When the ICC World Test team of the year was announced at the ICC awards ceremony, one thing struck coach John Wright of the current World team that apart from Rahul Dravid the batting order was pretty much the same as that chosen by the other panel.
In this team, which is more a fantasy team and based on the performances of the players from 1st August 2004 to 31st July and which includes the Australian players too, as it is a team designed as Mark Nicholas the compere said, to take on MCC [Mars Cricket Club], there was Ricky Ponting at number three in place of Dravid. Now of course its not a fantasy game that this team in Australia is playing, as they are going to be contesting a game where the best team in the world for a few years now, will be trying to regain lost glory and so it won’t be easy. The one-dayers that were played showed that the Ashes defeat was just a blimp that can happen to the best of teams and so if there were any misgivings about the Australian team that they’re on the slide and short of confidence, these were quickly laid to rest.
There is no doubt that the world team then were hampered by the fact that some were coming off season into the games and so were way short of match practice. Those who had played some Tests or One-Dayers in games that were hardly competitive and so weren’t quite ready for what the Australians threw at them. Not that this team is ready but at least it’s now aware that they have an enormous task ahead of them.
They need to get a good start, for there is no question, that in McGrath and Lee the Aussies have a lethal pace attack, with Lee providing the firepower and McGrath the miserliness at the other end, where they try to escape from Lee. Then there will be the spin wizard Shane Warne but he can be better tackled if the team had got off to a good start.
The dilemma will be who to leave out from the team, for looking at the batting in the One-dayers, one would be tempted to play an extra batsman but in a six-day Test, the team will also need an extra spinner. Also, at this time of the year the Sydney pitch might not quite help the spinners as much as it does later in the Australian summer. If the practice pitches are any indication, then the pace bowlers will have a role to play, so it won’t be easy deciding who to leave out from the eleven.
The Australians also have something to prove, as Hayden has been left out of the One-day squad and Martyn has been dropped from the Test side, so there is a bit of pressure on some guys to deliver. The manner, in which Shane Watson has bowled and batted, may well have the Aussies picking him as their third seam bowler and play both leg spinners in the team. The Aussies have the West Indies and South Africa coming over and for them it’s an opportunity to score early psychological marks against the likes of Smith, Kallis and Lara.
In fact McGrath has already gone on record, saying he fancies a tilt at Smith, the world Test team skipper.
The toss went Ricky Ponting’s way in all three games of the One-day series and this being a six-day Test, the toss will be vital because the weather is also a bit uncertain, but hopefully not that uncertain that will wash out important days. It’s a great chance for the World team to show that this concept can work and they are much better than what was seen last week.
