Australia – what the heck! They’ve just lost the series against South Africa following some battling collapses worthy of England at their very best (or worst!)
It’s incredible to see what has happened to the side when they are compared to the team of recent past. There’s a big wad of rubbish in the current line up – I can’t think of anyone who would make the England side who played in the last test against South Africa. OK they have a few injuries, especially in the bowling department, but things will have to change.
Of course it was never going to be easy, losing the likes of Hayden, Langer, Gilchrist, Warne and McGrath but for Australia’s current malaise we must look to that golden era.
When those players were thrashing everyone that crossed their path the line up was almost always the same. Consistenty breeds success, or so the saying goes. And it’s an understandable ideal – i.e. that you should always play your strongest side.
But it also meant that those players waiting in the wings – including the current Aussie coach, Darren Lehmann – got very few opportunities (fewer than 30 tests for ‘Boof’) to show what they could do and to experience the magic of test cricket.
That resulted in players not having the necessary experience when their chance came when the spine of the successful team retired.
Can Australia recover? Only time will tell – but it might take some time before they re-find their pomp of old.
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