
the one-day preparation phase

is you can be so specific in what you want to
practise, and it's all about that execution.

Cummo's our best setter.
Let's watch where this lands.

- There you go. Straight on.
- Good boy, Winksy!

CUMMINS: Bowler coach set up a
couple of cones on the batting crease

and we'd have a little tally system.

So we might get 12 balls each.

Oh, well bowled.

And then you had a cone in the middle
on the front crease.

That was 1A.

That was five points if you hit the cone.

- Oh, Starky!
- Five pointer.

It's basically just trying to put a
little bit more pressure on yourself

of nailing those yorkers.

Come on, Jase. You can do this.
Keep this up.

It's catchy. That's contagious.

For me as a left-arm swing bowler, that's just
about the perfect ball that I try and bowl

just about all the time.

No blue-bagger.

It doesn't work all the time
but that's what I'm trying to do.

I'm trying to swing the ball back
and hit the stumps.

For me the mindset, especially in tournament
play, is that you know you're gonna get a chance

at some point and you know you're gonna need
to be at your best when you get that chance.

And it's tough not playing,
because that's what you want to do.

You're there to play cricket
and you always want to be in the team,

so for me it was always about making sure
every training session had a purpose,

for the reason that I know
that I'm gonna be called on at some stage

and I'm gonna be ready
to go when I get that call.

- Perfect.
- Nice, Starky.

- That's a wicket for you, as we know.
- Best in the world at that.

One of the best in the world.

BEHRENDORFF: Starky and I could be
opening the bowling together,

and it doesn't happen very often,
two left-armers doing it,

and for me, thinking about that,
I was like, "How good is this?"

What an opportunity to bowl at
the other end with Mitch Starc.

Oh, Dorf, that's a
great way to finish, son.

- Great way to finish, Dorf.
- That's an 11.

- That probably wins the game.
- It's an 11, my arse.

What do you mean, mate? I've hit all three.

- Nice, Dorf. Is that your last one?
- Yeah.

When you get the World Cup draw, the
first game, OK, where do we play England?

Alright, we're playing them at Lord's.

SMITH: There's a reason why they've been
number one in the world for a few years.

The way they play their game,
it's a very fearless and aggressive style.

They back that one or two of their batters
are gonna come off,

and if that's the case, then they're gonna
score 300 plus on most occasions.

REPORTER: What reception do you
expect Steve Smith and David Warner to get?

I'm not expecting anything.

I think fans and supporters
up and down the country

will have different reactions,
as they will around the world.

So, yeah, let's just see.

REPORTER: Do you see
it as your role in any way

to give any kind of indication
or instruction to the crowd

about how they should
behave with the Australians?

No. No.

COMMENTATOR: Cameras are out.
It's such a big occasion here at Lord's.

England against Australia.

COMMENTATOR #2: Will answer some questions
today, I think, this game.

And Australia will answer the questions

whether the revival that we've seen
in the last 12 months is for real.

Smart batting.

COMMENTATOR #3: They've had to absorb
a lot of pressure, Australia,

in the first 10 overs in particular.

But now they're starting to apply pressure
themselves.

COMMENTATOR #1: Another four to Aaron Finch.

COMMENTATOR #2: Smashed.

So impressive what we're seeing
from the openers once again.

So Finch sets Australia up against England,

but they don't get everything
that they might have got.

COMMENTATOR: Don't think there's enough on this.

Archer.

Frustration for Smith,
and these wickets are tumbling now.

After a bright start, Australia can't
find the acceleration they need.

COMMENTATOR #2: Australia continuing
to lose wickets when they can't afford to.

Australia finish on 285/7.

[CROWD APPLAUDS]

285 against England, you're gonna have to
bowl and field very well,

and particularly take early wickets.

COMMENTATOR: Finch's first decision
was who to give the new ball to.

He's given it to Behrendorff.

BEHRENDORFF: To walk out on Lord's
to play cricket for Australia,

staring back looking at
the old pavilion there...

...um...

...scary stuff.

What, Jason Behrendorff's gonna open
and not Pat Cummins?

My heart's pumping because you know
if it comes off, no-one will say anything.

