Nothing mellow about the men in yellow – Part 1 - Opinion
The fact that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ireland-c751 in the ICC World T20 rankings, is probably an inadequate measure of how shambolic Australian have actually been in the T20 format.
Their terrible form is similar to England’s ODI run, in the early 2000s, where winning a game bordered on the preposterous. The manner in which they lost to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in the first T20 of the Cool and Cool Cup series of 2012 pointed at apparent loopholes that
the Aussies have continued to grapple with. It is thus safe to say that this Australian side, under http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758.
To claim that they would stand no chance would be audacious. Yet not many in the modern cricketing circuit would have second thoughts over how terrible Australia really has been in the pocket sized format. It is not often that Australia are not billed as
undisputed favourites in a global tournament, yet the current bunch of players, which attempt at blending the young and old, promise little in clashes of significant proportions that await them. Most of their T20 careers have been bloated with inconsistency
to the point of them failing to win games from crucial situations. That fact, along with a natural proclivity towards capitulation, are damning realities which Australia need to digest, accept and rectify accordingly. This team is far from being the champion
side that they used to be and boasted about. Barring a few exciting players, the team seems to lack the fire power that it was once known to possess.
These abysmal performances on the field can be attributed to a plethora of different factors. Firstly, Australia had been hampered by the absence of key players who have made a huge impact in T20 cricket and helped them progress in global tournaments. The
retirement of players like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Brett-Lee-c48419 for example, were huge blows in light of the fact that these players were instrumental in securing a semi final berth in the 2007 version of the tournament. The severity of their loss is indicated in
the amount of experimentation that has taken place in the team with regard to the rotation of players. The lack of a settled bowling combination for example, is a grand indication of how this team is struggling to find replacements for their retired stars.
The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/James-Peter-Hewitt-c66001 seem to be too big to fill up.
The squad which will leave for the Emerald Isle from the Emirates consists of just a few individuals who are experienced enough to perform in the T20 format. Some of them, such as Cameron White, are horribly out of form and it would be difficult for the
Australian selectors to conclude as to whether they should persist with players like him or not. Similarly, the dynamic duo of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SR-Watson-c2558 and David Warner continue to blow hot and cold, and unlike their predecessors, they have been horribly inconsistent.
Watson’s reputation for plundering attacks and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DA-Warner-c1301’s ability to annihilate attacks at will has been largely limited to sporadic performances, and the series against Pakistan was a grand example of how reputation becomes immaterial in a clash of significant
proportions. Their susceptibility to quality bowling and inability to forge huge partnerships has hurt Australia at the top of the ladder, and compounded their problems even further.
Continued in Part 2...
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