Australia v India: Aussies must man up or suffer home defeat

Australia Cricket / Frank Gregan / 19 December 2011 /

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Dhoni and Warner are set to square up again on Boxing Day

"The Australians are back in Test action again with the Boxing Day Test against India. Australia are [2.26] to prevail in the series with India at [3.25] and the draw at [3.9]. There's two conflicting trains of thought: 1). India are a superb side and are overpriced. 2). India were so pitiful against England in England that the [34.0] available on Australia to whitewash MS Dhoni's men should be snapped up. "

David Warner was awarded the Man of the Match award despite Australia losing to New Zealand last time out, leading Frank Gregan to suggest some changes to the MOM voting process, before looking at the forthcoming Australia v India Test series

Asking an Australian cricket supporter to be objective is a bit like asking the kids to shut up about Santa. Cricket Australia's decision therefore to allow the viewing public decide the Man of the Match award during the recent Test series against New Zealand was never going to work.

After New Zealand's thrilling victory (their first in 26 years on Australian soil) during the second Test of the series, the Man of the Match award went to... yep you've guessed it - an Aussie! New Zealand's Dougie Bracewell finished with nine wickets for a measly 60 runs and demolished the Australian middle order in the second innings taking three wickets in nine balls to set up his team's victory but that wasn't enough to impress the Australian public.

He could have rescued kids from a burning house during a drinks break, found a cure for cancer during the tea interval and taken all ten wickets in the second innings without conceding a run and it still wouldn't have been enough. An Aussie will always be man of the match when Australians are the ones casting the votes.

The guy named man of the match, Aussie David Warner, made an unbeaten 123 for the hosts and only failed to get his team over the winning line because of the failures of those around him but the margin of victory during the MOM polling (Warner got more than twice as many votes as Bracewell) highlighted that an overseas player has no chance of winning over a parochial audience.

A system where only one set of supporters is asked to choose the MOM is never going to work and despite all the ribbing the Aussies get about how one-eyed they are it would be the same all over the world. That's because the majority of supporters are passionate about those they like and prejudiced against those that they don't.

Can you seriously imagine the English voting for Ricky Ponting in overwhelming numbers or the Pakistani fans picking up the phone to vote for their favourite Indian player? It's just not going to happen so a different transparent system needs to be found. Not the one where one of the TV talking heads gets to play God, we need one where the viewing public knows what's going on and how the decision has been arrived at.

Cricket Australia have distanced themselves from the Warner verdict, stating that the procedure was just a trial and that they will be returning to a TV pundit picking the MOM for their next home series. That's a bit sad, having identified that the selection process needs to be a bit sexier and carry more weight than just one pundit's opinion they should continue trialling methods until they come up with a winner.

How about this? At the presentation ceremony at the end of the match, the skippers of each side could be asked to nominate the man of the match from the opposition giving a couple of reasons why they went for the guy. That would just about guarantee that the right two men get in the frame because the players know who has performed above and beyond and which player has hurt them the most. The match referee then picks one of the two nominees, simple and effective and invariably the right man will get the nod. There's a hundred variations on the theme but it shouldn't be too hard to come up with a better system than the one in place at the moment.

The Australians are back in Test action again with the Boxing Day Test against India. Australia are [2.26] to prevail in the series with India at [3.25] and the draw at [3.9]. There's two conflicting trains of thought: 1). India are a superb side and are overpriced. 2). India were so pitiful against England in England that the [34.0] available on Australia to whitewash MS Dhoni's men should be snapped up.

A logical correlation is that the team that gains the most man of the match awards should win the series - as long as it's not a public vote!

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