A fisherman's exit and a team's decline

A man goes to fish. The management takes it as an opportunity to throw him away from the Ashes.

Cricket Australia is going nowhere. Compared to the time when the team was ruling the world in all possible formats and departments, it has declined in its process right from team selection to performance. With aging players quitting the team time and again proactively, the team hasn't got the right combination for more than a year.

Coming back to the fisherman. The entire cricket eternity knows his contribution in the recently concluded IPL in South Africa. The Ashes team selection was made when he was pulling his team back on track after a series of defeats midway up the tournament. Critics might argue about the fact that T20 is a different ball game compared to a test match - but people should always remember that he was a good test player and has made more than handy contributions with bat, ball and in the field. Moreover, his confidence was tremendous when he played his part in the IPL and that would have reflected in the Ashes as well. He is usually the man of crisis for them, batting at #5 or #6 and more often a partnership breaker with the ball. He might have a problem in holding his weightless tongue, as it was evident in Harbhajan's case and also during the IPL 2009 finals where. God only knew why he wanted to poke his nose into Manish Pandey and Van der Merwe. But he was instrumental in turning the match in favour of his side by scalping 2 successive wickets of 2 very good batsmen. His inclusion into the side would have been important for the Aussies to retain the Ashes considering the fact that England are playing at home this time and are grooming up to be a good test side even during tough times for a few of their members.

Another reason to blame Cricket Australia is their adamant behaviour in rejecting Nathan Bracken for formats outside ODIs. As a dedicated Indian fan, I would love not to see him as an opponent, but as a cricket thinker, I disagree with the logic behind such decisions. Its been a pity that the team has declined so badly since winning the 2007 WC in the West Indies and other teams like India and South Africa are waiting to stamp on their head to occupy the top spot.

Come T20, I wont be surprised even if Australia, placed alongside Sri Lanka and West Indies in the group of death, doesn't catch up with a super 8 spot. At least such shocks will inject some thought into the management to come up with a more balance side looking into the future. They will definitely be a team to watch out for, but in the negative sense.

Aditya.