Australian cricket was shot. Down and out. It was without a paddle while exploring the upper reaches of a particularly pungent creek.
Now it is triumphant. Glorious! A bold and dominant future is on the horizon. Its future is full of exciting young players, always winning Test series, and a bevy of gorgeous women for all involved.
Is either of those two paragraphs true? Of course they are not. The true state of Australian cricket, as with most things in life, is somewhere in between.
Australia have won the three-Test series in Sri Lanka 1-0. Along with the series win the Aussies have demonstrated that rather than 40 pages and a few thousand words (at least in the public copy), the Argus Report on Australian Cricket should have been just a few points to tweak the running of the Australian team.
They were: getting rid of Andrew Hilditch. It didn’t matter how. Just do it. Leave a horse’s head in his bed. Send anonymous letters to his workplace. Whatever. The end justifies the means.
Removing Greg Chappell as a selector. After all, this guy orchestrated the worst moment in Australian cricket, the underarm ball, so his judgement has not always been sound. Also, we hear he has bad breath.
Making the captain a selector (my personal assessment of this one is still pending).
Having consistency with selection.
Recognising that Mike Hussey is a superhero. Continuing to pick him, forever (come to think of it, now that his sideburns are greying, Hussey does look a little like Reed Richards from the Fantastic Four).
There you have it. Problem solved!
Well, not quite. You still need a few talented players. But guess what? Australia has some.
It’s true that they don’t have anyone of the ilk of Lillee, McGrath, Warne, Border, or Waugh. Either Waugh. In fact, possibly not even Dean Waugh. However, they do have a few guys who can hold their own.
There’s Hussey, Ryan Harris (when fit), Michael Clarke, and Shane Watson. These guys aren’t legends of the game but they are decent cricketers.
And on this recent tour Australia have unearthed a few promising new players. Shaun Marsh has displayed style and concentration while batting in his first two Test matches. Nathan Lyon bowled with guile and confidence in his debut. Trent Copeland, while not getting the rewards on a couple of zombie pitches, has swung the ball and put it in good areas.
There are also a couple of players who may be a bit hit and miss but do have some x-factor about them.
Phil Hughes, despite a technique that would make Sir Donald Bradman turn in his grave, has a decent eye when he gets going. I personally thought he would be dropped for the last Test in Sri Lanka considering he was out of form and plays about as straight as Hansie Cronje. Kudos to him for making a hundred in the last Test and also to the selectors for sticking with him.
The enigma wrapped in a mystery that is Mitchell Johnson is also an x-factor for the Aussies. Mitchell is has the mental strength of a six year-old with a bed-wetting problem but he still has the talent to turn a match.
The realisation of that potential was missing in Sri Lanka but it is always lurking round the corner like an illegal cricket bookmaker.
When Hughes and Johnson are bad they are really bad but when they are good they are brilliant. Players like them may not be good for supporters’ heart rates but they will win a few matches off their own back.
Throw in a legend that is on the decline but still has something to offer in Ricky Ponting and the Australian team does have the capacity to be competitive.
So with a few tweaks around the running of the team thanks to Mr Don Argus, they have been able to prove what they really are during this series with Sri Lanka.
They’re neither a good cricket team nor a bad cricket team. They’re just an average cricket team. There is no shame in that.
I’m certainly not saying that Australian cricket fans should resign themselves to that fact but they should realise that it is the current state of play.
A generation of Australian cricket fans have been brought up thinking that when you rock up to the cricket your team just kicks ass like Chuck Norris on Red Bull. Everyone needs to realise that was never going to last forever.
However it can happen again.
Australia aren’t as good as England or South Africa, but they are clearly better than Sri Lanka and they are probably better than India given the evidence presented during the English summer.
With a solid cricket culture as well as a renewed focus on the development of young talent, Australian cricket will never be bad.
Australia’s outgoing coach Tim Nielsen is considered one of the worst in charge of the national side since the job existed. A record of nine Test series wins out of 15 and maintaining the number one ranking in One Day Internationals isn’t too shabby for a ‘bad’ coach.
The next series in South Africa in the long form of the game will be an examination of whether Australia can take another step towards being a good side. No wonder they call it Test cricket.
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