Troubling times for Australia as misfortunes pile up in the valley of Ashes (Part 1)
"Like medieval royals with syphilis, they went suddenly mad," wrote Greg Baum following the most spectacular heist performed by Shane Warne in Adelaide in the summer of 2006. That was almost four years ago as the philistine giants spearheaded by one of the
finest warriors in the world of cricket undid the formidable Englishmen. It wasn’t a one sided contest, for the Englishmen had played brilliantly in the first innings to declare at 6 for 551. Collingwood and Pietersen shared a 310 run partnership; they could
most certainly have not lost from there.
The Australians were however sneaky in those times, they were unpredictable and they had this uncanny ability to make the most intriguing comebacks. So it was; in the second innings of that fateful day as England batted to face one of the most catastrophic
capitulations at the hands of the legendary leg spinner Shane Warne.
On the final day when England were batting comfortably for the lost of just one wicket, they were rendered helpless by Warne who managed to ship the remaining of their nine wickets for just 70 runs in 54 overs. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 managed to win the contest in an
exhilarating fashion by six wickets in the final hour of the day.
That was four years ago at Adelaide.
Four years later and the Australians paint a completely different picture. From replicating the precise, mechanical performance of a Swiss made watch, they are now falling apart like an expendable replica of something truly magnificent. Their fielding is
not as sharp as it once was, their bowling attack is lacking the piercing impact that once made them unbeatable, their batting is rustier than the remains of the Titanic buried somewhere in the depths of the Atlantic ocean.
There are times when we are shown glimpses of what was once a great empire, but that empire is crumbling with every passing day as the Anglo Saxon Colonialists have invaded their lands to serve a final blow to annihilate the philistine giants who had tortured
them in the past. Some may call this irony; others might call it misfortune, while a certain few might call this fate. I call it the inevitable.
This had to happen, this was bound to happen, this always happens. Complacency is the biggest sin that systematically disintegrates the most resilient of nations, of individuals, of beings. The Australians had dominated for too long a time to realize the
toils, the work, the effort that had gone in making them what they were. This effectively gave the rest an opportunity to work hard, toil and beat the champions when they least expected it.
The first blow had come from a rather unexpected front. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, a team that has been struggling for a long time now, a team that many had stopped taking seriously, a team having to cope with the worst administrative failure in the history of administrative
failures managed to snatch victory from the complacent Kangaroos. Like the domino tiles strategically placed one in front of the other, setting a collapse as the first one falls, similarly the loss to Pakistan was like the domino effect taking place for Australia.
The Punters have not managed to win a single Test match since then. However, it is worth noting that the valley of Ashes has always been a different ball game altogether. The rivalry has gone on for well over a century now, the Ashes means quite a lot to
both the teams. Therefore, going into the Ashes we came across a multitude of conflicting opinions. There were the optimists; and the pessimists who were trying hard to be sanguine.
To be continued in Part 2...
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