Originally posted by lordhighgus
Hughes would be a good test opener along with Katich, both in good sheffield shield form.
Stuart Clark is out of the return tour to S.A.
All summer long our senior players did not really put in, except say Ponting and Clarke, and our new guys have not learned that they are Australian cricketers now and have nuts of steel and can do miracles on the fiel ...[text shortened]... me on the Ashes tour too, the English have been getting chirpy in the press and need a pounding.
I've been thinking about this because I've been a bit puzzled myself about the catastrophic failure of Aus in the latest ODI. I truly didn't expect it but Australia got walloped again by South Africa in the final ODI to win the series. This was with Aus's best available players and truly SA's second-string team, where a bunch of players were rested and with two debutantes - both bowlers and one just 19.
Firstly, a brief match summary:
SA for the first time in the ODI series won the toss and opened the batted. Started off slowly, lost some key players early, yet were able to get the runs ticking over in the middle of the game, gained in confidence, picked up momentum and were able to kick on in the latter stages to post a strong and challenging 288/6.
Aus never got started, failing early to be 53/4. Warner was unlucky to be 4th man out. He was run out backing up but these things happen. The remaining batsmen set about rebuilding but it was always going to a formidable task and Aus fell short. All out for 249 in 49 overs.
This is an amazing ODI series win. Not just for the fact that the South Africans didn't come with high hopes - they had their sights set on the Test series. They're a "developing" team and the team which won this last game certainly had lots less caps than the Australians. In fact, the most the three front-line bowlers had between them was 18 caps. I thought this was the soft underbelly – yet they beat Australia who fielded as full a strength team as they could.
For me, the excuse of "rebuilding" in the Australian team doesn't really hold water and we've got to look to other reasons for their failure in both the Tests and the ODIs. What are these?
Firstly, let's contrast with what's right in the SA team. They're settled, they're united, they have great spirit, they have excellent support structures, they know where they stand in the team – what their roles are and where they fit in – and they had a plan. I think they're exceptionally well organised. They also know they have to work hard to get there.
As for Australia, I don't see unity. I see a bunch of individuals trying their best but without structure, not playing to a plan and without team spirit. In this series, I've seen egotism and a bunch of players thrown together, expecting them to make a team – because they're the best, da**it! Blame the selection process (note the word process) for that. "Rebuilding" is a poor excuse, because the planning hasn't been there.
I would also question Ponting's captaincy. Not on the field (and there have been questions asked there, too), but off the field. He hasn't struck me as a leader. In his interviews he mouths too many inanities, he brings nothing as an individual and a leader to the party. I can't see the person behind the eyes and the words. He inherited a great team without having to work for it and when the greats have gone, he really doesn't have much to offer in terms of leadership. The captain brings the team together and I can't see he's done that. Don't get me wrong – he deserves to be in the team, but I think captaincy in a time of crisis is beyond him. It's time for a fresh approach.
I'll certainly never write Australia off and they certainly aren't down and out, but they desperately need to review the culture of entitlement among certain players, the selection process, management structure and the captaincy.
Agreed: India need to win away to prove they're the best and England, as always, are talking a big game. They'll fail, of course. In the meantime, I can bask in the soft afterglow of South Africa's successes 8-)
What we've also done is shown that we have young, emerging talent and can slot them into the team where they perform. Australia couldn't achieve that, which was why SA won both the Test and ODI series.
Australia VS South Africa
19 Jan '09 00:28
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