Tuesday 7 December 2010

a great day for Australian cricket.

no, my title isn't sarcasm... it is hope.

i have been saying since first predictions on the Ashes results that we will be done by this confident and supremely organised England team, and while they only have one win on the board... well, you all saw what happened!

So why am i so optimistic? Well, actually at the moment i'm a little flat; maybe it is the result, or the demands i put on my liver over the last 3 days (can't be lack of sleep- sorry about being a full tummied couch kipper Lefty!), but i AM GLAD we have been comprehensively MUNTED!

Everyone can point a finger- and we all will (and should), but the reality is we can take little from the last 2 results and the last one really must force to the fore what the hell is going to change before we get change?

in simple terms it is glaringly obvious: we can't get wickets and the same "repeat offenders" keep offering too little with the bat.

for several seasons now we've asked for(and been told that we are getting) rebuilding of the side, so my positive spin on our shellacking is due to the fact that SOMETHING now must happen.

of course, with Katich's injury we will get an extra change that wasn't desired, but at least there can be no excuses as inepts squirm under the very magnified microscope.

So what would be worse: continuing shuffling around a few positions, or wholesale change as half the bums get kicked and my preferred option of blooding youth with the assurance, "we don't expect you to win, we expect you to learn, get experience and try to win. you won't be pilloried for trying, just show some grit. do you want that?"

Self belief is everything in sport, and some may say that my approach above could damage that in a young'un, maybe, maybe not, it is a bit of a blank card when told the only expectations is to develop from the experience.
And any of the "old guard" that lived through this Adelaide loss and pain will not be there to use it as fuel in the future much like Englands senior players have after Warne's mugging last time.

Roebuck made the point on the radio that he doesn't believe in the "cyclical nature" of sport, and i would partly agree with him on that; but i didn't agree on his explanation why. he said that you didn't win because it was "your turn", you won because you were organised, commit ed, believe and practice, and that part is right.

But i think he missed the point when people use the cyclical term; sides coalesce (which could be used against my performance contracts argument to a degree), as they gel their self belief grows and winning becomes easier, more so as everybody knows every other member better, and this DOES happen in cycles.

A few great players form the nucleus of a side and others find greatness in themselves while around them... but as we know, it can't last.

Obvious comparisons to the great West Indies side that held dominance for so long have been made, and now we compare the demise of the two. But i'm not so pessimistic as to believe we will be in the wilderness indefinitely as the WI side has been. The fact we are a country and they a confederated region makes ALL the difference. Despite state rivalry and state governing bodies jockeying for power/representation/whatever, we will still "Come together..." maybe not "Right now," as Australians.

Now i started this blog to rip into slack, narrow-minded, political and just plain stupid governing bodies and bureaucrats within the game, and i'm not pumping out this rosy message and letting them off the hook. CA must cop a rigorous bollocking over where our team sits (on its arse while CA sits on its hands) in world cricket at the moment, so i encourage everyone to email them and have a say.
But while it is dark days at the moment... you know the rest!

stoph verismo
down the wickt

7 comments:

  1. i have sent a copy (abrdged) of this to CA... for what it is worth

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  2. Yep, right on Stoph.

    My ideal 11 for Perth:

    Watson
    Shaun Marsh
    Ponting
    Clarke
    Hussey
    Kahwaja
    Haddin
    Hauritz
    Johnson
    Harris
    Hilfenhaus

    I'd love to see Starc but he's injured. Apart from that either Peter George or Mark Cameron would be fine. I'd be ok with Smith getting a run too or throwing Ferguson a baggy green. Expecting Smith to bowl a few overs in Perth may be beyond him though. The reason I've got Johnson in there is more out of hope that getting dropped and working solidly on his action without having to bowl 20 overs in a day in the middle has done him good. I realise I could be horribly wrong but at this point I think you need to try something different. If Johnson is looking awful then take your pick of the rookies.

    Doherty is not a test bowler (at least not yet) whereas Hauritz has been there and done it well. Not brilliantly but well.

    I just can't back Hughes at the moment. He is proving inconsistent and the one thing Aus has been doing is (generally) getting off to an ok start. Marsh could do the job I think.

    Kahwaja is a level headed and talented bat. Yes he's from NSW but if you're not going youth then pick David Hussey or McDonald if you're prepared to change your bowling plans.

    North, you are shit. You have never, ever, ever made tough runs for Aus. Making tons when there's 400 on the board is bread and butter. I wouldn't even say you're performed for Aus with the bat. Gilchrist made easy runs but he also made tough ones when it counted. You are a hack and should be forever branded as such. You tosser.

    I'd expect a retirement from Katich early next year and Ponting as well. Hussey may well get asked to take on the captaincy or at least play one more season while young players are blooded.

    At this point when you have to win 2 tests without losing one as well you may as well try something different. God help us.

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  3. I agree Stoph, the cyclical nature of success in team sports, especially cricket is more due to the nature of selection when a team is doing well rather than who is next in line. Australia's sustained success masked the poor form of a lot of players. Some were allowed to play on for too long like Hayden and cost a younger guy a chance to get bedded in in readiness for the inevitable retirements of other senior players.
    Other sustained such good form for so long it negated the need to change the team around and give other players exposure to the international game.
    So the blame is shared between selectors and player form within the side. Resting of players was always thought of a fixing something that is not broken but perhaps it was a good idea. Players don't burn out and the next in line get an opportunity to show their wares. The whole team gets a glimpse of what it will be like when their superstars are gone.

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  4. I'd forgotten that a week ago I went through Cricinfo to look at the ages of debutants from the Border/Taylor eras. It wasn't even 20 years ago that players young, red raw, unpolished and inexperienced were given a chance at the highest level. Many were dropped after a series or 1 or 2 years but most came back in after learning more about the game and their game and took it to another level.

    Blokes like Ferguson, Marsh, Kahwaja, Smith, Cameron, George and Starc need to all be on contracts, playing county cricket and around the national set-up. This is our future so if Aus goes through an extended lean patch while it unearths some stars then so be it.

    Nos, you are so right with the Hayden example. What happens when Ponting, Hussey and Katich all go in a short space of time because they're just not up to it? What happened to selectors giving ageing players a nudge when the baton needed to be passed on? Gillespie may be the last guy this happened to.

    This 'rebuilding' that's seems to have been happening for 2 years really hasn't been handled well. 9 spinners have been tried, old batsmen and bowlers debuted. Hughes got ditched after a couple of dismissals but North has been retained! Give the young blokes a real go, persevere with them. Some will succeed, some will not. But at the end of the day, what has Aus got to lose? A few test matches? Well we're already doing that!

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  5. Si I'm going to be controversial here, as opposed to my very stoic views and name my preferred team for the Perth test.

    Watson
    Hussey M
    Hodge
    Ponting
    Clarke
    Hussey D
    Haddin
    Warne
    Johnson
    Hilfenhaus
    Bollinger

    Never happen, but it could, and should.

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  6. Ok I will jump in aswell:
    Watson
    M.Hussey
    Clarke
    Ponting
    Ferguson
    Haddin
    Hauritz
    Johnson
    Hilfenhaus
    Siddle

    Seems a bit boring now that I read it back but there it is!

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  7. Going in with 10 is a big call dude!

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