A cartel, and I quote with the full authority of Wikipedia behind me, is ‘a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market.’ Normally such groups are disinclined to draw attention to their activities; Australia’s pace bowlers hold no such reservations. The nomenclature “Fast Bowlers’ Cartel” started around 15 years ago, a joke to reflect their self-perception as a discrete unit, a team within a team, then led by Glenn McGrath. The name has been formalised in their WhatsApp group; at the Sydney Cricket Ground yesterday, it was veritably etched into the turf. SponsoredPat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc took seven wickets between them. They gave away barely two runs an over.

Source: The Times January 09, 2021 12:00 UTC