But if it doesn't, they're gonna bag you.
They're gonna slam you.

COMMENTATOR: Oh, he's bowled him.

Brilliant start from Behrendorff.

It was near on the perfect ball
that I wanted to bowl.

COMMENTATOR: That swing there,
it's gone through Vince's defences.

What a start for Australia.

BEHRENDORFF: To be able to execute
something that you've worked so hard at

for such a long period of time and to have it
come off, there's not many better feelings.

COMMENTATOR: Fantastic start for Australia, and
Behrendorff now the key man. Root at the crease.

This is the one we need.

Jase got us off to great start
with that wicket in the first over,

and I think that sort of set the tone
for the bowling innings for us.

COMMENTATOR: Here goes Starc.

Ohh! He's played that differently then.
See that?

Bowling second and seeing how
they bowled on the Lord's wicket,

they were quite a bit shorter than we thought
they might bowl and what we wanted to bowl,

so it was great for us to see that and go,

let's try and bowl a little bit fuller
on a wicket that was offering a little bit.

COMMENTATOR: Oh, close.
Close. Surely.

Yes! Finger goes up. Beauty from Starc.

LANGER: I'm saying, "Is he gonna refer it?
Is he gonna refer it? Is he gonna refer it?

"He's not referring it.
Yes! He's out. You fucking beauty!"

COMMENTATOR: Absolutely plumb,
and Australia are prising the wickets.

They've got two.
They got them very quickly.

They've got such a long
batting line-up, England,

so we knew two wickets or three wickets
wasn't gonna win us a game.

They'd bat right through.

COMMENTATOR: And now Ben Stokes
joins Jonny Bairstow,

and England in desperate
need of a partnership.

COMMENTATOR #2: That's a beautiful shot
from Ben Stokes. My gosh.

COMMENTATOR #3: Explosive stuff from Ben Stokes.

COMMENTATOR #4: Stokes is flashing through
extra cover. Nothing Lyon could do about that.

Ben Stokes is probably one of the best
all-rounders in the game,

and obviously he was controlling their innings,
even though they were behind the eight ball.

COMMENTATOR: At the moment it's with England.

Stokes in particular, who's moved to 88,
seems to be enjoying pace on the ball.

He's gonna get some more now,
because Mitchell Starc is gonna come on.

Ben Stokes is that complete
package cricketer, if you like,

and he nearly got them home three days ago against
Sri Lanka, so he was the wicket that we wanted.

COMMENTATOR: That is brilliant bowling!

An outstanding inswinging yorker.

ISA GUHA: The perfect yorker, and that was
pretty much the end of England's hopes.

It was nail in the coffin,
game done at that point.

COMMENTATOR: What a performance from Australia.

The five times world champions
are the first side through to the semis.

A complete performance
from a complete team.

Yeah, big one!
[LAUGHS]

It's one thing to talk about all these things.
You've got to execute it as well, right?

Well done, gentlemen.

PONTING: So you've got to have your players
thinking the right way and, more importantly,

making sure they've got the
skill to execute it under pressure,

and that day most things
worked out quite nicely.

[CHEERING]

Oh, shit. Thanks. Awesome.

Boys, before we wrap it up, a couple of things.
Well done. We're all really proud of you.

Great job. Great job.

The only thing I want to say, though,
is that this isn't the semifinal.

OK. Enjoy it, but this
isn't the semifinal yet.

OK? We've still got
plenty to do before that.

It was a team that all of a sudden
looked very, very comfortable with itself.

COMMENTATOR: Game over.
They win by 86 runs.

HAIGH: Six months before, no-one had given
them the faintest hope of getting that far,

but they got to a point in the tournament
where they thought,

well, "Who says we can't go all the way?"

PONTING: The feeling
around the group was awesome.

Hey, I've seen you do that before.

PONTING: You could feel the really
genuine care and love for each other.

You know, how hard they were training, how
hard they were pushing themselves training

and that was sort of transferring over
into performances on the field

and that was the way I knew teams to be
that I played in.

Do it again!

Nice, Finch!

FINCH: I think it's important to train
at a really high intensity,

because if you don't,
you can't just switch that on and off.

