I eat humble pie !!

I eat humble pie as my favourite cricket team, Australia get whitewashed by the Kiwis. (See my earlier post here to see why I eat that pie) But I have plenty of excuses to give -- the Aussies are missing their major players. McGrath is not the same bowler that used to bowl six deliveries in the corridor per over. The rest of the cast are just getting a taste of what international cricket is all about. So, in a sense, the series was really Kiwi seniors Vs Aus 'A' I had the opportunity to watch the 3rd ODI live and this is what I felt: The Aussies put on a nice, if uncharacteristic, batting display (uncharacteristic because their scorecard is hardly ever dominated by one man) Hayden got 181 n.o Even during the Kiwi chase, they hardly did anything wrong. They took their catches, fielded brilliantly and there weren't too many loose balls. So where did it go wrong ? I still think the attitude is there, the confidence is there. The bowlers lack that tiny bit of extra skill, extra experience, extra bite in their armour. You can feel that little extra judgement missing in their tactics (you didnt see many fielders crowding the bat when the Kiwis were 44/4). Those things will come back. They may not come back in time for them to win the World Cup, but they will come back as the new guns get more and more exposure at the top level. I think Australia have been playing with an unchanged team for almost a decade. These are the kinds of things that happen when you overhaul a major team overnight. But that is OK...maybe the rest of the cricket World will enjoy this small break from Australian domination. But they will be back... The lion will roar again !!!