The Australians are the new West Indies
By Tony Cozier In BRIDGETOWN
Stabroek News
April 14, 2007
The hundreds of schoolchildren, who occupied seats at Kensington yesterday that would have been otherwise filled by Indians and Pakistanis, were treated to an
exhibition of awesome efficiency their parents once rejoiced in from their own, indomitable West Indies.
The Australians are the new West Indies. They intimidate opponents with their aggression and self-confidence.
They have now strung together more successive World Cup victories than any other team. Yesterday's was their 19th. They have not been beaten in their last 24, their 100 per cent record spoilt only by their unforgettable, last over tie against South Africa in 1999.
The law of averages dictates that they are due an off-day, as they had down-under prior to this tournament with five straight losses, two to England in the CG Series finals at home and three to New Zealand in the den of their fiercely competitive neighbours.
There has not been a shred of evidence this past month that there is any danger of a repeat. Ricky Ponting and his men are on a mission to complete a hat-trick of championships and complacency will not get in their way, as it did in preventing the West Indies from achieving such a goal in 1983.
The admirable but thoroughly outclassed Irish had as much hope of survival yesterday as all those who entered Kensington in the 1980s to be blown away by the power of Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Lloyd and others and the pace of Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall and colleagues.
The pitches in that era of West Indian invincibility were fast, bouncy and true. They encouraged strokeplay as much as fast bowling. They were West Indies'strengths then, as they are Australia's now.
Australia are having to make do without Brett Lee this tournament, eliminated with an ankle strain sustained at practice in New Zealand.
Shaun Tait has proved an adequate substitute. His speed was too much for the top order batsmen yesterday, as it has been for most others. If the rough edges of a slinging action lead to an abundance of rogue deliveries, Australia are secure enough to afford them.
The Australians return to Kensington next year for one of the Tests on their scheduled tour. Lee and Tait, with backing from the left-armers Nathan Bracken and Mitchell Johnson, and the Glenn McGrath clone, Stuart Clark, already appear a menacing combination.
What the budding school cricketers would have learnt above all yesterday was the standard of athleticism in the field required for cricket at the highest level.
It was not the sole preserve of the Australians. As sharp as they were, the Irish matched them, thrilling a pleasingly sizeable, and lively, crowd with several sensational saves on the boundary's edge.
Such brilliance is not the consequence of youth alone.
It is perfected by hours and hours of disciplined fitness training and practice and, in Australia's case, fine tuned under the trained eye of Mick Young, a fielding coach with an American baseball background. The Irish - and the Bangladeshis as well - have proved that it is one area of the game that every team can be equal.
It once epitomized West Indian excellence. No longer.
But then the present team lacks discipline and fitness - as it does a qualified trainer and a Mick Young.