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Australian cricket in decline?

Australia's dramatic slump in the limited overs format is, perversely, good news for international cricket, which in a matter of weeks has become a lot more competitive at the top. Cracks have appeared in the world champion's aura of invincibility. The mental edge the aura conferred has been blunted. It was said of the great Pete Sampras that he won matches before stepping on the tennis court. Australia over the years has been no different — the recent downturn should liberate major opponents from the fear factor. While some in the Australian establishment have noted that injuries have cost the side more than poor cricket, the fact remains that the last time an Australian team lost five One-Day Internationals in a row was a decade ago. Internal dissent has reared its head. Adam Gilchrist complained that many of Australia's cricketers were jaded and didn't want to tour New Zealand, where the side suffered a 3-0 defeat; Michael Hussey, stand-in captain, disagreed, saying the series was an opportunity for the likes of Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson to get a sense of hard, high-pressure cricket; beleaguered coach John Buchanan asked for the precautionary withdrawal of the cricketers in the World Cup squad from a domestic final; and finally Hussey confessed that the New Zealand experience demoralised him and he needed time to recover.

There certainly were no portents of trouble when Australia pummelled England 5-0 in the Ashes Tests and then cantered through the early rounds of the ODI tri-series. The first ill omen was the injury to Andrew Symonds. Without his bullying batting, top-notch fielding, and clever bowling, Australia does not look the same side. The injury cloud soon grew to include Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Brett Lee (who has just been ruled out of the World Cup), and Matthew Hayden. What is clear now is that even Australia struggles without its top players. Shane Warne, a Buchanan critic, is probably right in blaming him for over-training his wards. Over the past 15 months the bowling, for long so formidable, has been exposed in the four highest ODI chases. When Warne retired from the abridged format, Australia lost a bowler who could impose himself in the middle overs by taking wickets. That loss was often compensated by the fast bowlers scything through the top order. Stifling fielding then maintained the pressure through the middle. In New Zealand, the bowlers lost their nerve and their discipline — and hemorrhaged runs. That Glenn McGrath is on his last legs hasn't helped. Make no mistake, Australia is still among the favourites. It's just that the 2007 World Cup seems more open than any in recent history.

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