Last month, Australia completed a miserable cricket tour of India during which it lost all four Tests, the first time this has happened since 1970.<\/p>\n
On that occasion, a strong Australian team went to South Africa and was creamed 4-0; the South Africans were captained by Ali Bacher and included legends of the game like Graeme Pollock, Mike Proctor, Peter Pollock, Barry Richards and Eddie Barlow.<\/p>\n
But in India, a weak Australian team came up against opponents who were not that formidable. The one thing that was clearly observable was the fact that the shorter forms of the game have had a bad effect on the Australians’ ability to stay at the crease and grind out the runs.
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\nThe contributor to this lack of stickability is Twenty20 cricket. In the one-day game one has plenty of time to build an innings; the highest individual score in this form is 219, by the mercurial Indian, Virender Sehwag, against the West Indies in 2011. Sachin Tendulkar has made a double-century as well, against South Africa in 2010. In Twenty20, one cannot build an innings; one has to start swinging the willow from ball one.<\/p>\n
Additionally, Twenty20 games are generally played on placid surfaces to ensure that the batsmen can entertain the crowd. Else, the whole point of the game would be lost. Test cricket is often played on surfaces which try the patience of batsmen and that’s why it has that name – it is a test.<\/p>\n
India did not have a top-class bowling attack but the spinners it fielded were enough to bamboozle the Australians who are uncomfortable facing this kind of bowling. Australia’s bowling attack wasn’t all that bad apart from the spin department which was the area that needed to be strong.<\/p>\n
For Australia, losing in international cricket is a national shame. The country is crazy about sport, understandably so since it has little else to boast about. The sense of shame will be compounded in mid-year if Australia is unable to win back the Ashes from England. And things will really come to a head if the Australians are beaten again in the reverse Ashes which are to be played during the Australian summer.
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