That's certainly true in the case of Pakistan. They expect to lose to Australia. Even when they're in a winning position, they have a mental fear that it will all slip away. Combine that with Australia's "never say die" attitude, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
*sigh*
Think his habit of being a loose cannon in the change rooms and on the field on occasion might have also had something to do with it. They still talked about him in the Devon area, apparently he almost had a fight with the captain of his team and said a couple of things to umpires that wouldn't have gone down well.
It's also cheap to play and the weather allows us to play non-stop for the whole year in most cases.
Think his, er, youthful excesses broadly still fall into the stereotypical Aussie will to win tho. Probably stepped over the line more than most, but doubt there's many choirboys in your average Australian international side.
This has come up before and for a long time it was what I thought too. But in speaking to Aussies about it (including one who married into the family), and spending some time over there, I don't think so. They have an unusual culture - not a care in the world about what's happening elsewhere; their standing in global affairs; and absolutely no outward desire to change that. They just seem to be perfectly happy where they are. When you try to jibe them with something about them being "insignificant on a global scale" in terms of their politics and economy, they don't take it as an insult. It doesn't mean anything to them.
