Don't Worry - It's Been Worse
Update: Near the end of this post, I made a remark about not knowing what to do about Shane Watson. Well, after his knock of 176, it would seem threatening his career helps....
Picture it! Boxing Day 2010. I'm all set to enjoy the Ashes Series' Boxing Day test. Everyone is expecting it to be a cracker - the Australian Cricket Team has won a blinder in the third test at the WACA after disconcerting results in the first two tests. Things are looking up. England has won the toss and sent Australia in to bat. One by one the Australian wickets quickly fall. Once Michael Hussey gets out just before lunch, there is no point in continuing to watch. I turn the off the TV. They are bowled for 98. The horror, the horror etc…
A lot is being said about the current performance of the Australian Cricket team. What is being said can be summed up in one word - disappointing. I mean, by the looks of him at the press conference after the fourth test I think Michael Clarke had been crying. But actually I think we’re getting better.
I won’t dwell on it because it is too awful but in the last Ashes series in 2010/11, Australia lost the series 3-1 even with homeground advantage. But that doesn’t really convey the full nightmare that was that series: England won those three tests by an innings each time. It would have been 4-1 if not for the fact that, for reasons never adequately explained, Australia can't seem to lose at the Gabba (it was a draw but England dominated).
Perhaps that last series was just so mortifying Australians have agreed collectively to never speak or even think of it again…but if we did we would realise that this current team is actually performing better than that one and that team had Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and Simon Katich in the line-up (there have been various calls for any of these three to be called out of retirement - I don't think it would help...okay maybe Hussey).
Okay, it might be coming off an extremely low base but in this series, played in England, the Australian Cricket team have managed to get to the fourth innings every time. That’s progress!! The first test was bloody close. The second test was more comprehensive a defeat but we’ve had worse (Yay! We didn’t play as badly as we could have…yeah, I’m definitely coming off a low base). It was only the weather that stopped us winning the third (shakes fist at sky). We shoulda, coulda, woulda won the fourth test, too, but what are you going to do when Stuart Broad* suddenly has one of those sessions where everything he does goes right? The fifth test? We’ll wait and see, although I won't be the only one going to bed each night with a sense of foreboding.
But anyway, there is definitely improvement. The team line-up is beginning to settle - we seem to have decided on an opening pair - Dave Warner and Chris Rogers. There’s a familiarity about the players now which in recent times hasn't been the case (even now I’m not sure who George Bailey is and how he came to not only be in the team but captain occasionally). This sense of cohesion about the team probably has something to do with the fact that just quietly, they dropped the completely counter-productive rotation policy which had players insecure about their place in the team as well as competing with each other for a spot - not a recipe of team unity methinks. Now, if you’re the best at what you do and you’re fit, you play. I think Darren Lehmann might have been the voice of reason there. As much as Ashton Agar’s 98 in the first test was one for the history books, and the series' Hollywood moment, we may not see him in the team again for a couple of seasons, unless Nathan Lyon is injured.
Now that the line-up is beginning to settle, the major weaknesses are easier to see and only two issues - stand out - albeit not small issues. We’ve got to find a decent number three bat and we’ve got to re-learn the knack of how to win. Fix that, and we’re good.
That’s an improvement - at the beginning of the series we had so many problems I wouldn’t know where to begin in listing them.
There’s another Ashes series over the summer and I think it will be a bit more competitive than people expect. I hope.
However I have no answers about what to do with Shane Watson.
Yours sportingly
* it’s not the first time Broad has been the thorn in Australia’s side. We must find a way ofinjuring him playing more effectively against him before the next series.
Picture it! Boxing Day 2010. I'm all set to enjoy the Ashes Series' Boxing Day test. Everyone is expecting it to be a cracker - the Australian Cricket Team has won a blinder in the third test at the WACA after disconcerting results in the first two tests. Things are looking up. England has won the toss and sent Australia in to bat. One by one the Australian wickets quickly fall. Once Michael Hussey gets out just before lunch, there is no point in continuing to watch. I turn the off the TV. They are bowled for 98. The horror, the horror etc…
A lot is being said about the current performance of the Australian Cricket team. What is being said can be summed up in one word - disappointing. I mean, by the looks of him at the press conference after the fourth test I think Michael Clarke had been crying. But actually I think we’re getting better.
I won’t dwell on it because it is too awful but in the last Ashes series in 2010/11, Australia lost the series 3-1 even with homeground advantage. But that doesn’t really convey the full nightmare that was that series: England won those three tests by an innings each time. It would have been 4-1 if not for the fact that, for reasons never adequately explained, Australia can't seem to lose at the Gabba (it was a draw but England dominated).
Perhaps that last series was just so mortifying Australians have agreed collectively to never speak or even think of it again…but if we did we would realise that this current team is actually performing better than that one and that team had Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and Simon Katich in the line-up (there have been various calls for any of these three to be called out of retirement - I don't think it would help...okay maybe Hussey).
Okay, it might be coming off an extremely low base but in this series, played in England, the Australian Cricket team have managed to get to the fourth innings every time. That’s progress!! The first test was bloody close. The second test was more comprehensive a defeat but we’ve had worse (Yay! We didn’t play as badly as we could have…yeah, I’m definitely coming off a low base). It was only the weather that stopped us winning the third (shakes fist at sky). We shoulda, coulda, woulda won the fourth test, too, but what are you going to do when Stuart Broad* suddenly has one of those sessions where everything he does goes right? The fifth test? We’ll wait and see, although I won't be the only one going to bed each night with a sense of foreboding.
But anyway, there is definitely improvement. The team line-up is beginning to settle - we seem to have decided on an opening pair - Dave Warner and Chris Rogers. There’s a familiarity about the players now which in recent times hasn't been the case (even now I’m not sure who George Bailey is and how he came to not only be in the team but captain occasionally). This sense of cohesion about the team probably has something to do with the fact that just quietly, they dropped the completely counter-productive rotation policy which had players insecure about their place in the team as well as competing with each other for a spot - not a recipe of team unity methinks. Now, if you’re the best at what you do and you’re fit, you play. I think Darren Lehmann might have been the voice of reason there. As much as Ashton Agar’s 98 in the first test was one for the history books, and the series' Hollywood moment, we may not see him in the team again for a couple of seasons, unless Nathan Lyon is injured.
Now that the line-up is beginning to settle, the major weaknesses are easier to see and only two issues - stand out - albeit not small issues. We’ve got to find a decent number three bat and we’ve got to re-learn the knack of how to win. Fix that, and we’re good.
That’s an improvement - at the beginning of the series we had so many problems I wouldn’t know where to begin in listing them.
There’s another Ashes series over the summer and I think it will be a bit more competitive than people expect. I hope.
However I have no answers about what to do with Shane Watson.
Yours sportingly
* it’s not the first time Broad has been the thorn in Australia’s side. We must find a way of
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