GuyFromLancs
Well-known member
Read an excellent article in the Daily Telegraph by Michael Holding today - in it he mentions something that occured to me a few week ago. Bearing in mind I don't follow Austrlaian cricket as devotedly as some, it struck me that Australia have a legion of youngsters who aren't actually very young at all.
For some reasons, probably a combination of inexperience, inconsistency, technical issues, and whatever else, I think of Watson, Tait, Johnson, Hilf, and couple of others off the top of my head as kids who in 5 years will rule the cricketing world. Except they are clearly not. They are all, more or less pushing 30. Not much younger than Ponting, Hayden, Langer et al were 5 short summers ago when we reclaimed the Ashes after 16 years.
The difference being that the latter by this time were proven world-beaters, giants in status and deed. The current lot, Clarke included despite his exposure to test cricket, still seem and have the aura of talented kids.
Have they been held back by superlative elders, or are they simply not good enough to rule the world?
The worrying thing for Australian cricket IMO is that they need a new generation beyond this new generation and pretty quickly.
For some reasons, probably a combination of inexperience, inconsistency, technical issues, and whatever else, I think of Watson, Tait, Johnson, Hilf, and couple of others off the top of my head as kids who in 5 years will rule the cricketing world. Except they are clearly not. They are all, more or less pushing 30. Not much younger than Ponting, Hayden, Langer et al were 5 short summers ago when we reclaimed the Ashes after 16 years.
The difference being that the latter by this time were proven world-beaters, giants in status and deed. The current lot, Clarke included despite his exposure to test cricket, still seem and have the aura of talented kids.
Have they been held back by superlative elders, or are they simply not good enough to rule the world?
The worrying thing for Australian cricket IMO is that they need a new generation beyond this new generation and pretty quickly.