Are the current Australian team the most dominant international sporting team ever

[Twodogs]

Especially in international sport is there a team that has enjoyed sustained success like the recent/current Australian test team? Two runs of 16 wins in a row, some of the greatest players ever turning out for it and plays the game in a manner that I cant remember.



Maybe the Brazillian football team or the US dreamteam in basketball. Any others?

[Chops]

What about the Harlem Globetrotters? :) Even when Gilligan and the Skipper played they beat the robots.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Especially in international sport is there a team that has enjoyed sustained success like the recent/current Australian test team? Two runs of 16 wins in a row, some of the greatest players ever turning out for it and plays the game in a manner that I cant remember.



Maybe the Brazillian football team or the US dreamteam in basketball. Any others?

The Brazillians aren't even the world cup holders.

[Mantis]

And haven't the US Dreameam been beaten a couple of times at recent major championships. The orginal Dreamteam back in 92 were awesome and no doubt one of the best sporting teams ever assembled.

It is hard to judge how good the Aus cricket team are compared to other sports due to the lack of competition in the sport of cricket. What are there, 9 test playing nations of which 3 or 4 are utter shite. Soccer is played as the primary sport in well over 100 countries, basketball is huge in probably 30 or 40, maybe more. Agree that the current team is very good, but the depth in world cricket is at an almost all time low.

The back page of the Age sport yesterday had a great piece on winning streaks by sportsman/ teams. Well worth a read if you can find a copy.

[Billy Blogger]

Well haven't things changed for the Australian Cricket team ?
First Test
I think we had a bit of luck to get them at Melbourne with no real match practise - The result was a strong win with plenty of people asking when will a team actually challenge us.
Second Test
We then played them at Sydney and I think we have to face facts that a few more decisions went our way than theirs and as a result we snatched a win when the draw was well and truly on the cards
Third test
We got our backsides kicked. Most of our tests at Perth suck the opposition teams into bowling too short but the Indians kept it full and swung it around a bit and kept our batsman under pressure.

We are not heading towards the 4th test and even though we cannot lose the series I think an Indian win in Adelaide would mean that the had the best of us for the series.

This is my view with the players

Hayden - Good series and has been as solid as you could hope for. I query how much longer he can keep playing though.
Jacques - Another solid player but there are some question marks with his technique.
Ponting - Has struggled a bit but the key player for us.
Hussey - Hard to fault.
Clarke - Inconsistent but very talented.
Symonds - Has progressed to the level of a genuine test cricketer.
Gilchrist - Has been solid with the gloves and inconsistent with the bat. Not the cricketer he once was.
Lee - I thought he would need to lift a level once McGrath moved on but he might have jumped two levels.
Hogg - Just might be short of what is required at the test level. Feisty in the field, a contributor with the bat and bowls some good deliveries but against a quality batting order has struggled
Johnson - As expected with an inexperienced test cricketer he has been inconsistent however that being said too many runs are scored off him.
Clark - Solid and professional with the ball. Plays to his ability.
Tait - Brought into the team because of a spell of bowling in a Twenty/20 game on the Perth track but came up well short. Not match fit.
Rogers - Local boy who didn't make the most of his opportunities. Hard to say if he is up to it or not.

The 4th test
We need to make some changes.
4 paceman is not an option so that spells a holiday for Tait.
McGain for Hogg must be considered even though it provides no real long term solution.
McGain can keep things tight and still get some wicket although very unlikely to take a bag of them.
Noffke for Johnson won't happen but should be considered.
Hayden back for Rogers will happen.

[The Coon Dog]

^^^^

Pretty fair assesment BB.

Hard to fault anything you have said.

[hujsh]

Well haven't things changed for the Australian Cricket team ?
The 4th test
We need to make some changes.
4 paceman is not an option so that spells a holiday for Tait.
McGain for Hogg must be considered even though it provides no real long term solution.
McGain can keep things tight and still get some wicket although very unlikely to take a bag of them.
Noffke for Johnson won't happen but should be considered.
Hayden back for Rogers will happen.

I agree with every move made there. The thing about McGain is he may be better suited to playing the Indians than Warne.

Warne had that attacking mentality that paid of against every other nation but doesn't seem to work against these batsmen.

By keeping it tight and putting the ball in the right areas, ala Kumble, we will at least have someone to rely on.

I have previously said Cullen could play but he was more for the future than right now.

