No end to Aussie world domination

By Anik Basu
There was no stopping Ricky Ponting and Co in 2007, unless you count a minor setback in the Twenty20 extravaganza. It’s getting to the stage where no-one can give them a game.

‘How the Australians fooled us during the World Cup. We were well and truly hustled. I can almost hear the theme tune from ‘The Sting’ playing in the background’
There is an old saying in the UK that a year is a long time in politics. Well, there is also a lesser known saying that 13 years in an eternity in cricket, and that is how long now Australia have dominated the game, with 2007 being yet another year notched up as world leaders.
But the Aussies have not had it all their own way, as they failed to secure the ICC Twenty20 Championship to add to their bulging trophy cabinet.

The New Year dawned in familiar fashion for the cricket fan, an Australian victory. Many Barmy Army fans, having planned for a trip of a lifetime, found themselves arriving in Sydney with the Ashes already gone, only pride to play for, and a dispirited side that became victims of only the second ever 5-0 Ashes whitewash. Somehow, this band of (un)likely lads conspired to win the Commonwealth Bank one-day trophy, and there was hope for an open, competitive World Cup as New Zealand pulled off a magnificent 3-0 series win in the Chappell-Hadlee series.

It seems crazy now to think that many pundits and fans, with childlike naivity, predicted an open and competitive World Cup, the first in over a decade. Oh, how the Australians fooled us, we were well and truly hustled. I can almost hear the theme tune from ‘The Sting’ playing in the background. Which is more than I could hear from the desperately sad and unpopulated stands of the Caribbean, but that’s another (well-documented) story altogether.
The metaphor ‘steamrollered’ comes to mind when thinking back to how the Aussies dealt with all opposition, South Africa being mercilessly dispatched on two occasions. Only the farcical ending to proceedings in Barbadian gloom took the gloss of what was a truly outstanding display from a team of dedicated professionals.

The Twenty20 tournament reignited interest in the one-day game that had been all but sapped out of the cricket lover by the too long, too bureaucratic, and too one-sided World Cup in the Caribbean. It was fun, exciting, and included close games and some high-class cricket, even the most hardened dissenter of the shortened game (and I include myself) must have been impressed. Oh, and Australia lost three games. They may have arrived expecting to walk off with the trophy, but their rustiness and poor preparation showed as they failed to complete a clean sweep of the one-day titles.

For the neutral another side winning was just what the game needed, but Australians do not like losing, and they headed to India with scores to settle and points to prove. Another dominating one-day series triumph followed before they headed home to play a Test match for the first time in 10 months.

Sure enough Sri Lanka were demolished, there was no way the Aussies were going to allow Muttiah Muralitharan break Shane Warne’s record on their turf and their winning streak was extended to 14 Tests in a row. And you can be sure Ricky Ponting will be fired up to break Steve Waugh’s 16-in-a row- streak.

The year has come to an end with Australia showing no letting up and there seems no end to their winning run. Cricket fans the world over are in a dilemma, on the one hand Australia’s brilliance should be celebrated, on the other there is despair at other teams’ inability to compete with them.

As we head to 2008 and a packed international schedule, enough is enough. Instead of moaning about how uncompetitive the game is, other countries need to ‘step up to the plate’ (copyright Barry Richards) and aspire to the excellence and competitiveness of the Australian team.