The Serve

Aussie cricketers running out of time for Victory

The same day the Australian cricketers lost their 4th straight one-dayer as well as their top ranking, the Melbourne Victory fulfilled the promise of a dominant season, romping home with A-League championship. Yeah, what’s the common link? Excellent question.

Sport is littered with teams who monstered a season, only to inexplicably splutter to a wretched conclusion. We can talk about Port Adelaide in any of the three years before they won the AFL flag. Ditto every All Blacks outfit since the first rugby world cup. Perhaps most evidently, The Parramatta Eels raced away with the rugby league minor premiership in 2001. They had top spot wrapped up so far away from the finals, there were several weeks to twiddle their thumbs. Then came the tinkering. Coach Brian Smith tried a number of innovations, including removing a player in the final ten minutes of a meaningless match, to get his side used to playing a man down, ‘just in case’. Result: Eels down 24-blot at half time in the grand final. Season botched.

But what’s this got to do with cricket? I’m getting there

Like the Eels, Victory put a vast gap between themselves and the field. The playoffs started in late January. The premiership was over in the middle of December. A lot of time to twiddle. Enough time for the coach to bemoan a competition which doesn’t reward first past the post. Enough time to go winless for their remaining three regular season matches, including a 4-nil embarrassment in Newcastle. A leg and a half into the major semi final with Adelaide, the trend persisted. With verve and luck, Victory got its act together in the nick of time to scorch the competition. A rare wake up call amongst falling tall timber.

Are we ever getting to the cricket? Desperate Housewives is about to start. OK, fine.

This collapsing mentality, usually confined to football teams, appears to have seeped into the one-day side. Things were going so splendidly, a spot in the recent home triangular series assured midway through, the approaching world cup looking breezy. Along comes twiddle time, so everything changes. Attacks chopped and changed. Captain and vice captain allowed to skip a series. The coach asking the opposition to improve. The coach completely transforming the training regime, so they can taper. Are they cricketers or swimmers? As if inspecting from a distance, karma steps in almost disdainfully and injuries take hold. A team that was peerless is now in the pack. Foreboding has become merely serviceable. Opposition teams know they can run through the batsmen, they know they can chase down 300 and beyond. The aura is disappearing. Fast.

Like the football examples, the cricketers have hit a hole at the worst time. Unlike the examples, they don’t yet have the protection of a minor premiership. They start the world cup as an equal. The Victory woke up. The jury is still out on the Australians.