I recently began a new game of International Cricket Captain as my favourite county team Nottinghamshire and after the first season I recruited David Hussey and Phil Jaques (two of the better players in the game) and proceeded to victory in all four competitions for that season. Those two players formed the rock for my team and amassed over 6000 runs between them. During the following season - an Ashes year - they were unavailable and my whole team suffered as a result. Suddenly my totals weren't as imposing and my field-sets couldn't be as aggressive. This may seem barely anecdotal (in a sport full of good and bad ones) but it did provide a thought for me when considering the fate of a team that loses it's star players. Australia and New Zealand are simultaneously experiencing this dilemma and the interesting thing to notice is that not only does a team miss the runs/wickets provided by a certain player, their teammates are less without them too. Australia's middle order no longer has the security of the solid Langer/Hayden foundation or the sense of mind that if they should be 4-100 or 5-100 that Gilchrist will combine his average of 48 with a strike rate of 80 to both lift the total and demoralise the opposition.
Beyond this, the players don't appear to know how to play without them. In the past the baggy-green team would fight its way out of any trouble - they had the confidence and skill to do it and the opposition didn't have the nerve or skill to prevent it - but now the counter-attack is frenetic and short-lived and Australia in particular don't appear to understand why this is happening. I will get to this in a moment. First a look back at The Ashes of 2010/11 in what will likely be the last blog about test cricket for a couple months.
I predicted, however hesitantly, that a 1-1 series draw may well be the scoreline come the end of day 5 at the SCG. This was based largely on the feeling that neither team had the bowling line-up to take 20 wickets on flat Australian pitches. I quickly admit that I underestimated the haste with which the Australian batsmen (and the English in Perth) sort to prove that theory wrong. The series began with an English collapse and a Siddle hatrick before Hussey and Haddin rescued the home side from a similar fate in Brisbane; half-way through that test it appeared that England's four warm-up matches had been for nothing but Alastair Cook took advantage of a dead pitch and scored a double century. I wondered two things at the conclusion of that test whether Hussey would be able to rescue his side in every test match and how penetrative Anderson and Swann would be on more helpful pitches (i.e. any other pitch). Three innings defeats for Australia later and I had my answer. Although Hussey's form was strong and netted him over 500 runs, without any other help (except Johnson's all-round effort in Perth) the combination of Cook (766 runs) and Trott (445 runs) with consistent pressure from Anderson (24 wickets) and Swann (15 wickets) kept England in control.
This was a superb sustained effort from England that bettered their effort in 1986/87 by quite a margin. I would also suggest that Australia face a similar period of hardship to that of the 1980s but this time they won't have the inner collapse of English cricket to help them as it did between 1989 and 1997. In fact with strong bowling options in the seam and spin departments England should win the 2013 Ashes with ease and perhaps experience an era of dominance similar to Australia's run between 1989 and 2005. The teams have done a 180 and how they proceed from here will be very interesting.
Going forward it may be time to relieve Ricky Ponting of the team leadership. The man barely got passed 100 runs in the recent series but it's his captaincy that should seem most troubling. Since his tenure began in 2004 he has tried to emulate his predecessor Steve Waugh's style and success only to find the hand-me-down players he had were aging, good enough for plenty of victories but the mass retirement of 2007-2009 has left the team depleted with few new stars to replace the old ones. Ponting needed to create his own team but after several seasons this appears beyond him and his reign may end as one of a competent captain of great players and nothing more. Australian cricket needs to realise that their only way forward is to take inspiration from the team of Border and Simpson in the late 1980s, they cannot keep trying to be Steve Waugh's team because they just don't have the player talent and experience yet. Trying to maintain a status quo of yesteryear is what cost England a decade of success in the 1990s and Australia risk the same fate without a new captain. Ponder this, England won just ONE test match against Australia between 1989 and 2005 when the Ashes were at stake (i.e. not a dead rubber) and I don't think it's healthy for either nation or world cricket for that to happen again.
At this point you could and should ask me from what position of power a New Zealand cricket fan can suggest how a team can recover. Well at last the Black Caps show signs of improvement after going through a similar experience to Australia (although slightly lengthened due to the low population of the country) and I feel credibility returning to any advice I give. The test match at the Basin Reserve last week, despite ending in a series-losing draw, provided proof of an improving team, a hardened team and a desire to improve; all three areas were open to question in the recent past.
- Ross Taylor reverted to the kind of concentration that he showed he was capable of during his centuries against England in 2008 and disregarded the IPL-induced flashy nonsense of his century against Australia last season. Long may it continue
- Martin Guptill did the right thing and ignored the hypocritical commentators who destroyed him in print and on air for batting too slowly (while on the other hand bemoaning the lack of defense in the Black Caps's top order - you can't have it both ways) and did it his way
- Tim Southee completed his transformation from young-gun to a serious international cricketer that began with his death-bowling to Australia last year and concludes now with the more patient, accurate bowler we saw in Wellington. If he continues to bowl like he did last week the rewards will come (such as the 5 wickets in the first ODI)
- Chris Martin appears to have shaken off the dust of middle age and decided not to fade just yet- even enough to improve his batting (relatively speaking) as he got Vettori to a century and then took 4 good wickets
But more than just these individuals, the team itself looks more focused with bowlers keeping to the plan, the fielding has never been more energetic and now that Jesse Ryder has tried getting out in every way possible he can again play like he did at the beginning of his career. The team appears to have decided not to wait for a Hadlee or Bond figure to lead them forward and instead will do the hard work themselves - a more difficult but likely more long-lasting method to competing at the international level
When a team loses its best players you cannot simply replace them or keep the same game plans based around those individuals; cricket rarely provides clones so each team must recreate itself from time to time. At first I thought the reckless abandon displayed by the New Zealand players over the last few seasons was simply lack of maturity but after witnessing it from far more experienced players in the Australian team it was clear a different issue was in play. As individual players you must adapt and not simply play as you always have while circumstances change around you. New Zealand appears to have taken the right steps and Australia must follow suit - neither country could bare England looking down on them for too long I wager.
Oh and just in case you were wondering how my team recovered after losing its best batsmen, I moved a young fellow from no.6 to no.3 and he made 1000 runs before the end of May. Adapt!
Now for those of you who missed it, here is a link to the Swann Video Diaries that entertained people throughout the Ashes series:
That is episode 1 and the others (up to 7 now) can be found from there
Finally, look forward to my upcoming blogs:
- Profile entry on Allan Donald - the temporary NZ bowling coach
- New Zealand wicket keepers
- New Zealand spin options
- World Cup Preview - which will include a link to a fantasy league where you can put your cricket knowledge up against mine (in a way)
Lastly, a new segment - THE SLEDGE OF THE WEEK
Over the holiday period I came across a book called The Art of Sledging and my intention is to include one from within its pages each week.
To begin with here is perhaps the best well known one from the grandfather of cricket W G Grace
Upon being LBW to an unknown bowler during an exhibition match Grace is reported to have said
"Not out, they came to watch me bat... not you bowl"
Well that's it from here I hope you join me again
It's good bye for now
