Rough ride for Australia

Australia has a nasty schedule coming up, one that will test the stretched and redeveloping Australian side.

First off is India in India. Usually a tough tour for any team, the previous series in Australia left a lot of bad blood between both teams and fans that some still haven’t forgotten. India is in a tough patch at the moment having escaped with a drawn series against South Africa and then being defeated by Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.

The promise of Australia seems to bring out the best in India, who have had a recent history of providing entertaining and hard fought series against the world number one side. Tendulkar looked like a shadow of his former self prior to the 07-08 series, but he seemed to thrive on the competitiveness and the fact it was probably his final tour to Australia, scoring two centuries.

VVS Laxman is another who loves Australia, having scored perhaps the most legendary of all Indian centuries when he knocked up 281 in THAT test at Kolkata in 2001. Laxman is one of those rarities, a player that goes mad when he sees a baggy green cap and plays better. His record against Australia is vastly superior to that of other cohorts Dravid and Ganguly.

India’s bowling is an anomaly ahead of the series. Suddenly blessed with several gifted seamers, India’s decision is who will they play? Zaheer has led the pack well, but does not have a great record against Australia. Ishant Sharma is the best fast bowling talent to emerge from India since Kapil Dev, after that is guess work.

The spin department is a worry. Harbajan was ineffective against in their previous clash and Kumble is showing obvious signs of wear, tear, and 616 test wickets. Whether India chooses to play a different spinner or three quicks is a puzzle they will have to sound out.

Australia are facing their own problems ahead or their clash, with no obvious spinner and injury troubles to prolific opener (Especially against India) Matthew Hayden.

Australia’s fast bowling stocks are still in good shape (Lee, Clark and Johnson, backed by Doug Bollinger, Ashley Noffke, Pete Siddle, Shaun Tait and Ben Hilfenhaus), but their middle order is uncertain, with Brad Haddin yet to be tested at number 7 and doubt lingering over Andrew Symonds.

Following that tour, Australia faces a home and away challenge against the surging South African side, which are dying to knock off their greatest foes.

South Africa have failed to threaten Australia since readmission and despite having some impressive playing personnel, they haven’t been able to get over the ‘aura of invincibility’ that Australia used to have.

That aura has faded, but the Australian team still boasts a side on paper that is vastly superior to South Africa. South Africa has two young and promising strike bowlers in Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, but Makhaya
Ntini is fading and Paul Harris is about to find out what happens to spin bowlers in Australia.

South Africa’s batting line up has talent, but is enigmatic. Smith and Kallis, their superstars, have failed to deliver on their ability, and the middle order was occasionally exposed as fragile during their test series with England.

Nevertheless, Australia is in for a long road, and need to fight to the bets of their ability if they wish to remain the number one side in the world.

The Bradman enigma

Following the man’s centenary last week, I saw a plethora of Bradman articles thrown around talking about his legendary status and iconic role within cricket. I’ve decided to throw my two cents in and look at both man and player.

It is extraordinarily hard to dismiss a man who has averaged 99.94 in a 52 test career span, with 29 centuries and 13 half centuries and a high score of 334, which was at its time a world record. He was leagues ahead of his nearest rivals of batting, which were at the time Wally Hammond and Herbert Sutcliffe of England, and George Headley of the West Indies. Headley and Sutcliffe average 60 and Hammond averaged 58, although that averaged suffered after World War II.

He also played in an era of uncovered pitches in which batting could be made difficult when weather permitted, such as the creation of a ‘sticky dog’ which led to balls shooting erratically off the surface. It has been a wide source of debate as whether Bradman often batted on these styles of wickets (In the home series of 1936-37, he famously reversed the order on a drying pitch at Melbourne, and his 270 changed the series).

The majority of his tests were against England, he played against South Africa, the West Indies and India once in his career and none of those tours were overseas, which is vastly different to the current crop of players that play in a variety of conditions and countries. No bowling strategy as provocative as ‘Bodyline’ has been devised for any other batsman, and even then Bradman averaged 56.57.

