Dark clouds gather over Australian cricket

Well, no sooner had we started thinking about what to do with all of that left over turkey (turkey curry at our house with 4 finely chopped home ground chillies in the men's portion) did normal service resume. Australia were bowled out for a pitiful 98 and England are firmly in control at 0/157.

England bowled tightly and built pressure but we were woeful in both our commitment and our shot selection. Philip Hughes again looked lost at this level and needs to go. Whilst I still believe in investing in Steven Smith, we need to take a little bit more care of him than throwing him to the wolves at number 6 in a crucial Ashes Test. He is not a number 6 right now, may never be, and if we want him to be winning games for us in a few years then we need to make sure we haven't crushed his confidence before that day comes.

Ponting is fast becoming a worry of monumental proportions. Remember, the end comes very quickly at this level. When people lose than one or two percent that is needed to perform well for a long period of time at Test level, it is incredibly hard to find anything like your best ever again. Ricky is 36 now, we have to accept that he isn't going to be able to win match after match for us ever again. We might need to consider moving on from the man with wig envy. Either he needs to give up the captaincy or the number 3 spot or both but you can't lose three Ashes series, average 30 or so for 12 months and expect to just carry on like nothing has changed. You wouldn't in any other line of work, you shouldn't in big time cricket either.

But who to give up the captaincy to? Judging by this cricinfo article, not Michael Clarke who is the quintessential metro girlyman with no opinion other than those drummed into him by media training.

"What can you do?", opined team motivator in waiting, Clarke. I can see the team lining up to do his bidding now.

"We had to work hard and be disciplined with our shot selection, we had to leave the ball well and stick to our plans" followed on Michael.

Really, he could have just said "Batted sh*t, needed to do better". This bloody "stick to our plans" garbage has to stop. It is the refuge for kids that stopped going to school at 13 to concentrate on professional sport, never formed thoughts of their own and feel smart by sprouting a bit of physcobabble they learnt at the University of Cricket Academy. Again, "batted sh*t" just feels more honest and basically says the same thing anyway.

Mike doesn't stop there of course, he has loads more to give such as:

"We weren't at our best today"

Umm, thanks Mikey, I feel much more optimistic about the future. Of course he takes full responsibility by making clear that:

"We certainly have no excuses", before in the very next sentence going through the excuse for our demise: the pitch

"As we've seen, when the sun came out, it's a really nice wicket to bat on"

Arh yes, the England batting had nothing to do with their precise shot selection, sensible batting, good form and relatively poor bowling by us, it was all the pitch; only the first 3 hours of the same pitch of course, as soon as it got 5 minutes of sun on it, it went from minefield to road. Just a bit of bad luck I guess Michael.

Border would have said: "I am sick of being the only bloke trying. Either they perform in the next innings or they are all out"

Taylor would have said: "Full credit to England, they outplayed us today. There are 4 days left and I would like to think we had a chance of making a comeback later in the match"

Steve Waugh would have said: "Terrible display. We will bowl them out quickly in the morning, set them a target and have a go at them on the last day"

In his audition for leader of Australian sport, Clarke trotted out some memorised clichés and offered some limp excuses about the pitch.

As for England, well Perth was a blip and they again showed us that they are far more disciplined and much better lead and prepared than us. They are probably just better than us at the moment as well.

Michael Clarke rushed off the ground once dismissed to re-read his Cricket Australia book of meaningless clichés

As I let the full impact of the day settle in with me, I started to remember some of the gutsy stuff of Australian cricketers of the past.

I think of Alan Border and Bob Simpson dragging us back from embarrassment by the scruff of the neck, never wavering in their commitment despite the setbacks.

I remember Mark Taylor standing in quiet dignity as Richie Richardson said that the team that had just beaten the West Indies at home, and become probably the best team in the world, in 1995 was the "worst Australian team" he had ever played against in the presentation formalities of the 4th and last Test in the series, and then giving a positive, pleasant victor's speech anyway. I think of Tubby declaring with his personal score on 334 not out, even with, at the time, the best Test score ever by an Australian, to push for the victory for the team.

I still can see Merv Hughes wiping tears out of his eyes after being hit literally everywhere by the West Indies quick bowlers in 1988 / 89, but never taking a backward step, never giving his wicket away easily on his way to 72.

And, despite his issues with autograph giving, I can remember Steve Waugh scampering a 150th run, about 10 days after he tore his calf and then had physio 24 hours a day to be fit. I see Steve smashing a last ball of the day boundary to bring up his hundred, never for once doubting that he would finish the day with a ton.

I cast my mind back to dozens of world class international players who were born Australian at the wrong time, but never gave up their dream of playing for their country and who continued to churn out the results at first class level, year after year, often long past the time when they were going to finally, finally be given a baggy green. They kept going anyway, just in case.

I recall Rick McCosker batting with a broken jaw in Centenary Test and hooking bouncers from Bob Willis.

I remember Thommo and Border taking us to within a whisker of a famous victory against England, never once ceasing to strive for the win. I remember Brett Lee and Warnie, and then Michael Kasprowicz, doing the same in 2005.

I think of Dean Jones stroking his way to a double century in India, being pushed by Allan Border to keep going so hard that he lost control of his bladder and bowels, vomited many times and ended up in hospital on a life saving drip. He was never physically the same again after that and he did it because he had pride in his team, cared about his personal performance and because his captain told him to.

And then I think of the dedication shown today. 98 all out against some good, controlled bowling by England but certainly nothing unplayable. Some of these people don't deserve the cap. They are over-rated, pampered, metro girlymen who are more interested in image than application. We are a people who are proud of their physicality and of their ability to overcome. We love being the little engine that could. We care less about how well one does, than how hard one tries when doing it.

Today the Australian cricket team failed both at the outcome and at the trying hard. It is not so much the 98 but the weakness of the way in which we got there. They dishonour those that have come before them and those that will replace them. Where to next is tomorrow's riddle. Tonight's is simply how to salvage a tiny bit of dignity from the next 4 days.

As he was dismissed, the boy that looked sad simply looked at a loss; Elmer Fudd like, some would say. It might be time to exit with a little grace while there is still time Ricky