Australian sporting pride died last weekend.
Firstly, the Wallabies were pipped at the post by a New Zealand team who deserved a scoreboard more fitting of their superior performance. Then the Australian cricketers failed at The Oval, giving England their second series win in four years and making Ricky Ponting the first Australian captain to lose two series in England since the 19th century.
As a member of a generation brought up on national sporting triumphs, it's not an easy pill to take. Our teams have been down before, but always found a way back. They fought tooth and nail to be the best, and most of the time they succeeded.
Make no mistake, we are in a crisis.
For the Wallabies this is not new. Our national rugby team have been struggling for the better part of this decade after the the high of 1999's World Cup Triumph and settling for runners-up four years later. A changing of the guard has seen old stars retire and new players step up. The Robbie Deans era started well enough, with the Wallabies' performances last year showing some promise of what could be with a little hard work and determination.
This year that promise remains unfulfilled. The scoreboard on Saturday night actually flattered us - with the only try of the night coming from New Zealand, the All Blacks would have been right to be upset if a tryless team had beaten them. The rugby gods did the right thing in granting the late penalty that sealed their victory.
Meanwhile over in England, Australia's woeful performance in the fifth test had cricket fans in a deja-vu spin recalling the loss in 2005. Set a mammoth 2nd innings total, we were never in it, and the efforts of some of our players needs to be seriously questioned.
Those who read my blog entry after the Lords test will remember me saying how the seeds of that loss were sown when we were unable to seal the deal in Cardiff. Unfortunately the impact of those seeds lingered longer still - had we been able to take one final tail wicket back then Australia would have retained the Ashes, and probably would have done so in style.
What happens now? The media will dissect the failures of our cricket players, the issue of the Australian captaincy will again be the subject of discussion and the team will try to pick up the pieces in time to hopefully be competitive for the domestic summer.
As for the Wallabies, with their Bledisloe and Tri-Nations dream over for another year, their focus will again be on attempting to salvage some pride during the remainder of the international season. This position must be beginning to feel a little too familiar for them.
Australian sporting pride - Rest in peace.
Firstly, the Wallabies were pipped at the post by a New Zealand team who deserved a scoreboard more fitting of their superior performance. Then the Australian cricketers failed at The Oval, giving England their second series win in four years and making Ricky Ponting the first Australian captain to lose two series in England since the 19th century.
As a member of a generation brought up on national sporting triumphs, it's not an easy pill to take. Our teams have been down before, but always found a way back. They fought tooth and nail to be the best, and most of the time they succeeded.
Make no mistake, we are in a crisis.
For the Wallabies this is not new. Our national rugby team have been struggling for the better part of this decade after the the high of 1999's World Cup Triumph and settling for runners-up four years later. A changing of the guard has seen old stars retire and new players step up. The Robbie Deans era started well enough, with the Wallabies' performances last year showing some promise of what could be with a little hard work and determination.
This year that promise remains unfulfilled. The scoreboard on Saturday night actually flattered us - with the only try of the night coming from New Zealand, the All Blacks would have been right to be upset if a tryless team had beaten them. The rugby gods did the right thing in granting the late penalty that sealed their victory.
Meanwhile over in England, Australia's woeful performance in the fifth test had cricket fans in a deja-vu spin recalling the loss in 2005. Set a mammoth 2nd innings total, we were never in it, and the efforts of some of our players needs to be seriously questioned.
Those who read my blog entry after the Lords test will remember me saying how the seeds of that loss were sown when we were unable to seal the deal in Cardiff. Unfortunately the impact of those seeds lingered longer still - had we been able to take one final tail wicket back then Australia would have retained the Ashes, and probably would have done so in style.
What happens now? The media will dissect the failures of our cricket players, the issue of the Australian captaincy will again be the subject of discussion and the team will try to pick up the pieces in time to hopefully be competitive for the domestic summer.
As for the Wallabies, with their Bledisloe and Tri-Nations dream over for another year, their focus will again be on attempting to salvage some pride during the remainder of the international season. This position must be beginning to feel a little too familiar for them.
Australian sporting pride - Rest in peace.
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Hope to win the next series. Better luck next time
ReplyDeleteSaavi
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