cricketfreakupdated
WHO IS The Greatest, Away Test Match Batsman Ever ????
In the able leadership of Steve Waugh Australia had built an invincible test side. The one which won test matches for fun. After winning 16 Test matches on the trot, they were to tour India in 2000-2001. Steve Waugh had already mentioned winning a test series in India is their “Ultimate Goal, The only fortress left”. After all, defeating a quality side away from home in their backyard requires a tough grind. Things did start nicely but surely did not end well for the Aussies. Harbhajan Singh, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rahul Dravid produced magic in the next two tests to defeat the mighty Aussies and write the script of the greatest test series ever. Clearly shows how high a mountain is winning away from home. The Start? The question which arouses straight to me before writing this blog was from where to start. I had stats from 1877 courtesy statsguru of ESPN Cricinfo :) And I wanted to talk about only human beings, therefore, I wanted to have the outrageous stats of SIR Donald Bradman out of the frame. So I decided to start this period from the players whose tales our granddads told us, The time when yet another huge team was coming into the picture, the tall and nasty guys from the Caribbean. And no other year could be better than 1954, when according to many pundits of the game, the greatest ever cricketer to grace the planet, Sir Garry Sobers made his debut. Teams and Criteria The Teams included are in two groups Group 1 (Subcontinent) India Pakistan Sri Lanka Group 2(WENAS) West Indies England New Zeeland Australia South Africa For Group 1 The Away Conditions for Group 1 are only WENAS as conditions in the subcontinent are generally the same. Flat Tracks, good for spinners. Here the work of the pace bowler is to just make the ball old for spinners :) (Exceptions: Imran Khan leading the pace triplet of Pakistan). The main criteria for this group are 50 away innings For Group 2 The Away teams for Group 2 are all the batting conditions except their own. E.g. Brian Lara’s stats are from everywhere around the world except the West Indies. You might argue that New Zeeland and England Batting conditions are similar and South Africa and Australian conditions are similar. But there is a difference of swing between South Africa and Australia and one of bounce between and kiwi and the English wickets. The main criteria for this group are 70 away innings. Impact Index Calculations 1)Team Wins and Player remains not out 2) Team Draws/Looses and Player remains Not Out * 1.15 3) Team Wins and Player gets Out * 1.05 4) Team Draws/Looses and Player gets out * 1 All of this will be added and called “grand sum” and divided by the number of innings (including the not outs) to give the impact index. I decided to keep the margin of multiplication short as Ricky Ponting being a part of an elite team, would get a higher total than probably a Shivnarine Chanderpaul who was not a part of a highly successful team. A higher margin would not show how valiantly Chanderpaul fought for his team. Some might say the middle order or the lower order would benefit from this system but they spend most of their time batting with tailenders and facing the old ball which reverses + scoring quick runs so they have their problems too. In that case, the top order also has its advantages chasing down smaller targets so according to me, it is fair enough. I have not taken the difference in generation factor, coz I am not that smart enough to formulate something :). Calculations In every pic, the last column shows the impact index. All other stuff is the calculation part. Result Only 3 batsmen could get an impact score greater than 50 Two South Africans and One Aussie The “ Greatest Away Batsman in Test Cricket” title went to Steven Smith closely followed by Graeme Smith at number two and ABD at number three. The top 11 list by Impact Index : 1) Steven Smith 54.81 2) Graeme Smith 54.51 3) AB De Villiers 51.14 4) Sunil Gavaskar 49.44 5) Sir Vivian Richards 48.90 6) Sir Garfield Sobers 48.89 7) Jack Kallis 48.36 8) Brian Lara 48.276 9) Sachin Tendulkar 48.275 10) Allan Border 48.12 11) Rahul Dravid 48.10 How do the modern greats fare? Steven Smith can lay his claim of being the best test batsman in the modern game 1 Steve Smith 54.81 2 Virat Kohli 44.99 3 Kane Williamson 43.59 4 Joe Root 43.07 5 Ajinkya Rahane 41.38 6 Ross Taylor 36.80 7 Warner 35.21 8 Cheteshwar Pujara 33.88
cricketfreakupdated
WHO IS The Greatest, Away Test Match Batsman Ever ????
