[quote author=Calypso link=topic=89314.msg561403#msg561403 date=1398952363] @Downunder ......... was wondering how long it would take you to post this 8)
[/quote]
Hiya Cal, dint take that long after the news hit my twitter feeds
That is some gritty cricket played by the Aussies in the past year. If you whitewash the Ashes and pound the South Africans in the own backyard you deserve the ranking.
The ICC ranking is flawed in one respect I guess. It rejects results from the previous year
altogether. So when Aus had their worst period and SA had a great one, by cancelling that
year itself, Aus moved on to number 1 ranking.
Looking at form-wise, this seems a little bit ridiculous.
On the other hand, SA, just by losing those precious positive results, lose their coveted position which I suppose is a harsh one
Instead what I propose is that ICC should consider a weekly or monthly update of results instead of the whole yearwise update that is done now. It will ensure that one bad series will not ensure the collective losing of points. If one loses a series to a lower-ranking team, it will only lose that number of points which the points system already takes care of. I hope the ICC looks into it.
[/quote]
I think Oz did what they did on the back of Johnson and God know what that lad was one but it is not there anymore. It normally takes him a few years to get it back and at his age this might be it.
We will see but I suspect Clarke will be exiting soon as his health issues are become more than he can handle.
That said, well done to Oz for coming from absolute shambles to some sort of sense.
I am sure the Coach has made some sort of difference in his no bulls*** approach, just get out there and enjoy but I do not think they have the depth in either batting or bowling talent. Mitch did add a lot but he now seems a shadow of himself.
[/quote]
Well I do agree that Johnson's rise from nowhere since Ashes + his consistency (that's rare enough alright) has contributed hugely. But there's also players like Smith, Warner stepping up besides Pup that's good to see. And the fast bowler's cupboard is never bare - Cummins, Patto et. al (and even Behrendorff now) still waiting for a shot.
Although I do agree Clarke and his back problems are worrying. Let's see - I do think that he'd be able to manage it though, given he could take break from ODIs and he doesn't play T20s.
And yeah, I do think Boof gets along well with the players, more importantly than anything. Arthur's regime was a mess - I mean how worse could it get that homeworkgate?
