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Happy New Year .....


....well almost......its only 2 months in to 2009 so I guess its not terribly late for the first post of the year :-)

The end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 has been quite engrossing primarily because of the tussle for supremacy between Australia and South Africa. And its interesting how once again, the Aussies are showing that the biggest mistake 'pundits' can make is to write them off. But I am jumping way ahead. The series in Australia was a real cracker and it was great to see the Springboks actually delivering so well on their abilities for once and not choking at the big moments. And in Steyn, Amla, de Villiers, Duminy and Morkel they have some real stars in the making and should be a strong team for some time to come. Australia's struggles on the other hand were not surprising after their performance in India. The same guys, i.e. Hayden and Lee continued to underwhelm and with the inexplicable selection of Symonds made things worse for Ricky Ponting. They were a little better in Sydney, and the way they are going so far in the return series in SA, I am sure the selectors are regretting not having brought in Hughes, Hilfenhaus and North earlier to replace the above three. The real star though has been Mitchell Johnson and if he can stay fit, the Aussies have a new matchwinner on their hands.

In comparison, England's miseries continue to pile up and it would seem like even defeating the West Indies is beyond them currently. Granted that the pitches have been deplorable but the best teams rise above the conditions, and this England team hasn't shown any recent signs of even being good let alone great. And with Flintoff crocked up again and Harmison and Panesar seemingly lost, another Ashes walloping looms. Their only hope would seem to be that Panesar recovers his form (and Swann stays fit) so that they can try and catch the Aussies out on turning tracks. Should still be an interesting battle and a good test for this new look Australian attack (which should be bolstered by the return of Stuart Clark).

Among other teams, the West Indies and Sri Lanka seem content on being middling and refuse to attack and play their natural games (especially on the bowling side). Hopefully a series win and a new captain respectively will help them come out of their shells. Finding a few quick bowlers (or in Sri Lanka's case hoping that Malinga and Maharoof recover quickly) wouldn't hurt either. New Zealand continue to be impressively competitive and they're going to give a stiff fight to India in all three forms of the game (well they already walloped them at the T20). In Taylor, Ryder, Guptill, O'Brien and Southee they now have some impressive youngsters to aid the experienced Vettori, McCullum, Oram and Mills making a well rounded outfit. The T20 WC this summer (if there is one) will be their chance for glory. I expect big things from them. Pakistan on the other hand I don't expect anything of despite the much-needed sacking of Shoaib Malik as captain. The events in Lahore would not have helped at all and are hugely saddening, but the truth is that Pakistan cricket has been regressing for a while now and the end of the descent doesn't seem in sight. Sad because they still have some decent cricketers and now even their participation in the IPL and ICL would seem in jeopardy.

Finally India have been doing consistently well for the last one year, which by their standards is shocking :-) With Dhoni now the captain in all forms of the game and the team selection pretty stable, they seem to be set up for a good run. What they need is for guys like Yuvraj, Raina and Rohit Sharma to step up in consistency and show that they can do it on the biggest stage of Test cricket day in and day out. That plus a reliable third and fourth seamer can help achieve the objectives of reaching the top by next year. I am not sure that Balaji and Kulkarni (the guys picked for the NZ tour) are the answer. A consistently fit and firing Sreesanth and Munaf Patel are really what India need to back up Zaheer and Ishant. Irfan Pathan recovering his bowling mojo would be a plus otherwise he looks like becoming consigned to being a T20 specialist. Exciting times though and this series in NZ will really be a good litmus test of the progress made.

Overall, an exciting time to be a cricket fan and lots to look forward to in 2009!

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