Australia's "one-year" turn around - not really an accidental transformation

Australia's "one-year" turn around - not really an accidental transformation

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Australia’s reputation was tarnished forever, and all hope was lost post the unraveling of the Newlands ball-tampering saga, but somehow, out of nowhere, they find themselves quietly heading into the Ashes brimming with confidence and enormous self-belief. How can this be possible?

It is almost as if Australia started planning for the Ashes the very next day post the conclusion of the horrid tour of South Africa, and looking back, every selection, every change in personnel and every decision that was made seems to have built up to this very moment. The Australian management under the entrusted leadership of Tim Paine alongside coach Justin Langer over the course of the last 12 months have taken some baffling and bewildering decisions, but to their credit, they didn’t panic, and here they are, a day away from the Ashes, perfectly settled and raring to go. There is no way that this should have been possible, yet somehow, they have pulled it off.

However, everything did indeed come at a cost. Post the hangover of the African nightmare, the Aussies traveled to UAE to take on Pakistan, who themselves, were low on confidence. With the unholy trio of David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft being a gone case, they decided to give Aaron Finch, Travis Head, and Marnus Labuschagne their first taste of Test cricket. The decision to play Labuschagne, in particular, received a lot of backlash, as most people wanted to see Matthew Wade, who was absolutely tearing Shield cricket apart, get another chance. The general public asked, but the selectors didn’t oblige. There weren’t many positives to take away from that tour bar Usman Khawaja’s marathon knock, but they had ensured that each player was tried and tested at the highest level. 

Before they could realize, time had passed them, and India were waiting at their doorsteps to face them. This time around though, they had introduced Marcus Harris into the XI, who answered Australia’s cries for an opener, by scoring truckload of runs in Shield Cricket. Peter Handscomb was recalled, Shaun Marsh, Head, and Labuschagne were retained and Wade was ignored yet again, and the backlash from ex-cricketers became louder and louder, yet the management remained unmoved. 

The Australian team under Paine scripted unwanted history, as they became the first-ever Aussie side to lose a Test series at home soil against India. Heads were expected to roll post the conclusion of the series heading into the Tests against Sri Lanka but by then the management had identified their men. While Finch, Handscomb, and Marsh were shown the door, Labuschagne, Head, and Harris were retained and Joe Burns was recalled. But by now, the trio of Harris-Head-Labuschagne had enough Test Cricket under their belt, and while Harris didn’t capitalize, the latter two thrived, scoring centuries. This was the last Test Australia played before the Ashes, and by now, they had an idea of who their go-to men were. 

Meanwhile, Dukes ball specialists James Pattinson and Peter Siddle, who already had invaluable experience of English conditions thanks to their County stints, were groomed carefully, and Pattinson in the specific, was wrapped in cotton wool, with the primary goal being to get him fit in time for the Ashes. Michael Neser and Jackson Bird, who were also considered to be dukes ball specialists, were given clarity on their roles and were kept in the loop. 

As one set of Australian players prepared for the World Cup, the others toiled hard and trained with one fundamental goal - to make the cut for the Ashes. Bancroft, who served a lighter sentence than Smith and Warner, landed himself a stint with Durham as the skipper, while Labuschagne found himself playing for Glamorgan as a replacement for Marsh. The duo excelled in their respective spells, with Labuschagne ending as the highest run scorer in Division 2.  

The Australian ‘A’ team landed in England a month and a half ahead of the Ashes, and all the players had ample opportunities to both prove their worth and get acclimatized to the conditions. With almost two sets of Australian teams plying their trade in England in different ways, months and months of preparation led to the 24-man clash between Australia and Australia ‘A’ , which almost served as a pinnacle to all the effort that had been put in. 

When it seemed like it was the end of the world post the ball-tampering saga, the Australian selectors and the team management got together, laid out a plan, built a system, trusted their players and most importantly, were willing to sacrifice victories in favor of a long-term vision, while ensuring that they didn’t fall out of track. This has also been evident from the effortless, smooth transition of the unholy trio into the National team post their bans, something which the management planned and worked on, months before their ban ended.

Thanks to their planning and preparation, Australia now find themselves in the prime position to retain the urn, something they wouldn’t have imagined in their wildest of dreams 12 months ago. Whether this will actually result in them winning the series is a completely different question, but undoubtedly, their efforts leading up to the series have been unimpeachable, and perhaps, a lesson for other countries.

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