James McKeown
The Belief - We Can Win Under Any Situation From Any Position
December 11th 2006 02:36
Last week the world witnessed the most invigorating come backs in test cricket at Adelaide..The team that made the come back is the greatest team to have played cricket and the team that faced it is the second best test side in the world today..
Yep!! Ashes..the battle between two old foes and this time..between the best and the second best side in the world..
After being decimated by Australia in the first test, there had been talk about how one sided this Ashes would turn out to be and the wide gap between number 1 and number 2 sides in world cricket today..
I had predicted a 5-0 whitewash... I just dont see England win a test match in Australia this summer with that kind of toothless bowling and brittle batting attack.
But when England amassed 550 odd runs in the first innings with the loss of only 6 wickets, people like me who have been waiting since time immemorial for some competition in matches invovling Australia, were elated..And then the icing on the cake was when Langer edged Flintoff to Pieterson.
The next day, Hoggard started to make the ball talk and Australia were reeling when they lost 3 wickets before lunch.. One man stood there though, bravely facing everything that Hoggard and Flintoff threw at him, he has a habit of doing that, he had done that last year at Old Trafford against a much better bowling attack and he did it again this year - no points for guessing - the best batsman in the world today Ricky Ponting...
But thats not special anymore.. Ponting scoring a century is no longer century, its a forgone conclusion.
What was special was..even after England had piled on 550 for the loss of only 6 wickets and plundered Warne and McGrath, the best Aussie bowlers, the Aussies still believed they could win this test match, or rather I should say they sitill didnt stop believing they could win this test match... When Langer got out cheaply, the belief remained firm, when Martyn and Hayden were back, the belief remaine firm, and when Ponting and Clarke build that partnersihp, that belief only grew..
On the other hand, England, even after dominating the first 2 and a half days, didnt strongly believe they could win this test match. I dont blame them actually, thats the kind of effect Australia have on their opponents...Cricket is not only a game of bowling and batting, there is a pschycological aspect and thats where Australia score over the other teams..
Thats the reason England lacked the killer instinct to skittle out Australia under 300 and apply pressure.
On the fourth day, when Australia were finally bundled out for 513, the difference in the mindset was clearly evident...While England had lost all hope of winning any more, they started believing this match was going to end in a draw, they simply didnt have the belief that they could bundle out Australia in less than a day on the 5th day.. On the other hand, Australia believed not only could they bundle out England within a day, they could do it with enough tiem for them to bat again and win the match...
Thats what enabled them to do exactly that....the belief... the belief that we can win under any situation from any position..
Australia have taken supremacy to the next level... Not only will this Ashes be a 5-0 whitewash for England, Australia will go onto win the next World Cup in West Indies with the utmost of ease, while the other teams will sit scratching their heads about team selection, captains, coaches and other such issues.
Yep!! Ashes..the battle between two old foes and this time..between the best and the second best side in the world..
After being decimated by Australia in the first test, there had been talk about how one sided this Ashes would turn out to be and the wide gap between number 1 and number 2 sides in world cricket today..
I had predicted a 5-0 whitewash... I just dont see England win a test match in Australia this summer with that kind of toothless bowling and brittle batting attack.
But when England amassed 550 odd runs in the first innings with the loss of only 6 wickets, people like me who have been waiting since time immemorial for some competition in matches invovling Australia, were elated..And then the icing on the cake was when Langer edged Flintoff to Pieterson.
The next day, Hoggard started to make the ball talk and Australia were reeling when they lost 3 wickets before lunch.. One man stood there though, bravely facing everything that Hoggard and Flintoff threw at him, he has a habit of doing that, he had done that last year at Old Trafford against a much better bowling attack and he did it again this year - no points for guessing - the best batsman in the world today Ricky Ponting...
But thats not special anymore.. Ponting scoring a century is no longer century, its a forgone conclusion.
What was special was..even after England had piled on 550 for the loss of only 6 wickets and plundered Warne and McGrath, the best Aussie bowlers, the Aussies still believed they could win this test match, or rather I should say they sitill didnt stop believing they could win this test match... When Langer got out cheaply, the belief remained firm, when Martyn and Hayden were back, the belief remaine firm, and when Ponting and Clarke build that partnersihp, that belief only grew..
On the other hand, England, even after dominating the first 2 and a half days, didnt strongly believe they could win this test match. I dont blame them actually, thats the kind of effect Australia have on their opponents...Cricket is not only a game of bowling and batting, there is a pschycological aspect and thats where Australia score over the other teams..
Thats the reason England lacked the killer instinct to skittle out Australia under 300 and apply pressure.
On the fourth day, when Australia were finally bundled out for 513, the difference in the mindset was clearly evident...While England had lost all hope of winning any more, they started believing this match was going to end in a draw, they simply didnt have the belief that they could bundle out Australia in less than a day on the 5th day.. On the other hand, Australia believed not only could they bundle out England within a day, they could do it with enough tiem for them to bat again and win the match...
Thats what enabled them to do exactly that....the belief... the belief that we can win under any situation from any position..
Australia have taken supremacy to the next level... Not only will this Ashes be a 5-0 whitewash for England, Australia will go onto win the next World Cup in West Indies with the utmost of ease, while the other teams will sit scratching their heads about team selection, captains, coaches and other such issues.
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