Theres gotta be something else

Mukul Kesavan begins his series of pre-tournament takes on the teams in the World Cup, and appropriately, starts with Australia. But this piece disappoints me. There seems to be an excessive concentration in this post on the rough aspects of Australia's cricket, on the sledging, the hard-but-fair mythology, and so on. The gangster comparisons are also slightly out-of-whack. For what its worth, I find it surprising that an Indian journalist and cricket fan finds the Australians rougher out on the field than say, the South Africans or say, the Pakistanis (you know, the ones who let loose with a volley of "bahenc***s" and "madarc***s" at Indian cricketers?). If that was the dimension Kesavan was going to concentrate on, I don't think the Australians are champs. They've got some stiff competition. Secondly, a post about the Australians that doesn't pay enough attention to their superb attacking style doesn't do them justice. The Australians are a very attractive team to watch - their batting is not just workmanlike and utilitarian in the way that Kesavan suggests. Watching Ponting in full flow is quite an experience, as is doing the same for Mark Waugh and Damien Martyn. Their slip catching, grounded in a very old tradition of great slip catchers is a treat as well. The Australians are very far from the grim, efficient outfit Kesavan makes them out to be (and yes, thats despite the loss of Warne and Lee).

Overall, I find it disappointing that Kesavan's take is so one-dimensional. Comments on the blog have already noted how the piece seems incomplete. If nothing else, he should have noted that with respect to the one-day game, the most unconventional, and yet attacking tactics in one-day outcricket were those used by the Australians in the 2001 triangular competition in England, when Steve Waugh's team used test match fields in the opening 15 overs.