The road ahead for the team in yellow

Let me start this by saying Andrew Hilditch and co have administered a tried medicine by instating Ricky Ponting as the skipper till 2011. There are two faces to this: this could make the more young and tender team that exists now more sure of themselves as they have a veteran leader of 2 WCs and numerous other tourneys at their helm; the other set will think of CA as acting laidback for persisting on an old face when the other countries are looking for fresher leaders. Whether this move will yield results, only time will show. But i feel there is more chance of it working out than failing. But opinions differ. What lies ahead needs the biggest attention.

One does wonder why Ponting has been given back the captaincy for the T20 world cup, after a stint with Michael Clark which did deliver reasonable success. Probably the selectors thought they needed a bigger name to lead in a bigger tournament. Either way the T20 World Cup is not something many are expecting Australia to take home, atleast so back here in India. But rest assured Australia will be looking to go the full distance and get some loose ends tightened. They were handed a comprehensive defeat recently at Dubai at the Pakistani hands. A good start was floundered due to inept handling of wicket-to-wicket spin bowling. But on that end Clark and the Hussey brothers should be able to counter it. And the return of Lee will add some sting in the bowling. Symonds', Lee's, and Warner's run in the IPL will be relied upon by the Aussies. So the best possible line-up would be :

David Warner, Michael Clark, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken.

James Hopes and Ben Hilfenhaus should be useful substitutes subject to poor form of the above mentioned. I have not included Johnson in the XI to give room to Shane Watson and Symonds in one side, also, Johnson's relatively lesser T20 participation recently.
The above squad in full potential should deliver the goods with the perfect blend of everything. Hitters (Warner, Symonds, Watson), guides (Ponting, Clark and Mike), pacers (Lee, Watson and Bracken) and spinners (Hauritz, David and Clark).

Moving on.....

Same country, the world's oldest and most respected cricket tour- The Ashes. The test side showed its winners attitude when it went as underdogs to beat a high-flying South Africa in their own backyard. The opening pair is still coming to terms. Hughes is just 3 tests old, while Katich is revelling within his own limitations. Ponting looked business-like in that tour. However, Michael Hussey's form causes worry. Getting just one fifty in three tests is far from his usual self. Brad Haddin and Simon Katich however went strong guns in that series. Marcus North produced a match defining hundered, but faltered thereafter in the remaining parts of that tour. But one feels it as a big error omitting Andrew Symonds. The other Andrew i.e McDonald is no match. The bowling on the other hand looks delicious with what i saw in RSA without Lee and Stuart Clark. Johnson, who has been my favorite find in recent years has been their highest test-wicket taker in the past year. Also Peter Siddle produced fiery spells peppering the batsman at every chance and getting those crucial wickets. In any case The bowling looks more threatening. English conditions will test the soundness of the new opening pair. This is their first tour this decade to England with a opening pair other than Hayden and Langer. Katich and Hughes i feel will have the toughest job on hand. More so if Flintoff returns. The best XI should be:

Katich, Hughes, Ponting, M. Hussey, Clark, Watson, Haddin, Lee, Johnson, Clark and Siddle/Hauritz (subject to playing conditions). Hilfenhaus and North can act as suitable replacements.

This is a process of evolution for the new Aussie team. This coming journey to England will give lot of pointers as to where Australia's fortunes are heading. For mission 2011, the game starts now. And we wish the Aussies the best.............!!!!

The Brewing of LS09....... and pls save Tigers...

Two extravaganzas started simultaneously. One is over, and the other on the verge of it. The internationally more celebrated and adored one, the IPL2009 produced some topsy turvy tales which i assume is known to all. The other event, on the other hand, started before it actually started, and the concerned were already in the nets. Transfers (if i may call them that) had started an year in advance because one half of the Top Team ( lets call them TT) thought the more important half liked a foreign team's skipper more than that half. So that half, which we can call the Left half, quit the team and formed its own team recruiting players from teams who were threatened by the rise of moviestars who had learnt how to play. And teams which the fans had ditched in favor of TT's rival party also gave word to join with the Left half. They then called themselves the " Third Burp"

TT's rival, lets call them the Rusty's team , on the other hand decided that in order that TT falters in the competition, challenged TT's leader to a no-holds-barred wrestling match. But TT's leader was already in a hospital. So Rusty tried to ignite the passion in TT by calling their leader weak. The viewers were excited about the prospects of such a brutal match-up. But as per the team physio's advise TT's man kept away. So Rusty called for a debate. But even for that TT's physio felt it unwise to waste energy speaking before an important competition. As a result viewers got frustrated and broke into practice sessions and started throwing shoes at them.

Meanwhile players from another team ( called Superintendent) decided to join with TT to make up for the loss of its Left half in return for sawing off the legs of another team called Busted Superintendents. It became so difficult for TT to meet SP's demand such as influencing the ruling body to report the Busted-SP for suspect bowling action. So the superintendent got fed up and joined up with two smaller teams called '"Really Just Dead" and " Life's Jokingly Pathetic" who had quit TT because they wouldn't play in enough matches. They called themselves "Fourth Frock".

And so the Third Burp and the Fourth Frock sat on the wall, though FF was still humpty-dumpty, and if it fell it hoped to fall back on TT's side. And TB held press conferences just to tell everyone the same thing, everyday, everytime, every channel, every paper - ' we wont allow Rusty or TT to win'. When reporters asked their strategy for that, the reply made everyone bang their heads - ' we will inform all the fans not to allow Rusty or TT to win'. And another reporter would ask - ' ok but what will u give the fans for doing that?', the reply was even more astounding - ' we will give them table leaders that are not Rusty or TT'. That summed up TB's publicity.

Then the competition ended and TT retained their title. Rusty crumbled. Fourth Frock's velcro got loose and fell to the floor exposing shame. And the Left half and co had nothing left.

So what should we ask of our new league leaders? How about these?? :

1. First of all, protecting all viewers by stengthening its center-backs comprising of Nani-Sung Giggs (NSG), Ricardo Andrei Wembley (RAW) and Ingimar Berbatov (IB)

2. As all games are built on ticket-revenue, and people need money to buy tickets, and people need jobs to get money, TT must build new stadiums and roads to those stadiums and grounds so that people may work for it.

3. All players need a healthy diet, and one must eat for it, and one needs something eatable to eat, and farmers are needed to grow eatable things, and farmers can't grow them if they kill themselves or have no money. TT must continue and refine their good deeds of wiping out their loans by donating their match fees on a more holistic basis.

4. All matches are preceded by weather reports. In order to make sure such reports are credible TT need to find solutions and work with foreign teams to prevent 'climate change'.

5. And personally i feel all leagues and competitions need a mascot. Our league's mascot is the Tiger. Without real Tigers the mascot is just something like Mickey Mouse. So TT, i wish, doesn't make the Tiger a Mickey Mouse.

So Save the Tiger..........