Before this test I was going to write a post about how we could still win the Ashes, and that we weren’t as bad as Adelaide made us seem. I got busy, and didn’t get around to it. I really wish I had of now, so I could be like “I told you so”.
There are still massive problems for Australia (hello Michael Clarke). The fact that Mitchell Johnson is as unpredictable as Melbourne weather coupled with the unpredictableness of Melbourne weather makes the Boxing Day test even more exciting than it usually is. This could be a seriously rain-delayed test, the rain in Melbourne has been persistent and hard to predict.
I follow Ian from the Baggy Green Blog on Twitter and before the Test he made a valid point about the importance of supporting the team when things aren’t going as well as we would hope. It was easy to be an Australian cricket fan during the Steve Waugh/early Ricky Ponting era. The team needs support now, more than ever. What Australians everywhere need to do now, is pray. Pray to God, Allah, Justin Bieber, or whichever deity takes your fancy. Pray for Ricky Ponting’s finger, because the one thing Australia does not need right now is Michael Clarke to be captain. Regular visitors to this blog* may suspect that I don’t really like Michael Clarke. And they would be correct. Putting aside all my personal feelings about him though, he’s just not what Australia need right now. Australia needs a leader, a tough motherfucker who will get hit in the face by a cricket ball and still smile through blood-stained lips. Michael Clarke is soft, and doesn’t perform as a batsmen when the teams needs him to step up. To ask him to grow a pair now would be catastrophic.
Pray for Ricky Ponting
Yes, there’s still selection issues. Yes, it may have just been a fluke. But the alternative is truly awful.
* may not actually exist
