Unable to Finish Matches - Signs of Struggling Teams

By Sreelata S. Yellamrazu

          That seems to be the most logical conclusion to draw after witnessing Sri Lanka overcome Australia in the first ODI at the MCG and after witnessing England pull off draws twice against South Africa in Test cricket last year.

          

             What Angelo Matthews and Lasith Malinga pulled off thereafter was simply out of the blue. The century run stand saw struggle, defiance, dalliance and glory all because two men decided to defy the odds. In so doing, they threw Australia completely off their game plan, particularly when Xavier Doherty was the sole performer in terms of picking wickets despite making his debut.

        It brought reminiscences back when England fashioned a draw out of nothing in the first Test of the Ashes 2009 and then went on to accomplish the incredible feat again against South Africa. It marked a pivotal time in South Africa’s rise because the series against England dented their progress in many ways as an indicator that their rise through ideas had hit a plateau. Until that point, South Africa were inching their way forward, beating Australia in Australia for the first time but unable to sustain that intensity in the midst of euphoria in the home series. By the England came around, the stagnancy seemed written all over South Africa who failed to illicit or fashion a win that would keep up their chances of retaining the no.1 Test team tag.

        With South Africa’s monotony of results coinciding with India’s sharp rise, it became too much of an affair for South Africa to stop India in India from running away with the maze. But it also highlighted the deep seated problems that were beginning to surface within South Africa as they failed to win a major ICC tournament and could not hold onto the momentum when it mattered most in Test cricket. the series against the West Indies was a colossal waste from the perspective that West Indies, in their present state, was not what South Africa needed to reengage their ambitions.

        With Australia looking lost for ideas, it appears they are in a similar boat as far as ideas are concerned. While Australia’s slide has been largely attributed to the change in personnel that saw the world beating team now converted into a team of largely inexperienced hands, there are also chinks within their armoury that are beginning to surface. The bull minded attitude and intimidating body language have been replaced by timid caving in and fear, not seen before in the eyes of the Australians in the past two decades.

        Their problems may not seem that deep given that the matches may have been close but in both, Australia and South Africa, the situations where they are unable to sustain the positive momentum and initiative is an indication that a mental overhaul is in order. That, for South Africa at least, is most pivotal because while the talent in the team is getting progressively impressive with each passing personnel, their results as a collective unit seem to have a soft vulnerability about them that was not evident even when South Africa were looking for solitary wins under Kepler Wessels’ regime.

For all practical purposes, the match seemed all but over by the twentieth over of the Sri Lankan innings in the first ODI of the Sri Lanka Australia series at the MCG. Once again the bells were tolling for the one day game, whose position has been on shaky ground since Cricket Australia decided to make some rather radical changes to the existing format while also, shaking up the house with their own version of an evolving Twenty20 tournament.