There was a time when the Australians were considered invincible and the whole cricketing world was in awe of them. This started during the late 90s and during this phase, they went on to win 3 consecutive World Cups (1999, 2003, 2007) while also dominating the Test domain for a major part of it. Players like, Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and many more played as a team and became the catalysts to success.
Following the retirement of these players, the Australian domination was coming to an end. From recruiting new players to roping in new support staff, the team was given a complete makeover and just like any person who has just learnt how to drive, this team was also afraid of joining the busy road at a busy hour. They preferred driving in their own neighborhood with guidance. As a result, teams like India, England and South Africa were touted as the new rulers of this kingdom. When these amateur drivers joined the busy roads in India and England in 2013, they were flummoxed totally and the result was their abysmal 2013 season outside home.
But only recently in the Ashes series followed by the One-day series against England and now in the Test series against South Africa, the Australian team has shown signs of massive improvement, enough to call it a resurrection of this team. The openers, Chris Rogers and David Warner have been the names behind the success in the batting department and a solid opening pair sets up a good base for the rest of the team, Warner corroborated his reputation as a premier batsman now with consecutive hundreds in the third Test against South Africa. They are followed by Alex Doolan, who is new but has shown great potential in the domestic circuit before joining the team. The middle order is stabilized by their skipper Michael Clarke, who needs no further statements to justify his importance in this team. Shane Watson, Steve Smith and Brad Haddin are the players on whom this team relies comfortably in case the top order fails and they have delivered that for the team in the past.
The major transformation in this team has been the fast bowling department, where Mitchell Johnson has emerged as one of the most lethal bowlers and his consistency over the recent series has been commendable. Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon also contribute heavily towards the team’s success. Their support staff, including the coach Darren Lehmann and bowling coach Craig McDermott has been working on forming the perfect combination for the team and we can say that they have finally hit the jackpot. Inclusion of Shane Warne in the team as a spin bowling consultant can be really helpful for the team as the World T20 is just around the corner in Bangladesh where spin comes in handy.
A team’s quality is judged by its ability to win overseas. India and England who were dominating the cricket world recently failed to deliver the same performance, as they did at home, overseas. South Africa, the current No.1 Test squad has been the only team that conquered the nations overseas. The Australian side which sat on the throne for many years was known to win the matches outside home and that was the reason for the domination that they unleashed on the world.
Before the beginning of the Ashes series in Australia, the experts and the media brushed aside the chances of this Australian side to even give a tough fight to the English team, these hitherto unknown heroes proved everyone otherwise by inflicting a white-wash on the visitors. Even the chances of them winning in South Africa against a world class side were next to nothing according to many people but by giving a very hard time to the home team this Australian side has announced themselves on the world front again.
For they have learnt how to drive, practiced a lot in the neighborhood and are now fit to join the traffic, they have chosen to be on the highway leading to a kingdom that was once theirs.
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