Cricket World Cup - More Glory for Australia?

In Australia this year they have been celebrating the 40^th anniversary of the 1^st ever one day international. A rather hastily cobbled together game between the Ashes enemies was organised in order to satisfy spectators when the majority of the MCG test that year had been washed out. Australia won that match by 5 wickets and henceforth set the trend for the next 40 years where, once the dominance of the 70 and 80’s West Indian teams had been seen off, they went on to secure a finals birth in 5 out of the last 6 World Cup tournaments and have actually won the last three on the bounce.

Now, as the cricket-world has witnessed, the crown on Australia’s cricketing dominance has slipped recently culminating in their loss in the T20 World Cup Final and their humiliation in the recent Ashes series where they lost 3 home tests by greater than an innings. The Aussie public expect, because Channel 9 tells them to,  that Australia should and will dominate all variations of the game and now  like an ageing prize fighter who has lost his heaviest and lightest belts, it will manfully try and fight back off the ropes and land one final knockout punch in order to hang on to the One-Day trophy.  But does it have the firepower?

Since the loss of the vast majority of the champion team of the 90’s and noughties they are left with the battle-weary and tactically challenged captain, Ricky Ponting, and the Bingle-weary and tactically challenged vice-captain, Michael Clarke. Both of whom are woefully out of form and fatigued from endless advertising shoots.  To add to the fragile batting line up they have a an average wicket keeper (who can bat a bit), a wide-machine (who can bat a bit), no credible spinner, a 3-in1 average bowler, opening bat, and fielder coupled with some also rans who wouldn’t have been fit to pour, yet alone carry, the drinks for Messrs Waugh, McGrath, Warne and co.

To their credit they won the recent beer match / world cup warm-up series 6-1 against England but I really do not believe anyone took much stock from that other than the great spruiker of Aussie cricket, the heavily ratings biased  Channel 9, who have immediately installed them as 2nd favorites behind the host nation, India. They have then gone and followed this apparent turnaround in form with another heavy defeat following an Ashes style batting collapse against India in a warm-up game.

So Australia has no chance?.......don’t you Adam and Eve it. They will of course go on and win the World Cup for the following reasons:

1.       Ponting and Clarke must find form soon (mustn’t they)

2.       Every now and then Mitchell will get one in-line with the stumps and take a wicket

3.       They probably have more players with IPL experience than any other country, and

4.       Jason Krezja once took a lot of wickets in a test there.....(help! I’m running out of reasons)

But the main reason Australia will win is that they simply HAVE to. T20 cricket is there for the ADD generation, Test matches are there for the purists and the good old-fashioned 50 over match is lagging in a poor third place. The country that first brought us this exciting version of the game, brought us pyjama cricket, Bill Lawry commentary snippets, the worm and Tony Grieg’s keys, will secure the trophy and return triumphant to a no-doubt ticker tape parade and the Ashes will seem like a bad distant memory. This must occur for the survival of the 50 over game as we know it.

C’mon Aussie!!

PS. If Australia don’t win it....my tip is the Kiwis, in a valiant attempt to reduce the enormous national pressure from the All-Blacks later in the year they will step in and beat the Windies in the final.

Aussie captain and vice-captain showing off their Logie medals for services to TV advertising.