What Makes the Aussies a Special Opponent

India, like Australia, is an aging side with a group of great players who have played past their expiry date. While it will be fun to see these two sets of elderly (in cricketing terms) gladiators clash, both sides need to make hard choices and prepare for the future

As India prepares to take on the Australians in a series that decides the finalists in the world test championship it is worth looking at why the Australians have been a formidable force in international cricket and what are the strengths and weaknesses of the current side. Several things make the Australians a formidable force in cricket

The best player becomes captain

The Australians always pick the best 11 and the captain is generally the best player in the side. Captains like Bradman, the Chappell brothers, Steve Waugh, Mark Taylor, Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting, and Allan Border all were among the best players in the side and, therefore, could lead from the front. The Chappells, Ian and Greg, both had among the highest batting averages in the team when they were captains as did Border and Ponting.

In contrast, England, bogged down by its class differences, did not have a professional captain the team till after the Second World War when Len Hutton was appointed as the skipper of the side. Even after that, players like M.J.K. Smith, Tony Lewis, and Mike Brearly were appointed for the leadership skills rather than for their prowess with the bat or ball. Although their main skill may have been that they were acceptable to the English cricketing establishment.

Only Brearly was an astute captain who was not only tactically brilliant but had the man management skills to bring out the best out of a complicated player like Ian Botham. The 1981 Ashes series was as much a testament to the captaincy skills of Brearly as it was to the individual brilliance of Botham.

India’ worst captain was the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram (Vizzy) who was made captain because of his lobbying skills and was a dreadful leader during the England tour of 1936. Luckily India got out of the habit of making Maharajas captain and focused on players of ability. The Australians, in contrast, have not been burdened by issues of class and nobility and have, therefore, always fielded their best teams led by their most able players.

They start young

The Australians always take their chances with young players by throwing them into the lion’s den of test cricket rather than trying to nurture and mature them as players. Bradman made his debut at 20 and was an instant hit. Ian Chappell was 21, while Steve Waugh was also 20 on his test debut. Very rarely do the Australians give an older player a debut but in one case, Bert Ironmonger, who made his test debut at 46, it worked out very well since he played only 14 tests but took 74 wickets in them at an average of 17.97! In recent times, Michael Hussey, who made his test debut at 30, and Usman Khwaja, who only blossomed in his thirties, are the late bloomers included in the Australian side but they both put in stellar performances as mature players.

They know when to retire

Unlike players in other countries the Australians call it a day when they realize that their skills are slipping. Bradman played till he was 40 but he lost five years of his career due to World War II and was needed to steer the new post-World War II side. Yet even there Bradman led from the front: in the 1946-47 series against England he got 680 runs in 5 tests; against India in 1947-48 he accumulated 715 runs in 5 tests; and against England in 1948 he got 508 runs (but after all, he was Bradman)!

Players like the Chappells, Rod Marsh, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, and Michael Clarke all left by their mid-thirties in the interests of the rebuilding the team. Michael Hussey left at 38 but this was understandable because a player of his caliber had to sit on the sidelines through his twenties. Australians, therefore, do not drag out their careers until the selectors put them out of their misery—something Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravi Ashwin, and Jadeja can learn from. This is why the Aussie team is greater than its individual parts and while the West Indies has gone into the doldrums, since the retirements of Ambrose and Lara, the Australians continue to churn out good batsmen and bowlers.

They do not skip tours

The Australians, even in these days of 12 month non-stop cricket, send their best teams abroad regardless of the opposition or the tourist friendly nature of the country. England used to be notorious for its players skipping tours to India because they did not like the playing conditions, the heat, and the lodging. In the 1972 tour of India, for example, Illingworth, Snow, Boycott, Luckhurst, and Edrich all skipped the tour leading to a second class team coming to the country. Probably the first full strength English test side came to India as late as 1977.

In contrast the best Australians have played in India, with the exception of Lillie, Marsh, Thomson, and Greg Chappell since the tour of India they could have been on took place in the Packer years. To give some context to this, one of Australians best bowlers and captains, Richie Benaud, played 8 tests in India and took 52 wickets bowling leg-breaks at an average of 18.38, and thus disproved the myth that Indians can play high quality spin (In 9 tests Lance Gibbs took 39 wickets at an average of 23.38). The fact that the Australians tour everywhere makes them good players in all conditions and it also means they do not patronize the opposition. So where do things stand in the upcoming series?

This is an aging team with only one player in the squad, Nathan McSweeny, under thirty. Starc is pushing 35, Khwaja is close to 38, and Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Carey and Mitchell Marsh are all in their thirties. Steve Smith, while still capable, is no longer the dominant player he was a decade ago while Hazlewood, Starc, and Cummins are and aging group of pacers. Australia, therefore, will see a bunch of retirements in the next couple of years although it may happen as soon as after the world test championship.

The problem for the Australians is that for now their cupboard is bare as younger players lack the ability of the current squad so the aging group of players continue to shoulder the burden. Nathan Lyon may be a good spinner but without a powerful pace attack to back him up he is a less effective bowler — unless you get a real turning wicket.

India, at the same time, is an aging side with a group of great players who have played past their expiry date. While it will be fun to see these two sets of elderly (in cricketing terms) gladiators clash, both sides need to make hard choices and prepare for the future.

(Amit Gupta is a Senior Fellow in the National Institute of Deterrence Studies, USA, who also writes on sports and politics. The views in this article are personal)