One Day International Betting: The Aussies are back

Bat and ball / Andrew Hughes / 09 February 2010 / Leave a Comment

Ricky Ponting has been superb in turning inexperienced players into soid international players

"Last summer, England thought they could turn over an Australian team demoralised by Ashes defeat and full of hastily promoted rookies and fringe players. They were wrong."

After a decade or so of world domination, everyone was ready for the decline of Australian cricket. Yet three years on from the retirements of Warne and McGrath, Ricky Ponting's team are still top of the one day rankings. Andrew Hughes asks why the Aussies just won't lie down.

It's official. Australia's cricketing recession is over. It had been much trailed, ever since the mass retirements of 2006-07. For a couple of years, the rest of the cricket world gleefully marked their gradual slide from greatness until last year, a string of defeats resulted in Ricky Ponting's men being deposed from the top of the one day tree, a position they had held, aside from one month in 2007, since the inception of the ICC rankings back in 2002.

Injuries to Brett Lee and Stuart Clark, the protracted career suicide of Andrew Symonds and the retirement of Matthew Hayden had apparently pushed the Aussies over the edge. Forced to make wholesale changes, they floundered, losing a couple of one day series to their nearest rivals, South Africa, either side of a scrappy drawn series with New Zealand. Between January and April 2009, they played fourteen one day internationals and lost nine of them. They seemed to be in full scale decline.

And yet, at the time of writing, they have won ten one-day internationals on the trot and twenty-four of their last thirty-one. They have won series in Dubai, England and India, retained the Champions Trophy, whitewashed Pakistan over five games and currently hold a 2-0 lead over the West Indies, with three to play. And since the end of September, they have once again been sitting proudly at the top of the ICC one day rankings. This wasn't supposed to happen.

But critics who wrote off the Aussies overlooked something fundamental. Australian domestic cricket remains the strongest in the world. It turns out tough, competitive sportsmen who, even when they are of modest technical ability, do not wilt under the pressure of the international arena and so are able to make the most of their opportunities. In forty-six one day internationals since January 2009, they have employed thirty-one players. None have let themselves down.

Last summer, England thought they could turn over an Australian team demoralised by Ashes defeat and full of hastily promoted rookies and fringe players. They were wrong. Instead, the likes of Tim Paine, Callum Ferguson and James Hopes had no problem disposing of the home side. Their cricket wasn't always pretty, but it was effective and it showed that this Australian team had an admirable ability to absorb new players without weakening team spirit.

Constant touring has helped these players to bond. But we also have to give a lot of credit to their captain. Ricky Ponting is often derided as a leader, not least in his home country. But shepherding a bunch of rookies and squad players back to the top of the one day tree and ensuring that the post 2006 transition did not become a decline is an achievement to be proud of. He has changed his captaincy style, particularly behind the scenes, has taken a much more hands-on approach to every aspect of his team's preparation and as a result, has shaped a team in his own image: tough, uncompromising, team orientated and continually striving for improvement.

And it is only a matter of time before their resurgence in one day cricket is also felt in the Test arena. They slipped to third in the Test rankings after their Ashes defeat, but have had few opportunities to turn that around. Those that they have had, they have taken, in disposing of Pakistan and West Indies without losing a game. It may take a touch longer for them to re-establish themselves in the five day game, but they are only going to get better and England will find their 2010-11 Ashes tour a tough proposition. You won't be surprised to find that the Aussies are as short as [1.56] to regain the little brown urn at the first time of asking.

Meanwhile, Ponting's men are likely to continue their steamrollering of a feeble West Indian outfit in the third one day international in Sydney on Friday. The tourists are as long as [4.7] to win the match, with Australia [1.25] to take an unassailable 3-0 lead.