THE END OF AN ERA
Now I’m as patriotic as the next Aussie in line, come the hotter months I love nothing more then watching the boys in the baggy green take on- dominate- all comers. But as the pages of the 2008 calendar flip toward summer, something just doesn’t feel right. Now I’ll be the first one to admit that I am a member of that extended generation of Aussies who have been born into privilege were cricket is concerned. It is true that of recent times most test series we have competed in have been won before the first ball was even bowled in some respects. For the last dozen summers we have been on top of everyone else, mentally, physically in talent and in planning but how much longer it can last?…..well that is the question.
For at least the past decade or maybe two we have been blessed with such a vast wealth of talented players that we have simply become accustomed to winning. Slowly though, over the last few years, names that were for so long stalwarts of our test team have, one by one, been bowing out. Names such as McGrath, Langer, Warne and so one have been ‘retiring’ (despite still earning massive amounts of cash in Indian hybrids of the game we love.)
Though such names have been replaced by newer faces, you can never really replace brilliance and so we must face the inevitable. I feel, if our mantle as No. 1 will not be taken this season the gap will surely be closed greatly and we will just have to get used to losing more often. Cricket, sport goes in cycles and I feel that the Australian Cricket Team’s must falter soon and will eventually be coming to an unhappy ending as we are forced to rebuild. Not immediately my friends but soon enough we will no longer be the super-power we have come to take for granted.
Cheers
Guru
