Even a couple of years ago, everyone was talking about how great the Australian Cricket structure was. Their talent scouting, number of quality coaches, infrastructure, consistency in selection, modern coaching methods................the list was endless. Based on such a hype, every other country was scrambling for Australian coaches and trying to replicate their system.
There were saner voices that cautioned the enthusiasts that Australia were a great team because it contained some wonderfully talented players like Shane Warne, Gilchrist, McGarth, Ponting, Waugh twins, David Boon, Allan Border, McDermot, Hughes, Taylor........... The system was only secondary, though it helped maximize the efficiency of these players.
We were told about how the system traps the talent at a very young age, hones their skills and makes them battle hard to face the rigorous test that International cricket offers.
What no one noticed was that Australia, for the past one decade, has not been throwing up enough talent, despite the system. This weakness was hidden by the good to great bunch of players they had at the top. The Clarkes, Husseys, Katichs, Watsons, Johnsons, Hauritzs just were not good enough. And there is nothing in the pipeline. These players have been exposed. When the nation asked them to put up their hand when the need arose, they froze.
The Australians also boasted of how good their selection panel was and how ruthless they were when it comes to easing out out of form or even established players. They pointed out to how the nudge was given to Steve Waugh and even Taylor. They said the baggy green cap has to be earned. These days every tom, dick, harry and beer gets the baggy green cap. The selectors remind of the bunch of jokers that India had, making irrational choices and decisions, and sticking to out of form players. Ponting has failed as a Captain. But they couldn't do anything as there is no successor. Clarke should have been put to pasture for his poor performance. But he continues. Why they persisted with North is a mystery. Perhaps not. There just isn't anyone to replace him. The bowling has been pathetic, and we see different set of bowlers for each Test. And they are dropping catches by buckets. When you had great players, you can brag about how competitive the team is. This team is known more for chickening out than for staying and fighting.
So much for their system.
Contrast this with India. Despite the lack of system, it has thrown up more talent during the last decade than any other country. Kohli, Pujara, Raina, Vijay on the batting front, Ishant Sharma, Ashwin, Ojha, Vinay Kumar etc on the bowling front have all done more than adequately and are ready to step into the vaccum to be created by the Fab 4 retiring. Ganguly's retirement hardly made a dent, nor did Kumble's retirement. Despite losing promising players like Irfan Pathan, R P Singh, VRV Singh, the second team thrashed New Zealand 5-0, under a new Captain Gautam Gambhir.
So will the world now emulate the Indian system, where chaos rules, but money becomes a big motivator for youngsters to fight to reach the top?
We have to wait and watch.
