ICC World Cup 2011 - SWOT Analysis : AUSTRALIA

Can he get his hat-trick?

   The period between 1998-2007, this team just could not do anything wrong. You could term that to be the 'GOLDEN ERA', undisputed champions of the world not just once but three consecutive world cup wins! add to that the '87 win courtesy Allan Border and his team. Well, times have changed, so have the men. The golden bunch have retired and made way to the young brigade who, have been struggling to continue the legacy. They aren't the feared opponents anymore like they were previously. They got beaten by Sri Lanka at home, burnt to Ashes by the Poms at home(Also!!). They have somehow clinched the 7 match ODI series and have avoided more humiliation. This series win might give them a moral boost as they leave to the sub-continent in a few days.
   "Cometh the hour, cometh the man" in this case men, umm.. Aussies if you don't call them men. They become a totally different side during the WC tournament. Take this for example: they have been undefeated for the last 29 WC games now and its just unbelievable!! Their squad is a mixed bag really, they have taken a back-up wicket keeper unlike most teams. But, Tim Paine sitting out for Brad Haddin is a shame really. Shaun Marsh, where is he? He's in the form of his life, still a genuine opening batsman cannot make it to a world cup, is a question the selectors haven't answered. Lee + Tait = handful, expect anyone to break down or fly home. And who the hell is John Hastings, anyways???

The 15 member squad looks like this: Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wk), Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Cameron White, Tim Paine (wk), Steven Smith, John Hastings, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, Doug Bollinger. 

STRENGTHS: 

• Shane Watson has been the pillar of strength for the team for quite some time now. His aggressive, yet cautious batting at the top combined with his wicket taking abilities with the ball has made him of the best all rounders in the world at present. As a result, the Australian team has looked more like Shane Watson + 10 other men on the field.
• Ponting's comeback from injury should steady the wobbly middle order. If Mike Huss gets fit and makes it to the XI, it will be a totally different team then. 
• #1 team in the world, they might have lost the top-spot in tests but, they are very much rule the roost in the ODI's. Add to  that the World Cup stage, they know how to run about their business.

WEAKNESS:

• Where is the spinner in the side ?? Hauritz? Smith? Hell NO! When other teams are stacking their squads with at least a couple of front-line spinners, Cricket Australia does a reversal. The seamers such as the revived Mitch hell Johnson, Doug ginger Bollinger, Shane can do it all Watson, Brett come back from the dead Lee, Shaun has still got it Tait have done the job so far for them. Come the world cup, the team will need them even more.
• Its been quite some time since the middle order contributed something useful. Clarke seems to be lost in a different world forever now. White and David Hussey haven't stepped up when needed and impressed either.

OPPORTUNITIES:

• Its a make or break chance for Hauritz. He's another top-casualty in the injury list at the moment. If he doesn't make his captain happy this time, he better start looking for retirement plans PRONTO!
• Its a huge stage for SPD Smith to perform. He has been sneaking away by scoring 20s and picking up a couple of wickets in the middle overs. This is the time for him to make it big and become a permanent member of the squad for at least a year or two.
• Off Cricket, its a known fact Tait has had some mysterious psychological problem. Its the perfect place(India) for him to meet an Exorcist and kill the ghosts of his inconsistent past.

THREATS:

• Injured Mike Huss is a big blow to the brewing problems for the Aussie mid-order. The current problem is that, their batting only 1 or 2 guys firing in a match. Sooner the problem is resolved, better for them.
• They aren't the same juggernaut now, a few screws loose here & there. The team is highly dependent on the seamers for a while now, and its high time they raised their game as they have to fight it out against the top teams. Back the Aussies to do exactly that, as there is no better stage for the Aussies than the "world cup".

   Never take the yellow fellows lightly. Come the mother of all competitions, they pull up their socks and play the game at their best, as it should be played. In all world cup competitions they have won 51 out of their 69 games. Ricky's side might be a mixed-bag of sorts but, it has potential to be world champs. So, will Ricky get his 3rd world cup title as captain? Something, even Clive Lloyd and the mighty Windies failed to achieve. Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy...

