Here we are, mid-December and cricket season is in full swing. The southern hemisphere is awash with test cricket, the domestic season is enthralling, and all forms of the game are producing some sensational players and some exciting games. It's going to be a great summer down here!
But the question we're all asking ourselves here is this: is Australia going to go through an entire test series without a single century being scored by an Aussie batsman? We're in the third test against the West Indies now and still haven't cracked a ton, though Katich came as close as possible yesterday with a very fine 99 before throwing his wicket away with the first rash shot of his innings. Shane Watson has made two big scores: 96 and 89 to get close to his maiden test century but can't quite get there. Mike Hussey is our next best chance later today, being 81 not out overnight and playing well, but we'll see.
Australian cricket is still going through a self-searching phase. We have many talented players but the team doesn't gel the way it did before Gilchrist, Warne and McGrath quit to concentrate on IPL big bucks showgirl cricket. However, Shane Watson has answered his critics with some very fine performances in the opener's role, and he and Katich are rapidly cementing themselves as the new Hayden/Langer combo. Meanwhile, serious opening batsmen such as Phil Hughes and James Hopes can't get back in the side, and it's curious that in a country stuffed full of classy batsmen, it's a bowler who has claimed the opening spot. Have to say though, that while Watson first made it into the team as a bowler who could also bat usefully, he's quickly shown himself to be a very classy and prodigious run-scorer who's not afraid of the new ball, and we now think of him as an opening batsman who can also bowl a bit! That hasn't happened too often.
Meanwhile, bowlers come and go, and it's heartening to see so many good bowlers who likewise can't get back into the team becsause of the competition. Bowlers like Krezja, MacDonald, Bracken and Hilfenhaus are world-class bowlers who are really struggling to convince the selectors to give them another go. And Stu Clarke has now sadly retired due to chronic injury. Doug Bollinger was another one seemingly lost, but is now back in thanks to the injury to Peter Siddle, who now will likewise struggle to get back in the side.
But for all the wealth of talent, the problem remains that the performances are well below that of the Gilchrist/Warne/McGrath days. Some blame the captain, Ponting, and the downfall of Mike Hussey (whose batting average has fallen from over 80 to just over 50), but really it's a combination of many things. Like a high-performance motor vehicle, you need all those quality components to be finely tuned and working in harmony for the vehicle to show its true class. Personally, I think we do need the super stars to make a super team. Ponting is still a superb batsmen, possibly the world's best, and certainly playing off the back foot he would have to be, but there it ends. Hussey is now merely excellent, and we have no super star bowlers. Mitchell Johnston is unplayable on a good day, but doesn't have the consistency to be a McGrath or Warne. Like it or not, the super stars really do seem to cement a team to that pedestal of greatness. And we're missing them.
One name to remember:
George Bailey. A 27 yo from Tasmania (Ponting's home state), he is really shining as captain of that state in the national competition and is being tipped as a future captain of Australia. A blistering right hand bat and useful medium pace bowler, he has really blossomed this year and will be in the national side very soon, and likely groomed for future captaincy, given his performances for his home state. Remember that name, cricket watchers.
I saw something of the New Zealand -v- Pakistan series just concluded, and was not inspired. But then it's hard to be inspired when the national teams are playing in empty stadiums. Astonishing really, but Kiwis just don't seem to go to the cricket, even when they're winning. The Pakistanis looked cold and miserable and were really lacklustre. The series was slow and dull and inevitably perhaps, ended up drawn. The third test could have been an absolute cracker, with the series tied 1-all, it came down the last session of the last day. New Zealand needed a modest total to win, but the pitch was doing a little and the bowlers had their tails up. Finally it seemed the series was turning into something approaching a nail-biting classic when ... it rained. And kept on raining. The three spectators at the ground trudged off home and that was it.
Hopefully nothing like that will happen in the South Africa -v- South Africa series in South Africa, just started. I know, I know, that was churlish of me but honestly, something has be wrong with English cricket when you need four South African imports in your test team. One or two here and there is perhaps normal and inevitable, but four? And four South Africans at that? Sorry, but it's as if team selection was carried out by Chelsea FC, or maybe the ANC.
Anyway, I see already Jacques Kallis is being a thorn in The English South African side - don't feel bad, he does that to us too.
Alright, I have to fly if I'm to get my chores done before day 2 starts in Perth. Must leave it there.
Ciao, cricket lovers.
