A hearty congratulations to Captain Pat and his World Champion One Day side! Of course, Captain Pat also leads the current World Test Champions too. Not bad...not bad at all for a new age bloke with a few political views and a penchant for Aristotle-style Coaches as opposed to Aussie Alphas.
Okay, so I'm being a bit cheeky on this post, provoking a few of my grizzled, old Grade Cricket toughie comrades. You know, the Steve Waugh crew; my mob who reckon Langer was hard done by and that modern players are a bit precious and sometimes even petulant.
The irony of course of me stirring the pot this way is that I was an avowed Stephen Rodger acolyte; an avid admirer of his hard, old-school ways. But you grow older don't you, and you reflect. So, my cricket brothers, here are some scoring opportunities. Who's keen to play a few shots? C'mon, we're not the leaving "No Runnn" types, are we?
Half volley 1- the Australian pathway system is imperfect but producing good results. We win World Championships.
Half volley 2- the load management, training phasing and overall coaching of our bowlers was superb. How else did they peak so perfectly? The loading and resting and MRI scanning is working.
Half volley 3- you don't have to be as Hayden refers to them 'an Australian Great' to be a successful Head Coach of an Australian side.
Half tracker 1- the “new age' overall workload management of players that aims at keeping them mentally healthy and connected to their loved ones and communities seems to be working.
Half tracker 2- the Australian selection panel is doing a very, very good job.
Half tracker 3- the large contingent of support staff seem to be minimising injuries, maximising playing time and providing excellent environments for the players to excel in.
Anyone that saw my 2-over first grade bowling career one Sunny afternoon at Old Kings against Paramatta circa 2000 will recognise the deliveries above. Let's see if I do better than 1-17 this time. Play a few shots, lads and lasses.