In the able leadership of Steve Waugh Australia had built an invincible test side. The one which won test matches for fun. After winning 16 Test matches on the trot, they were to tour India in 2000-2001. Steve Waugh had already mentioned winning a test series in India is their “Ultimate Goal, The only fortress left”. After all, defeating a quality side away from home in their backyard requires a tough grind. Things did start nicely but surely did not end well for the Aussies. Harbhajan Singh, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rahul Dravid produced magic in the next two tests to defeat the mighty Aussies and write the script of the greatest test series ever. Clearly shows how high a mountain is winning away from home. The Start? The question which arouses straight to me before writing this blog was from where to start. I had stats from 1877 courtesy statsguru of ESPN Cricinfo :) And I wanted to talk about only human beings, therefore, I wanted to have the outrageous stats of SIR Donald Bradman out of the frame. So I decided to start this period from the players whose tales our granddads told us, The time when yet another huge team was coming into the picture, the tall and nasty guys from the Caribbean. And no other year could be better than 1954, when according to many pundits of the game, the greatest ever cricketer to grace the planet, Sir Garry Sobers made his debut. Teams and Criteria The Teams included are in two groups Group 1 (Subcontinent) India Pakistan Sri Lanka Group 2(WENAS) West Indies England New Zeeland Australia South Africa For Group 1 The Away Conditions for Group 1 are only WENAS as conditions in the subcontinent are generally the same. Flat Tracks, good for spinners. Here the work of the pace bowler is to just make the ball old for spinners :) (Exceptions: Imran Khan leading the pace triplet of Pakistan). The main criteria for this group are 50 away innings For Group 2 The Away teams for Group 2 are all the batting conditions except their own. E.g. Brian Lara’s stats are from everywhere around the world except the West Indies. You might argue that New Zeeland and England Batting conditions are similar and South Africa and Australian conditions are similar. But there is a difference of swing between South Africa and Australia and one of bounce between and kiwi and the English wickets. The main criteria for this group are 70 away innings. Impact Index Calculations 1)Team Wins and Player remains not out 2) Team Draws/Looses and Player remains Not Out * 1.15 3) Team Wins and Player gets Out * 1.05 4) Team Draws/Looses and Player gets out * 1 All of this will be added and called “grand sum” and divided by the number of innings (including the not outs) to give the impact index. I decided to keep the margin of multiplication short as Ricky Ponting being a part of an elite team, would get a higher total than probably a Shivnarine Chanderpaul who was not a part of a highly successful team. A higher margin would not show how valiantly Chanderpaul fought for his team. Some might say the middle order or the lower order would benefit from this system but they spend most of their time batting with tailenders and facing the old ball which reverses + scoring quick runs so they have their problems too. In that case, the top order also has its advantages chasing down smaller targets so according to me, it is fair enough. I have not taken the difference in generation factor, coz I am not that smart enough to formulate something :). Calculations In every pic, the last column shows the impact index. All other stuff is the calculation part. Result Only 3 batsmen could get an impact score greater than 50 Two South Africans and One Aussie The “ Greatest Away Batsman in Test Cricket” title went to Steven Smith closely followed by Graeme Smith at number two and ABD at number three. The top 11 list by Impact Index : 1) Steven Smith 54.81 2) Graeme Smith 54.51 3) AB De Villiers 51.14 4) Sunil Gavaskar 49.44 5) Sir Vivian Richards 48.90 6) Sir Garfield Sobers 48.89 7) Jack Kallis 48.36 8) Brian Lara 48.276 9) Sachin Tendulkar 48.275 10) Allan Border 48.12 11) Rahul Dravid 48.10 How do the modern greats fare? Steven Smith can lay his claim of being the best test batsman in the modern game 1 Steve Smith 54.81 2 Virat Kohli 44.99 3 Kane Williamson 43.59 4 Joe Root 43.07 5 Ajinkya Rahane 41.38 6 Ross Taylor 36.80 7 Warner 35.21 8 Cheteshwar Pujara 33.88
cricketfreakupdated
WHO IS The Greatest, Away Test Match Batsman Ever ????