I think you have to be exposed to that
consistently.

MAXWELL: Knowing that I had to face up
to Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins,

I literally am petrified
when I walk into those nets.

It's just, how am I gonna go today?

It's a shocking feeling
walking into the nets with fear.

Practising batting against
our fast bowlers, you know,

they're coming in bowling 150 kays in the
nets, which feels like 160 in a confined space.

So if you're doing that
and you're doing that well,

then I feel as though that gives you so much
confidence when you go out to the middle.

Nice.

All I remember was Starky bowling a bouncer
and hitting Maxwell.

Looked pretty bad.
He walked out, looked like he was in pain.

And... SOS walked in, and SOS obviously
hadn't played the last four or five games.

He was basically the spare batter.

And I remember Putter saying,
"You never know, SOS.

"If Maxie's no good here,
this might be your chance."

I bowled a pretty bad ball and that
was meant to be my last ball of the spell,

and I just thought, "Nah, I'd better finish
on a good one, so I'll bowl one more."

SOS is probably the bravest man
you'll ever meet in cricket.

He never shows pain.

For him to walk straight out and nothing, no
expression on his face or anything like that,

it was pretty obvious that
something wasn't right.

Your heart drops because you just know, if he's
admitting that he's in pain, he's seriously gone.

MARSH: I just remember this sort of
sharp pain and I couldn't move my wrist

and the emotions started kicking in that I
knew deep down that I'd broken my arm.

Yeah, so I knew that maybe that was
the end of my World Cup.

COULTER-NILE: He's one of my best mates.
I just didn't know what to say.

Honestly, it broke my heart.

Like, I don't know how to put into words
that emotion that I was feeling at the time

and I just wanted to hug him.

He's not a big hugger, but I just
wanted to... I am a big hugger.

I just wanted to hold him and just be like,
"Mate, I feel so sorry for you."

I just wanted to cry for him, you know?

MARSH: The realisation of me having an injury and
that ending my World Cup was really hard to take.

I am 36.

The World Cup, you know, might have been the
last time I play in the Australian cricket team,

and for it to end with a broken arm was
definitely, you know, really disappointing.

PONTING: What do you do in a World Cup?
You've just got to move on pretty quickly.

Very rare I think a tournament
goes perfectly for you,

but you've just got to find a way to adapt
and adjust and get on and win games.

GUHA: This final group match against
South Africa, for Australia, was very simple.

If they won, they would
go top of the table.

If they lost, then it would be a case of
them facing England in the semifinal.

We needed to win that game badly.

COMMENTATOR: South Africa, brilliant stuff.
Australia haven't been quite at their best.

Here's Tahir.

PLAYER: Catch!

COMMENTATOR: Should be out! Is out!
Finch hits it straight to cover.

A brilliant start for
South Africa once again.

Usman Khawaja is in at three
and he's in early today.

He's a fine player
and he is a cement-tight player for me.

He's what you put your foundation on.

Davey hit one down leg side.

It came out of absolutely nowhere.

You could just feel...
[CLICKS TONGUE]

That's what you feel a lot of time with
hammies. You just feel it sort of ping off.

I felt that ping.

COMMENTATOR: I think Usman Khawaja is
genuinely struggling and is battling here.

He's gonna get the physio out.

As soon as it happened, I knew.
I was like, "Oh, shit."

Like, I just knew, like, "I'm cooked here."

COMMENTATOR: Usman Khawaja is in a bad way

and what does that spell
for the rest of the tournament also?

KHAWAJA: And Davey was just like,
"You've got to go, 'cause you can't run."

I'm like, "Yeah, sorry. I've got to go."

[CROWD APPLAUDS]

I honestly can't remember being that disappointed
coming off a cricket field ever in my life.

Walking off the field like that
and not being out

just feels like you've let your team down
straightaway.

Knowing that that was my World Cup over,
it just hit me so hard.

It's the first time I've ever in my life
shed tears in a dressing-room, ever.

Yeah, you dream of playing World Cups, you dream
of playing World Cup semis, World Cup finals,

and... it was taken away right there.

FINCH: Yeah, it was shattering
for Usman to do his hammy.

