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.

So what exactly has gone so terribly wrong? It’s not that they are as hopeless as the West Indies were when their era of domination ended. Australia, unlike the West Indies, are still considered major contenders at ICC events. Though West Indies have experienced some resurgence in recent times, Australia still remain an overall better side. Though no longer a force in Tests and more often than not struggling in T20s, they still are a competitive ODI side. The comparison here, though, is not with West Indies. It is an analysis of a once-dominant Australian side that used to win half the battle before even making their way out to the pitch.

To begin with, they were never really able to recover from losing all their top stars in such a quick succession. The recent retirement of Ricky Ponting officially brought an end to the career of the last remaining hero of their era of domination. The youngsters called upon to replace members of the old guard have flattered to deceive and have not been able to cement their place in the team. Batting remains their biggest worry and is hardly of any quality.

The only world-class batsman, skipper Michael Clarke, has had to carry the team on his shoulders to an extent that has perhaps led to the resurfacing of his old back injury. In the last 5 years, he has also gone from sporting blonde hair to having almost no hair at all, which perhaps signifies the load of responsibilities at his disposal. Another quality player, Shane Watson, though world-class in ODIs and T20s, is yet to establish himself as a Test specialist. About the rest of their batsmen, the less said the better.

Unlike batting, their fast bowling arsenal, however, bears impressive, if not an intimidating look. Long gone are the Glenn McGraths, Brett Lees, Jason Gillespies, etc. The current pace battery boasts of the likes of Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Clint McKay, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle etc., and is good enough to give a headache to most opposition teams. However, on the slower side, spinners like Nathan Lyon and Xavier Doherty can never be as good as Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill. Lyon’s journey from being an Adelaide Oval groundsman to Australia’s premier spinner is nothing short of a fairytale, but is yet to translate into any on-field success. Thus, it is hardly surprising that their stock of spinners is getting emptier by the day.

The standard of fielding, the high level of which was a hallmark of the previous generation, has dipped. Another lethal weapon – mental and verbal warfare – of today is nowhere near where it used to be few years back. The likes of David Warner and Matthew Wade should understand that their constant chirruping is of no use as most teams, particularly India, are not shy of giving it back to them. This can be attributed to Saurav Ganguly, who, during the epic 2001 series, showed that Australia could be beaten in mental warfare. The rest of the world took notice and things are the way they are today. Adding to their misfortunes are disciplinary issues like the infamous “Homework-Gate” and the recent ban on David Warner.

With Michael Clarke struggling for fitness, it already looks over for Australia in the forthcoming Ashes against their old rivals. Their troubles have been compounded with David Warner being banned till the Ashes, for beating up an England player. However, they are still capable of getting their act together and give England a tough fight in the battle over the historic urn, rather than going down meekly. And who knows, they may well rise like a phoenix from the ashes and take us all by surprise. However, all current signs predict an Ashes capitulation for the men from Down Under.

As a fan, however, I have reasons to be optimistic. And to quote Harvey Dent from The Dark Knight, “The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you the dawn is coming”. May be the dawn is really upon us.

But the keyword here is may be. May be…We just don’t know when the dawn will come. Do we?