DLF IPL 3.0 Dudes to Duds

The IPL is everywhere... everywhere you go, everywhere you see, and mostly everywhere you don't want it to be. Among all this hara-kiri some expected IPL heroes have disappointed. This post is dedicated to them, thanks to restore sanity and help us waste time just hoping today you will fire.

K xi P - yea, the entire team has been a tad disappointing. I'm sure the boys know it themselves.

Haydos - the Mongoose man is yet top breathe fire like he did in the previous IPL's. (this post was drafted way before Hayden tore apart the Daredevil attack and left them crying like babies. I take credit for his knock.)

Dilfan - Considering Delhi's majestic line-up. It is hard to expect a knock from each of the top5. But 0,0,17 (15 against CSK) is just hard to digest.

Yuvi - The last time he hit it was 2009!

Che Pujara - First lack of opportunity, now lack of patience from KKR.

Poppadom Smith - Yet another finger injury, end of the road for him.

Jayasurya - If he's in the team for his bowling then pardon me but, his bat has not done the tonking it promises.

AB DeVil - Was found under-par when DD needed him the most.

Sangakkara - Has not been comfortable, lacked imagination couldn't defend 200+ score! ahem..

Freefanth (Aapam choo..) - I duno why anyone has expectations from him.

Sloon Tait - Fast & Furious, all over the place.

Dada - Captaincy may have been inspiring. Still a lot left to cheer, a long way to go.


The tournament is alive, still a lot to play for. It is difficult to judge too soon. It may be too harsh on a few, DC haven't played too much so many DC players get away. Rajasthan Royals look to be getting into deeper mess with Smith, Dimi being ruled out. Martyn not performing, Lumb flopped as well. Captain Warney now is bit to follow on twitter.

IPL 3.0 Royal Spirit

RAJASTHAN ROYALS

Introducing this team is like showing light to the sun(LOL), from being the under-dog champions to now being over-rated chimps they have done it all in just 2 seasons of IPL. The big news last year was Shilpa Shetty and her beau who had bought stakes in the champion side. From there on everything seemed to go down-hill literally! Warne the chief-in-charge could not re-create the magic the Royals put up in the debut season. Partly due to missing key players like Watson and Tanvir who were very effective in the inaugural season. Even Graeme Smith dint look in touch even at home conditions. So, they ended up missing the cut to the semis but, entertained us with a few fiercely fought games. Thus, keeping us interested in the Royals.

This year they have done Warne some favour and made him feel at home by bringing in some of his mates from down under and his county side Hampshire. Michael Lumb currently making news is also one to look out for. Damien Martyn was probably the steal for them in the auctions it has to be seen whether he stands to that. Otherwise losing Kaif and Jadeja has made their domestic rooster even more brittle. Apart from that Royals planning to expand their franchise even outside India is a bold and great move.

SQUAD: Shane Warne, Johan Botha, Damien Martyn, Michael Lumb,Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Shrikant Wagh, Abhishek Raut, Sumit Narwal, Faiz Fazal, Syed Ahmed Quadri, Amit Paunikar, Kamran Khan, Amit Singh, Graeme Smith, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Morne Morkel, Shaun Tait, Munaf Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Sidharth Trivedi, Swapnil Asnodkar, Mahesh Rawat, Naman Ojha, Amit Paunikar.

STRENGTHS: Warne's captaincy, his ability to make heroes out of unknowns.

WEAKNESS: Domestic players aren't top-class or even half of that. Sticking to just 4 foreign players will be tough.

WATCH OUT FOR: Michael Lumb as said earlier, Shaun SLOON Tait who's been in impressive form for Australia in T20s.

WAH's xi:

• Smith
• Naman Ojha
• Abhishek Jhunjhunwala
• Damien Martyn/Michael Lumb
• Dimitri Mascarenhas/Shane Watson
• Yusuf Pathan
• Shane Warne©
• Abhishek Raut
• Kamran Khan
• Sidharth Trivedi
• Munaf Patel

WAH Say: The team looks mighty weak, if they need Tait/Morkel they would have to either drop a foreign player who can bat. The pinch of losing Jadeja, Kaif is gonna feel like a sledge hammer slammed on to your face! Sure to end at the bottom of the league table. Expect very few wins this time. Ex-champions will have to remain "ex".

