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Sorry for the above. The headline, I mean. Could not help it.
I'm pretty sure it's been used somewhere else in the last week,
but we might as well trot it out, one last time. For it is clear:
gathering the best players on the planet to play Australia has
been good for one person and one person alone - the headline writer.
And Australia, no doubt. Its victory over the World XI in the
one-day series - completed with a third successive victory in
Melbourne on Sunday night - has confirmed that all is not lost
in Australian cricket, as many (including this writer) predicted
after the Ashes holocaust. The World fronted the Telstra Dome
featuring a Milky Way of stars but with only two or three of them
shining, and not brightly enough to overcome a wounded Australian
team. In hindsight, the Ashes defeat may have killed this series,
including the six-day Test match which starts in Sydney on Friday.
Australia is fired up like never before; the World thought crushing
a once were warrior on its knees would be oh so easy. The warrior
won; the world was crushed like a paper cup.
But there is inherent danger for Australia in this small victory,
one that will only be enhanced if the World crumbles again in
Sydney against a side containing Shane Warne and SCG specialist
Stuart MacGill. The three one-day matches provided an insight
into the future, and Australia's selectors should act rather than
just jot down some notes. Mike Hussey scored a match-saving-and-winning
75 on Sunday night. At 30, he has been knocking on the door of
Test selection louder than Warne may have been knocking on the
door of his separated wife since returning from England. Many
were calling for his selection in England when the Ashes were
slipping away. His belated chance must come sooner than later.
So should Shane Watson. The jury has been out on this fella longer
than the one in Twelve Angry Men. Still is. He's played
just one Test, and while some would suggest its still not time
to put him in the nation's whites - or give Andrew Symonds ago
- it's clear that he is the all-rounder the Test side has been
craving, or least need to punt on. He was bowling at newfound
pace during the last three one-dayers. He is suddenly more than
a buff blonde packing heat in his biceps but not enough in his
heart. He gets his chance in Sydney and must get more opportunities
from then on. Shane Watson's time starts now.
Ricky Ponting said after the victory on Sunday night: "All
through the week, it has been a big statement from us. I have
always said that if we can focus on things we can do, we can compete
with any team in the world." Or the best team in the world.
The result echoed around the cricketing planet that Australia's
days are not numbered. And they'll only get better in the Test
arena when Warne joins the boys. But beware: three one-day victories
against a lack lustre opponent does not maketh a comeback.
The hard work - and decisions - remain.
What d'ya reckon?
Click your way to our Comebacks
page and tell us.
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