I can’t explain it.

Late last year Australia won the Champions Trophy for the first time, and for the first half of the Commonwealth Bank One Day Series, we were unbeatable. Then we lost to New Zealand, then 3 games in a row to England, and now we’ve been beaten by New Zealand by 10 wickets - the first time Australia has lost by such a margin in one-day internationals.

I can’t explain it.

Perhaps, to re-phrase a famous quote by former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating, this is “the form slump we had to have”. Before we can go on to greater things, we have to perform as poorly as we can. The Australian team we learn from this run of losses, and they’ll grow into an even more fearsome squad because of it.

In support of this case I present Exhibit A - The Ashes 2005. On that occasion we experienced injuries to key players, and poor team selection. In this most recent game we were without Ponting, Gilchrist, Lee, Symonds, and Clarke. At least three of those guys should be right for the World Cup, but Symonds and Lee are in doubt. Both of them are key players who are impossible to replace, and their loss may be enough to completely destabilise the Australian XI.

At least, this is what I hope is going on. The other option, of course, is that the rest of the world has finally caught up to Australia and we can’t handle the pressure:

“What the global community try to do is catch up … and look for weaknesses that other teams have exposed.”
- Stephen Fleming

It must be said that the Kiwis played some beautiful cricket in yesterday’s game. Shane Bond took 5 wickets, and Vincent and Fleming blew away all five of Australia’s bowlers. So we can’t say that it’s simply a result of Australia not being able to put a world class team out onto the field (although I think that was a factor).

So, Australia has two more games, and I’m pretty sure they’ll need to win both of them if the want to hold on to top spot on the world rankings. At the moment, though, I think Australia will have to get used to second place, because that’s where they’ll be a week from now.

England: 8/246
Australia: 8/152 (D/L target was 186)

Well, England’s tour has finished on a high with a 34 run victory over the Australians in Sydney. The local boys bowled OK and fielded brilliantly, and Glenn McGrath’s one day international career in Australia finished with a wicket off his final ball, just like he did in the Sydney Test. Unfortunately, when it came time for the Aussies to bat the combination of rain interruptions and some beautiful swing bowling from Liam Plunkett was too much to handle. It’s always tough batting second at the SCG, and England’s bowlers didn’t make it any easier by bowling some pretty good lines to the Australians under ideal conditions. Rain swept through all evening, and the storms caused some pretty severe damage around the state. But the real damage was done out on the field by Paul Collingwood … again. (I know, it’s a pretty cheesy quote, but it just had to be said.)

So, the Australians have now lost three games in a row to England, and look to be just a shadow of the team they were a few weeks ago. Where did it all go wrong? Did the loss of Andrew Symonds and the constant team changes have a negative effect on the team? Have they been training too hard for their own good? Or has England simply stepped up a level, thus showing the Australians to be just an ordinary side that has been lucky enough to face poor opposition?

Glenn McGrath won’t be playing any international cricket after the World Cup, but his recent form has been less than impressive and there is some talk that a guy like Stuart Clark might be a more suitable option for the contest in the Caribbean:

“I just don’t think you can fit Stuey and Glenn in the same squad. I might be tempted to go for Stuey.
Shaun Tait has to be in there - he’s lethal and can rip through the tailenders. I’d have Stuey and Shaun in there together and, if that happens, you can’t fit in Glenn.”
- Michael Slater

On the day that Glenn McGrath dropped a crucial catch and went wicketless, Stuart Clark took a hat trick for New South Wales and finished the innings with 8 for 58.

Perhaps McGrath will turn it all around in the 2nd Final against England today, as he often performs at his best when it’s really needed. The Australians were badly hurt by the loss on Friday night, so in today’s second final I’m expecting to see a turn around as significant as we saw after the Ashes loss in 2005. Australia should be at their dominant best, but then again …

Australia: 252
England: 6/253

The England team were talking up their chances prior to this game, and on this occasion they were actually able to deliver, with a stunning 4 wicket victory at the MCG. And they can thank one man - Paul Collingwood. He took a stunning catch, made two run outs, and then belted 120 not out. As Peter Roebuck said, it “reinforced his standing in the game and confirmed his reputation as a scrapper”.

The Australians have underperformed once again, and there has got to be some concern about that. Perhaps it is the result of the heavy training they have been doing in preparation for the World Cup and they are simply exhausted. If that’s the case then fair enough - the pain now will be worth the gain later on if they can be at their best in the Caribbean.

Or perhaps Australia’s poor performance was a result of England’s fightback. The Australians haven’t faced much fight from the England team all summer, so perhaps they’ve forgotten how to stand up when the pressure’s on. If so, then last night’s loss might be good for them. A time to reassess how they coped in the face of strong opposition - exactly the sort of stuff they’ll get at the World Cup.

So, can England win this Commonwealth Bank Series? They only need to win one more match, and they’ll have two chances to do it. Three weeks ago we would have all said that a single victory was impossible for England, but now it seems as though the pigs might be cleared for takeoff. If England can win, then the bacon will fly.

England: 7/270
New Zealand: 8/256

New Zealand threw away a finals berth at the Gabba with some sloppy fielding and careless batting. Falling 14 runs short of a gettable England total, New Zealand only have themselves to blame.

Paul Collingwood finally made some runs with 106, and NZ captain Stephen Fleming also contributed heavily with another 106, but it will be England who plays Australia in the best of three finals series. In this Ashes year, I think that’s entirely appropriate.