In the able leadership of Steve Waugh Australia had built an invincible test side. The one which won test matches for fun. After winning 16 Test matches on the trot, they were to tour India in 2000-2001. Steve Waugh had already mentioned winning a test series in India is their “Ultimate Goal, The only fortress left”. After all, defeating a quality side away from home in their backyard requires a tough grind. Things did start nicely but surely did not end well for the Aussies. Harbhajan Singh, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rahul Dravid produced magic in the next two tests to defeat the mighty Aussies and write the script of the greatest test series ever. Clearly shows how high a mountain is winning away from home. The Start? The question which arouses straight to me before writing this blog was from where to start. I had stats from 1877 courtesy statsguru of ESPN Cricinfo :) And I wanted to talk about only human beings, therefore, I wanted to have the outrageous stats of SIR Donald Bradman out of the frame. So I decided to start this period from the players whose tales our granddads told us, The time when yet another huge team was coming into the picture, the tall and nasty guys from the Caribbean. And no other year could be better than 1954, when according to many pundits of the game, the greatest ever cricketer to grace the planet, Sir Garry Sobers made his debut. Teams and Criteria The Teams included are in two groups Group 1 (Subcontinent) India Pakistan Sri Lanka Group 2(WENAS) West Indies England New Zeeland Australia South Africa For Group 1 The Away Conditions for Group 1 are only WENAS as conditions in the subcontinent are generally the same. Flat Tracks, good for spinners. Here the work of the pace bowler is to just make the ball old for spinners :) (Exceptions: Imran Khan leading the pace triplet of Pakistan). The main criteria for this group are 50 away innings For Group 2 The Away teams for Group 2 are all the batting conditions except their own. E.g. Brian Lara’s stats are from everywhere around the world except the West Indies. You might argue that New Zeeland and England Batting conditions are similar and South Africa and Australian conditions are similar. But there is a difference of swing between South Africa and Australia and one of bounce between and kiwi and the English wickets. The main criteria for this group are 70 away innings. Impact Index Calculations 1)Team Wins and Player remains not out 2) Team Draws/Looses and Player remains Not Out * 1.15 3) Team Wins and Player gets Out * 1.05 4) Team Draws/Looses and Player gets out * 1 All of this will be added and called “grand sum” and divided by the number of innings (including the not outs) to give the impact index. I decided to keep the margin of multiplication short as Ricky Ponting being a part of an elite team, would get a higher total than probably a Shivnarine Chanderpaul who was not a part of a highly successful team. A higher margin would not show how valiantly Chanderpaul fought for his team. Some might say the middle order or the lower order would benefit from this system but they spend most of their time batting with tailenders and facing the old ball which reverses + scoring quick runs so they have their problems too. In that case, the top order also has its advantages chasing down smaller targets so according to me, it is fair enough. I have not taken the difference in generation factor, coz I am not that smart enough to formulate something :). Calculations In every pic, the last column shows the impact index. All other stuff is the calculation part. Result Only 3 batsmen could get an impact score greater than 50 Two South Africans and One Aussie The “ Greatest Away Batsman in Test Cricket” title went to Steven Smith closely followed by Graeme Smith at number two and ABD at number three. The top 11 list by Impact Index : 1) Steven Smith 54.81 2) Graeme Smith 54.51 3) AB De Villiers 51.14 4) Sunil Gavaskar 49.44 5) Sir Vivian Richards 48.90 6) Sir Garfield Sobers 48.89 7) Jack Kallis 48.36 8) Brian Lara 48.276 9) Sachin Tendulkar 48.275 10) Allan Border 48.12 11) Rahul Dravid 48.10 How do the modern greats fare? Steven Smith can lay his claim of being the best test batsman in the modern game 1 Steve Smith 54.81 2 Virat Kohli 44.99 3 Kane Williamson 43.59 4 Joe Root 43.07 5 Ajinkya Rahane 41.38 6 Ross Taylor 36.80 7 Warner 35.21 8 Cheteshwar Pujara 33.88
A Substitute Who Batted For The First Time In Cricket
