The Darkest Period in Australian Cricket

Reigning team Australia saw its darkest period in 2018 preceded by the Newlands ball-tampering scandal lead by Australian captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and opening batsman Cameron Bancroft. The trio faced a 1-year ban on playing and a 2-year ban on any position of leadership in Australian cricket. The team dropped in rankings and entered a long losing streak. Critics wrote them off as contenders for the 2019 World Cup.

Australia’s talent had never been questioned ever as it was this year which definitely made it a time they’d like to forget. However, should they forget it? I don’t think so.

2018-2020 is the story of their comeback. It’s their way of showing the world that the Aussies #NeverGiveUp.

Australia faced South Africa for the last match of that series and was hit by a heavy defeat by 492 runs. The year didn’t get any better for them as they went straight into a 5 ODI series against England who whitewashed them 5-0. The Aussies were continuously defeated by South Africa, Pakistan and India at home and away in the next 6 months. Aaron Finch (T20 and ODI) and Tim Paine (Test) were handed unforeseen captaincies and Justin Langer had stepped in for Darren Lehmann as he resigned right after the ball-tampering scandal. 

Australia was rebuilding, trying out different combinations of players and giving it their 200% to clinch a win but more often than never they saw a huge batting collapse leaving the likes of Starc, Cummins, Lyon and Hazlewood nothing to fight for. Steve Smith and David Warner were two of the most important pillars of the Australian team and their sudden leave left the Aussies hanging. Their bench strength wasn’t strong enough to build a team which would get them over the line.

	Test	ODI	T20
2018
Played	6	8	14
Wins	1	1	5
Win %	16.67%	12.50%	35.71%
2019
Played	12	23	8
Wins	8	18	7
Win %	66.67%	78.26%	87.50%

2019 started with a tour to India and facing the world’s number one team in these situations wasn’t ideal. Apart from their top 2 batsmen, Australia were also missing their top 2 bowlers- Starc and Hazlewood. Australia went 0-2 down in the 5 match ODI series and everyone had written them off 

not just for this series but also the upcoming World Cup and the Ashes. However, the 3^rd ODI saw a turn of events where Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja pulled off a huge 135 run first-wicket stand and help their team reach a decent total which gave the bowlers enough confidence to defend the score despite Virat Kohli’s heroics. Igniting a fresh fire in them, the Aussies went on to win not just that series but also whitewash Pakistan in the next series.

The 5-time world champions entered the World Cup with utmost confidence, new energy, Warner and Smith. They were dominating, terrifying and never gave up. They showed the world that they were the 5-time world champions and soon became everyone’s favourites. A loss on an unlucky day against England in the semi-finals put an end to their WC journey but I truly believe that it was admirable to see this team ticking almost all things off of their to-do list for this series. They gained the love and faith of their fans and critics and made them believe once again that they could register a 6^th win.

Next up: The Ashes. It was one of the most competitive series that I’d witnessed in a while. It was a classic Ashes battle. There was cutthroat competitiveness between the two arch-rivals. From Smith’s heroics to Ben Stokes’ historic innings to Jofra Archer’s debut Ashes tournament, this series was filled with nail-biting elements. Steve Smith made his comeback to his favourite format of the game and averaged a whopping 110.57 in the series. He fed off of the challenge the English people threw at him and he got the crowd from booing to applauding for him over 6 weeks and that’s his biggest victory. Marnus Labuschagne, the concussion substitute to Smith, came in and surprised everyone by playing some of the most memorable innings of his life. Pat Cummins lead the wicket-takers list with 29 wickets, well-supported by Starc-Hazlewood and spinner Nathon Lyon. 

Filled with confidence and resoluteness to win, the boys fought their way to victory and the Australians retained the Ashes on English soil. 

Personally, as a huge fan of the team, it gives me immense pride to look back upon their journey. Justin Langer stepped in at a crucial moment and gave it his heart and soul into making this team the best once again. He put those 15-20 boys on his shoulder and lifted them to where they are on the world stage at the moment. Team Australia, thank you for taking the fall for your teammates and rising from there together. You boys were fierce and fought the way Australia does. You made it to the semi-finals of the World Cup and retained the Ashes. You boys did your fans proud.

As of May 2020, Australia is the #1 Test and T20 team on the ICC Rankings. They’ve risen from the ashes, with the Ashes.