The End of an Era?

And so it came to past. After twelve years and an astonishing thirty-four matches Australia finally lost a World Cup match.

It was coming, of course. This isn’t a bad Australian side but it isn’t a patch on its predecessors and has a decidedly mortal look. Had the rain not come against Sri Lanka then the run may have ended sooner, for this doesn’t look a side well equipped to thrive in sub-continental conditions. The question is whether they will be able to use the defeat to galvanise them, as their public pronouncements, suggest they will, or if the defeat marks a final end to the aura of invincibility that disappeared from the test side a few months ago.

They are still blessed with talented players, but their batsmen remain century-less in the tournament and, with the notable exception of Brett Lee, the attack has been inconsistent. Jason Krejza is certainly a decent off spinner but they could do with another specialist to support him on turning tracks and the reliance on Tait and Johnson to blow the opposition away looks like a triumph of hope over experience. It will certainly be interesting to see how Sehwag and Tendulkar deal with the barrage of pace in the quarter-final.

The final problem is that of their leader. Ricky Ponting has been out of form for too long now for it simply to be a blip and his days in the side must, surely, be numbered, for all of his public bravado. It is often a mistake to write off a great player, but it can be an even bigger one to persist in the fiction that a player is still worth his place once his sell-by date has been exceeded. Ponting is one of the very best batsmen that I have ever seen but he has reached the point where his continued presence in the side is more of a hindrance than a help, especially after the impressive way that Michael Clarke took the reins in the ODI series against England. Like latter day Matthew Hayden, he unfurls the odd shot that reminds us of his glory days, only to succumb to a shot that, in his pomp, would have whistled to the boundary. It threatens to be a sad end to an illustrious career.

In the meantime, however, we should look back on that thirty-four match run with a sense of wonder. There is no doubt that this World Cup is much the better for not having one outstanding side in it, but there was something awe-inspiring about the Australian side between 1999 and 2007. We may not see their like again for a very long time.