The standard of cricket for this Ashes
series has been far from brilliant, with England
cruising into a comfortable 3-0 lead despite having been far from their best.
The fact Alastair Cook’s men have been, for the most part, so untroubled in
retaining the urn must be the biggest cause for concern for Australia .
The current tour of England ,
coupled with the whitewash in India ,
has marked a new low for a generation of fans who grew up expecting Australia
to win every match they played. The off field antics and reported dressing room
politics have done little to ease the concerns of those Down Under that a lot
of work needs to be done before Australia
can get back to somewhere near their best.
Wicketkeeper Brad Haddin’s admittance that England deserves
to be 3-0 up will have been a bitter pill to swallow for those inside and
outside the Aussie changing room. However, Haddin says there is still a belief
within the squad that they can avoid the biggest series defeat since losing 5-1
at home in a best-of-six series in the 1978/79.
That is more than likely just bravado from
a group of Australian players who have had their pride hurt by this year’s
event and know the sporting odds
is pointing menacingly towards a 4-0 thrashing. They’ll surely return home with
their tails between their legs at the end of this summer but in Coach Darren
Lehmann they have someone who will instil that fighting spirit which was
synonymous with Australia for so long but has been missing for a while.
The Aussies will begrudgingly accept, for
short period of time, a team low on quality as long as they fight. Australia
has shown that at times in this series but not often enough. If they are to
rebuild what once made them the powerhouse of world cricket they must dig their
heels in and make a stand against England
in the return Ashes series this winter.
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