Australian cricket is a rudderless ship now. People comparing this team to the one which Allan Border inherited forget the fact that back then Allan was new, fresh and most importantly him and the guys around him had a vision, a vision which was shared and nurtured so brilliantly that it saw Australia dominate World cricket for the next two decades. There was a conscious effort to shed the vestiges of past, earmark a core of 5-6 and give them as much support as possible and thereby ensure a stable team developed around these guys.
However, at the moment, I can't see any such long term vision governing the thoughts of the men at the helm now. They have a captain who is fading quite rapidly, and a bunch of reluctant, insecure chaps around him. Australia really needs to go in for a massive overhaul if they indeed want to harbour thoughts of being at the top again. They need to start right at the top. Ponting must go as a captain. He has had his chances and has shown that without the services of the legends, he is no good as a leader. He can go back and concentrate on his batting, which I believe will be priceless if he manages to find a second wind. At the moment his plate is overflowing with rotten stuff.
aye. this is absolutely true. when you get past the "he should be picked" or "drop him" talk, its clear that there is no team vision, unity, strucutre or planning.
i dont think ive seen a more pitiful disharmonious (is that a word?) team.
7 insecure blokes in the 11, no vision, standing for nothing.
ponting , hildichh, neilsen seriously need to go. they are sorry visionless, stubborn expletives. ponting is a great batsman, but it takes far more than that to be a captain. he just does not have what it takes. hes not a leader of men, far from it.
any win they get in this series is purely a fluke, or a 'quick fix' type thing. its been looking this way for a couple of year, since probably the SA series in aus. no harmony in the team, it was only getting by on raw talents like jonson or great batsmanship by ponting.
for this team to be successful or on any type of path of long term success, neilsen ponting hildich n co need to GO.
a completely new selection panel and routine needs to be set up, where we try and pick the 6 best batsman, 4 best bowlers, and best keeper in the country, and go from there.
it would look something like this
phil hughes
opener/hussey (Would be beneficial if he could open, as no other opener is screaming out, and watto is a middle order)
ponting (for now he is still among the best)
watson
clarke
khawaja
haddin
okeefe
harris
jonson (if he fixes it)
-any quickie who starts performing regularly.
ponting cannot be captain. clarke or haddin captain.
when ponting goes, maybe bring whole lineup up and smith at 6? if he proves he can average 40.