MELBOURNE: Australia’s trip to a seventh World Cup final on Sunday may seem standard fare for a nation that has already won cricket’s ultimate prize four times, but the achievement marks a stunning turnaround from the depths of two years ago.
Battling mediocrity in all formats, Michael Clarke’s side lurched from crisis to crisis in the annus horribilus of 2013.
Pundits debate the exact moment of Australia’s nadir, but few would have tipped the team’s implosion during a 4-0 test series white-wash in India.
The second loss of that series made Australia the first team to lose a test match after declaring their first innings closed and was to be the catalyst for the infamous ‘Homework-gate’ scandal.
With the support of captain Clarke, four players were stood down for the next test for failing to provide then-coach Mickey Arthur ideas on how the team could turn around their fortunes.
Shane Watson, vice-captain at the time and one of the four offenders, threatened to quit international cricket after returning home from tour to be with his pregnant wife.
The punishment was intended to whip an ill-disciplined team in to shape but two further test defeats followed and Australia entered the defence of their Champions Trophy title in England with morale at rock-bottom.
Their batsmen were skittled for 65 in a 243-run warmup loss to India in Cardiff and the ODI tournament was a debacle, with opening batsman David Warner stood down for punching England’s Joe Root at a Birmingham night-spot.
News that Australian players were out drinking rather than stewing in their hotel rooms led to Arthur’s exit and Darren Lehmann’s entry as the coach.
Australia would go on to lose the series 3-0 after squandering dominant positions in a number of matches but under Lehmann’s calm direction and the renaissance of fast bowler Mitchell Johnson, turned the tables spectacularly in the return Ashes series on home soil.
Completing a 5-0 series whitewash of the tourists to kick off 2014, Australia’s success would filter down to the one-day team, who trounced England 4-1 in the subsequent series and would finish the year with a 13-5 winning record.
On November 25 batsman Phillip Hughes collapsed at the Sydney Cricket Ground when struck by a short ball in a domestic match.
The youngest player to score two centuries in a test, Hughes’ death in hospital at the age of 25 cast a pall over the World Cup co-hosts less than three months before the tournament.
Their ability to put their grief aside and complete a 2-0 test series defeat over India in the leadup underlined Australia’s resolve in the face of adversity.
Ahead of Sunday’s World Cup final against fellow co-hosts New Zealand, captain Clarke’s team may reflect on the two roller-coaster years when they walk out onto the Melbourne Cricket Ground turf. (Reuters)
