The Making of "Australia - The Team To Beat"

When the One-Day Internationals were first introduced in the early 70's, no team had a clear idea as to how to go about playing the format. All they knew was that there were 60 overs to score as much as they could and then bowl out or restrict the opposition or to chase down whatever the target was. But there was no particular game plan, no strategic manoeuvres, no fantastic mind games and most importantly, there were no One-Day specialists. In short, the sophistication of the present day was not there 35-40 years ago. Masters of the Test format were founding wanting in the shorter version. But there was one exception - West Indies. Led by a stand-out performer in Clive Lloyd, the ever-dangerous Sir Vivian Richards to guide them and with a bowling attack boasting with the likes of Julien, Boyce, Holder, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner and Michael Holding, no wonder this "dream team" became a real force to reckon with in the cricketing world. They ruled the game for nearly two decades, a period which included the famous World Cup triumphs of 1975 and 1979.

Sadly, as the big guns started quitting, West Indies cricket plunged into darkness. No one, not even a once-in-a-lifetime-cricketer like Brian Charles Lara could save them from the depths of despair. The newcomers failed miserably and just did not have it in them to step into the shoes of their Masters.

Cricket, then became more competent with every team staking a claim for the top spot. Matches were more closely fought (some even very fiercely!) than ever and their control switched 'n' number of times before a winner came out on top, bruised and battered. This phenomena is very much evident from the fact that the the World Cup was won by four different teams from 1983 to 1996.

1983 - India.

1987 - Australia.

1992 - Pakistan.

1996 - Sri Lanka.

However, the competency factor took a severe beating from then on. Again, the world witnessed the rise of a super-power in cricket. A team that went on to demolish anything that came in it's way and re-wrote infinite number of cricket records. It had players who lived up to the definition of the phrase "team game". An apt analogy would be that of warriors in a battlefield - each fighting for the cause at hand while also defending members of his/her own clan. More precisely put, this team had surpassed all the achievements of the West Indies team of the 70's and 80's. Importantly, it is still continuing with the trend of making winning a habit which it's players had inherited from the retired geniuses. And that team, which everyone knows, is Australia.

For the beginning of any era there should be a ''the moment". And such a moment for Australia occurred on 13th June, 1999 at Leeds and just seemed to have continued four days later at Birmingham. On both occasions, South Africa was the opponent. In the first instance, Gibbs dropped a sitter to let off Steve Waugh and eventually Australia with the match. And then, the most famous match in cricket's history. The tied second semi-final of the 1999 World Cup. Klusener's heroics went in vain and was over-shadowed by "the magician" Shane Warne. Australia went on to thrash Pakistan in the final by 8 wickets and thus began their journey of domination of world cricket.

Steve Waugh, nurtured by the tactically brilliant Mark Taylor, created a team of players who could survive any kind of situation and take up any challenge thrown at them. He was blessed with the talents of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Bevan, Damien Martyn, Jason Gillespie, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ian Healy and Adam Gilchrist. But still, these players had to be groomed in the right way and that's exactly what Waugh did. The captain, too, led from the front on many instances - either batting, fielding or even bowling. He developed a team that was never short of match-winners. Part of the success should also be attributed to the professional manner in which the Australian domestic players are trained. The Aussies have one of the best domestic circuits in the globe. Players are mentally and physically prepared for the big moments so that they could prove themselves at the highest level of the game. Later on, the mantle was passed on to Ponting and he's doing a fantastic job of leading the new brigade sans geniuses.

One of the most striking aspects of Australian cricket is that they always had back-ups. They were, not for once, found short of finding players to fulfill the void left by the "biggies". Everything was planned to perfection with the aim of taking their game forward. They also realized that exceptional talent (like the ones mentioned above) did not come everyday. As a result, they also took up the task of making the younger generation work harder for a place in a team at any level of the game. Subsequently, ordinary players were turned into amazing ones who were well equipped to burst into the international arena and give a consistent performance at that level. One example being the just-concluded series between India and Australia. The Aussies did not have the services of McGrath, Warne or even a Lee or Clark or Bracken. The entire squad was plagued by injuries with 9 of the original 15 being sent back home to recover. Ricky had to find ways to give encouragement to the brand new ones and also to find means of making the team more competitive against the Indians at home. The new set of players, including Paine, Watson, Bollinger, Hauritz, White, Hussey, etc. repaid their country's and captain's faith and played very hard cricket. Their level was at a staggering high that the Indians had no clue of what was to be done. Finally, after three weeks of grinding it out across various stadiums in India, it was Australia, once again, that came up trumps with an emphatic 4-2 series win, when most expected a 6-1 or even a 7-0 Aussie drubbing by the Indians.

Another classic trait of the "Aussie Game" is their motto of playing the game very hard and their mind-set of "no game is won unless the last ball is bowled or the last run is scored or the last wicket is taken". A great but simple truth which is the mother of all ways of how the game is to be played and won. Kudos to the Aussies for imbibing this rule in their cricketing culture. No wonder they continue to dominate the Game of Cricket.