Warning Signs and the Cricket
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
I'm finished work for the year, so today I'm gonna talk about Cricket instead. This is an Australian summer after all.
Long term risk reduction is an important concept in health. All that lifestyle advice that we dish out is aimed at decreasing the likelihood of a future event.
In the context of team sports, some future events are predictable; like retirement or aging.
The Australian Cricket team just lost its first test series at home in 17 years. They've been at the top of world cricket for at least fifteen years on the trot. The victorious Sth African team has played very well and in combination with an underperforming Aussie side, they've claimed the series 2-0 with the Sydney Test still to play.
For me, this has well and truly signalled the end of an Era. The voters on a Channel 9 poll agreed with me (54% vs A "Blip" at 46%). The writing has been on the wall for about fifteen months, when the retirements of five senior players required the selectors to plan for the future.
In my opinion, they have failed to do this; there has been no openly touted road-map. To exacerbate the situation, the current senior players are (with the exception of Ricky Ponting) are drastically out of form. From an organisational point of view, it looks as though the team has sprained it's only good thumb whilst cautiously trying to re-grow an arm and a leg.
Now the Australian team needs to regenerate itself, but there's got to be some trust in the newer players. In the last twelve months, there has been a stupendously high turnover of players, and not just due to retirement or injury. Many are because the selectors will give a player a wee trial and then drop them.
I don't know if the revolving door policy is like the All Blacks', where they have many excellent players, or because there's no-one who's putting their hand up and scoring runs or taking wickets.
All this comes across at a last grab at the dominance that Australia has enjoyed for the last fifteen years. I feel it would have been better for the selectors to just bite the bullet and stick with a few new players. Y'know, a new spinner, and two young quicks. Just field them for a while and see what happens. If they have the potential to take twenty wickets with some experience then keep them, grow them.
The selectors must have some faith in their new selections and appreciate that, for the mean time, Australian cricket is not the force it once was. With time, training and heart (that is often only garnered through hard-fought wins and thrashing losses), the team will return to its former glory.
And next time, when the warning signs of the 'end of an era' are visible, younger players will be nurtured and established to reestablish the team. Just like every other selection panel has done since Allan Border's Captaincy.
For me, this has well and truly signalled the end of an Era. The voters on a Channel 9 poll agreed with me (54% vs A "Blip" at 46%). The writing has been on the wall for about fifteen months, when the retirements of five senior players required the selectors to plan for the future.
In my opinion, they have failed to do this; there has been no openly touted road-map. To exacerbate the situation, the current senior players are (with the exception of Ricky Ponting) are drastically out of form. From an organisational point of view, it looks as though the team has sprained it's only good thumb whilst cautiously trying to re-grow an arm and a leg.
Now the Australian team needs to regenerate itself, but there's got to be some trust in the newer players. In the last twelve months, there has been a stupendously high turnover of players, and not just due to retirement or injury. Many are because the selectors will give a player a wee trial and then drop them.
I don't know if the revolving door policy is like the All Blacks', where they have many excellent players, or because there's no-one who's putting their hand up and scoring runs or taking wickets.
All this comes across at a last grab at the dominance that Australia has enjoyed for the last fifteen years. I feel it would have been better for the selectors to just bite the bullet and stick with a few new players. Y'know, a new spinner, and two young quicks. Just field them for a while and see what happens. If they have the potential to take twenty wickets with some experience then keep them, grow them.
The selectors must have some faith in their new selections and appreciate that, for the mean time, Australian cricket is not the force it once was. With time, training and heart (that is often only garnered through hard-fought wins and thrashing losses), the team will return to its former glory.
And next time, when the warning signs of the 'end of an era' are visible, younger players will be nurtured and established to reestablish the team. Just like every other selection panel has done since Allan Border's Captaincy.
of course i was excited about the cricket result