From Rolls Royce to sedan

When you get used to driving a Rolls Royce on an Autobahn, it sometimes takes awhile to adjust to driving a normal family sedan on a suburban street. Whilst the Rolls was powered by engines of the calibre of McGrath, Warne, Gilchrist, the Waugh twins, Langer and Gillespie, it makes the transition to a four cylinder compact, fuelled by Siddle, Lee, Symonds and Hauritz/Krezja an even harder psychological vehicle to drive.

Australia’s batting performance in the second innings at the MCG reflects the above analogy perfectly. For so long, perhaps a decade or so, Australia batted like princes, comfortable in the knowledge that they had the depth and class to ride out any minor hiccups. Most situations were treated the same way – back your ability and those of your brilliant mates to smash your way out of trouble. If all of the top order failed, rare as that was, there was always Gilchrist to come.

In the very early days of a crumbling empire, the first sign is usually a refusal to accept that some things have changed and the world will never be the same again. Throughout this series, and especially in the second innings in Melbourne, Australia batted like royalty but failed to realise that the kingdom, whilst not yet relinquished, was certainly not theirs to take for granted.

It called for some old-fashioned grit, some dogged resistance, the sort of boring, negative cricket that went against everything the Rolls Royce brigade stood for. Someone forgot to tell them that the Rolls had been traded in for the family wagon, complete with passengers, some of them out of form, some of them injured, some of them inexperienced and some of them still living in the past.

Hayden’s innings was a mixture of desperation, courage and ultimately, false bravado. When it comes off, that sort of arrogance is applauded for its audacity and fearlessness. He has played so many of those great innings and it would be churlish to forget those many moments during this short period of poor form. Today, when Australia needed a sober innings, Hayden refused to accept that role. The South Africans, mindful of that mindset, set their trap and got their man, as they have done all series.

Katich, and Haddin too were in the same frame of mind. None of this boring match-saving stuff for them. Driving expansively, they nicked balls that should have been left alone if sensible survival were the team orders. Perhaps Ponting was still harbouring hopes of a win – his dismissal was not that of a timid man looking to scrap for a draw. Likewise the vice-captain Clarke - three players caught in the short-cover region. There’s only one way to crash a Rolls Royce and that’s to do it in style!

The fat lady has yet to sing so I’m being cautious about writing off the Aussies with a lead of 180+ on a last day pitch. Regardless of whether SA chase down this total or not, one cannot help but wonder whether the modes of dismissal today were part of a team plan to keep attacking, regardless of the match situation or whether it was a case of some batsmen just refusing to accept the new reality of an army without the big guns.

Australia will not become a poor team overnight. There’s too much depth and too much pride to allow that to happen. They will continue to be competitive and will probably win more than they lose. The big difference now is that other countries have lost their fear of the mighty Aussie machine. The Proteas have proved that you can fight back against them and not just survive but thrive. It’s a credit to the SA think-tank that they have understood the psychology so well and given the Aussie batsmen enough rope to hang themselves. Their field settings and the line they bowled today relied heavily on the home team refusing to play out maiden overs or let too many go through to the wicketkeeper. In some senses, it was an ego thing.

The champagne days are over for the time being. No shame in that. The sooner this Australian team comes to terms with the new reality of their own mortality, the sooner they will learn to stop batting like millionaires. It’s been great entertainment and we’ve enjoyed the ride but it’s time to start playing ‘ugly’ again. The Australian cricket fan is knowledgeable enough to appreciate that and allow this new generation to find their feet without holding them ransom to the Rolls Royce legacy that we’ve been treated to since the early 1990’s.