It’s not over Down Under

So a little stutter has set big tongues wagging. As the Aussies may say, ‘fair dinkum’ and, truth be told, that is what it is. Aus...

So a little stutter has set big tongues wagging. As the Aussies may say, ‘fair dinkum’ and, truth be told, that is what it is. Australia have let visiting teams have it and if it is their turn to cop it, they will.

Pretty expressions that camouflage the truth, little sideways glances rather than a look in the eye are not the Australian way of doing things. They will take it on the chin and move on, anything else would be a let down.

I am not convinced this is a slide though. Form is being questioned at the moment, with some maybe a little more than that, but character, the reserve fuel, will soon kick in. If their current lethargy prevents their character from coming through only then can we announce the decline of a dynasty.

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Champion teams become so not because of ability but because of attitude and character. They are game for a scrap, to emerge from their kingdoms and fight on the plains like common soldiers. For England to beat Australia in the Ashes they will have to beat them in a scrap.

Australia’s weak start, though, will change the mindset of a few in the England camp. All along, England believed Australia were the superior side and gave the impression they were waiting eagerly for their hypothesis to be proved right. At the first sign of Australian strength they would sign their books with a QED and withdraw. Now, they will start thinking that Australia can be beaten.

It is a mindset that can be exhilarating, that can tempt people into performing to potential and beyond but the next two and a half months will test whether England can indeed play with that mindset. They don’t know what it is to close out matches against Australia and when the moment arrives, if it does, will they have the courage to ride through it or will they choke when faced with the unknown? In sport, as in life, a winning situation can paralyse, can prevent that last vital step.

But if England do manage to win the Ashes, to puncture the image of Australian invincibility, they will have advanced a situation that a lot of us believed was 12 to 18 months away. Australia’s top players are getting older and with the exception of Brett Lee and Michael Clarke, the new generation hasn’t come out of hiding.

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In fact, Australia’s comeback men in the last 12 months, Michael Kasprowicz and Mike Hussey, are both on the wrong side of 30 and Brad Hogg is 34. Michael Slater’s replacement, Justin Langer, is a man of similar age and the man in Mark Waugh’s shoes, Damien Martyn, is already 33.

When Australia had a place vacant last year they chose Matthew Elliott, not quite the youngest either. This time the reserve batsman is Brad Hodge, again around 30.

But this is an entirely unpredictable situation. A great team always accompanies a lost generation because players can’t get in at their prime. In truth Australia did not see the best of Stuart Law, Michael Bevan, Darren Lehmann, Jamie Cox and Stuart MacGill.

And the generation after theirs could not be blooded either because they needed to be better than the incumbents; or at least comparable to them. You can’t drop a Hayden or a Langer, a McGrath or a Gillespie because you need to have another generation ready. Australia believe, and rightly so, that the best available eleven play for the country.

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To be fair they have tried a few but Nathan Hauritz and Nathan Bracken didn’t seem to measure up and, for all the hype around him, Shane Watson has never looked like he belongs in this league Now they must face the prospect of a bunch of cricketers going at the same time.

The last time it happened, when Lillee, Marsh and Greg Chappell retired on the same day, it took them a long time to get over it. They will be hoping to stagger the release of their older generation a little better this time. If they wait till the World Cup of 2007, and that in itself might be an optimistic date, they run the risk of having to use a broom.

My feeling is that Brett Lee will play throughout the Ashes series to give him another opportunity to become the leader of the next generation; that Michael Clarke will get a permanent place at the top of the order in the one-day game and that they will hope at least one of Hayden, Langer and Martyn will stay on for another three years. But there is no doubt their succession plan is looking feeble.

I expect Australia to come out strongly in the Ashes series though. Two relatively fresh, strong-willed and aggressive cricketers, Justin Langer and Shane Warne, will join them and I will be surprised if, in their contrasting styles, they don’t take up leadership roles.