Based on last nights effort, I don’t think Australia has too much to worry about. Liam Plunkett is bowling well, but apart from the occasional standout performance, the English batsmen have been largely ineffective. Though as we have seen, if just one of England’s top order can get going then they could post a defendable total. I think the Australian bowling will need to improve further if they really want to dominate things, because at the moment they just look a little vulnerable when under pressure.

It’s going to be an interesting finals campaign. Here’s hoping for a close finish.

New Zealand: 7/290
Australia: 5/291

It took a couple of gutsy batting performances from Ponting and Hodge, but Australia has added another victory to their list of successes this summer.

After a poor performance in his last game against England, Shaun Tait stepped up to the plate with a brilliant display of pace and swing. We all knew he was quick, but in his second over he sent down the fastest delivery of the summer - a 160.2 km/h inswinger that crashed into Lou Vincent’s pads. He was also incredibly efficient, going for just 26 runs from 10 overs whilst taking 1 wicket. If he could bowl like that all the time he’d be a match winner, but he can also be somewhat wayward. And I mean really, really wayward. He played two games for Durham in 2004 where he bowled 18 wicketless overs for the cost of 176 runs. He is obviously much better than that, and if he continues to bowl well this summer he should be a regular in the Aussie Test and one-day squads.

However, Australia still needs to improve their bowling during the final overs of the innings. On this occasion the New Zealand lower order were able to grab an extra 71 runs from the final 7 overs, and it was almost enough to beat the Aussies. Everyone has the Australians down as favourites to win the World Cup, but I think they’ve got a bit of work to do in the bowling department.

England: 7/292
Australia: 200

For one team, an opener scored a century, their bowlers were tight and unrelenting, and there was plenty of talk and chatter with the opposition players.

For the other side, there was a potential series-ending injury to a key player, the bowling was woeful, and there were dropped catches that later proved to be significant moments in the course of the game.

It was as though the world had been turned upside down, and the souls of pathetic England had been exchanged with their Australian counterparts. What a weird, weird game.

This was England’s 27th day of combat against the Australians this summer, and they have finally won their first match, this time by 92 runs. Ed Joyce was the star with 107, though he can thank debutant Shaun Tait for dropping a very simple catch when he was on 6.

I don’t think too many of the Australian public will be disappointed. For the first 3 or 4 Tests it was great to see England defeated. But then as they continued to stumble and fall feelings moved from schadenfreude to pity, and finally to the point where signs of some English fighting spirit would actually bring a cheer from the Aussie fans.

The win means that England is still a chance to reach the Commonwealth Bank One Day Series finals, if they can also pull off another unlikely win against the Kiwis on Sunday.

New Zealand: 7/318
England: 8/260

It’s all rather predictable - England plays another game of cricket, and they lose. It has become a habit for this bunch of England’s finest, and I can’t see it ending in any real sense any time soon.

The English bowlers sent down 22 wides, their fielders produced some laughable attempts, and only 2 batsmen could score at better than a run a ball. New Zealand, on the other hand, had 5 batsmen with a strike rate higher than 100, and they look like they could be a real force at the World Cup. Ironically, they are in the same pool as England (together with Canada and former semi-finalists Kenya), a “challenge” they must be looking forward to.

Australia: 5/343
New Zealand: 5/335

Ricky Ponting recently said that he was disappointed with the lack of fight being shown by the opposition batsmen, and that his bowlers needed to be put under more pressure as adequate preparation for the World Cup. Last night his wish was granted, and the Aussies still managed to hang on to win by 8 runs.

Hayden scored the century he needed to guarantee a spot in the Caribbean, though he was dropped 3 times along the way, whilst Jacob Oram did a fine impression of Lance Klusener with an unbeaten 101 off 71 balls. Ponting, though, wasn’t happy with the way his bowlers coped under the Kiwi-applied pressure:

“Our lengths towards the end were all wrong … I am disappointed with the way we responded and reacted, and hopefully we will improve on that when the finals come around.”
- Ricky Ponting

Hopefully they will be put under more pressure this summer, though it seems like the men from New Zealand are the only ones capable of doing much as England continue to stumble.

Is there something wrong with the England team? More than just playing really bad cricket, is there some underlying cause?

“I think they’re overcomplicating it. I can’t imagine how many meetings they’re having, they need to somehow clear their minds and just play, and have fun. They look confused as to how to play and once you get nervous about getting out you’re always playing with hesitation.”
- Michael Slater

We all know about England’s famous bowling plans that went missing during the Boxing Day Test, and we all know who stole them. Here’s the footage again for those who missed it last time:

Seriously, perhaps it was an “inside job”. Maybe the players are so sick and tired of Duncan Fletcher’s overly complicated plans and analyses that one of them decided to take matters into his own hands … and then pass it on to the media.

In an interview on ABC radio, Australian selector Jamie Cox suggested that there must be something seriously wrong in the England dressing room. Something is causing this mayhem that we are seeing out on the park. For a while there I was saying that England’s not that bad - they’ve simply come up against a very, very good side … but now I’m not so sure. Now I think England’s one-day outfit is looking like a very poor team, and something has to change within the side in order to turn things around.

Is it bad planning or too much planning? Is there conflict amongst the players or the management? Or is the England team simply out of its depth?