World Cup 2015 Diaries: Glenn Maxwell Magic at the SCG

A golden duck run out, 1 ball short of the fastest world cup century and a shade of honesty. I'll explain these three carefully crafted phrases that might have got you reading this a little later. It's been a heck of a crazy time here in Sydney, none more than the excitement of watching Glenn Maxwell 'Max' it.

I'm writing this in the innings break as Australia has crafted a mammoth 376/9 in 50 overs vs Sri Lanka.

The flight from Delhi to Sydney on the 5th of March set the mood for what has become a nervous, hectic, itch to just get down to it and know who will play who in the Quarters. I got talking to an Aussie who was in India (Why during the World Cup I wonder) and he successfully got my mind racing.

Who is going to win this World Cup? If, it was Bob Woolmer's death and India's early exit in the 2007 World Cup, Shane Warne's dose of drugs in the 2003 World Cup that saw him exit the event before it even started, or Herschelle Gibbs' 1999 drop that cost South Africa the World Cup and an irremovable tag in the 1996 World Cup - what then will it be in the 2015 edition?

For god's sake just tell me! The 12 hour flight didn't help. The landing was a wake up call. Football season had started and the Aussies were basically in the 'Cricket? We don't give a damn mate' mood.

However, this is the gentleman's game and will always have its loyalists. The kind of loyalty that will inspire arguably one of the best batsmen ever, Brian Lara to wake up at 4:30 am to appear for a live recording on NDTV to analyze West Indies' dismal performance vs India.

The kind of loyalty that will inspire Lara to be true to his conscience and call a spade a spade - 'West Indies is a team of individuals'. We chat about the sorry, in need of a complete overhaul state of West Indies cricket. There's an unmistakable hopelessness, frustration, irritation in his voice at the state of West Indies cricket.

Yet, he is apologetic about having fallen off to sleep. He is human. It's 5 am in Sydney by now.

Sleep is the last thing that's coming but it's needed as much as England's need for a miracle to make people actually believe that cricket was indeed born there.

Waking up is tougher than sleeping, but the desire to visit the Sydney Cricket Ground to get my hands on my media accreditation to be able to ask the questions I was so eager to ask helps me kick off the covers. The last time I was at the SCG, Michael Clarke had scored a triple century vs India in a Test match.

This time he was practicing hard in the nets, to prove he still had it! The frustration was evident when a particular delivery beat him and the Pup let out an angry bark. Clarke was the last to leave the nets along with Shane Watson. Sri Lanka was up next for the Kangaroos.

At the press conference, I asked Clarke 'where in the list of favourites would you put Sri Lanka?' His answer makes it clear they will not be taking the 2007 runners up lightly but falls short of giving a straight answer. He didn't even know Sri Lanka had not managed to beat Australia in 5 previous World Cup encounters. That didn't matter.

Shane Warne called it a big, big match. That's because the loser of Australia-Sri Lanka would in all probability play South Africa in the quarters and nobody wants to face Steyn and De Villiers as early as the quarters. But who knew Pakistan would go on to beat South Africa. That left the permutations and combinations in a toss. Now, the winner of Sri Lanka vs Australia could face South Africa. I wonder what the Aussies and the Lankans thought about that.

A little later that evening, was what they call the greatest show on earth. The Mardi Gras Parade.  A joyous, energetic, unabashed celebration of gays and lesbians. That meant getting a Taxi was near impossible. A friendly Bangladeshi taxi driver appeared out of the blue. A 45 minute rushed Taxi drive later Ian Chappell is walking down his house to open the gate for me at midnight. The talk is about cricket.

He didn't think South Africa's bowling is as good as it's been made out to be. He isn't as straightforward as they made him seem. He pours me a glass of water, sits down, calls a spade a spade in our show, and then gracefully asks if I need a ride back.

The next morning is Sri Lanka vs Australia and it turns out to be the 'Big Show'. Glenn 'The Big Show' Maxwell does what's completely expected of him. He scores a smooth century that takes only 51 balls.

What strikes me is his honesty. On 99 off 49, he needs to score 1 run off 1 ball to equal Kevin O'Brien's record of the fastest century in a World Cup. He probably doesn't know it. It's a leg bye. Only he knows it. The Umpire doesn't. The crowd celebrates. Maxwell doesn't. After, what seems like a conversation between the Umpire and Maxwell, the adjudicator signals leg bye.

I marvel at Glenn Maxwell. Still, he does what allows me to say I can tell the next generation, I saw the 2nd fastest world cup century.

Now to the first sentence of this piece. James Faulkner has got himself run out on the very first ball he faced. It's what's called a golden run out.

Golden? Strange that a player has got out on the first ball he faced and it's likened to the metal that usually signifies a win? The irony that stands out though is different. Just when Shane Watson returns to form, smashing just his 2nd 50 in 12 innings, the song 'I need to know now, can you love me again?' is playing.

He scores 67 off 41 one match after being dropped. Australia and its selectors surely can love him again. Okay, gotta go, Sri Lanka's batsmen are making a chase of Australia's 376.