The spectacular decline of Australian cricket
As a long time fan of the Australian cricket team, it pains me to see the misery that they are passing through currently. For some time now, I have made a habit of checking the status of their matches online, and if I see them doing reasonably well, I decide to give watching the match a try. However, as soon as the now inevitable Aussie derailment starts, I instantly switch off the TV; however, the fan inside me still keeps hoping, and as I get back to following the match online, my heart beats fast, hoping for some miracle. And as has been the case recently, I end up feeling let down. And on the increasingly odd occasion they are victorious, I feel more relieved than happy.
Prior to their eventual decline, which in my opinion started with the loss to India in the finals of the 2007-08 CB Series, the writing had been on the wall for a long time. The nail-biting Ashes series of 2005 was for the first time in years that one could see that the “tough as nut” Australian fortress could be breached. England, under Michael Vaughan, showed the world that even a team as dominant as Australia could be conquered. The Aussies, however, recovered well from this disappointment by hammering an ICC World XI in the one-off Super Series and winning most of their other series. However, South Africa proved by beating Australia, in that record breaking Johannesburg ODI in March 2006, that just like themselves, even the Aussies can crack under pressure. Later that year .regaining the Ashes came at a cost when most members of their world-conquering squad – Shane Warne, Justin Langer, Damien Martyn – hung up their boots and Glenn McGrath announced his retirement after the forthcoming World Cup.
A 3-0 whitewash in New Zealand and a convincing World Cup defence later, the Aussies were back to their winning ways. This was soon followed by Ricky Ponting’s loss of form, the controversial “Sydney-Gate” and Adam Gilchrist’s retirement. The loss of Gilchrist and Warne, in particular, has hurt them the most, as they have not been able to find suitable replacements. All of Gilly’s successors – Brad Haddin, Tim Paine and Matthew Wade – don’t exactly have their predecessor’s aura. And as for the colorful Warne, there has been no heir to his throne.
With most members of their world-beating side enjoying their respective retired lives and the 2 remaining members of the old guard, Ponting and Matthew Hayden, struggling for runs, the Aussies lost a first-ever home Test series against the touring South Africans in 2008-09. There were flashes of brilliance, like winning the return Test series vs South Africa, winning the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy, winning an ODI series in India with a second-string squad, completely annihilating Pakistan during their tour Down Under and the 4-0 whitewash of India during last year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy, etc.
These achievements, however, are far outweighed by their failures, which include crashing out in the first round of 2009 ICC World T20, losses in twin Ashes series in 2009 and 2010-11, unsuccessful defence of the World Cup in 2011, losing a Test match to New Zealand for the first time in more than 30 years and losing 8 of their last 10 Tests in India, the latest of which was a 4-0 humiliation. To this list, you can also add their inevitable exit from the ongoing Champions Trophy and losses in the back-to-back Ashes series. And as you can easily make out, the failures have been more high-profile than successes. This is some change in the fortunes of a side that dominated world cricket for a good decade and a half.