In the second Ashes Cricket Test match 2019, Marnus Labuschagne become the first ever "concussion substitute" and in fact the first ever substitute player to bat in a test innings.He also got a half century in 2nd innings. We all know that in cricket a substitute can neither do Batting, Bowling, Wicket-Keeping or the role of a captain. But in the 2nd test match between England and Australia a substitute batted for the first time in cricket. He is allowed to do so with the new rules which came into force from August 1st allowing a level to level player replacement in playing 11 in case of concussion injury. Australian Batsmen Steve Smith was injured by a bouncer from England pacer Jofra Archer in the first innings of the 2nd Ashes test in London on August 17th. Smith was batting at 80 before the bouncer hit him on his neck. He retired then, conducted concussion test and returned to the crease after some time. He got out in 1st innings LBW Woakes. But when he woke up on Sunday morning August 18th he is suffering from headache and concussion. Australia Cricket management requested match referee for a replacement of Smith with a level to level substitute Marnus Labuschagne. Match referees will have a huge say if a team decides to bring a substitute during a match. As per ICC Cricket Operations boss Geoff Allardice, the match referees will determine who the concussion substitute is and he has the power to restrict a player from bowling in order for the replacement to be considered like-for-like. For example, If David Warner, a pure batsman, gets injured in a Test match and Australia name Mitch Marsh, an all-rounder, as his replacement, then the match-referee has the power to restrict Marsh from bowling in the match. Overall this is a welcome step as sometimes players play forcefully with injuries to get some runs or wickets because of the match situations. They need not to do such dangerous activities as now they can have replacement in their teams. What Is Concussion? The 4th international conference on "concussion in sport" held in Zurich in 2012, defined concussion as a brain injury that may be caused either by a direct blow to the head, face, neck or elsewhere on the body with an impulsive force transmitted to the head. Concussion temporarily affects brain functionality. Its symptoms could include loss of consciousness, memory loss, headaches, difficulty with thinking, concentration or balance, nausea, blurred vision, sleep disturbance and mood changes. Following the dearth of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes, who was hit on the head by a bouncer in a Sheffield Shield first class match in 2014, The International Cricket Council (ICC), in July 2019 approved level to level player replacement in the case of concussion in cricket. Several other sports like basketball, ice hockey, rugby, football have also instituted specific concussion related protocols.
A Substitute Who Batted For The First Time In Cricket
In the second Ashes Cricket Test match 2019, Marnus Labuschagne become the first ever "concussion substitute" and in fact the first ever substitute player to bat in a test innings.He also got a half century in 2nd innings. We all know that in cricket a substitute can neither do Batting, Bowling, Wicket-Keeping or the role of a captain. But in the 2nd test match between England and Australia a substitute batted for the first time in cricket. He is allowed to do so with the new rules which came into force from August 1st allowing a level to level player replacement in playing 11 in case of concussion injury. Australian Batsmen Steve Smith was injured by a bouncer from England pacer Jofra Archer in the first innings of the 2nd Ashes test in London on August 17th. Smith was batting at 80 before the bouncer hit him on his neck. He retired then, conducted concussion test and returned to the crease after some time. He got out in 1st innings LBW Woakes. But when he woke up on Sunday morning August 18th he is suffering from headache and concussion. Australia Cricket management requested match referee for a replacement of Smith with a level to level substitute Marnus Labuschagne. Match referees will have a huge say if a team decides to bring a substitute during a match. As per ICC Cricket Operations boss Geoff Allardice, the match referees will determine who the concussion substitute is and he has the power to restrict a player from bowling in order for the replacement to be considered like-for-like. For example, If David Warner, a pure batsman, gets injured in a Test match and Australia name Mitch Marsh, an all-rounder, as his replacement, then the match-referee has the power to restrict Marsh from bowling in the match. Overall this is a welcome step as sometimes players play forcefully with injuries to get some runs or wickets because of the match situations. They need not to do such dangerous activities as now they can have replacement in their teams. What Is Concussion? The 4th international conference on "concussion in sport" held in Zurich in 2012, defined concussion as a brain injury that may be caused either by a direct blow to the head, face, neck or elsewhere on the body with an impulsive force transmitted to the head. Concussion temporarily affects brain functionality. Its symptoms could include loss of consciousness, memory loss, headaches, difficulty with thinking, concentration or balance, nausea, blurred vision, sleep disturbance and mood changes. Following the dearth of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes, who was hit on the head by a bouncer in a Sheffield Shield first class match in 2014, The International Cricket Council (ICC), in July 2019 approved level to level player replacement in the case of concussion in cricket. Several other sports like basketball, ice hockey, rugby, football have also instituted specific concussion related protocols.
