As the wickets tumbled during the first few overs of the morning session, the expletives coming out of my mouth were coming thick and fast – mainly out of shock. By the time Adam Voges was gone and it was 5/21, it was more disgust than shock.
When the entire team was 9/50 I was ready to throw my television out my window.
Australia’s performance at Trent Bridge, as well as the previous test at Edgbaston, have been downright disgraceful. Sure, the pitch was green, but that was the least of the Australia’s problems. Where do I begin?
Shocking technique from numerous players. Lack of care and attention to detail. An inability to play anything on a good length. Ineptitude at its finest.
Dare I say it, a lack of heart.
Yes England bowled well. They put the ball in the right spots. But there was a complete lack of desire to hang around and survive the onslaught. It became so ridiculous that the crowd began to cheer and give applause to front-foot defensive shots.
It appears that the Ashes are gone. But the discussion is bigger than this one match, or even one series. Test Cricket is a dying art and the blame falls at the feet of the over-reliance on T20 cricket.
T20 cricket has fundamentally changed the way pitches are prepared and the way players are moulded. Has the game really been reduced to an entertainment product that is meant to be over in two or three hours?
I might be looking at things with rose-coloured glasses, but the players of my childhood would not be letting us fall into this perilous position time after time.
I remember grit, determination, and patience all being important elements of an Australian cricketer.
It saddens me to contemplate people wearing the baggy green not holding these traits. For crying out loud, our two most watchful batsman in this innings were our number 10 and number 11. What a joke.
The brittleness of our top order is nothing new. In our recent 5-0 whitewash in Australia, every first innings was characterised by Brad Haddin and Mitch Johnson (or another bowler) saving Australia at around 5-100. On the back of amazing bowling and fielding, and a weak England side, we quickly gained a false sense of arrogance.
Fast forward to now. If – as it appears – the Ashes are gone, thanks to one horrific hour of cricket, we must look ahead. Where to from here?
Batting
Chris Rogers is retiring. Voges hasn’t looked good enough yet, but possibly deserves another shot. David Warner and Steve Smith are there for a while, but need some major technical improvements – and fast. One has to question how Smith was ever rated, seriously, as the best batsman in the world.
Who else is out there? Joe Burns? Shaun Marsh? I’d love to here your suggestions? Do I dare say, bring back Shane Watson?
Wicketkeeping
While Brad Haddin was certainly close to retirement and Peter Nevill didn’t disgrace with the gloves, the decision to not recall Haddin, one of the heartbeats of the team, will be the end of Darren Lehmann. If it isn’t, it should be.
Bowling
Nathan Lyon is our saving grace. Probably the only consistent bowler. Mitch Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Mitch Johnson all looked good, but far too inconsistently. Suddenly, with no Ryan Harris, we look very brittle. Surely, Pat Cummins is worth a shot now.
That leaves us with captain Michael Clarke. The calls for retirement will be growing louder and louder. This might be unfair, but he’s not been the same players since the emotional summer following the death of Phillip Hughes. Understandable too.
He’ll retire as one of Australia’s greats. Should he go now? In my view no. Now is the time we need him and his leadership the most. Steve Smith is not ready for the full-time job.
After less than one session, flabbergasted is an understatement. Disgusted is more accurate.
Don Freo
Guest
The other side tried too. Sometimes you lose. Our boys played ok at the Home of Cricket. If you love sport, surely you understand that sometimes losses happen. Lighten up folk.
jamoz
Guest
Yes even at their advanced age I'm quite sure they'd still play better than this lot.
Rohan
Guest
Greg Richie, Phil Carlson, Rick Darling, Jo Angel & Mike Whitney would all force their way into this Australian team. Dirk Welham could captain it. If we're still hoping for an allrounder then Glen Trimble would get a look in.
Rohan
Guest
That is simply childish. Read back what you wrote & cringe in witless embarrassment.
