Sport loves a scapegoat. Finger-pointing and blame-shifting is the predictable by-product of failure – especially in a time-honoured contest like the Ashes
The Argus Report, commissioned back in 2011, was supposed to be the line-in-the-sand for Australian cricket.
It was crisis time. Cool heads and legends were supposed to fix us.
As a nation spoiled by success, a losing cricket team is among the most bitter of pills to swallow. But four years on from the Argus Report, the recommendations are fruitless and our team in tatters.
The blueprint for success convinced a naive public that success was a fait accompli, and wins against England, South Africa, India, as well as a World Cup should be celebrated.
But the essence of Argus was to address structural problems within Australian cricket, and on this front we have been clean bowled.
Australian cricket is in paralysis. We’ve paid lip service to change, but nothing more. Progress has stalled.
The major issues with the team have been:
Further, and more disturbingly, these were the finding from the ill-fated 2009 Ashes series.
The evidence from this Ashes and other recent series is that our basic cricket skills are lacking in key areas, in particular our ability to bat for an extended period of time, and approach to playing spin.
Any observer would be forgiven for thinking they’d fallen asleep in their DeLorean and woken up with Ricky Ponting still as captain. And bear in mind we only lost two Tests on the 2009 Ashes tour.
With a total lack of redress, how can national selector Rod Marsh and general manager of team performance Pat Howard remain in their roles?
As Einstein once quipped, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. Gallingly, Marsh and Howard, on the face of it, appear not to have even followed the Argus Review’s suggestions.
Marsh has critical responsibility for “communication of selection policy and strategy” and “evaluation of, and communication with, individual players”.
Shane Watson learnt of his dropping from the media. Brad Haddin had to draw it out of him, and Mitch Marsh was made aware of his non-selection at the 11th hour. By any measure, this is amateurish.
Howard is the single point of accountability for the side. What does he have to show for his tenure? On all accounts, his position is untenable.
This tour has been characterised by poor performance, poor team culture and poor communication.
The gulf between theory and practice has never been wider. Sadly, our performances in England have shown we’ve fallen deeply into that abyss.
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