A Substitute Who Batted For The First Time In Cricket
In the second Ashes Cricket Test match 2019, Marnus Labuschagne become the first ever "concussion substitute" and in fact the first ever substitute player to bat in a test innings.He also got a half century in 2nd innings. We all know that in cricket a substitute can neither do Batting, Bowling, Wicket-Keeping or the role of a captain. But in the 2nd test match between England and Australia a substitute batted for the first time in cricket. He is allowed to do so with the new rules which came into force from August 1st allowing a level to level player replacement in playing 11 in case of concussion injury. Australian Batsmen Steve Smith was injured by a bouncer from England pacer Jofra Archer in the first innings of the 2nd Ashes test in London on August 17th. Smith was batting at 80 before the bouncer hit him on his neck. He retired then, conducted concussion test and returned to the crease after some time. He got out in 1st innings LBW Woakes. But when he woke up on Sunday morning August 18th he is suffering from headache and concussion. Australia Cricket management requested match referee for a replacement of Smith with a level to level substitute Marnus Labuschagne. Match referees will have a huge say if a team decides to bring a substitute during a match. As per ICC Cricket Operations boss Geoff Allardice, the match referees will determine who the concussion substitute is and he has the power to restrict a player from bowling in order for the replacement to be considered like-for-like. For example, If David Warner, a pure batsman, gets injured in a Test match and Australia name Mitch Marsh, an all-rounder, as his replacement, then the match-referee has the power to restrict Marsh from bowling in the match. Overall this is a welcome step as sometimes players play forcefully with injuries to get some runs or wickets because of the match situations. They need not to do such dangerous activities as now they can have replacement in their teams. What Is Concussion? The 4th international conference on "concussion in sport" held in Zurich in 2012, defined concussion as a brain injury that may be caused either by a direct blow to the head, face, neck or elsewhere on the body with an impulsive force transmitted to the head. Concussion temporarily affects brain functionality. Its symptoms could include loss of consciousness, memory loss, headaches, difficulty with thinking, concentration or balance, nausea, blurred vision, sleep disturbance and mood changes. Following the dearth of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes, who was hit on the head by a bouncer in a Sheffield Shield first class match in 2014, The International Cricket Council (ICC), in July 2019 approved level to level player replacement in the case of concussion in cricket. Several other sports like basketball, ice hockey, rugby, football have also instituted specific concussion related protocols.