Darren Berry said that McGain was closer to getting in the team in Melb than people realize. (he talks to Merv)

[westdog54]

=

The 4th test
We need to make some changes.
4 paceman is not an option so that spells a holiday for Tait.
McGain for Hogg must be considered even though it provides no real long term solution.McGain can keep things tight and still get some wicket although very unlikely to take a bag of them.
Noffke for Johnson won't happen but should be considered.
Hayden back for Rogers will happen.

I'm going to sound like a hypocrite for this because of my views on Katich, but McGain must be considered for Adelaide.

The difference here lies in the fact that there is simply no other spinner that is anywhere near test quality in Australia at the moment. Cullen may get there at some stage, but right now he's a country mile off. At least Rogers had earned his call-up.

Is it a concern that a bloke like Ishnat Sharma can come into a test team at 19 and make a decent impact and our young blood isn't anywhere near the test team?

[southerncross]

Well haven't things changed for the Australian Cricket team ?
First Test
I think we had a bit of luck to get them at Melbourne with no real match practise - The result was a strong win with plenty of people asking when will a team actually challenge us.
Second Test
We then played them at Sydney and I think we have to face facts that a few more decisions went our way than theirs and as a result we snatched a win when the draw was well and truly on the cards
Third test
We got our backsides kicked. Most of our tests at Perth suck the opposition teams into bowling too short but the Indians kept it full and swung it around a bit and kept our batsman under pressure.

We are not heading towards the 4th test and even though we cannot lose the series I think an Indian win in Adelaide would mean that the had the best of us for the series.

This is my view with the players

Hayden - Good series and has been as solid as you could hope for. I query how much longer he can keep playing though.
Jacques - Another solid player but there are some question marks with his technique.
Ponting - Has struggled a bit but the key player for us.
Hussey - Hard to fault.
Clarke - Inconsistent but very talented.
Symonds - Has progressed to the level of a genuine test cricketer.
Gilchrist - Has been solid with the gloves and inconsistent with the bat. Not the cricketer he once was.
Lee - I thought he would need to lift a level once McGrath moved on but he might have jumped two levels.
Hogg - Just might be short of what is required at the test level. Feisty in the field, a contributor with the bat and bowls some good deliveries but against a quality batting order has struggled
Johnson - As expected with an inexperienced test cricketer he has been inconsistent however that being said too many runs are scored off him.
Clark - Solid and professional with the ball. Plays to his ability.
Tait - Brought into the team because of a spell of bowling in a Twenty/20 game on the Perth track but came up well short. Not match fit.
Rogers - Local boy who didn't make the most of his opportunities. Hard to say if he is up to it or not.

The 4th test
We need to make some changes.
4 paceman is not an option so that spells a holiday for Tait.
McGain for Hogg must be considered even though it provides no real long term solution.
McGain can keep things tight and still get some wicket although very unlikely to take a bag of them.
Noffke for Johnson won't happen but should be considered.
Hayden back for Rogers will happen.

Nice read there but I'll add a few comments to it

Gilchrist needs to seriously think about retiring.
If we get Haddin as his replacement then we will get a few more 50's at number 7 but a few less centuries as well. Hopefully there will be a few less catches dropped.

Clarke, Symonds and Gilchrist are too inconsistent at 5,6, & 7
If Haddin comes in then the three WA boys of Marsh, Voges and Pommersbach might be in a showdown to replace Clarke and maybe David Hussey might be in the mix.

[hujsh]

Nice read there but I'll add a few comments to it

Gilchrist needs to seriously think about retiring.
If we get Haddin as his replacement then we will get a few more 50's at number 7 but a few less centuries as well. Hopefully there will be a few less catches dropped.

Clarke, Symonds and Gilchrist are too inconsistent at 5,6, & 7
If Haddin comes in then the three WA boys of Marsh, Voges and Pommersbach might be in a showdown to replace Clarke and maybe David Hussey might be in the mix.

Haddin would have better footwork behind the stumps.

Symonds has been nothing but consistent since the Boxing Day test in 06 and Clarke gets a raw deal in these things because he is the easiest target when you want someone new in the team.

He does average mid 40's and this summer has had 1 bad test.

[southerncross]

Haddin would have better footwork behind the stumps.

Symonds has been nothing but consistent since the Boxing Day test in 06 and Clarke gets a raw deal in these things because he is the easiest target when you want someone new in the team.

He does average mid 40's and this summer has had 1 bad test.

I wasn't really knocking Symonds but a couple of years back we were getting more runs from 5,6 & 7 especially when Hussey was at 6 and Gilchrist and he often lifted us into huge scores.