We wish that was true. We really do. But that is not the case. Though Simon Barnes is eloquent (too eloquent sometimes), we don't buy into this whole "... In every empire’s beginning you find the seeds of its decline and fall..." argument. Australian cricket is alive and well. A player like Hussey has to wait several years to get into the team. That means something, only we are not sure what...
The only person Australia will find it hard to replace is Shane Warne. Everybody else, including Glen McGrath, Justin Langer, and Damien Martyn is replaceable.
As we write this, Hayden is batting on 84 in the 3rd ODI between Australia and New Zealand. We hope that he goes on to make a century so that he can then be at the press conference. That is something we always look forward to - making sense of Haydos speak for the masses.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
This is, of course, overwrought nonsense from a journo so desperate for a new storyline that he's gone and cobbled one together out of a few one-day results of varying relevance.
It's certainly true that Australia are not head and shoulders among the rest of the one-day world -- then again, I don't see that as a recent development. You could have made a reasonable case that South Africa was the superior ODI side before the Commowealth series even began. And -- pace Barnes -- no one seriously questioned the ability of SL, NZ, Pakistan, India, and even England to give the Aussies a game in one-day. The ODI world is a closely bunched world, which is one of the many reasons that the World Cup promises to be such good fun.
But while Barnes begins by cataloguing the decline in Australia's one-day fortunes, he broadens his case to encompass Australian cricket in general. And there, he couldn't be more wrong. Any test XI that has just won a whitewash in the Ashes cannot be seriously considered in decline, regardless of the ill health of the English opposition. (And lest we forget, England still are generally ranked as the second-best test side in the world.) It would be fatuous, at best, to discount the dominance of the test side when evaluating the potency of the Australian empire.
Australia's losses to finish up the tri-series were disturbing from the Aussie perspective, but little more than that -- disturbing. After a magnificent beginning to the summer, the side began to lose focus. It happens. I can't put much stock in the NZ losses, as the failure of Australa to field a team that looked remotely like its likely World Cup XI demonstrates just how seriously they regarded the tournament.
As an Australia fan, am I happy about the last three weeks? Of course not. But the notion that A) Australia was an unstoppable ODI juggernaut up until mid-January, and B) that the last three weeks have not only crushed Australian dominance in the one-day game, but ended the preeminence of Australian cricket in general, is laughably . . . what was the word? "Bathetic?" I think that sums Barnes up.
Good observations, TJ.
Agree that Simon Barnes' column was grasping for straws. That's why its entertaining.
Disagree with you about Australia not being head and shoulders above the other teams. They are. Only South Africa can beat them with any regularity but not when it really matters (except for that one time at the Wanderers).
After everything is said and done, These losses to England and New Zealand will not mean much. Firstly, because Australia is too good a side to let these losses affect their morale and secondly, because it will be another month before the World Cup starts and by that time these losses will be forgotten.
In a month's time, Australia will have recharged their batteries and will be baying for blood.
I am very afraid for the other teams.
Oh, no doubt that Australia should be odds on favorites to win in the Windies.
I am a die-hard aussie fan..but life is a cycle ...the downhill trend can be very steep or can be slowed by virtue of keeping your head ..and getting the basics done right ...i think aussies will struggle to replace mcgrath ...maybe 10 days away from cricket and some basic line & length stuff from the bowlers will give them some hope of reaching the last 4 of WC
Not very sure about the "cycle" theory. Hear it a lot from West Indian fans who say that their time will come again. Maybe, Maybe not.
Australia is a different beast altogether, they have planned better. Their cricket academy and inter-state competition is top notch. Their debutants end up merging seamlessly into the national side because their inter-state competition is very high caliber.
Agree that they will find replacing McGrath hard but he is not irreplaceable. They will find it impossible to replace Shane Warne and that will hurt them a lot when they play any team other than the ones from the subcontinent.
Post a Comment