To have Shaun, who would've come in
as his replacement, injured as well is...

...yeah, it wasn't the best week for us
up there in Manchester.

COMMENTATOR: Brilliant bit of cricket
from South Africa.

Australia will be disappointed.

They could have ended up top of the pops.
They don't.

So they'll be playing in the
second semifinal against England.

If I look at it in its most simple terms,

we lost one of our premier batters
in the run chase,

and we specifically picked Usman Khawaja,
the Test number three,

to get us through those tough moments,
and we didn't get through it.

And we lost his replacement, Shaun Marsh,
the day before.

Yeah, it just felt like everything sort of
just went from being really good...

...just, like, the complete 180 now,
where everything is really bad.

We set about before this game
not to play on emotion, to play on skill.

When we turn up on Thursday,
probably unlike we did today,

think about those two sitting right there
who's helped us get to this position.

They have been two of our best players
for the last 12 months.

They've helped us get to this
position to be in the World Cup,

so let's play on a bit of emotion because
we talked about we went to Gallipoli,

we talk about mateship is one of our
values, we talk about the brotherhood.

Well, let's dig deep in
our preparation this week.

If we do it for nothing else,
it's for these two blokes right here.

Because they're not gonna play

and you know that they would both cut their
leg off to play and they deserve to play.

COMMENTATOR: It's the oldest of rivalries
in the game.

It's England against Australia.

It is the World Cup semifinal.

MICHAEL CLARKE: Everything
that's gone before today is irrelevant.

Today you need to come out
and play your best cricket.

On our day we know if we turn up and we
execute the right way that we can beat anyone.

COMMENTATOR: This is a huge occasion.

It should be an absolute cracker.

Jofra Archer. He's got the skills, Archer.
Can he deliver?

That's the ball you're looking for.
That's the one they're looking for.

Given! First ball!

Finchy gets out first ball.
The captain goes out first ball.

COMMENTATOR: So, plan A was Finch.

Plan B, tight line to Warner,
try and nick him off. Two slips waiting.

Edged, and taken!

What a start from England.
What a start from Woakes.

FINCH: Fuck!

We were behind the
eight ball from the start.

COMMENTATOR: Gone! What a beauty.

Trouble for Australia.
Handscomb's got to go for 4.14/3.

This is not happening.

You know, this is not what I'd
seen happening with this group.

COMMENTATOR: Pressure's on here
for the Australian batsman.

Carey comes in at number five.
A promotion for him.

He is a man in nick.

But he is gonna face some unbelievable
new-ball bowling.

COMMENTATOR #2: A good test for Carey here.

Test not just of ability and technique
but also of courage and heart.

CAREY: You're obviously quite excited
or nervous and anxious and sitting there,

and then, once that wicket falls,
you're like, "OK."

You go through those words that work for me
and then you're into the battle.

COMMENTATOR: And what a bumper.

Absolutely beautifully bowled, and
unfortunately, a little cut on the chin.

CAREY: The grille went back,
the buckle busted and it fell off,

and I caught it, so that was good.

Probably saved my wicket.

COMMENTATOR: Alex Carey getting some treatment.

I think just when you're out in that contest,
that battle, that it's just a little flesh wound

and your main focus is batting, making runs
and not losing your wicket.

COMMENTATOR: Alex Carey,
he's out there to do battle.

It's a brave effort, this, from Carey.

He must be uncomfortable
under that strapping.

The face has begun to swell up.
You can see that.

PONTING: We talk about character, don't we,
in the game all the time,

and to see him hit like that early on,

I don't care who it is, it's gonna shake you up
and it's gonna rattle you to a certain degree.

But you wouldn't have known with him.

He just got back on with it
and knew what job he had to do for his team

and he went about doing it the best way
that he could.

COMMENTATOR: Oh, it's in the air.
Through the gap and away.

COMMENTATOR #2: What poise,
what positivity, what execution

by this wonderful new wicket-keeper batsman
for Australia.

If I'm judging cricketers, I like to judge them
when they're under pressure and how they perform

and what their body language is like.

COMMENTATOR: Beautiful stroke.

