Been a while since I have sat down and penned things down. Maybe another series of retirements has prompted me to put pen to paper, rather fingers to keyboard, mind to matter.
The news of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath retiring is circling the cricketing world and is greeted with 'oohs' and 'aahs'. Well for me, it was always round the corner. But a golden generation for Australia is parting ways...and its time for the Aussies to live the fear and try and dominate through it as they have dominated 'cricket' for the past decade.
The history of Australian cricket is proud and their present rides on it. And they have found a system to throw people with attitude to succeed. They have been blessed with a generation of players to take their pride to an extent that it tends to ridiculing. A complement to them in their own ways.
When we talk about the great Australian players, if Don Bradman’s left aside, they are still a band which stands tall. This present batch has surpassed these 'legends' so comprehensively that one has to stand and ask: Is this time to redefine the term legend? Just in 2001 the world record for highest wickets in tests stood tall (and by tall I mean it looked tough to surpass) at 434. In six years it has risen to almost 700. To think further, Muttiah Muralitharan is just 24 wickets behind and has a good 5 years of cricket in him! A thousand seems like a reality!!
Comparisons in cricket are aplenty and in my opinion its these comparisons that run the game rather than the governing body. The statistics play such a huge role in arguments and to top it, one sentence starts it all over when one of the participants comes up with the rant, "Stats don't reveal the true story". And the debate continues...
But, what these stats do is to compare different genres, different styles, different oppositions putting them in the same balance and reach at a conclusion that more than solving the enigma, stirs up the mix to make it more complex.
All in all, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne have been stalwarts in modern day cricket and the void from their departure is one that the world champions are going to face in the coming years, such has been their contribution. I cannot stay away from the statistics to say that the partnership of Warne and McGrath has claimed most of their victims together. They have cashed on the traditional predatorily instinct to hunt in pairs and corner the prey to succumb. They have truly signified the importance of perseverance. They have crowned themselves the tags of 'living legends'.
To their credit they have been heroes, marshals, champions...but where they have failed is in the humility. I have been a firm believer in the phrase: Champions are known by their humility and these are the ones that haven't. Mind you, this does not put a cover on their achievements in any sense, because as marking them as role models, their achievements are the ones that should come to the eye.
My salutes to the duo! Thanks for the entertainment!
