It seems a bit odd, this ICC Super Series. The Artist Formerly Known
as Australia up against a conglomerate of the world's best players.
Australia losing the Ashes to England makes you wonder if the ICC
had wondered if they should cancel the whole shebang and wait for
the real superpower in world cricket to come to the fore, whether
that be England, Australia, India or Bangladesh.
Ha! Like the ICC would cough up any opportunity for a quid. Besides,
there are more sub-plots to these one-dayers and Tests than what
happens behind the scenes on Australian Idol. Tres
exciting.Tres.
These Australian cricketers must be buggered, but if they can dominate
these matches against the demigods of world cricket who have been
summoned from all corners of the planet, our and everyone's belief
of their supreme standing in the game will be restored. They might
be out on their feet after such a gruelling Ashes sortie, but if
they can lift and conquer this team, not all but a lot will be forgotten.
It mightn't be the bleak end that everyone has predicted. When good
sides go bad, they go very bad, very quickly. Remember the Windies:
panthers one minute, pussycats the next. We will know soon enough
if Australia is indeed rabble. Windies masterblaster Brian Lara
says Australia will be bearing scars from the Ashes series. Australian
captain Ricky Ponting says the only scar he is sporting is from
a Steve Harmison delivery in the First Test.
It's also a perfect opportunity to blood new talents and fire up
old ones. Tasmanian all-rounder Shane Watson declared in the rags
on Monday that he reckons he can be just as good as Andrew Flintoff.
Given his deeds on the international stage so far, it would appear
to be the most outlandish statement since, well, the Australian
cricket team declared they'd win the Ashes series 5-zip. But at
least Watson is <i>talking</i> like he's pumped, and
that cannot be said of the ethic in England, not of all the players.
Commonsense has prevailed, too. Ned Flanders ... sorry, coach John
Buchanan, has recalled fielding coach Mike Young. There was plenty
of criticism from outside - and reportedly inside - the team about
Buchanan moving away from the basics of cricket and concentrating
on team bonding in England. Hopefully instead of asking his players
"If you were a tree, what sort of tree would be?" like
questions, there will be a call of "Sorry, boys, we're going
to throw down that stump from 20 metres for another hour".
Bit of elbow grease, that sort of stuff. Whatever it is that coaches
do. Anyway, something different to England, where nothing seemed
to work.
So, yes, it does feel a bit strange. A World XI playing a recently
defeated best team in the world. And while it might be easy to dismiss
this series as tres gimmicky, there is more to be gained
for Australia and it's fans out of it. Besides, it rests neatly
between the end of the footy and the start of the summer. Unfortunately
they don't race every day of the spring carnival.
What d'ya reckon?
Click your way to our Comebacks
page and tell us.