He came in and he was calm, he was
composed and he was just playing the game.

COMMENTATOR: If this partnership
progresses into that 40th over,

it could be a very, very competitive total
that Australia can build.

It was funny because I kept saying,
"No, no, someone will pull us out.

"Someone has pulled us out
for the last six months.

"Someone will do it. Someone will pull us
out. Someone will pull us out of trouble."

- PLAYER: That's it.
- COMMENTATOR: Leg side.

There is a man out there.
Straight to him, surely.

Yes.

Straight to him.

Partnership broken.

[CROWD CHEERS]

Australia didn't have the batting prowess in form
to be able to rescue the innings at that stage,

so when Carey departs,
there's a dull sense of dread.

COMMENTATOR: Ooh, wrong'un. Close.
He hasn't picked the wrong'un.

Will the finger go up? You bet it does!

Oh! They've gone.

Oh, gone! Taken. And taken so well.

PLAYER: Yes!

COMMENTATOR: Oh, that'll be tight.

That could be the end of Smith.

COMMENTATOR #2: Watch that ball
straight between Steve Smith's legs.

Can you believe it?

Yes, Steve Smith, unfortunately,
he's gonna have to go.

What a performance
from this England bowling attack.

224 all out, Australia.

Game plan is exactly the same.
Nothing changes. Nothing changes.

We know what we're doing.

Nothing changes.

COMMENTATOR #1: They won't give
it up, Australia. They are champions.

You want to be a match-winner.
It's a World Cup semifinal.

You want to be remembered.

And I remember walking out there
just pumped, just going, "Can't wait.

"This is a chance where
we could do something really special."

So, we knew we had to be taking early
wickets. I think that was our best chance.

We couldn't just let it peter out
to the back end of the innings

because they play quite aggressive.

We had to take wickets.

COMMENTATOR: Driven away.
Beautiful hands from Jason Roy.

Shot. Really good shot, that.

It's a tough game
and the best can even get belted at times.

If Mitch, the best bowler in the world,
is getting smacked...

...what am I gonna do?

COMMENTATOR: That is a statement of intent
if ever there was one.

Cummins into the attack.

Oh, what a shot.

When we didn't take a wicket early, the
game kind of slipped away pretty quickly.

COMMENTATOR: Crunched! Brilliant.

These two, they're on fire at Edgbaston.

It ended up being just one of those days
because I didn't see it coming that way.

COMMENTATOR: That's up
here in the commentary box!

It's an exhibition of batting.
It has been for a while.

Hit away over mid-on.

How fitting it is that
Captain Morgan is the man

that leads his team to Lord's
for a World Cup final?

Australia, they've been
completely outplayed by England.

It's been clinical, it's been ruthless.

LYON: As a kid, that's all you dreamt of -
playing in a World Cup final.

That was the dream.

And it got taken away.

You either win it and you're the kings
or you lose it and...

...yeah, you feel empty,
you leave feeling empty.

PONTING: That opportunity that
that group had has been missed.

An opportunity to leave their own history
on World Cup cricket as a team.

That's what it's all about.

The 2019 Australian World Cup cricket team
had an opportunity to do something

that some of them might not get
an opportunity to do again.

LANGER: You can silver-line it as much as
you want. You're there to win the World Cup.

We'd got this far as a
great group of people,

we had amazing preparation,
we had great support staff,

we had the players were playing well.

And you know it's over.

Well, it's an unusual summer, because you've got
the World Cup and the Ashes in the same summer,

which is just incredible.

England had their moment here on 14 July.

For Australia, if there's anything
that can potentially rival a World Cup win,

it's winning an Ashes.

NARRATOR: Next on The Test...

Go get 'em, boys! Go get 'em!

COMMENTATOR: Steve Smith is back!

Not every day you play
a Test at Lord's, mate.

COMMENTATOR: Oh, no!

MAN: I don't think I've ever seen someone
get hit so hard on a cricket ground.

What's the story, Leaks?

WARNER: We were
really worried. It's 150km/h.

You get hit by a car at 150km/h,
you're not getting up.

This is our best batter. He's just been
knocked out. Like, what's gonna happen?

He's still down.