Ashton Agar's 98 on debut batting at No.11 for Australia has put the spark back in cricket

COMMENT: WITH a wide grin, a cheeky swagger and plenty of lusty blows, Ashton Agar has made cricket cool again.

CRICKET is cool again.

With a wide grin, a cheeky swagger and plenty of lusty blows, Ashton Agar did what Cricket Australia's multi-million-dollar marketing department could not have dreamed of.

Chastening research over several years had revealed that today's youth had become completely disconnected with cricket.

The one-time king of summer had totally fallen off the radar.

AGAR SO CLOSE TO WAUGH LIKE INNINGS

But incredible and quirky heroics of the 19-year-old kid who most Australians would not have heard of a few days ago has given us reason to feel great about the game.

It's likely that young kids everywhere are now pleading with their dads to buy them cricket bats so they can head down to the park and blast it like Agar.

What a remarkable result for a sport that has been battered and bloodied by the bad headlines of misbehaving players and woeful on-field performances.

At last we are seeing an Australian cricketer whacking the Poms over the fence rather than whacking them in the head like Dave Warner did in the Walkabout Bar.


Another great spin-off of one of the great Ashes moments is that Australian cricket has spent millions trying to promote and grow its links into Asia. With his Sri Lankan heritage, Agar has now become a posterboy for plenty of cultures within Australian society.

The significance of Agar's achievement is that his name will be forever linked and attached to the venue.

Agar will be to Trent Bridge what former Australian swing bowler Bob Massie is to Lords after he took a famous 16-137 in his Test debut in 1972.

And what Ian Botham was to Headingley when "Beefy" claimed six wickets in one innings and hit 149 in another to seal a famous Ashes win for England in 1981.
 

TON WILL COME IN GOOD TIME

Australian cricket probably hasn't had such a great personal fairytale since now captain Michael Clarke waltzed into the history books with a magical 151 on his Test debut in Bangalore in 2004.

That achievement may have been slightly lost in the mists of time but it was another truly head-spinning, Agar-type moment.

There have been some exhilarating times since. We loved Dave Warner's fireworks frenzy on the WACA pitch last year when he blasted an incendiary 69-ball century, the fastest by a Test opener.

And who can forget Adam Gilchrist's 57-ball ton at the same ground in 2006 - parties roared into the wee hours everywhere.

But that was powerhouse batsman doing what powerhouse batsman do ... we were surprised but not shocked.

You tend to expect it occasionally from your top seven ... but from a 19-year-old, No.11 making his Test debut?

You have got to kidding!

There are 10-year-old kids who could live to 90 but will never see a teenager plucked from
outside the Ashes squad to become a turbo-charged No.11 batting hero.

It was pure cricket fantasy.

It will be a famous event in cricket history. How cool is that?