A Long Hangover

As regular guests to The Cricket Tragics would know, I'm not fond of the shortened forms of the game, not primarily because I believe they are an inferior form of cricket because, in fact, I believe they have much to offer. The vastly improved fielding skills of the modern player are a direct benefit of putting on the pyjamas and the speed at which players convert balls to runs in Test cricket and therefore the higher percentage of results, are another blessing which has breathed life into the purest form.

It's just that there are so many of them! Often whilst players are having their ODIs checked and coming up with a Twenty20 vision of the game, they might otherwise be participating in Sheffield Shield matches in Australia or a host of other first class cricket competitions battling for survival elsewhere in the sparsely populated cricket world. So good players are getting better whilst the next generation plays games lonely for the cream and the quality they might percolate to the top in others. It is a form of neglect that has the air of eschatology but the judgment will fall not on those who designed it but rather those who condone its continuance.

Among the problems the three tiers of cricket governance have created is the selection of players. Too often players are graduating to Test cricket, not from the longer form of first class cricket but from the Australian Twenty20 team and in particular, from the ODI side. Hence the elevation of Eggzavier Doherty who the press recorded as taking "four Sri Lankan wickets including Sangakkara" before the Ashes got underway and QED won a prized Baggy Green. Hence the elevation of Steven Smith, a nice kid with great hands but without the batting technique to be taken as a serious No 6 in Tests and little more than a net bowler as yet. We have this continual equivalent of nice legs shame about the face haunting our Test team.

England entered this ODI series still hungover, drunk on an achievement Strauss could only dream of four years ago as Ponting's super side tore their hides and threw the chunks to Warne, McGrath and Langer as Hayden and Gilchrist stood buy with one eye on their own career clock. Anderson has been on paternity leave, Pietersen, Prior and Swann still doing the sprinkler dance and Collingwood has sadly disintegrated before our eyes. Their one day specialists have added little and its hard to think they really care. Home and some hero worship is all they'll need to be British Bulldogish for the World Cup.

Australia, on the other hand specifically designed for spanking, got off to a morale boasting flier thanks to the future Test Skipper Shane Watson who played one of the truly great one day innings in Melbourne to roll an England total that should have been more than enough. His hammering of the two Sydney Test heroes, Tremlett and Bresnan, was heady stuff and more than enough to put the Poms away for the following two games where first Shaun Marsh in Hobart and then Brad Haddin and David Hussey in Sydney did the business on the English bowlers. Brett Lee has been a revelation for those of us who can not only spell "pension" but are are happy with the soft warmth it provides.

Anderson returns today in Adelaide but Swann is off home with injuries which provide him with the note from his mum he wanted. England have also had their own turn with strange selections, dropping Steve Davies after he opened well in Melbourne and replacing him with Matt Prior who has more ducks than the seasonal shooters on the Murray River.

This series has allowed Clark to redeem himself with the Australian public but despite his good showing as the mover of coloured chess pieces and reasonable batting form, John Q is not quite convinced about his commitment - an unfair assessment really. Perhaps he needs to chew and spit on hands before rubbing them together at the start of the action or maybe dust off with an umpire. There are bouncers in Sydney nightclubs just waiting to knock him out.

Of course it might take more than that. Perhaps we should give the lad some space and let him mould this side a little before Punter returns for his last dose of hero worship.

One thing's for certain. Don't rely on these games as a form guide for the World Cup. England will be strong but its not them who we'll have to beat to send Ponting into a happy retirement. Sri Lanka will be hardest, then India and Pakistan. Long odds the rest, including South Africa.

This is just more froth and bubble to keep journalists employed.