Cricket Australia - Winning Legacy..... LONG GONE?

Their shoulders are drooping on the field, like the Kangaroos, kind of. Days are gone when this bunch of men could command the respect from every one of their opponents and can afford to remain their aggressive/arrogant selves. Its a sign that none of us cricket-followers would have expected to see in our life time. Even though most of us would have liked to see this for the betterment of cricket, it has come as a sort of a pleasant shock for most of us. No one questions their reign of supreme all these days on the field as it has come through the sheer professionalism and dominance. The way Mark Taylor got the reigns from AB, who BTW renovated the Aussies during his reign, Taylor has been the man behind the beginning of this chilling and thrilling success story. He brought the men out of his boys and made them re-define the way in which aggressive cricket is played. Then came Mr. Cool, Steve Waugh. One can argue that he can boast the presence of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Damien Fleming and their likes in his bowling line up and arguably had the best of the batting line up containing Mathew Hayden and Ricky Ponting. Also, there was the most special Wicket Keeping all rounder of all time in AG - who would have thought someone can step in the shoes of Ian Healy and over shadow his stellar performances by the time he was gone?! No one should forget that, even with such a wonderful team, there needed to be a cool head to lead the pack and no one could (I would say, would) ever be cooler than Steve Waugh, He enjoyed one of the most successful stay at the throne and was happy to hand over the flock to Ricky Ponting. Ricky Ponting is one of the best captain and batsman contemporary cricket could ever see, no questions. But, I do not see him getting prepared for a smooth transition and I do not see him participate in the Talent Search and Development which all his predecessors (AB, MT and SW) have all been so successful in due to which this fairy-tale had been continuing for a long time. Now, he suddenly finds him in the wrong side of the coin and thinking - "Mate, what have I got to give to Clarke?". "Perhaps, nothing, champ...", with most of the talents washed away and none identified to replace. The leadership skill of MC is also under the scanner and if and when the day comes when RP has to hang his boots, which is most likely sooner than later, Clarke will surely find himself in a situation where he needs to get used to start taking the blame for faults, part of which should squarely belong to RP.

- Ram