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The decline of Waugh's Australia has made cricket unwatchable.


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Nowadays, I observe vulgar, hermetic defensive cricket everywhere, even by the game's ambassadors and most philosophical practitioners, Australia. There is nothing to say about India and Indian cricket, it was always a gone case. So many teams settling for mediocrity and choosing not to employ any slips.

 

So much laziness, complacency and defensive cricket with disregard for spectators (especially in IPL and India team). 

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1 hour ago, lamellavig said:

Nowadays, I observe vulgar, hermetic defensive cricket everywhere, even by the game's ambassadors and most philosophical practitioners, Australia. There is nothing to say about India and Indian cricket, it was always a gone case. So many teams settling for mediocrity and choosing not to employ any slips.

 

So much laziness, complacency and defensive cricket with disregard for spectators (especially in IPL and India team). 

Australia has not declined. Everybody has been about the same but India has improved. The coping mechanism for people who do not accept India's ascendancy is that cricket standards hace declined. No they have not but India has improved. People need to learn to deal with this new world order.

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I think cricket became more fun with the decline of the great Aussies. Suddenly all teams had to fight for 1st spot, previously it was OK to be second because no one really expected other teams to consistently challenge the Aussies. After 2008 circa rest of the teams (esp India, SA, Eng) got inspired to a new level, after spending so much time in the shadows of the Big Dog......things became more messy, top spot changed hands frequently, many teams started winning ICC events. I disagree with OP's 1st para, where has test cricket become defensive? White ball cricket was essentially defensive in nature even during the period of Aussie domination, but test cricket? Teams are scoring at a faster clip, taking more chances, prepared to lose in order to win, etc. Team India too has never been this exciting to follow, even Indian pitches have undergone a huge change in character restoring balance between bat and ball....what do you mean Indian cricket is a gone case? Did you even follow cricket in India in the early 2000s with those stupid boring drawfests? When was the last time Indian bowlers were the main show, isn't this change of focus from batters to bowlers a step in the right direction?

Edited by Gollum
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11 hours ago, Khota said:

Australia has not declined. Everybody has been about the same but India has improved. The coping mechanism for people who do not accept India's ascendancy is that cricket standards hace declined. No they have not but India has improved. People need to learn to deal with this new world order.

I disagree. How good were McGrath, Warne and Gilchrist? These players were at the crux of Australia's fast, philosophical, steamrolling and aggressive cricket.

 

McGrath in particular was so philosophical that he could probably excel in any academic area he wanted whilst playing cricket. There has definitely been lower cricket standards. 

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4 hours ago, Gollum said:

I think cricket became more fun with the decline of the great Aussies. Suddenly all teams had to fight for 1st spot, previously it was OK to be second because no one really expected other teams to consistently challenge the Aussies. After 2008 circa rest of the teams (esp India, SA, Eng) got inspired to a new level, after spending so much time in the shadows of the Big Dog......things became more messy, top spot changed hands frequently, many teams started winning ICC events. I disagree with OP's 1st para, where has test cricket become defensive? White ball cricket was essentially defensive in nature even during the period of Aussie domination, but test cricket? Teams are scoring at a faster clip, taking more chances, prepared to lose in order to win, etc. Team India too has never been this exciting to follow, even Indian pitches have undergone a huge change in character restoring balance between bat and ball....what do you mean Indian cricket is a gone case? Did you even follow cricket in India in the early 2000s with those stupid boring drawfests? When was the last time Indian bowlers were the main show, isn't this change of focus from batters to bowlers a step in the right direction?

Previously, I was watching a great team pushing the standards of cricket. Nowadays, I am watching teams running about like vulgar rats, trying to beat each other with distasteful pragmatism. I'd rather watch Waugh's Australia, just like I would rather watch Josep Guardiola i Sala's Barcelona. 

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Teams look mediocre because the teams are more balanced now. When the Aussies were dominant, there was a clear definition of greatness, which all other teams were measured against. Now all the top teams are generally equal: strong at home and weak away from home.  

 

Aggressiveness is in the eye of the beholder.

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3 minutes ago, Tibarn said:

Teams look mediocre because the teams are more balanced now. When the Aussies were dominant, there was a clear definition of greatness, which all other teams were measured against. Now all the top teams are generally equal: strong at home and weak away from home.  

 

Aggressiveness is in the eye of the beholder.

Teams look mediocre because they are more mediocre now. 

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9 minutes ago, lamellavig said:

Teams look mediocre because they are more mediocre now. 

How do you quantify mediocre? Are all teams not equal to the great Aussie and great Windies teams mediocre?

 

By the logic of cricket being unwatchable since Waugh's Australia, one might as well stop watching as its been almost 14 years since Waugh retired from tests and even longer since he retired from ODIs. There isn't a team around similar to that team and I doubt one will come soon. Even SA with Kallis, Steyn, and ABD weren't as dominant.   

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22 minutes ago, lamellavig said:

The legendary Steve Waugh, a man of greatness. 

Man who coined the phrase "mental disintegration" to describe abuse.  Man who shamelessly and selfishly advocated to continue his ODI career when it was clear as day that he was simply too old and not good enough to represent his country.  Man who used a red rag to smear kangaroo-poo all over cricket's spirit of sportsmanship.  

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14 hours ago, lamellavig said:

Nowadays, I observe vulgar, hermetic defensive cricket everywhere, even by the game's ambassadors and most philosophical practitioners, Australia. There is nothing to say about India and Indian cricket, it was always a gone case. So many teams settling for mediocrity and choosing not to employ any slips.

 

So much laziness, complacency and defensive cricket with disregard for spectators (especially in IPL and India team). 

You are part right, but it's not the decline of Australia which has made cricket unwatchable, it's the commercialization of it. Just yesterday I was watching India vs Australia odi series in 2007 right after T20 world cup, and the game was so watchable. Today I don't watch odi unless Rohit '200 machine' Sharma smashes Perera and Kulasekara to the point they need psychiatric help. 

Edited by MechEng
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12 hours ago, lamellavig said:

I disagree. How good were McGrath, Warne and Gilchrist? These players were at the crux of Australia's fast, philosophical, steamrolling and aggressive cricket.

 

McGrath in particular was so philosophical that he could probably excel in any academic area he wanted whilst playing cricket. There has definitely been lower cricket standards. 

MCGrath good but there are plenty around .

Warne- PED user. Should not count.

Gilchrist- Good.

 

Three players do not count for dominance.

The only place where cricket standards have detorated is WI as the tall kids rather play basketball. Everywhere else it is same with India improving.

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