Bradman the man was vastly different from the cricketer idolised as an Australian hero during the Depression era. He was regarded knowledgeable but aloof, a shrewd businessman but ham-fisted with money. He was a practising mason and had a long history of grievances with Catholics Bill O’Reilly, Jack Fingleton, ‘Chuck’ Fleetwood-Smith, and Stan McCabe.

O’Reilly and Fingleton were probably his biggest foes. The trio never got on. Although they had immense respect for each other on the field, that was the end of it. The pair laughed the Don back to the pavilion on the occasion of his final test innings, when he was bowled second ball by Eric Hollies for a duck, and they constantly criticised each other over their roles in the team.

He has also been singled out by influential Australia skipper Ian Chappell as one of the prime reasons for World Series Cricket, claiming in a documentary that Bradman ‘treated board money as if it was his own money’ during a boom time for cricket in the 70’s. As an administrator, Bradman was wise but refused to budge on money. He was also regarded as somewhat old-fashioned.

Still, Bradman was regarded as the all-knowing doyen of Australian cricket and was often sought after for advice, made all the more harder in his later years when he became a recluse in his home in Adelaide. He always responded to letters with fond affection though, and was polite and helpful for young cricketers seeking advice, whether life or cricket related.

In terms of the greatest batsmen ever, what makes Bradman stand out is not just the fact that he was far ahead of his contemporaries, but he overwhelms all that follow him. It was a common trait to call an exciting young batsman in Australia ‘the new Bradman’ (Norm O’Neill and Doug Walters suffered this comparison) and it was often a kiss of death.

He is justifiably, in terms of figures, ability and influence, at the top of the batting tree in cricket, with his nearest rivals being Sachin Tendulkar (A man Bradman once considered similar to himself), Viv Richards, Brian Lara, and Wally Hammond.

There can be no other player quite like Sir Donald George Bradman.

Wayward Symonds at crossroads

‘I went down to the cross roads, fell down on my knees’ is the famous lyric thrown down by legendary bluesman Robert Johnson. It couldn’t be more apt than be used to describe the situation now facing Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds.

Symonds has a long and colourful history with the Australian cricket team, struggling to make his name known until he was picked, controversially at the time, for the 2003 World Cup. In the first game against Pakistan he hit 143 not out and it was his rebirth as a cricketer.

In 1999, he and teammate Matthew Hayden were put in serious danger when their boat capsized off Stradbroke Island in Queensland during a fishing trip. Both swam over an hour to safety in an area well noted for its shark population.

In 2005 he turned up to a one day match against Bangladesh still drunk from the previous night and was immediately suspended for two matches. Australia went on to famously lose the match against Bangladesh. His next appearance marked his best bowling return of 5/18 in their next encounter.

In 2006, he was almost involved in a fight at a South African nightclub with a player from the Central Cheetahs before Michael Clarke and giant prop Ollie le Roux diffused the situation. This current incident was, compared to the previous mentioned, a minor one, but it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Symonds had gone out fishing (A pastime he enthusiastically indulges in) early, unaware that a compulsory team meeting had been called. Upon returning, Symonds faced the leadership team and was told to head home to examine whether he still had his commitments in the right place.

Clarke, the current stand-in captain for Australia, said in an interview http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-AU&brand=ninemsn&vid=da93d52b-3b26-4f87-9b95-9369759fa9e6 that in was also attributed to several unnamed incidents leading up to the decision, which is intriguing considering the only the public know about were those broadcast in the media.

Symonds is an important member of the Australian team, one with a great deal of responsibility upon him. Perhaps he needs time away from the sport to evaluate whether his heart is still in the game. With an important tour of India looming, Australia may need his ability to win matches if they are to succeed.

Can he master himself in such a short time? Or will he just fall prey to the flaws in his character?