Related Links : Australia Vs England, 2nd Ashes Test at Adelaide, 2010 : England’s Tour of Australia 2010/11 : Australia Player Pages
Australia defeated by an innings and 71 runs against England in Adelaide.
If you have been following cricket religiously for the last 10-15 years, you are forgiven to think the above news to be fictious. But to be brutally honest, the harsh reality is that Australia face the ignominy of becoming the new West Indies.
The Australian dominance started in the mid 90s, with Mark Taylor slowly but steadily building a team, which would rule the cricketing world for years to come. In the period of the next 10-12 years, Australia nearly conquered anything and everything that came their way. What Taylor had started, Steve Waugh continued and guided the side to the pinnacle, and when Ricky Ponting took over the reigns, he just had to continue the good work. But as it is often seen, consistent success and due dominance inevitably gives birth to a murderous disease called ‘Arrogance’. Australia had started to look down upon the cricketing fraternity. They had started to lose respect from their rivals. The Aussies had reached the summit, and they could have only slided down. The death bells had started ringing, when they went through a rough patch right before the 2007 Cricket World Cup, but somehow managed to hold on to the trophy. They lost the Ashes twice in a span of four years. And their might against the Indians was always in doubt, as the recent encounters had proved. Now the Aussies have failed to register a victory in their last 5 Tests, and the worst part is that they face the humiliation to lose the Ashes in their own backyard.
It’s true that its hard to fill the void of the likes of Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Glen McGrath and Shane Warne. Australia in its true sense is going through a transition phase and will bounce back with their indomitable fighting spirit sooner or later. But bringing the Aussies down, was so very essential for the cricketing world, and giving them a reality check even more. A healthy competition between all the cricketing nations needs to prevail, for cricket to spread its wings globally. Andrew Strauss and Co. surely deserves accolades for putting this final nail in the Aussie coffin.