Era of the unsure

Australia is now on the frontier, the edge of the precipice. After this one day series is over, there will no longer be an Adam Gilchrist, no Brad Hogg, and no Jason Gillespie. They will join vanished stars Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Justin Langer and Damian Martyn in retirement.

Matthew Hayden, despite his renewed zest for the game, is 37 this year, and Australia’s number one spinner Stuart MacGill is 38, nursing several injuries and no longer has the strike power he used to.

This is the going to be the most difficult period in Australian cricket since after 1983, when Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee, and Rod Marsh all threw in the towel in the same match. It took Australia years to get over that, along with rebel tours to South Africa that further sapped Australia’s strength during that time.

But eventually Australia’s strong domestic scene prevailed and under Allan Border, and then, most notably, under Mark Taylor, Australia emerged as the strongest team in the world, a dominance carried on by captains Waugh and Ponting.

Now though the team is at the crossroads. Losing McGrath and Warne were monumental losses, as they were the finest at their craft during the modern era. Australia suddenly does not have the five backups the team could usually call upon to fill in with ease.

During this summer, India exposed Australia’s weaker bowling attack with several good performances. They made a mockery of hard working Brad Hogg, and were often severe on newcomer Mitchell Johnson.

Their bowling attack has improved out of sight too. After a long period in which a lot of ordinary Indian quicks were bowling, they have suddenly discovered a rash of talented and sharp fast bowlers with immense potential such as R.P Singh, Praveen Kumar, and the man who could become greater than Kapil Dev, Ishant Sharma.

Australia’s batting lineup is still strong, but boasts few players still in their 20’s. In the test line up there is only one, Michael Clarke. Gilchrist’s likely replacement, Brad Haddin, has just turned 30. Mitchell Johnson is the only other player under 30 in the team.

The Indian one day team is extremely youthful, with plenty of young and talented players in the ranks. What will be India’s great challenge in the next 5 years will be when they have to replace Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid and Laxman, players that only pop up once in a lifetime.

There is good talent in the Australian scene. Dave Hussey and Brad Hodge are scoring plenty of runs, but both are on the wrong side of 30. Cameron White, Victoria’s skipper and improving batsman, is getting better and has real captaincy credentials (As opposed to Michael Clarke, who has very little)

NSW has just unearthed opener Phil Hughes, who is looking the goods with six half centuries in 9 innings. Shane Watson is still hovering around and WA’s has plenty of depth with Chris Rogers, Marcus North, Adam Voges, Shaun Marsh and Luke Pomersbach.

The bowling is currently viewed as the problem, but there is still the erratic Shaun Tait, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ashley Noffke, Doug Bollinger and the raw Mark Cameron. All of the quicks have potential.

The major worry is spin. Finding a replacement to Shane Warne was always going to be a hard task, and the fact is that the spin cupboard is pretty empty. Dan Cullen and Cullen Bailey, the South Australians, are both struggling for wickets and game time.

Nathan Hauritz and Beau Casson are struggling against each other for a NSW spot when MacGil can’t play. Victoria has 35 year old Bryce McGain, whilst Dan Doran’s career is sliding backwards fast. WA currently has the best spin prospect in my books, with tall orthodox spinner Aaron Heal.

The next five years will be one of transition for Australia, when their dominance wanes as a new generation emerges. Australian should expect Australia to still be competitive, but they should be patient as Australia rebuilds itself in order to remain as the world’s best cricket team.