australia

Will Australian cricket revive as the best team in all formats?

admin — Sun, 03 Jan 2021 10:08:04 +0000

The dominance of Australian cricket team lasted for almost twelve years until they were beaten by the Indian cricket team led by Dhoni in the World Cup semi-final. The fans remember the Australian team not only for their excellence in batting, bowling and fielding but also for their great leadership and management. It was not just their on-field performance but also their confidence off the field that helped the team to push the pressure towards the opponents. Their mind games tactics especially sledging was one of the mechanisms used to show their dominance in the game of cricket.

Things have changed a lot in cricket; the arrival of Twenty 20 changed the approach and temperament to play cricket. The Indian team has progressed a lot and moved up from there. The Indian Premier League played an important role to filter the best young talent of the country and were given the opportunity by the selectors to perform at international level. It also helped them to perform in pressure and in building a strong mindset to play multiple matches without getting tired.

Similarly, Australia has Big Bash League with a similar format as Indian Premier League. However, it hasn’t helped Australia to groom their youngsters to that extent as it did with India. The Indian team has a long list of options available to choose their openers, wicket keepers, middle-order etc. whereas Australia lacks the quality options with them. They are highly dependent on Steve Smith, David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne in batting.

The temperament of the Australians has also changed after the sandpaper gate. The competitiveness and the confidence that they demonstrated earlier has also been affected. Though in Test, the team still stays at number one position in the ICC ranking. There is a lot to improve in ODI and Twenty 20 formats.

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Review of The Test

admin — Sun, 15 Mar 2020 17:13:16 +0000

It’s a difficult period which we are trying to survive not just as a cricket fan but as a human being. The coronavirus scare has put our world into a halt. All meetings, matches, shows, movies everything has been cancelled and suspended for future. As a cricket fan though we are still left with The Test that was released on Amazon Prime Video at just the right moment. Being an Australian cricket team fan, this was a big treat for me on a Saturday when I couldn’t go out due to shut down of literally everything.

It comprises of eight episodes summarizing the journey of Australian cricket team from the Sandpaper cheating scandal to retaining the Ashes. Every cricket fan who has been curious to know more about the cricket players, their management, coaches and support staff beyond the game of cricket would love to watch this show and will fulfil their childhood fantasy. You will know the Australian team beyond the cricket ground. You will move on from hating Tim Paine for just being lucky of getting the captaincy without deserving it to respecting this lad who led the team at a crucial time when Australian cricket was in crisis with no great players by his side.

You have always admired Justin Langer as a player who was a part of the best cricket team of the history but you will start respecting him more knowing and understanding his journey as a coach of an inexperienced squad. By looking at their emotions, hard work and growth in the game would make you relate with each player of the Australian team!

This is an honest show that displayed both the victories and defeats of the Australian team equally. It was a bit strange to see not so aggressive and emotional Australian team but you would connect with them easily. They appreciated Kohli, Stokes and every good cricketer that made this show completely unbiased. It has everything, right from the feeling of patriotism to loving this game of cricket, from bromance and bonding between Zampa and Stoinis, Steve and Marnus to the concussion episode that shook every cricket fan. Whether it was the nightmare at Headingly when Stokes and Jack Leach final wicket partnership ruined the chance of Australia to win the Ashes to becoming better in the game, it kept me glued to the show! It is for every cricket fan who is emotionally connected to the game of cricket and not just a show only for Australian fan!

It shows the journey of Steve Smith from being called a cheater to being applauded by the same English audience! His mindset dealing with the abuses from the English spectators taught everyone that he is completely focused towards his game and there is nothing that can break his talent and hard work. David Warner was a bit vulnerable in the starting during his return to the squad but he managed to excel once he started believing in himself and stopped fearing.

The most important character in the whole series is of Justin Langer. From Handling a fearful, vulnerable squad to making them better at their game, this man was the best choice for Australian’s coach. He is the hero of the show; his anger, emotions, determination, hunger for a win, everything was so real about him and not like actors who imitate!

Watch it to celebrate cricket, to celebrate hard work and to celebrate the growth of Australian cricket.

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The Cricket World Cup 2003

admin — Sat, 21 Sep 2019 17:58:15 +0000

When my studies were becoming important, Cricket was becoming more important for me. There was no T20 format back then and I enjoyed watching ODI’s whole day along with solving maths problems.

The World Cup 2003 fell during my final examinations and since it was held in South Africa, the matches used to end during a late night in India. My parents allowed me to watch the matches only up to a limited time so that I could sleep on time and wake up on time to give my exams. The first thing that I used to do after waking up was to get the newspaper from the main gate of my house to see the match results. Sometimes I had to turn the newspaper pages directly to the Sports page to check the results. The craze of Cricket was at its peak during that time.

South Africa and Australian Cricket team were my favourite team by that time. I still remember the face of captain Shaun Pollock holding his head with his hand; that photo was on the front page of the newspaper that I saw just after waking up. I had my Hindi paper on that day and my mood was completely ruined when I came to know that my favourite team was out of the tournament. It was an unlucky result for the South African team especially because the team tied the match due to rain. There was a misunderstanding when the South African team misinterpreted the target. Instead of winning, they just managed to equal the total given by Duckworth-Lewis which they thought was the target! It broke my heart and started my journey of becoming the biggest fan of the Australian cricket team.

The World Cup 2003 story continues….

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Alex Carey – The number 7 batsmen for Australia

admin — Sun, 07 Jul 2019 18:11:46 +0000

When will Australia change Alex Carey’s batting order?

From the past four years, Australia’s batting has been hugely dependent on David Warner, Aaron Finch and Steve Smith. The top order has been a backbone of Australian batting while the middle order is known for their early collapse in matches. Nothing has changed with Australian batting in this World Cup except the presence of Alex Carey that made a big difference. This player has restored the faith in Australian batting after the dismissal of the top order. In this World Cup, the Australian score is being dependent on this man.

In his 8 innings so far, Carey has scored 329 runs with an average of 65.8. He has so far scored three half-centuries batting at number 7. You can imagine the number of overs he usually gets to score runs and even in that, he managed to outperform.

When we see players like Khwaja and Stoinis struggling with the bat in this World Cup, this man is a ray of hope. He looks so confident even when the Australian scoreboard displays six down! He plays his shot well and technically more sound than other players in the team who bat higher in order.

With only a year of experience playing for the Australian cricket team, he is promising and confident in his game. Changing his batting order and bringing him higher would certainly help the Australian team to bring more runs on the scoreboard especially if the team loses either Finch, Warner or Smith early in the match.

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