Our puppies came home last night and they are like different creatures. The good folks we left them with have somehow taught them some manners. They no longer jump all over us and the door and they do listen and obey simple instructions much more frequently.
I suddenly like the puppies again. Hayzey thought they were great - they were letting her pat them without getting excited and jumping all over her. LGR was neither here nor there - he just sat on the couch and watched the dogs continually sneak their way into the house.
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I was driving into work fairly early this morning and listening to some talkback about the cricket just finished in the West Indies and, in particular, the Australian cricket team.
A listener called in to express the opinion that the Australian cricket team is no longer the best in the world because "they've lost so many good players." She then went on to suggest that the reason the Australians are dropping more catches is because they are lazy and arrogant.
One of the things in life that baits me far too easily is criticism of sports teams/peoples as being lazy and arrogant. It can be said without a doubt that are some highly confident sports people out there and that there are even some who behave in a very arrogant (Def: making claims or pretensions to superior importance or rights; overbearingly assuming; insolently proud).
Confidence is a massive prerequisite for sporting success (and dare I say it life in general) - it really does help to believe that you are capable of producing a result before you attempt to do it. Arrogance is not - but I see a world of difference in a group of confident Australian cricketers running onto a field and engaging in a sporting contest and the previous definition of arrogance.
What about the Indian series? Wasn't that arrogance? I don't think so - the Australians played to the umpires decisions. This is what I was taught to do as a kid and it doesn't matter if the umpire is right or wrong - they are always right. Sometimes that sux but the Aussies adhered to this.
The major grief from the Indian series concerned a single opposition player who has plenty of form when it comes to a series of 'crimes' - not walking when bowled vs England and then openly swearing at the English players when it was suggested he was out, racial abuse vs England, Australia and South Africa, judicial penalties from the ICC and now a physical assault on a team mate (admittedly minor but still bizarre ....).
There was some other stuff about not walking and claiming catches but I really think that was just counter claim from the opposition. There was also the stuff about going home because they didn't like the ICC (ie umpires) decision about the racial abuse thing - but that was all in jest. Wasn't it? Really?
I don't believe the Australian team to be arrogant - merely a group of blokes full of confidence who let others know they are confident in their skills and their capacity to win a game of cricket.
Why are they dropping catches? Most of the dropped catches are in the slips. When you think about some of the blokes lost to Australian cricket in the last few years there are some outstanding slips fielders - Shane Warne, Steve Waugh, Damian Martyn, Matt Hayden missing from this series. There are some very good fielders in there now - Andrew Symonds and Mike Hussey spring to mind and Ricky Ponting is the 1st slippper. But you can't have 2/3 of your cordon ripped out and replace them easily.
Are the Australian team still the best in the world? I don't think there are any that can claim to be consistently better but it is impossible to ignore the performance of the Indians in Australia last summer. Australia is rebuilding and currently has the trophy from every tournament they have played in over the last couple of years with the exception of the Twenty20 WorldCup. Since losing McGrath, Warne & Langer they have won series vs India and West Indies. The WI series was also missing Adam Gilchrist and Matt Hayden.
Not many teams can continue to win while rebuilding.
The Indian team are very good. So are the South Africans. Australia appears to be a strike bowler short. I think the Aussies are as vulnerable as they have been at any point since about 1990.
They are still very good.