2013 - A year to remember by each and every Australian cricket fan

Australian cricket team

The current squad of the Australian cricket team will always have 2013 somewhere in their hearts. After facing a huge downfall phase they managed to end the year on a high note. Though they kicked off the season with a series win at home against the West Indians, that victory feel did not last for a long time. They went on to lose in India, Champions Trophy, and England and again in India.

The downfall begins in India

Mike Hussey was the only player left from his generation which included Ricky Ponting and Mathew Hayden. These three made the terrifying top order for the Kangaroos. Post-retirement of Hussey, his team began their disastrous time in international cricket. A bunch of youngsters led by the lone-experienced member Michael Clarke flew to India in February. After defeating their opponents at home just a few months back, they automatically were the favorites for the four test matches Border-Gavaskar series.

The outcome of the tour was a nightmare for the Aussies. India took their revenge in a very bitter way of 4-0. Not only did their batting department performed poorly but also their bowlers. The first test saw Indian skipper reaching his first double century and the player who helped him to achieve that mile stone was spinner Nathan Lyon—who also completed his double century by giving away 215 runs in one innings.

The highlights of this series were Indian openers, Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan who always managed to give the required nice start. Number three batsman who looks to perform the role of a wall, Chetashwara Pujara, backed them with his dependable quality of being consistent. The tournament saw Australia’s highest total of runs to be 286 (by Clarke) to India’s 430 (by Vijay). And the bowling department had even more embarrassing tour with most number of wickets taken being 15 to India’s 29.

ODI team disappoints too

The time of last edition of ICC Champions Trophy arrives in June. With the likes of David Warner, Michael Clarke, James Pattison and many more, Australia was expected to be a threat to quite a number of teams. But the result again was the other way round. Out of three matches, they lost two and one was washed by the rains. That meant, they were not among the teams who qualified for the knock-out stages.

This was not the end to their humiliation. The upcoming one was the worst of all. The winter Ashes 2013 in England were in the following month.

Ashes time

The first match showed that Australians were capable of giving the hosts a tough time. They fell short of just 14 runs to cross the line. Aston Agar made his test debut and became the top scorer of his team in the first innings when he got out on 98. The English side had a very easy victory in the second test. They won with a margin of 347 runs.

England retained the Ashes after winning the series 3-0. The only thing about which the Aussies could be proud of was their wicket keeper. English keeper Mat Prior was far behind Brad Haddin, who went on to become the first wicket keeper to have 29 dismissals in a single series.

The Australians could relax a little after they defeated their arch rivals England in the ODI series. But even this could not help in erasing the humiliation they faced after losing the test series.

The ODI team boosted their confidence

Even though the Aussies lost the one day series in India, it wasn’t a bad loss. They shook the world of the World NO. 1 team after they thrashed them in the first match. James Faulkner and George Bailey were the heroes in this five match series. Faulknar’s take on Ishant Sharma in the 48th over got the visitors their second win. Sharma gave away 30 runs when India was in a very comfortable position to seal the match—Australia still needed 44 off 18 deliveries.

The fifth match which was the decider of the series was a thriller. Again Faulkner along with Shane Watson and Glen Maxwell had almost snatched a won match from the Indians who had scored 383 in the first innings.

The uprising of Australian Cricket

The Ashes were back again. The obvious favorite to win the series was the English side though they had lost their World No. 1 position to South Africa recently. This time what we saw was something unexpected. It was a positive signal for the Australians when they started the tournament with a win in Brisbane. The numbers made the victory even more special. England lost by 381 runs.

Summer Ashes has marked the comeback of one of the World’s the most furious bowlers, Mitchell Johnson. He has played an important role in Australia’s regaining the urn after England had it for 1,577 days.

It was a well contributed win. Each and every player from the Aussie squad has some contribution to this win. And Darren Lehman and Co should be credited to get this low-confidence, shattered Australian team united and help them achieve what they fully deserve.

Downfall of English cricket begins from here. We hope to see these young, newly confident and determined Australian team go on to win the Ashes 5-0 and repeat the magic of 2006-07 series.