Sometimes I hate cricket. No. Sometimes I loathe cricket. Watching a depressingly predictable end to a depressingly predictable test was one such moment. It was so fittingly apt that the series would end with Ricky Ponting tearing the New Zealand bowling to shreds, getting a reprieve when blatantly LBW and then smashing the winning runs two balls later before celebrating with one of those arm pumping, screaming pieces of hubris that only Australians seem to get away with. It is easy to see what there is to hate about such moments.
But. And this "but" requires you to forget the current series completely. But there is one positive aspect of the series that I want you to reflect on. It is that we are not due to play the Australians again for bloody ages. According to Cricinfo a tour of Australia is scheduled for November 2006, but I suspect that this is just for the annual ODI series we set-up last year. As far as I can work our the next test series will not be until 2008/9. No wonder Stephen Fleming saw this series as his test farewell to Australia. And it won't just be Fleming who will not be around next time. In 2008 Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne will be 39. Adam Gilchrist will be 37. In fact of the Australian team who just thrashed us so badly, only Ricky Ponting (34) and Michael Clarke (27) are still likely to be playing.
Tuesday, 29 March 2005
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3 comments:
That's right Mike, look forward not backwards.
Unfortunately, we have a very short respite from playing Australia. We next play them away in a test series in November of the 2006/7 season.
I would really hope that Stephen Fleming is still around for that series.
Actually, looking at the upcoming schedule, there seems to be a big hole in our upcoming series. We're missing a home series in the later half of the 2005/6 season.
Actually, having checked the NZ Cricket website, it seems the West Indies will be here in Feb 2006.
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