The End of an Era

(This post is quite long and it is about cricket. If you are not interested in cricket, I advise you to stop reading this right away :-) ) 

Strictly speaking, I should have written this a few days back, just after the end of the recent Australia - SA test series. However, I don't think it has lost any relevance now, as Australia is trying hard to cling on to their #1 spots in both, tests and ODIs.

 

The Australian side of the 80's was always considered a mediocre side compared to its predecessors. So considering that, the fact that it won the 87 world cup and regained the Ashes in 89 were great achievements then. Still, Australia was not proclaimed as the best side in world, but merely a good team. The twilight of Allan Border's career saw a side filled with young and promising players who had not quite established their prowess, barring the Waugh brothers and Warne. 

With Mark Taylor taking over the captaincy in 1994, things started to change especially with the victory against the mighty West Indies (not as mighty as they were though!). Mark Taylor was one of those rare natural leaders who brought out the best in his players. He was a keen observer and had a very shrewd cricketing brain, and is arguably the best Australian captain ever(arguably because it is difficult to compare captains, or for that matter any player, across eras). He was probably responsible for McGrath's development, into the force that he was later, and with Slater formed one of the most formidable opening partnership of his generation. Add to this a safe pair of hands at slip, he was like an all-rounder! Taylor, chewing gum, with a broad brimmed hat, standing at first slip to Warne, is one of my earliest cricket memories. Australia started the 96 world cup as favourites, but lost in the finals to Ranatunga's shrewd gamesmanship. But, this was when the transformation began - from a good side to a great side. McGrath grew up in stature, Warne was already recognized as the spin genius that he is, the Waugh brothers were more dangerous than ever. The one day side had the likes of Bevan and Lehmann who were very good finishers. And they had quite a set of support bowlers in Gillespie, Kasprowicz and Damien Fleming for ODIs.

Taylor went through a form slump but then came back with a stunning century at Edgbaston and Australia won the Ashes in 97. However, Taylor's form was not very great in the ODIs and he was axed from the ODI side. Taylor decided to retire on his own terms and retired in early 99. This is when Steve Waugh took over the side and took it to the next level. Australia started the 99 World Cup as favourites, but soon were struggling and had to fight its way into the next stage. From down in the dumps, Australia fought back to eventually win the World Cup, led by their courageous captain. Steve Waugh and Shane Warne's  heroics in that world cup are legendary. It was after this that Australia began to completely dominate the entire cricketing world. Steve Waugh's side created history by winning sixteen tests (Gilly captained one of the tests in that 16) on the trot. The only blackmark during Steve Waugh's captaincy was that Australia couldn't win a Test series in India. But the Ashes were retained in both the years.

Steve Waugh was axed from the ODI side but he continued captaining the test side. Ricky Ponting took over the captaincy of the ODI side. Australia won the 2003 world cup without losing a game. Personally I have never rated Ricky Ponting as a great captain ( I am sure no one did!), but with the kind of side he had, he would have to do really bad to lose. After the 2004 test series at home against India, Steve Waugh bowed out and Ponting took over as the captain of the test side too. The next four years, they won wherever they went (except the Ashes 2005 of course, but they made their point in 2007!!) The World cup 2007 was probably the worst one ever - considering both the cricket and the administration. Australia were no match for any one and they might have as well taken the World cup without playing the tournament. 

But 2007 saw the retirement of 3 of their finest cricketers - Warne, McGrath and Langer all retired at the same time. Justin Langer is probably one of those extremely under-appreciated cricketers who was largely responsible for Australia's dominance along with Hayden as the openers of the side. All great sides have had great openers - Greenidge and Haynes, Sutcliffe and Hobbs to name a couple of the top of my mind. Openers are largely reponsible for the success of a side (Sehwag and Gambhir are further examples to prove that!). Warne and McGrath's greatness don't need any elaboration, I guess. But in spite of these huge losses, Australia continued to be quite a force. Brett Lee had matured into a very fine bowler and Stuart Clark resembled McGrath in that nagging line and length, just outside off and one felt maybe this wasn't the end of the era, after all. However, Australia had a big problem in filling Warne's shoes, and all their spin options were mediocre.

India gave quite a run for their money in the controversial 2007-2008 test series in Australia, and people started asking questions after Australia lost the ODI series. This series was also a landmark series - it was Gilchrist's last test series. Gilchrist retired from ODIs too, and in that Australia lost another of its priceless gems. The team looked more vulnerable than ever with Hayden in indifferent form, and Ponting not at his usual highly consistent best. A series loss against India in India was not as much of a shock as the margin of defeat. Australia came back to win a test series against the inexperienced New Zealand side before the took off against South Africa.

This Aus-SA series was a series to remember. Graeme Smith's captaincy and his last test bravery is bound to be talked about for years to come. The weaknesses of the Australian side were exposed and they were found to be severely lacking in bowling depth with Brett Lee out of form and eventually injured. Australia still had not found a spinner and Brad Haddin, though a decent keeper and batsman, was nowhere near being a replacement for Gilchrist. The batting also looked shaky with Hayden totally out of sorts and Ponting not at his usual best. Mike Hussey's batting average has also dipped from the initial Bradmanesque figures to something that looks more human. With Hayden now retiring, only Ponting and Lee remain of the historic 16-wins-on-the-trot side. The present Australian side looks quite vulnerable and I guess it is only a matter of time before they are toppled from their number 1 spots.

But unlike the end of the mighty West Indian era, I guess this one is quite welcome (I don't know why this is so!). As for me - I am personally happy that this happened during Ponting's captaincy and made sure that he was not going to be remembered as a great captain. :-)

Whew!!! That was one hell of a long post!! I sit in this country where people play "football" with their hands and hence I hardly get to have a conversation with anyone on cricket. No wonder I rambled on and on and on! This is one of the many reasons I miss India - sitting in front of the TV, watching the match, and discussing with my dad or my uncle or my friends, as to how great Sachin is, what a moron Ponting is, and getting all heated up about some biased remark from Ian Chappell!! Such fun!!