| |
Regardless of the result of the six-day Super Test series between
Australia and the Rest of the World, the ICC should continue with
the concept. ICC boss Malcolm Speed is up to his old tricks, chiding
the World XI for the second time in less than a week, telling
them the future of the series depends on how they perform in this
mutha of all Test matches. Speed should take a Bex and take a
nap and assure everyone that the game is here to stay.
The reaction to the series has been mixed and hard to read. Some
cricket punters could not care less; others are salivating, probably
because they know it could be the best Test we receive this summer.
Some have lamented the poor performance of the World XI, probably
the same types who were questioning the validity of the series
after Australia lost the Ashes and were expected to be no show
against the best players from every corner of the globe. Some
of them should make up their bloody minds.
This might be proved entirely wrong by the time this space if
replaced with more text, but this Super Test has a certain mystique
about it. And that is something that international cricket was
truly lacking before the Ashes series to end all Ashes series.
The ICC needs to pencil in a one-day and Test match between the
best side in the world, as determined by rankings, against the
best players in the world, as determined by a panel of selectors.
Cricket has become the new black it's that popular. It's wallpaper
for the masses - "product", no less - and has so quickly
lost its relevance by virtue of the sheer number of times the
best players in the world don the pads and pick up the leather
that it ain't funny. Throwing something different in the mix,
effectively bringing together the best players on the planet,
cannot be a bad thing.
Speed needs to get up to his namesake. Piss-weak taunts in the
media during the one-day series and then again in the lead up
to this Super Test are not warranted. Maybe his organisation -
the custodians of the game - need to do its best to ensure it
survives, and assure those ambivalent World XI players - who admittedly
might have taken this concept a tad lightly - more incentive to
pull out everything they've got to win. Give them an assurance
that this concept will be around for years to come, a permanent
fixture on the calendar. It could be the fillip international
was looking for before the Ashes series. An upset result on the
soft decks in the Old Dart has not solved the game's ills.
Here's hoping it's a cracker. When you bring together the best
in the business, there's a massive chance that it will be.
What d'ya reckon?
Click your way to our Comebacks
page and tell us.
|
|
