There is an old rule of thumb in Sports - Nothing can be predicted in the field, 6 months down the line, no matter what kind of a player you're or in what sort of form you're in.!
If you're champs today, you may become chumps tomorrow. It's like a pendulum, a boomerang& unless you're an immortal like Sir. Don Bradman or a Sharne Warne - Your performances are subject to disproportionate variations& fluctuations every single year you pass through.
There is no way you'll be able to score runs at an average of 60& a strike rate of>100 constantly for a continuous period of say 4,5 years since form is something which is bound to dip at some points no matter how hard you try.
England's recent Ashes debacle just underscores this principle - that nothing is permeanant in sports - unlike any other recent victory by any other team in any other form of sports.
6 months Prior to this series, they had some of the best batsmen in the world - Cook, Trott, Pietersen, Bell -& some of the best bowlers in the world - Swann, Anderson, Broad - in the form of their lives.
They won the home fixture of THE ASHES, in august quite comfortably(although not at their bests) against their arch-rivals& not even one cricket expert minus Shane Warne, gave Australia a glimmer of hope to win back THE URN, especially considering the manner in which the team fared in the last few test matches leading up to the series- 9 matches on the trot without a win.
But all those statistics& facts are history now as today on the 16th of December, 2013 - Australia annihilated England by 3 tests to 0 to retain back THE URN, with two test matches yet to be played.!
So what made this near-miraculous turn-around possible.? Is it because England were mentally or physically jaded or is it because Australia were better prepared/focussed than their opponent.? Well. It's actually a bit of both.
A mere look at the first team line up of both the teams will tell you that England are a far better side than Australia as they have far superior match winners compared to the latter both in the batting, bowling& fielding department - than their rivals.
They have in Anderson the second best fast bowler in the world post Steyn& in Kevin Pietersen& Cook two of the top 4 batters in the world right now - the one's who can change a test match around in a matter of sessions with a big daddy hundred or a gutsy little fifty.!
Add to that Grame Swann's precision& Matt Prior's diligence behind the stumps(not to mention the extremely talented Ben Stoke who scored a gutsy 100 in Perth today.) then England are a formidable line-up capable of beating any side in the world.!
Now, what do Australia have.? Some pretty good fast bowlers& the reckless Mitchell Johnson(Tearaway.?) looking fit& strong and an aggressive captain& batsman in Michael Clarke. That's pretty much it.
Australia's top order& middle order are still weak now - notwithstanding centuries from Shane Watson& David Warner - which is clearly evident from the fact they are yet to find a solid replacement for Hayden, Ponting, Hussey& Gilchrist.
They couldn't cop with spin bowling in India that too only earlier in the year and even in the ashes this time around - there were situations where the Kangaroos were 100 for 6 or 150 for 5 - in desperate bits to find any sort of rhythm.
But still, what did the trick for Australia then.?
Mitchell Johnsson the thunderbolt turned tearaway.
Michael Clarke's captaincy
Intensity& desire on field
and most importantly
- The "X" factor called Darren Lehman.
Lehman, who was the appointed head coach during the august fixture is said to have a midas touch when it boils down to man-management& the awe-inspired comeback win of Deccan chargers in 2009 constitutes a quintessential example of that fact.
I know its hard to judge managers from far quarters but I was particulary taken, by the manner in which he handled his swashbuckling opening batsman David Warner's outrageous verbal outburst against England's No #3 batsman Jonathan Trott.
He made Dave apologize to Trott& the rest of the English team in an open statement, following a stress related illness which Trotty had and its pretty obvious that it was Lehmann who has influenced him to do so - that too in a public manner.!
Clarke's captaincy has been very aggressive right from the word go and the confidence in his batting& form has rubbed off in the rest of the team. He was a bit unfortunate in August to lose the manner in which he did& if one was street-smart enough to notice that - there were clear signs to his leadership potential in England itself - then the aussies wouldn't have downgraded them especially in the manner in which they did.(The positive declaration in the 5th test at oval& the subsequent argument over Billy Bowden for calling off the match with the honors slightly favoring the opponent)
Having said all these, its the intensity& hunger the Aussies showed on the field that made the difference at the end of the day and the scorecard clearly suggests that they were the ones so desperate to win vis-a-vis having the potential to win.
England are still a far better side than australia without doubt& with Ben Stokes showing great potentials for future #6 - then they can still remain to be a force to reckon with, both home, away& in neutral venues.
In this series they played like the way India did in 2011 - losing 8 test matches - which was a mirror-like reflection of the world cup hangover - of how incredible success will pull you down to the lowest of failures.
Sometimes you achieve so much - that the only way you can go forward - is way down to the abyss. The old Product Life Cycle example applies to sports as well and the contrasting performances from both England& Australia in the ashes is a clear indication of that.
The theory in clear terms explains that - if a particular product reach its highest maturity stage then it'll become outdated and soon will be thrown out and for a new product - its vise-a-versa
With, one, reaching the pinnacle of success - The other taste's the jaws of defeat.
For australia though its been a story of hard work over talent, confidence over fact& perseverance over adversity. A story of sheer joy& Ecstasy.!
As Brad Haddin gleefully quoted out in one of cricket's classic one-liner's - "We got'em back mate" - to Michael Pupp Clarke - Its Australia who has their little finger holding THE URN now& rightfully so.
