Cricket Update: Ashes 2010 Series - How Australia Can Still Make A Comeback!
Once upon a time, there was a cricket team from Down Under. It not only won Test matches but was also successful in the one day arena in the latter part of the 90s and the early years of the millennium. They had a batting side with solid test batsmen like Mark
Waugh, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn etc who could be used as hard hitters in one dayers.
Their bowlers like Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee not only contained the opposition but also took wickets whenever it mattered the most. They had cricketers like Steve Waugh and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Adam-Gilchrist-c918 who performed as all-rounders whereas they had
a leg-spinner in Shane Warne who is termed the best ever to bowl in the game. In fact, they were so full with talent that whenever players like Andy Bichel, Michael Kasprowicz or Matthew Elliot were given the chance, they would seize it and perform to the
best of their abilities.
That was the past though; the present of that team is nowhere near its predecessors. The current Australian side may have the talent to become the best in the world, but sadly, they are not using it. For the second time in the current Ashes series, they
are trailing by 2-1 against Andrew Strauss’s English side. If they don’t win the next match at Sydney, their long-standing captain Ricky Ponting will earn the distinction of becoming the only Australian captain to lose the Ashes on three separate occasions.
The question most of the Australians would be asking themselves is whether Ricky Ponting is bigger than their pride. The answer is no as nobody is bigger than the game. His predecessors Mark http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915 and Steve Waugh were performing well as members of the side
when they were shown the exit, unlike Ponting who has had a terrible year. Luck has played more part in the victories he has attained during 2010. He should either take rest or retire completely from the game so that his countrymen would remember him as someone
who won them matches, not surrendered the Ashes three times.
Although he is not playing in the next match due to a finger injury, the damage his bad form has done to his side is beyond repair. He has been replaced temporarily by Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120, but is he the best choice? Ever since his split with his fiancée model
Lara Bingle earlier this year, he has become a different person. Like Ponting, his place in the side is also in jeopardy, and the selectors should get someone who can command respect and lead by example as well. In the current side, only 3 players can be bracketed
in that category - Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326, Brad Haddin and Michael Hussey. Michael Hussey is the only player in the current side who is consistent, so making him captain would put extra pressure on him. Shane Watson is a quality all-rounder but he is not that senior
to lead the side. That leaves wicket-keeper Brad Haddin, someone with a sensible head on his shoulders and who will bring fresh ideas with himself, if given the job.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 should have included Nathan Hauritz in the side so that they could at least fight and either win the match or go down fighting. Usman Khwaja is most likely to play at number 3, with the 12th man's place going to Steven Smith who can neither bat
nor bowl.
They need to change their pacers as well who have been out of sorts throughout the series. Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle should partner Doug Bollinger who in current form is better than Ben Hilfenhaus. The Australian side, if revamped, can put a fight
against England, because the current side has fared miserably during the 4 tests. The revamped side is the only solution for a problem that the Aussies never saw coming in the first place.
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