End of an era for Australia?
Source: Agencies |
March 26, 2011, Saturday
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RICKY Ponting made sure of one thing with his reputation and his career at stake: if he was going to go down, he'd go down fighting.
Recriminations will follow four-time champion Australia's worst World Cup performance in two decades, with Ponting's captaincy not the only job on the line.
Every player, all the selectors, coaching staff, and even the Cricket Australia executives will come under the microscope in a wide-ranging review being driven by the three captains who preceded Ponting.
Australia has already slumped to back-to-back Ashes series defeats to England and slipped well down the pecking order in the traditional form of the game. With a five-wicket loss to India on Thursday night, Australia surrendered the World Cup title it has held since 1999.
Ponting's 104, his first ODI century in 13 months, was about the only highlight.
And it should hold him in good stead with the ex-captains if he decides to continue as captain.
Allan Border, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh were all no-nonsense, hard-nosed captains who helped drag and then shape an Australian team from out of the doldrums in the mid-1980s to a squad which dominated world cricket for more than a decade.
It's unlikely that the selectors, with their own positions on the line, will make any rash decisions in the wake of Australia's quarterfinal exit to India and ahead of the limited-overs series in Bangladesh next month.
The aim of the review is to ensure Australian cricket doesn't sink to the depths that it hit in the wake of the schism following the advent of Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket.
Ponting didn't think his squad was so far off the international pace despite its inconsistent run in the World Cup, where it lost twice in six days to Pakistan and India after going 34 straight World Cup matches unbeaten.
"It's a bit premature to say it was the end of an era for Australian cricket, it was a pretty good game," Ponting said. "I didn't think we were far away from winning a game against a very good Indian team on their home soil.
"I thought we were very competitive. We've lost our last two games in the World Cup, I'm disappointed with that. I thought we were a better team than we probably showed ... I think it's a bit too early to say it's the end of an era."
Chief selector Andrew Hilditch is reportedly in the firing line after some unsettled selections over the last two summers, when spin bowlers have been shuffled in and out of the team in a constant search for the next Shane Warne.
The selectors have tried and dispensed with too many slow bowlers in the last four years, with Jason Krezja a late selection for the World Cup after injuries elsewhere - he hadn't played a one-day international until this year and was thrown into the hot seat in the subcontinent, where batsmen are accustomed to playing higher-quality slow bowlers.
The rest of the bowling attack is in disarray, with none of the paceman consistently ... consistent.
Recriminations will follow four-time champion Australia's worst World Cup performance in two decades, with Ponting's captaincy not the only job on the line.
Every player, all the selectors, coaching staff, and even the Cricket Australia executives will come under the microscope in a wide-ranging review being driven by the three captains who preceded Ponting.
Australia has already slumped to back-to-back Ashes series defeats to England and slipped well down the pecking order in the traditional form of the game. With a five-wicket loss to India on Thursday night, Australia surrendered the World Cup title it has held since 1999.
Ponting's 104, his first ODI century in 13 months, was about the only highlight.
And it should hold him in good stead with the ex-captains if he decides to continue as captain.
Allan Border, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh were all no-nonsense, hard-nosed captains who helped drag and then shape an Australian team from out of the doldrums in the mid-1980s to a squad which dominated world cricket for more than a decade.
It's unlikely that the selectors, with their own positions on the line, will make any rash decisions in the wake of Australia's quarterfinal exit to India and ahead of the limited-overs series in Bangladesh next month.
The aim of the review is to ensure Australian cricket doesn't sink to the depths that it hit in the wake of the schism following the advent of Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket.
Ponting didn't think his squad was so far off the international pace despite its inconsistent run in the World Cup, where it lost twice in six days to Pakistan and India after going 34 straight World Cup matches unbeaten.
"It's a bit premature to say it was the end of an era for Australian cricket, it was a pretty good game," Ponting said. "I didn't think we were far away from winning a game against a very good Indian team on their home soil.
"I thought we were very competitive. We've lost our last two games in the World Cup, I'm disappointed with that. I thought we were a better team than we probably showed ... I think it's a bit too early to say it's the end of an era."
Chief selector Andrew Hilditch is reportedly in the firing line after some unsettled selections over the last two summers, when spin bowlers have been shuffled in and out of the team in a constant search for the next Shane Warne.
The selectors have tried and dispensed with too many slow bowlers in the last four years, with Jason Krezja a late selection for the World Cup after injuries elsewhere - he hadn't played a one-day international until this year and was thrown into the hot seat in the subcontinent, where batsmen are accustomed to playing higher-quality slow bowlers.
The rest of the bowling attack is in disarray, with none of the paceman consistently ... consistent.
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