Musings about sports in general, & Cricket in particular. With baseball season coming up, will look into that, too. And lots of good cricket in 2007, including the World Cup.
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This is where you stick random tidbits of information about yourself.
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20030417
Is Australia the world’s greatest cricket team? This question may be getting a bit boring to some (especially partisans of other teams) & it is becoming almost rhetorical. There is no doubt that Australia dominates, both in the Test & the One-Day game. As I’ve said before, Australia doesn’t rebuilt, they just reload. No doubt, a reason for their great success has been their ruthlessness as a team, not only on the pitch, but also in the selection committee. The Waugh twins just starting to lose a bit? Here are some new guys. Michael Slater having a rough go of it? He’s out. Some may argue about those decisions—indeed, I thought that Steve Waugh most certainly should have captained the side at the Cup—but the fact that the selectors make them, then stick by them, has borne this winning fruit.
This lack of decisiveness in other selections committees has hampered other sides’ success. One can look at both India & Pakistan, two nations with exponentially more players to choose from than Australia with its 19 or 20 millions: in both cases, selection seems sometimes to be based on things other than just merit. If this remains the case, it may be hard for either side to consistently compete: even England is better situated to make a move for dominance, these days. I know that Pakistan just won decisively at Sharjah, but that must be a qualified win: even though not the home side, the UAE, with its large Muslim population, surely embraced the Pakistanis as the favoured team. And India has to rely on just more than Tendulker & Dravid: whilst the other players show occasional brilliance, consistent competence overall would be better. Also, it seems that India has a history of cultivating the superstars at the expense of the whole team: personal records seem to be more valued than wins. Since cricket is a team sport, this seems needlessly shortsighted, & may account for their lack of domination.
Want to take a moment now to congratulate Sanath Jayasuriya for her services to his side & to the game. Well done! Sanath has been a class act all during his career & as a player has been truly entertaining to watch. I well remember how a few years ago in Sharjah Sri Lanka decimated India at the finals of the Coca-Cola Cup, with Sanath almost carrying his bat for the match & setting a Sharjah record. His last match last week, also in Sharjah, is clearly not how he wanted to go out, but that’s not how I will remember him, anyway. Sri Lanka, such a dominant presence over the last few years, now has an uncertain future, with the loss of their captain. I can only wish him well. He will certainly be remembered as one of the greats.
The 2nd Test between the Aussies & the Windies starts today: look for Australia to take this one, too. At this point, I think the Windies are playing for ties.
12:56 PM
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