Teams play bad cricket and teams lose, indeed Australia have lost too,
even from winning positions as they did at Eden Gardens in 2001 and from strong
positions like at Adelaide in 2003-04. But with good teams the losses become
events and that is why Australia
were such a good cricketing nation. They had good players because they had a
good system and they played tough. Beneath that excellent winning record lie a
number of matches that could have gone the other way had it not been for bold,
decisive cricket.

And Australia
never admitted they were down because that would have made the opposition
strong. They always talked a good game, said the right things and hardly, if
ever, revealed chinks in the armour. And that is why I am a little baffled at
some of the recent statements coming out of their camp.

"There was panic" one of the players said while the now infamous and, for
many in the opposition all these years, memorable collapse was underway. You
wondered, and you hardly