The Long, Slippery Slope

Hooray!  Finally, some Test cricket.  Hello, to all my readers (including those spamming scoundrels from the Christmas Islands).  It has been a long time.

I am truly glad that the cricketing powers of Australia and Pakistan saw fit to start the Test series after the one and only, true, World Cup concluded.  And the Championships.  It’s the only excuse I can thinking of for continuing with mind-numbing one day fixtures.

It is good to see Pakistan giving Australia a good touch up.  And not surprising either, given the swinging ball and some quality bowlers.  England may be a good home venue for Pakistan.  Still, it is early days yet.  Australia has scrambled to 250 and Pakistan has yet to bat.  Trivia: This is the first neutral Test to be held in England since 1912 (when a tri-series was held between England, Australia and South Africa.  Yes – a tri-series – there is indeed, nothing new in the world).

More trivia: Before this match, Ponting’s average at Lords’ was less than 19.  He had scored just 109 runs in three Tests.  Clearly, he is not on the honour board at Lords’ and this Test gave him a bonus chance – probably a final chance – to get there.  If you ask me, Ponting is on the decline.  He is almost 36 years old.  He has retired from T20 cricket.  He didn’t exactly shoot the lights out in the recent five match series against England.  So we shall see.

Is Australia on the slippery slope?  The captain is struggling, key players are old and/or injured and the team is struggling.  England raced to a series winning 3-0 lead in the recent one day series.  Nothing to get too excited about – I’m sure most Englishmen would have taken that three and given it to a certain football team.  Perhaps the current summer is going to be more of a Test for Australia than some envisaged.

I wonder if the game of cricket itself is on the slippery slope.  I find the John Howard affair deeply troubling.  Whether or not you think Howard is suited to the job is neither here nor there.  Some might say he loves cricket and is an astute politician and would do a good job.  Others might say that it is a slap in the face for cricket administrators who have served the game all of their lives, know the intricacies of cricket, and have earned a chance at the top job.

What troubles me is that India, and hangers-on are going to rule the game inequitably for one reason:  Because they can.  They have already shown that they are not afraid to wield their power (remember the threat to go home from the last Indian tour of Australia?).  In the early eighties, India showed a favourable disposition to One Day Cricket.  It was hard to get them to engage in Tests.  That was before they were a super power in cricket.  Now they are the Super Power.

And now we have One Day cricket and T20.  And all that money.  I believe that Test cricket is under threat more now than at any other time.  And Test cricket to me is what it is all about.  No other form of the game plumbs the limits of skill and character.  Not even close.

I hope Australia and New Zealand sticks with Howard, simply on principle.  It is the turn of Australia and New Zealand to chose an nominee.  Blocking the applicant is just not cricket.  On 10 July Australia announced that it will continue to back Howard..  Australia and New Zealand have until 13 August to make a final decision and submit it to the ICC.  Until then, I’ll try to enjoy Pakistan’s home series in England.