You’re an NFL punter. Your job description – kick that pigskin as high and far as you can. What happens when your kick is caught, the receiver makes a break down the side-line and you’re the last line of defence?
You tackle him.
That’s what happened to former AFL player and current Washington Redskin, Sav Rocca. The tackle came with the added bonus of helping his team make it to the playoffs.
Is Sav Rocca a tackler? No. How many tackles did he make in his AFL career? His average tackle count was 0.9 per game. It’s the classic definition of going above and beyond.
Putting a twist on that concept, is Australia choosing four fast bowlers for the SCG Test above and beyond requirements? Well that’s what they’ve done.
Mitchell Johnson at seven as a bowling all-rounder. It’s quite an attacking mind-set, with probably only just enough batting depth – you wouldn’t expect Sri Lanka will test this however.
I was a bit surprised when I saw Glenn Maxwell’s name in the squad, but when you actually look at his first class stats it does make sense. As a comparison to Shane Watson, ‘The Max Factor’ averages 42 with the bat and 33 with the ball, ‘Watto’ is 44 and 28.
While he does fall slightly short on both averages, Maxwell would instantly be one of the best fielders in the team. Not only that, but his confident attitude is often talked up – being dubbed ‘The Big Show’ by Aussie limited overs team-mates won’t hurt if he keeps delivering.
You can start to see the makings of a successful long term Australian team.
You have Pat Cummins at 19, Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson are 22, Maxwell and Phil Hughes 24, Matt Wade and Nathan Lyon are 25, David Warner, Usman Khawaja and Jackson Bird are 26. Add that to Michael Clarke possibly going through to the 2017 Ashes series and Peter Siddle is only 28, it’s a very good solid core of players for a future tilt at world number one.
While we’re not as good as South Africa or England right now, by 2017 we should have a realistic shot at climbing to the top.
That’s because when you analyse the most recent Test sides put out by South Africa and England, only one player in each was under 27. Both the line-ups will change dramatically in four years’ time.
England would probably lose Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior, possibly Ian Bell, Graeme Swann and James Anderson. South Africa would seem to be slightly better placed than the English, only losing Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen – their core group however would be reaching 32-34 (that includes Hashim Amla, AB De Villiers, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel).
The challenge for any sporting team is to get new talent in and surround them with the successful players while they’re still performing.
Throw them in at the deep end at the top level and see if they will go above and beyond too.
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