Australia: The Eternal Champions
"Cometh the hour, cometh the champions." When it comes to rising from wreckage, Australians are the absolute masters. They are often described as bent on winning, no matter the cost. This attitude makes them look arrogant and even cheats at times but their never-say-die spirit puts them apart from the rest of the world. Going back to the 80s when the Australian cricket was in some disarray, a gentleman called Allan Border took charge and Australia has never looked back since then. If you look at the way they have played through the last two decades, you feel that they are butchers. They don't just beat the opposition, they choke them and humiliate them until their opposition surrenders. They have been led by inspirational captains like Allan Border, Mark Taylor, Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke. They always led by example and taught their players to play hard and give their 100% Australian cricket has not produced just cricketers, it has produced fighters. Imagine if Steve Waugh had not fought a lost battle against India at Sydney in 2004, India perhaps would have won their first test series in Australia. When it comes to the belief that "we can win", no one had it more than the great Shane Warne. The 1996 World Cup semi-final against the West Indies was lost long ago. Shane Warne though had other ideas. He spun the match in the favour of the Aussies and they went on to win from nowhere. He did something similar in the Ashes 2006. The Australian players themselves resigned to the fact they could not win that test match. But Warne said a few magical words in the dressing room when turned the tide in Australian's favour. Glenn Mcgrath was also a similar character. He would predict a complete whitewash for the opposition before the start of every series and then he would lead by example. Another thing that has been unique to Australia is their tough mental character. They believe they can't lose. In fact, they find winning ways from precarious situations. They are not overawed by the situations and back their skills. This the reason why their big players stand up at critical phases of the game. This is how you win World Cups and they have as many as five of them. Clearly, they are the world-beaters. If we would make an all-time XI for the last two or three decades, we can pick almost all the eleven players from Australia. They produced innumerable match-winners, so many of whom are regarded as legends of the game. Having so many quality players as they had over the years would make the perfect case for them to dominate world cricket for so long. They would study the opposition and exploit its weaknesses. However, they always played on their strengths and not on others' weaknesses. Such confidence comes through repeated performances which always reflected in their body language. Once they got hold of the opposition, they would torment them and literally embarrass them. No matter how good the Australians are off the field, they have always been far from amiable on the field. They would sledge their opponents in such a manner that it would cause a lapse in their concentration. They often said controversial things just before the start of a series to pump their rivals up. Mcgrath said he would torment Brian Lara in the 1999 World Cup though that was a must-win game for the Aussies. However, he kept his word and Australians went on to win the World Cup. Crossing limits to win a game was going to haunt them at some stage and it did happen in 2018 post which the team in yellow was a mere shadow of the Australians that we knew. Their win percentage in 2018 was worst among all test-playing nations. That was a rare sight. However, it was only a matter of time before they would recover. The likes of West Indies have never been able to repeat past glories. Sri Lanka too has been in disarray for quite some time now. Australia, though, was not going to be in turmoil for too long. They bounced back with two series wins against India and Pakistan and they seem to be the team to beat in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. They have their key players back along with their belief. They have the momentum as well as form. So, that's what champion sides do, they raise their game when it matters. Australia does this better than the rest.
Australia: The Eternal Champions
"Cometh the hour, cometh the champions." When it comes to rising from wreckage, Australians are the absolute masters. They are often described as bent on winning, no matter the cost. This attitude makes them look arrogant and even cheats at times but their never-say-die spirit puts them apart from the rest of the world. Going back to the 80s when the Australian cricket was in some disarray, a gentleman called Allan Border took charge and Australia has never looked back since then. If you look at the way they have played through the last two decades, you feel that they are butchers. They don't just beat the opposition, they choke them and humiliate them until their opposition surrenders. They have been led by inspirational captains like Allan Border, Mark Taylor, Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke. They always led by example and taught their players to play hard and give their 100% Australian cricket has not produced just cricketers, it has produced fighters. Imagine if Steve Waugh had not fought a lost battle against India at Sydney in 2004, India perhaps would have won their first test series in Australia. When it comes to the belief that "we can win", no one had it more than the great Shane Warne. The 1996 World Cup semi-final against the West Indies was lost long ago. Shane Warne though had other ideas. He spun the match in the favour of the Aussies and they went on to win from nowhere. He did something similar in the Ashes 2006. The Australian players themselves resigned to the fact they could not win that test match. But Warne said a few magical words in the dressing room when turned the tide in Australian's favour. Glenn Mcgrath was also a similar character. He would predict a complete whitewash for the opposition before the start of every series and then he would lead by example. Another thing that has been unique to Australia is their tough mental character. They believe they can't lose. In fact, they find winning ways from precarious situations. They are not overawed by the situations and back their skills. This the reason why their big players stand up at critical phases of the game. This is how you win World Cups and they have as many as five of them. Clearly, they are the world-beaters. If we would make an all-time XI for the last two or three decades, we can pick almost all the eleven players from Australia. They produced innumerable match-winners, so many of whom are regarded as legends of the game. Having so many quality players as they had over the years would make the perfect case for them to dominate world cricket for so long. They would study the opposition and exploit its weaknesses. However, they always played on their strengths and not on others' weaknesses. Such confidence comes through repeated performances which always reflected in their body language. Once they got hold of the opposition, they would torment them and literally embarrass them. No matter how good the Australians are off the field, they have always been far from amiable on the field. They would sledge their opponents in such a manner that it would cause a lapse in their concentration. They often said controversial things just before the start of a series to pump their rivals up. Mcgrath said he would torment Brian Lara in the 1999 World Cup though that was a must-win game for the Aussies. However, he kept his word and Australians went on to win the World Cup. Crossing limits to win a game was going to haunt them at some stage and it did happen in 2018 post which the team in yellow was a mere shadow of the Australians that we knew. Their win percentage in 2018 was worst among all test-playing nations. That was a rare sight. However, it was only a matter of time before they would recover. The likes of West Indies have never been able to repeat past glories. Sri Lanka too has been in disarray for quite some time now. Australia, though, was not going to be in turmoil for too long. They bounced back with two series wins against India and Pakistan and they seem to be the team to beat in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. They have their key players back along with their belief. They have the momentum as well as form. So, that's what champion sides do, they raise their game when it matters. Australia does this better than the rest.
