Australia has been gifted in being able to produce great Test teams across the 140 odd years these games have been played. There were some great teams in the 1800’s – perhaps culminating in the 1902 side that toured England in what has been termed the ‘Golden Age’ of cricket.
More impressive sides emerged after the Great War then again during the Great Depression. Donald Bradman’s team in 1948 was rightly dubbed the ‘invincibles’, the teams Richie Benaud captained in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s played in some of the most amazing Tests ever seen while the Chappell brothers were leaders of some great teams in the late 70’s.
Allan Border – also known as Captain Grumpy – led a team in ’89 that was going to give world cricket a taste of what was to come for the next 20 years, an era that produced some of the finest cricketers to ever pull on a boot for Australia.
So how do this current lot stack up?
It might surprise some to realise that England are fourth and Australia fifth on the ICC team Test rankings. Even with South Africa on the slide at Test level, it’s safe to say neither side deserves to be rated any higher.
Yes there’s been some wonderfully exciting cricket in this series, but the standard of batting and some of the catching has not been particularly good. In fact it’s been very poor on occasion, which suggests this is certainly not a great Australian Test side.
The obvious question is whether Australian Test cricket can once again become great – but as it stands the simple answer is probably not.
(AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
Australian first class players are being torn in different directions with the way the game is currently structured. They all desperately want to wear the baggy green – which demands a certain skill set and discipline – while being tempted by the huge money on offer to become great T20 players – which demands a completely different skill and mindset.
The Australian public has also been sold a three card trick with the pitches that have been the norm for first class cricket in recent seasons. The Tests have mostly been played on ‘roads’ that have allowed guys with limited technique to prosper, so we have been gulled into thinking these players really are Test quality.
This has been the case at Sheffield Shield level as well, where last season’s highest run scorers – Marcus Harris and Matthew Wade – have had their techniques absolutely mauled in the current series by quality bowlers on pitches that are a little helpful.
They are not on their own with Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, David Warner and Travis Head all failing to impress against the moving ball.
Spin bowling is the other casualty of the current cricket era. Australian pitches hardly allow for any turn, with curators forced to try and create surfaces that will last four or five days but help both bowlers and batsmen. They are also expected to produce the type of pitch that allows lots of sixes to be hit. Rather than do both, they’ve erred on the side of flat tracks which don’t break up – meaning spinners hardly get a look in.
Nathan Lyon is not only the GOAT – he’s also currently our only Test quality spinner. Others like Jon Holland and Steve O’Keefe have been tried but found wanting for a variety of reasons, while others like Adam Zampa are seen as options in short form cricket but not at Test level.
More to the point there are very few spinners coming through, mostly because no young person would want to take up a skill where they spend much of their bowling stint waiting for someone in the crowd to throw the ball back.
Australian Test cricket is at a crossroads. Our current batting line-up – with two exceptions – has been shown up, which on paper opens the door for others to step in. The problem is, they’re not considered as good as the current guys otherwise they’d be in the side already. Our spin stocks are virtually bare because there’s been little investment or encouragement for players to take on this craft.
Cricket Australia has to come up with a way of helping potential Test players hone their techniques. The first two steps are to use Duke balls throughout the Shield season and play Shield cricket on pitches that allow for some movement.
(ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images)
If curators can’t come up with pitches that suit both four day games and short form, move the four day games to other venues and instruct those curators to create pitches that will allow a contest between bat and ball.
Selectors need to stop choosing guys who are very good short form players for Test spots, because – with rare exception – their techniques do not translate to Test cricket. This Ashes series has clearly highlighted this point.
Players may also need to make a choice about what form of the game they will play and selectors need to be brutally honest about where they see a person fitting into an Australian side. There’s little point in players such as D’arcy Short or Chris Lynn trying their guts out to play Test cricket if they don’t have the techniques to make a real fist of it.
Great Test teams and players are not built on mediocrity and the Australian public, the administrators, selectors and above all the players need to understand that.
Australian cricket is going through a period where being mediocre is becoming acceptable but this cycle of acceptance needs to be broken now. If this becomes entrenched in Australian cricket – which is likely with so few genuine Test quality players – any chance we have of hosting another great Test cricketing era in this country is gone. Perhaps forever.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
On another post it was indicated that Head was the 3rd highest rungetter this year. 2 lean tests and ya ready to chop him up?
Graham
Guest
To me twenty-twenty and one day cricket are as different to test cricket as Rugby League is to Rugby Union. Maybe the time has come to seperate the two codes and let players decide which form of the game they want to play.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
The pool is terrific...and getting better. Pace availability is limitless and as good as any golden age. Get Agar fit and spin is fine with some good leggies around too. The 3 WA keepers, Whiteman, Inglis and Philippe, will put some good pressure on Paine and Carey. The young batting is very promising and the young all rounders coming through are very exciting. Defending the Ashes in England is an achievement many teams haven't been able to do in some earlier "golden eras".
james
Guest
Unrepeatably, even*
james
Guest
Two bald men fighting over a comb, if you ask me. By no stretch of the imagination are these two good sides, far less two great ones. Both in the middle of the pack in a non-vintage era of Test cricket where the number one side in the world came to England last year and, albeit rather unluckily, were on the wrong end of a 4-1 scoreline. Not convinced that the vintage eras of Test cricket will come again for any side, mind you. The curse of T20, the new 100 ball format and God knows what in the future - 5 over matches, probably, as attention spans of spectators dwindle still further - will ensure that Test match techniques become scarcer and scarcer and true 5 day champions fewer and fewer. The W. Indies in the 80s and Australia in the late 90s and early 2000s had a generation of unreapatably marvellous players who happened along simultaneously in such numbers that their Second XIs would probably have been the Number 1 sides in the world if their First XIs hadn't existed. Can't expect that to happen every day - my worry is that countries don't much care about the Test match format these days, outside The Ashes and those rare India-Pakistan series and I shall be surprised if the five day game is still alive and kicking at all a couple of decades from now.
