Invincible Australia reaches pinnacle in 2009-10
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By Kersi Meher-Homji, 11 Feb 2010 Kersi Meher-Homji is a Roar Expert
Australia's Peter Siddle (centre) celebrates the wicket of Pakistan's Faisal Iqbal caught by Shane Watson during day 2 of the New Year's Test at the SCG, Sydney, Monday, Jan. 4, 2010. AAP Image/Dean Lewins
Since the Ashes loss in England last August, Australia has hardly put a foot wrong, winning everything in sight despite losing key fast bowlers Brett Lee, Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle at various stages.
The shock 1-2 Ashes defeat was nullified by Ponting’s men trouncing England in the NatWest ODI series 6-1 in England last September. This initiated Australia’s climb back to the top.
They won the Champions’ Trophy in South Africa in September -October, defeated India in India 4-2 in ODIs, despite losing key players, in October–November.
In the Aussie summer of 2009-10, they have been invincible: beating the West Indies 2-1 (with one Test drawn) in the Frank Worrell Trophy and whitewashing Pakistan in Tests (3-0), in ODIs (5-0) and in Twenty20 (1-0).
The out of touch Windies are down 0-2 in the ODIs, and the way their shoulders are drooping, they appear likely to suffer the same fate as the Pakistanis.
If Australia wins the next three ODIs and a Twenty20 against Chris Gayle’s stroke-less, luck-less and motivation-less wonders, it could be Australia’s finest international summer since Fifty50s and Twenty20s made their appearance.
Although the opposition has been weak, Ricky Ponting deserves kudos for doing his best with his replacement bowling brigade of Clint McKay, Ryan Harris, et al.
We are all quick to criticize the selectors, but the national choosers and pickers have performed brilliantly, going by the results.
I was against the selection of Shane Watson as an opening batsman in the Ashes series. I am delighted to be proved wrong, as he went onto become the man behind the Australian victory march.
They showed faith in Doug Bollinger and picked McKay and Harris from thin air, as it were. When the uproar was “Drop Mike Hussey”, the selectors kept faith in him and he repaid their confidence with compound interest.
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vinay verma said | February 11th 2010 @ 7:13am | Report comment
Kersi,Australia certainly are going great guns and this reflects on the structure of cricket from the grassroots up. There is technique and discipline right from schoolboys to club,district and grade. There is a defined and transparent pathway to the top. It is rare that a talent goes unnoticed.If you get the grounding right then you will produce cricketers that can play any form of the game.
The new kids on the block like Warner and Smith should not be pigeon holed as just Twenty20 specialists. This happened to Michael Bevan and he never really developed his full potential as a Test player. His record in the four day game was exceptional. People said he couldn’t play the short rising ball. A good short rising fast ball will trouble even a Tendulkar. Look at Gayle when he gets cramped by Bollinger.
There is life in the old dog Mike Hussey yet. We tend to overlook his fielding and catching but he has been superb in the deep and in the gully. So too Michael Clark,Ponting and Cameron White. The catching,including Haddin,has been first rate and a few standout catches. A left hander from Ponting at backward point stands out.
The pressure the Australian fielders create has been a significant factor in Australia’s dominance since the Ashes. This factor was below par during the Ashes and was,in my opinion, a contributing factor in losing the Ashes.
Brett McKay said | February 11th 2010 @ 7:35am | Report comment
quite right Kersi. When you look at all the results like you have here, it’s been a stellar summer for the First XI. With the possible exception of Marcus North, everyone who walked into the summer with question marks has well and truly responded, and those that have been given the opportunity have performed admirably. And there’s good signs for the future too, with the young punks starting to put their hands up, and the U19s winning their World Cup too..
Viscount Crouchback said | February 11th 2010 @ 8:50am | Report comment
You all seem to be getting very excited over a few ODI and T20 victories. The Australians ultimately will be judged by how they perform in the Ashes, and I didn’t think their performances in the Windies and Pakistani Tests were especially impressive. The cricket played in South Africa was infinitely more intense.
Credit where it’s due: the Aussie response to losing the Ashes – starting with the 6-1 hammering – has been immense, but I suspect that the vulnerabilities exposed by Strauss’s chaps haven’t gone away.
vinay verma said | February 11th 2010 @ 9:10am | Report comment
VC, I for one am not excited but certainly acknowledge that the Australian team,post Ashes,is a different team. Cricket is a great leveller and I doubt that England have the firepower to prevail over Australia next summer. Apart from Anderson England’s bowlers are honest toilers. Pietersen remains the only world class batsman and is the key to England doing well. I do not believe he has got over losing the England captaincy and this could destabilise the team. The 2-1 victory to England was deserved but by no means was it a thrashing. Undeniably,Australia and all Australians are hurting at the loss. There is nothing more important to an Australian or Australian Cricketer than beating England and I suspect the same holds true of the English.