Disco
Guest
Watling's been exceptional for a while now. I was a bit miffed they played Ronchi instead of him the WC.
mark
Guest
IPL is the reason it won't happen, why play County Cricket when you can get paid a motza for playing on a road and doing little for it, todays players are far too greedy to put country first.
CGR
Guest
To get interest in the broader international community, it will have to become an Olympic sport - even as a trial / demo sport or whatever they call it. The lure of dollars is going to see this through - eventually. This is what keeps the CA-ECB-BCCI cabal awake at nights - the thought of sharing. That's why they want to keep the sport in their backyards and have it so piss-poorly run in the cricket 'provinces' that they will never be threatened. And the next Packer-Sanford will come along and roll it internationally. Eventually. Btw would you back us against Bangladesh right now?
70s Mo
Guest
Sundries should be the first bloke picked
fp11
Guest
Exactly! And that will NEVER happen. Cricket had 2-300 years to convince the world that it is a world game. Didn't happen, won't happen.
Lazza
Guest
Name one country outside the Commonwealth that's any good at Cricket? Just one? The whole of Europe, the America's, most of Africa, the Middle East and all of East Asia can't match the brilliance of Zimbabwe? That's why it will never be a Olympic sport. Until they become interested in the sport and competitive it won't happen.
adam
Guest
on the question of whether test cricket is dead? not so our women's team, or oz a side...how far do we look when pointing the finger? the selectors, in not bringing jackson bird into the squad? joe burns? james faulkner, surely, for passion, talent & desire? glen mXWELL, FOR INGENUITY...so, lets not give up on test cricket... its the high end of the pinacle & eventually, we'll thrive... that's the ozzie way!!!!
Allanthus
Guest
Understand your anger and frustration Tragic, but just because Australia gets bowled out in under 20 overs doesn't mean that test cricket is kaput. It means that Australia currently has a few issues. The NZ v England series was superb, I'd watch that every day of the week.
Red Kev
Roar Guru
They drew the last series here a couple of years ago IIRC and that side was not this weak.
Clavers
Guest
The Australian batting performances in these Ashes series make Shane Watson look like a batting genius, as well as the best containing seam bowler since McGrath.
tinfoil hat
Guest
England play just as much white ball cricket as Oz, and they didn't fall apart. Is you theory that white ball cricket has only ruined Australian cricket? Another possible factor could be the roads that the once great variety of Australian pitches have been turned into in order to ensure tests last as long as possible. The crappy Kookaburra ball and flat pitches at home a team of 'flat track' bullies makes.
Clavers
Guest
There are more people in India alone (1.25 billion) than in the USA, Russia, Germany, France, Brazil, and Argentina combined (850 million taken together). Cricket is not as big as soccer, bit it is still one of the biggest sports in the world. I certainly compares favourably with some of the other sports and events in the Olympics, such as ice dancing, triple jump, trampoline and taekwando. But I think there are two other significant arguments against having cricket in the Olympics. First, for logistical reasons if it were included it would be as one-day or T20 cricket, not test cricket. But for many this would be inappropriate because Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game. Second, all of the leading cricket nations are Commonwealth countries (in the case of the West Indies, a group of Commonwealth countries). Cricket was included in the Commonwealth Games in 1998 but never again since. If cricket cannot be accepted at the Commonwealth Games it is hard to see it being played at the Olympics. Personally I would welcome a return to the Commonwealth Games.
JSC
Guest
Watto, watto, watto, watto, watto!
fp11
Guest
No enough playing nations that matter. You can forget about Bangladesh and Afghanis and Dutch and Irish. Sadly they don't matter. If US, Russia, Germany, France, Brazil, Argentina etc played cricket then maybe. All of those nations have 50 million plus citizens which means heaps of advertising dollars. We have India, Pakistan and England. But apart form all that there's just not any serious interest in the rest of the world.
Another Pom in Oz
Guest
What a marvellous day of cricket. Thoroughly enjoyable... :)
jamesb
Guest
Yep NZ is pretty good at beating up a weakened Australian side. They did that in '85 and most likely later this year.