Whats wrong with Australia?

Consider this

• Four players get suspended from a test match because they did not submit their homework. 
• An ex-player held back the news of his retirement because he was afraid that he might be dropped.
• An official speaks openly about one of the Famous Four - stating that he is not a 'team player'. The player in question responds saying that the official didnt know him well enough.

Remember Simon Katich and his bust-up with the captain?

Whatever be the reason for the open fight, it is unprecedented in the history of cricket. Other countries who are notoriously famous for their internal team rivalries will be chuckling away to glory. This is the ultimate test therefore for the players in the playing eleven at Mohali - after Day 1, it looks like some of the reinforcements (Smith and Haddin) have done well. The skipper is obviously not happy as he promoted to No.3 and got stumped the very first ball!

The previous Oz captains used to be tough on the opponents (Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting and co) while enjoying great relationships internally. But, now, the aggression has swapped sides - the Aussie team members seem to have good relations with the Indian cricketers while internally, they seem to be in a mess! 

Is the new mantra of the team to be "nice"on the field? 

Is there a problem with the coach? Many questions to be answered in the middle of a test series overseas. Really tough!

Australian tour - Planning was key for Oz win - Part I

The 2011-12 series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been finished. 4-0 is the verdict in favor of the Aussies. Convincingly won with two innings victories. There have been many talks going on about the veterans in the Indian team and how they were ineffective in the entire series. But, let us take this opportunity to congratulate the Oz team for their planning.

Let us look at the dismissals of certain players in the series and the planning becomes evident. Gautam Gambhir is the focus of this first part. His weakness outside the off stump was well exploited by the bowlers. Look at the way he has been dismissed (text courtesy Cricinfo):

1st Test at Melbourne - first innings - Gambhir once again perishes to an indiscretion outside the off stump. Top bowling from Hilfenhaus, but aided by an average shot too. Short of a length, at least a foot and a half outside off stump to start with. The ball then seamed away, and Gambhir had a good enough sight at it, to leave if he wanted to. He chose not to, and fiddled to produce a faint edge through to the keeper. Aus have a wicket. 22/1

1st Test at Melbourne - second innings - outside edge and gone, Gautam's problems outside off continue, Siddle letting it rip from just short of a good length, finding bounce, the angle and away movement taking it away from the left-hander, but importantly, making him play, would have taken a very good leave to let it go, but he ended up jerking his hands slightly to the left to poke at it, the edge loops to second slip 39/2

2nd Test at Sydney - first innings - That really squared up Gambhir, landed on middle and slightly shaped away off a good length, Gambhir was squared up with the extra bounce and movement, thick outside edge to Clarke at first slip 0/1

3rd Test at Perth - first innings - Australia in command here, they remove the set batsman, Gambhir plays a nothing shot, no footwork hangs his bat in response to a ball outside off that moves away a hint, a tickle down to the keeper, and the familiar failings of the Indian batting come to the fore once more 63/4

4th Test at Sydney - first innings - there's the outside edge, and Haddin takes a neat catch tumbling to his left, excellent line, made him play the pitched up delivery just around the off stump, and Haddin did the rest, it moved just enough away after pitching to take the edge 14/1

If the bowlers couldn't get Gambhir nicking to the slip cordon, they got him with a perfume ball. Witness these 2 dismissals

• 3rd test at Perth - second innings - What a scorcher! Banged in short and that darted away, Gambhir was taken by surprise, got on the back foot and tried to play it into the leg side, almost trying to fend it away, the ball pops up towards gully and Hussey takes a comfortable catch, an excellent short ball by Starc, India under greater pressure now. Came off the handle 24/1
• 4th test at Adelaide - first innings - Siddle all over India, Gautam falls to the bouncer, incredible delivery on this flat wicket, must have taken so much effort, Siddle bangs it in short, it gets way too big on Gautam, close to head high, he hops in the air as he has been doing all morning, wanting to bring it down, but ends up fending it away well in front of gully, Michael Hussey races forward and dives full length forward to hold on to it, what a delivery, what a catch, top stuff 87/4

The support staff of the Australian team has done their homework alright. Persistence as well as execution of the well-thought out strategy is the hallmark of great teams and this one seems to be on their way if handled well. The question that comes to mind is why the Indian support staff could not do the same? 

Next post will be about Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar's dismissals in this series.

Ashes series - Tame end to Brisbane test match

The First Test of the Ashes ended in a tame draw but not before a clear message was sent to the host team about its inability to take twenty wickets. They were helped by the bowling of Siddle on the first day of the test but in the second innings on the last two days of a test match that had a bit of rough, they drew a blank (The only wicket being taken by a part-time bowler). Australia would have given their everything to have a bowler who has half the ability of a Shane Warne or Glenn Mcgrath in their playing eleven but the truth is that they dont make such bowlers any more. Agreed that the wicket was not helping the bowlers in a big way - there was no innovation by the captain also in these circumstances. Ponting realized that he could not get wickets like the old ages and went back to the traditional approach followed by hundreds of captains in the game.

Aside Siddle's bowling display, Michael Hussey and Brad Haddin stood out in this test match with a rearguard display without which this test would have surely gone the English way. The Oz team management must be worried about the manner Clarke gets pinged on the helmet regularly these days. North will get a century in one of the subsequent test matches but that will not be enough. Shane Watson and Simon Katich are the ones who have been consistent in the days where the performance (and subsequently the ICC rankings) of the team has gone down - they were a bit inconsistent in this test match however. Overall, the Aussie batting does not give a comfort feel to their supporters and there is always an impression that the innings closure is just one dismissal away to start. The bowlers need to put up a better display in the next test matches if the Australian team harbors any hope of regaining the Ashes. Mitchell Johnson is on a downward spiral and a rest will probably give him a new dose of inspiration. Doherty tried his best but that was nowhere near the performance that could get even a couple of wickets, forget running through the innings. The fielding was also below-par, indicating that there were more issues for the think-tank to look at. With a strong opposition attack, the curators might be thinking of providing a pitch that suits a run-feast - this might be again a ploy that will backfire on the Aussies.

England made up for their first innings display very quickly with their bowling display. The H2 (Hussey-Haddin) partnership revived the hopes of the home team but the English closed the innings once they got through the partnership. Then came the memorable partnerships with the bat - Strauss must be cursing himself for having got out. If he had not succumbed to the wide ball of the occasional bowler, the scorecard could have very well read 517 for no loss. Alistair Cook and Trott made sure that the English domination went on for another 2 sessions on the last day. That was the extent of the domination caused by the English batsmen in the second innings. This batting display must have given the ex-English players (commentators like Nasser Hussain, David Gower, Ian Botham) a sense of revenge for the treatment they received from a certain Steve Waugh in the late 80s and early 90s. The bowlers did a fair job in the match but need to continue the same display if the team wants to have a favorable result in the next test. Swann was assaulted by Hussey in the first innings but very soon, the bowler managed to settle down his nerves. Even though he did not get the success he is usuallly associated with, he will be a bigger threat to the Aussies as the series progresses.

The series is 0-0 after one test match. My previous prediction still stands - the English are 55-45 ahead of their rivals.

Related articles

• Aussies consider bowling changes (news.bbc.co.uk)
• The Ashes 2010: England head to Adelaide with psychological ascendancy | Vic Marks (guardian.co.uk)
• James Lawton: Psychological victory is England's as Strauss and Cook tear into Johnson (independent.co.uk)