Australia: The Eternal Champions
"Cometh the hour, cometh the champions." When it comes to rising from wreckage, Australians are the absolute masters. They are often described as bent on winning, no matter the cost. This attitude makes them look arrogant and even cheats at times but their never-say-die spirit puts them apart from the rest of the world. Going back to the 80s when the Australian cricket was in some disarray, a gentleman called Allan Border took charge and Australia has never looked back since then. If you look at the way they have played through the last two decades, you feel that they are butchers. They don't just beat the opposition, they choke them and humiliate them until their opposition surrenders. They have been led by inspirational captains like Allan Border, Mark Taylor, Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke. They always led by example and taught their players to play hard and give their 100% Australian cricket has not produced just cricketers, it has produced fighters. Imagine if Steve Waugh had not fought a lost battle against India at Sydney in 2004, India perhaps would have won their first test series in Australia. When it comes to the belief that "we can win", no one had it more than the great Shane Warne. The 1996 World Cup semi-final against the West Indies was lost long ago. Shane Warne though had other ideas. He spun the match in the favour of the Aussies and they went on to win from nowhere. He did something similar in the Ashes 2006. The Australian players themselves resigned to the fact they could not win that test match. But Warne said a few magical words in the dressing room when turned the tide in Australian's favour. Glenn Mcgrath was also a similar character. He would predict a complete whitewash for the opposition before the start of every series and then he would lead by example. Another thing that has been unique to Australia is their tough mental character. They believe they can't lose. In fact, they find winning ways from precarious situations. They are not overawed by the situations and back their skills. This the reason why their big players stand up at critical phases of the game. This is how you win World Cups and they have as many as five of them. Clearly, they are the world-beaters. If we would make an all-time XI for the last two or three decades, we can pick almost all the eleven players from Australia. They produced innumerable match-winners, so many of whom are regarded as legends of the game. Having so many quality players as they had over the years would make the perfect case for them to dominate world cricket for so long. They would study the opposition and exploit its weaknesses. However, they always played on their strengths and not on others' weaknesses. Such confidence comes through repeated performances which always reflected in their body language. Once they got hold of the opposition, they would torment them and literally embarrass them. No matter how good the Australians are off the field, they have always been far from amiable on the field. They would sledge their opponents in such a manner that it would cause a lapse in their concentration. They often said controversial things just before the start of a series to pump their rivals up. Mcgrath said he would torment Brian Lara in the 1999 World Cup though that was a must-win game for the Aussies. However, he kept his word and Australians went on to win the World Cup. Crossing limits to win a game was going to haunt them at some stage and it did happen in 2018 post which the team in yellow was a mere shadow of the Australians that we knew. Their win percentage in 2018 was worst among all test-playing nations. That was a rare sight. However, it was only a matter of time before they would recover. The likes of West Indies have never been able to repeat past glories. Sri Lanka too has been in disarray for quite some time now. Australia, though, was not going to be in turmoil for too long. They bounced back with two series wins against India and Pakistan and they seem to be the team to beat in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. They have their key players back along with their belief. They have the momentum as well as form. So, that's what champion sides do, they raise their game when it matters. Australia does this better than the rest.