World T20 champs, Unbeaten side of the summer & Chockers

Announcing a list of 30 probables may not be fair on most teams. Where India, Pakistan, Australia, England will be sad only 30 probables are allowed. West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Bangladesh will have to run a nation-wide talent hunt to choose 30 cricketers.

Pakistan have shown exactly why the format is tailor made for them. Runners-up in the first edition and champions in the second. They have talent in heaps as the match gets over in 40 at the most 42 overs!
This meaning they dont get bored to death fielding and start biting balls or get run-over by human trucks or want to have a dope in between overs. This is how their 30 list looks like : Imran Nazir, Imran Farhat, Khalid Latif, Mohammad Hafeez, Salman Butt, Shahzaib Hassan, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Naveed Yasin, Hasan Raza, Kamran Younis, Misbah-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Fawad Alam, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Yasir Arafat, Hammad Azam, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Sami, Saeed Ajmal, Raza Hasan, Abdul Rehman, Kamran Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Zulqarnain Haider.
No Shoaib Akhtar! No Tanvir. Too many new names, I cant comment anything. Strong team nevertheless.

The once mighty Aussies now running a 3-legged race with Ind and Saf for the top spot have had a phenomenal year. Barring the Ashes and the world T20 they won everything infact every game! Unbeaten until the last T20 against the Kiwis they seem to have now finally settled into a T20 combination.
The Pace attack looks the quickest set in a long time and hitters are no less. Aggression seems to be the key once again in the Aussie camp and dont be surprised if they manage to conquer the world T20 in their 3rd attempt.
Michael Clarke (capt), George Bailey, Travis Birt, Doug Bollinger, Nathan Bracken, Daniel Christian, Ben Cutting, Xavier Doherty, Brad Haddin (wk), Ryan Harris, John Hastings, Nathan Hauritz, Moises Henriques, Brad Hodge, James Hopes, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Andrew McDonald, Shaun Marsh, Clint McKay, Dirk Nannes, Tim Paine (wk), Steven Smith, Shaun Tait, Adam Voges, David Warner, Shane Watson, Cameron White.
Graham Manou lost out its sad, Hodge is still considered is a big news in itself. Looks like a very strong and high profile list of contenders. Must be very difficult to get down to the final squad.

The Chockers oops.. Saffers have long proven to be the ultimate no.2 team in the world. They work hard, play well, win and when it comes to earning rewards they choke. That's what they do for a living basically.
Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Abdulla, Hashim Amla, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Colin Ingram, Justin Kemp, Rory Kleinveldt, Charl Langeveldt, Ethy Mbhalati, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe, Johannes van der Wath, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Morne van Wyk.

Quick Updates: Oz Vs Kiwis T20 #2

As expected, Kiwis did bounce back in this match. It was one the spine chilling,nail biting,high in adrenalin kinda finish. I am yet to get over it. Kiwis won the toss and elected to bat ,again! It was a one man show for Kiwis. Baz McScoop, oops McCullum was hitting the ball to only one place, over Haddin's head!!! wonder if he was aiming for his face!He scored more than 70 of his 116 behind the wicket.He has probably changed Dilscoop to McScoop today . It was an aggressive, fearless, swashbuckling etc .. innings from the Kiwi opener. He went behind the bowlers right from the word GO! Wickets kept tumbling needlessly at the other end. Hopkins played a cameo and thats when Kiwis started feasting on the Kangaroos. 137 runs came of the last 10 overs. The ball got a severe thrashing as it went screaming all over the ground, mainly over Haddin. Kiwis ended their innings with a mammoth 214/6. Mind-blowing innings by Baz. The target was always going to be more than a daunting task. Warner and Haddin opened the innings for Aus and Warner jet-rocketed again to 20 off just 10 balls until Bond struck again! Haddin and Pup then, played sensibly and always had the run rate under control. After Haddin departed, the White-Bear took strike. This was one of his best innings for Aus. He was not timing, but muscling the ball. Finally it boiled down to 36 of 3 overs. Southee bowled one the best overs one can ever imagine. White and Pup did bounce back in the last 2 overs. Three runs required from 1 ball. It was all drama out there. Pup slogged it to the cow corner , where N.McCull saved a certain boundary and ran out Clarke during his 3rd run. OMG! It was a TIE! How many times will Aus tie with NZ?? White finished with 64 of just 26 balls and Pup scored 67. It was time for a tie breaker, i.e the Super Over. As expected , Southee bowled for NZ and White ,Warner and Haddin were the batsmen for Aus . It was indeed a "Super" over by Tim Southee indeed, giving away just 6 runs and dismissed Warner too. It was an easy task for the Kiwis now. It was a surprise, when Tait(Nannes would the best choice) was given the ball. With Tait bowled as if he was spreading jam all over his bread. 2 wides in a super over prove costly! McCullum and Guptill reached the target with ease and squared the series in style.
McCullum was the Man of the Match,but according to me ,it was Tim Southee.
Wonder, if Baz and MSD will join hands and write a book on the UNORTHODOX CRICKET :P