This is the one abiding rivalry in world cricket and it should be cherished and celebrated. The rivalry between India and Australia is still young and in time it may replace the Ashes..say 20 years from now when there is even more money in India.
formeropenside said | February 11th 2010 @ 9:25am | Report comment
Winning a meaningless one day competition (pretty much all of them except the World Cup) or T20 series can hardly nullify the pain of losing the Ashes (again), a home series loss to perpetual wannabes South Africa, and the disgraceful kowtowing to the BCCI a few summers back.
When we trounce England in England and recover the no.1 Test cricket spot, then Australian cricket is back. Until then, well maybe Australia can see the pinnacle, but we sure aren’t at it yet.
Rickety Knees said | February 11th 2010 @ 11:10am | Report comment
Spot on FOS – this is a false dawn. Ponting has been found wanting as Test Captain – Melb v SA, Perth V SA, Nagpur V India, 2 x Ashes series. As great a batsman and one day captain as he is – he is not a good test skipper. Pakistan should have won the Sydney Test and only lost through their own implosion – this is the only way Ponting was not called to account for his decision to bat on an absolute bowlers seamer. I agree, when we win the Ashes back in England then and only then can we start sing are own praises. The job is not yet done!
Republican said | February 11th 2010 @ 10:08am | Report comment
The’ invincible’ tag will be shattered in NZ this year i believe bringing the Australian cricket public and side back down to earth.
Oz never play well on NZ’s damp ‘putches’ and always take them way too lightly.
Watch the Kiwis lift as they always do, fueled by their obsessive desire to defeat Oz at all and sundry.
Cheers
Fisher Price said | February 11th 2010 @ 12:14pm | Report comment
If the ball moves Australia’s batting will collapse ad nauseum. But can the Kiwis’ seam attack (post-Bond and O’Brien) bowl with sufficient pace, accuracy and movement?
Fisher Price said | February 11th 2010 @ 11:52am | Report comment
Let’s not forget neither the West Indies nor Pakistan are much chop. And that Australia was outplayed in the Tests at Adelaide and Sydney, as well as wobbled severely in Perth. Not at all convinced by the Test bowling.
Brian said | February 11th 2010 @ 12:10pm | Report comment
How can losing the Ashes be nullified by winning the NatWest series? Is that a joke or a serious comment? The only form of cricket that Australia is dominating at the moment is the one most people want to see disbanded
drewster said | February 11th 2010 @ 3:28pm | Report comment
The score is on the board as far as this summer goes but hard to judge how far the side has come owing to the Implosion by Pakistan and the inconsistance and reliance on so few players of the West Indies. Still I’d rather be an Aussie Supporter than a Pakistan one right now!
Will said | February 11th 2010 @ 6:48pm | Report comment
Australia rightly deserves praise for doing all they could have post Ashes. Many other teams would have fallen again after such a soul-destroying loss but it seemed to spur Australia on, for that every player deserves credit. There is no shame in losing, some people here need to learn that.
If you can’t handle losing then perhaps you shouldn’t follow cricket. The Ashes are over, it is nearly 6 months since the last ball was bowled in the series, there comes a time (win, lose or draw) that you have to move on. That time has come regarding the last Ashes series.
Australia still has some slight concerns over their batting in test cricket, at this stage it appears that our entire batting lineup is reliant on Ponting to get a score in order for us to get a decent total.
However, the bowling has improved since the Ashes, there is no doubt about that, with Shane Watson now providing a genuine wicket taking option allowing us to play with 5 bowlers.
Every day that passes is a day closer to Australian regaining the Ashes.
Whiteline said | February 11th 2010 @ 7:16pm | Report comment
Gee Kersi, really?
The Aussies have played well recently in the ODI’s and 20/20 , everyone acknowledges that. How you can even consider the test series as an assessment of form is beyond me and it seems everyone else, besides Brett and Vinay.
The Windies outplayed us at certain times and they are an ordinary team in anyones language. The Pakistan team is the worst in world cricket by a country mile – the Sydney debacle was more like WWE than test cricket.