Australia get a peek at cricket’s summit after eye-opening gap year
If you are Australian, and have chosen to read a cricket column one full week after the Test summer has finished, chances are you reached for your device first thing on Wednesday morning, and after checking the cricket scores felt a familiar rush – one you recognised from a distant era – as you double-took the overnight result. None down. None for 258. Away. In India. Records tumbling. One-way highlights. Montages of wickets, catches, and slowmotion hundred celebrations. All of them Australia’s. None of them India’s. What was this?
For the men’s team, the shoots could scarcely be more green: undefeated this summer, a generational No 3 unearthed and an arguably unrivalled bowling attack. It has been 15 years since Australia could lay claim to consistent cricketing dominance, and for the first time since then, they appear to be giving themselves a decent shot at it. Then again, as has been pointed out, the supposed Battle of the Titans could also be understood as a belated World Cup third-place play-off. There’s probably a while to go yet.
But still, none down. These are numbers we associate with Australian teams of old. Feet on the neck, full annihilation, very much of the Steve Waugh philosophy. Waugh, who provided a symbolic link to old times on the morning of Tuesday’s fixture when presenting Marnus Labuschagne’s debut ODI cap to him. Six months ago during the Ashes, Waugh was pictured at Australia training on his hands and knees, diligently scraping turf from Labuschagne’s spikes. Given Waugh’s unofficial position as godfather of the cricketing alphas, the humility of the picture was almost jarring. So much so that in response, Labuschagne later took him for a Nandos to both graciously apologise and thank him for the moment. However on Tuesday, when presenting Labuschagne’s debut cap, Waugh twice referred to him as “Marcus” before he was eventually corrected, just demonstrating that the alpha does indeed die hard in many Australians.
So as Australia take a peek at cricket’s summit once again, it will be curious to see what edge they seek on this adventure anew. It should be remembered that Australia’s broad turnaround commenced upon their dismantling of
India in an ODI series a full year ago, where players like Ashton Turner and Peter Handscomb played in a manner that reflected a side serious about adapting to local conditions, as opposed to one seeking to impose its way on others. As with the Test series in India that preceded it, the change spoke of a humility possibly more authentic than the Test captain’s cloyingly PGrated verbals on the stump mic later in the summer, though after years of altogether uglier on-field phraseology, Tim Paine’s babysitting proposals were
a welcome-enough change too.
Before all of this, Space Jam cricket was the only way to fly in Australia. Ball machine batting, 140s-only bowling and outright hostility were the necessary conditions for Australian representation. It would confound baggy green kingmakers that “absolute weapons” like Shaun Tait and Brett Lee lacked their usual effectiveness in the UK, for example. They may have bowled “absolute wheels” in the nets, but for some reason it didn’t translate. So too myriad Australian batsmen, for whom a booming drive or authoritative pull on bouncy wickets was mesmerising enough to book them berths on spinning and seaming wickets.
But now Australia possess the nerdobsessive axis of Labuschagne and Steve Smith, both of whom enjoy a personality and style far from the side-mouthed, muscular archetype the nation reared through the 2000s. This is a team that accepted Peter Siddle as a far brighter prospect in the UK than Mitchell Starc, despite being shorter, slower, older and less-levered. They understand that Paine adds significant value without needing to be Adam Gilchrist. It is as though the unit has gone on a gap year, opened their eyes to the ways of the world, and concluded that “yes, I will enjoy that glass of rosé on occasion, it doesn’t always need to be a pint of lager”. Which is, of course, an analogy for preferring Kane Richardson to Billy Stanlake.
While the uptick in on-field performance is undeniably positive – and deep credit is due to Justin Langer and latterly Andrew McDonald – it will be interesting to see how the team mentally grows into their recovered superiority. There were signs during the Test series of success preceding “carry-on”, as though there remained an underlying belief that hostility remained a precondition for success. But they have succeeded so far without it, so why introduce it now? It’s 2020 after all, and everything is inverted. Perhaps the Australians might embrace a world where grace is conducive to winning, and leave the aggressive verbiage to guys like Jos Buttler.