The Late News
Roar Rookie
Also appoint 3 separate captains who have the responsibility for success in all its forms...not just winning. That would make a strong statement that it should be rare to play in all 3 formats of the game. Just like horse racing...sprinters won't win the Melbourne Cup...but can still be wonderful horses. And a legend in 15 man rugby might fail at sevens.
The Late News
Roar Rookie
Yep I totally agree. Quick cash in the IPL...or other tournaments around the world might be great but if we actually decide that test cricket is our no 1 focus then we should select players carefully.
Extra Short Leg
Roar Rookie
Based on sheer player numbers, and decent development programs, you would reckon India will rule world cricket for decades to come. Footage of kids playing games on top of each other is astonishing.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Our era of dominance was fuelled by many social factors. To give a simple run down, Live TV broadcasts of sport really took off in the 70's and 80's here. WSC took that to a dominate level in the late 70's early 80's. Kids could watch the best players all the time. Combine that with the rise of the middle class from WW2 and kids in the 70' and 80's had plenty of time to go out and play after school as well as watch their heroes. It was the perfect balance. Backyard cricket was a significant factor in the development of that group of cricketers that dominated the 90's as it was for all the generations before. The Live broadcast of the game on TV allowed the kids to see can learn from the best close up on mass and the popularity of the game attracted most of the kids interest in the country. It was the perfect breading ground for talent to grow. Then those kids went to battle on the grade and State grounds around the country. That all breed the best group of players we have probably ever had.
Tony Tea
Roar Rookie
Australia's era of dominance happened by virtue of a fortuitous series of events. It is unlikely we will enjoy another such era in the near future, but neither will any other Test nation.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
"My last thought is as the Shield final usually becomes a a boring drawn out draw, maybe do away with it and the winner is declared on the points tally especially as the points system has recently been tweaked to encourage more positive play" Actually the Shield Final rules have been changed such that if it does end in a draw, the "winner" is determined based on bonus points earned during the match; the same bonus points system used during the regular season - 0.01 bonus points for every run scored above 200 in the first 100 overs of the first innings with the bat, and 0.1 points for each wicket taken in the first 100 overs of the first innings with the ball.
Extra Short Leg
Roar Rookie
I haven't been around the Sydney grade scene for 30 years but my nephews are gun juniors. The St George area couldn't rake up enough juniors to run a 10A comp a few years ago. In a once cricket-mad region, that's a real problem. Changing population, time-poor parents, emphasis on short form slogging have all eroded standards.
Paul
Roar Guru
exactly ESL, but you added in a factor I hadn't considered - the availability of talent at junior level, which is a very good point.
Paul
Roar Guru
hi Bad, this article was prompted in part by a debate I heard after England lost the 4th Test where, Willis, Botham and others were really concerned about the state of the game in England, particularly with the huge amount of short form cricket being played, a situation that will only worsen with the introduction of a new competition, 100, next season. Their situation is similar to ours, in that both teams have very mediocre batting lineups ( with some obvious exceptions), but the talent pool in both countries has largely been drained of Test quality cricketers. CA needs to do anything, including some or all of the ideas you've posted, to make sure we have a bunch of guys capable of being good Test players - not okay, not mediocre, but good players.
Paul
Roar Guru
That might well be an answer Steve, but unless the quality of the pool of cricketers, especially batsmen & spin bowlers improves, selectors will be forced to select players of mediocre ability at Test level.
Extra Short Leg
Roar Rookie
The dwindling player base in junior cricket is a major impediment when trying to produce quality test cricketers. The chickens are slowly but surely coming home to roost. Standard of grade cricket has been eroded, as has the Shield. We now select batsmen with domestic averages in the 30s and expect them to perform at test level. Harris, Head, etc are producing scores in line with their SS history.
matth
Roar Guru
You know we’ve just retained the Ashes away right. The way some are going on you’d think we had lost 5-0.
badmanners
Roar Rookie
I think their all good points Paul, I'm not sure about using the Duke ball for the whole SS season as the change means players have to adapt which in itself could be a skill set to have. I'd also be interested to see some analysis of the English experiment of doing away with the toss in an effort to have curators prepare more even pitches and if there are any benefits which might be applicable to Australia. Seeing as we generally have roads in Aus it's less likely but that's not a certainty. My last thought is as the Shield final usually becomes a a boring drawn out draw, maybe do away with it and the winner is declared on the points tally especially as the points system has recently been tweaked to encourage more positive play. A pet idea of mine has been to have a yearly final first class game of Aus A vs NZ A of players not currently in the test team to improve the standards of both countries, it would be expensive but possibly some content to sell to broadcasters. We can't let first class cricket wither if we want a strong test team, we have to make it valid and it should be a tough school.
Steve
Guest
THE MAIN PROBLEM OZ CRICKET HAVE IS THE SELECTION COMMITTEE AND PROCESS . HARRIS WARNER HEAD PAINE DON'T HAVE THE CLASS . BRING IN CAREY PATTERSON PUCKOVSKI BURNS . ITS TIME TO REGROUP . SACK THE SELECTION COMMITTEE FIRST