The Ashes 2019: After low point of South Africa, the Australian cricket team is again a tight unit
A dominant bowling attack, record-breaking batting. They are the obvious elements that helped Australia retain the Ashes. But a vital missing ingredent also made a welcome return to the team.
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Just when it appeared to have faded beneath the waves, an old force has resurfaced in Australia’s Ashes campaign.
Mateship. Team unity. Collective willpower.
Call it what you like – it’s hard not to make it sound slightly syrupy and cliched – but the facts are you cannot win in England without it, and coach Justin Langer appears to have delivered on his promise to deliver a closely knitted Australian side who would watch each other’s backs.
Qualities which vanished from the Australian scene after the ball tampering scandal in South Africa, and even last summer in Australia when players at times seemed like castaways fighting for the same life jacket, now seem to be back in vogue.
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Even the fact that rested fast bowlers have bitten their lips and accepted their demotions is a sign of a team prepared to tolerate personal grief for the collective good.
This is a more significant event than it sounds because for more than a century, Australia simply took for granted its Test teams would be bonded by a deep collective desire.
But the big money that entered the game from all sorts of sources changed things and tugged priorities in different directions.
Some players became distracted and driven more by T20 dollars than playing Test cricket.
The big money that also flowed into Test cricket changed the vibe among teammates.
There were small signs that teams were not as close as they were, such as the occasional player wedding which included relatively few teammates.
Not that they were frosty to each other, simply more like business partners rather than the band of brothers of old.
Modern cricket can feature the deepest and shallowest levels of team harmony.
In the vibrant but soulless world of T20 cricket, some players admit that they occasionally struggle to know the names of some of their lesser known teammates, particularly at the start of a tournament.
“Mate is a wonderful word – it gets you out of trouble every time,’’ one said recently.
But a bonded Test team – as the Australians have been lauded as in England – is a powerful force.
Some sports have all but conceded that team bonding is impossible.
Basketballer Andrew Bogut said in America’s NBA, each player on court is essentially a private company just trying to do the best for his prime shareholder – himself. The NBA is not big on team dinners.
“Sport is unfortunately a business,’’ Bogut said recently.
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“Most people hate to hear it, but with the amount of bucks involved, it is your job and your livelihood. You get a five or 10-year window to make the most of it.’’
Team mentor Steve Waugh once said a key moment in his development as a Test player was learning how to enjoy other people’s success because you realised how only a small portion of the game directly involves you.
The same logic still applies – except for Steve Smith.
Originally published as The Ashes 2019: After low point of South Africa, the Australian cricket team is again a tight unit