Quick Updates: Oz Vs Kiwis T20 #1

After beating Windies ruthlessly, the Ozzies landed in Kiwi-land. There weren't any changes in both the teams. NZ won the toss and elected to bat(LOL!).
Things didn't start the way the Kiwis expected. Tait spit fire again. Nannes's bowling was tight . Mitchell 'Notch'Johnson was the hero with the ball as he picked up 3 wickets and giving away just 19 runs of his 4 overs. Twatto picked up 2 as well. James'I-am-not-a-bowler-anymore'Franklin top-scored with 43 runs.Kiwis succumbed to the raw pace and were bowled out for 118. It was never a tough ask for the OZ. Warner and Watto continued to belt the bowling . They got off to a flier, scoring 38 of 3 overs. 81 runs were required of 17 overs. DJ and Pup steered the team to an easy victory. DJ top-scored with a quick-fire 46(36), missed on a well deserved half-ton. Ithchy-Mitchell Johnson was the obvious choice for the M.O.M.
It was a one sided affair. Aussies continue their unbeaten streak this summer. I hope Kiwis bounce back in the next game(If they turn up that is)

Quick Update: Aus Pak T20 match

It was a nail-biting finish to what should have been an easy affair. Aussies elected to bat after winning the toss. They lost Twatto early, guess his muscles were still stiff. “Lloyd” Warner and Capt. Pup gave a solid start and they were 50/1 after 6 overs. Then wickets tumbled with White doing his massacre in style. DJ Hussey(40*) was the mainstay of the batting and steered them to a miserable score of 127. Pakistan bowling and fielding was top-notch and showed why they simply love this format of the game and why they are the T20 World Champions at the moment. Right from the wicket of Watson, the fielders were charged up. Wickets of White , Pup and Nannes can prove it. Bowling, after 6 overs was right on the money. Shoaib“I’m the Capt. Haha”Malik, Umer“I luv T20”Gul and Saeed“Side 2 Side”Ajmal tightened the screws.

Then came Pakistan batting. The openers were erratic and were out cheaply. It was nice to see Shaun"Sloon"Tait back in the side. His opening spell was just breathtaking. The line, length, pace everything was excellent. He was well supported by Dirty Dirk Nannes from the other end who was also pacy. Then came in Kamran"Butterfingers"Akmal and counter-attacked really well. Kamran stuck onto Johnson in his first over and then he came back nicely. It was a swashbuckling innings of 64 from just 34 deliveries. He almost led Pakistan to victory. He was dropped on 64 and unfortunately he was out the next ball. Wickets started tumbling from then on. The Australian bowling was just fantastic... Watson was useful too. The young lad, Steven Peter Devereux Smith was pretty impressive with his leggies. MOM was Sloon Tait for his 3/13 from 4 breathtaking overs.

Turning Point: Many may say that the turning point was the wicket of Kamran Akmal, but according to me, the 17th over bowled by Mitch Johnson, was the turning point. Rana Naved ate all the balls and got out the next over.

So, it’s been a " DEFINETELY FORGETTABLE TOUR " for the visitors. They must feel like eating cricket balls right now (If you know what I mean..) White washed !!

• 3-0 in Tests


• 5-0 in ODIs


• 1-0 in T20