Australia's dominance of the International Test arena

[Crowness]

Heya everyone

Just curious to know if anyone else feels the same way I do on this topic... is it just me or has Australia's dominance of the international test arena just completely ruined the enjoyment of test matches?

I used to be a huge cricket fan, so much so that I took 3 days off school one week to go to every day of a test match between Australia & the West Indies at the Gabba lol (pretty sad I know).

Now if I was an Australian supporter I probably wouldn't feel the way I do I admit but has anyone else just lost all desire to keep up with test cricket?

Credit to the team and its administration for putting in place a superior infrastructure that will have them on top of the world in tests for a very long time to come (and it's been a long time already!) but maybe the ICC can make some sort of overhaul to the Official test rankings system to add a bit of spice and an element of unknown into the equation.

 

[Prestwick]

The Australian system is superb. Its genius lies not in one area like natural ability but in many areas at once like a stable administration, excellent coaching and facilities and a down and dirty work ethic. The problem is more to do with England, India, Pakistan, South Africa and the West Indies completely failing to consistently produce answers to the mystery team that is Australia.

 

[BLR]

I'm Australian and I have lost my love for cricket...I want at least some kind of interest in the game besides winning it...most games are just a foregone conclusion...

 

[sanzar]

Australian cricket to me has kind of become like the international team sport version of Roger Federer (with less class though), in that it's a marvel to see the consistency achieved at such a high level for such a long period of time, but as BLR said it also means that you lose your passion for it because of the level of dominance... Ultimately Australia needs to be knocked off, but it happen because (like Prestwick stated) another country has managed to match/surpass Australia, not through changing the system to disadvantage Australia (which is in essence punishing them for their success and admitting defeat on the part of everyone else).

 

[Steve-o]

I'd say Oz is more dominant in ODI's than in Test matches. The Protea's are right up there with them in the 5 day version

 

[the_ozz_man]

It has not made for Better Games But has made for better Watching i think

Watching the Best do their Thing is always good Like Schumacher in F1 he alwasy won but it was still good to watch

 

[Boggle]

Didn't we recently overhaul you as the #1 placed Test team in the world ?



not that it makes the ozzies any less dominant, but I'd like to think that the Proteas atleast give you guys a stern fight every now and again.

 

[sanzar]

Nope. In fact India is above you in the Test arena apparently:
http://icc-cricket.yahoo.com/rankings/rankings.html

 

[danny]

It hasnt ruined my enjoyment of test match cricket. Its up to all the other nations to raise their game and compete both on and off the pitch. The England team has gone through big changes since the Ashes 05 and I feel that progress is being made slowly. Its good to see players getting some county cricket under their belts as this was a major criticism of Duncan Fletchers regime. This summer we have some great cricket to enjoy with England hosting New Zealand and South Africa. This will give us an idea if we will be able to take on the Aussies next summer. That in my opinion is exciting.

 

[Boggle]

Nope. In fact India is above you in the Test arena apparently:
http://icc-cricket.yahoo.com/rankings/rankings.html [/b]

ah oops my mistake, I knew we did something of the sort, but it was us surpassing you as the top ranked ODI side (again, after the ever so brief period right before the world cup), technically we're tied at teh moment though.



Yeah I've never actually been that interested in Test match cricket, but it would be nice if we could get our act together against you guys.

 

[Hamster]

India might have done well and put up a good fight last summer but I just think all the scandals got me disinterested. Seriously, the whole bloody Indian team are a bunch of kindergardeners that if they dont get there way they have a bloody tantrum and the ICC was too scared to do anything. I think Brisbane gets the worst time to have the first test match, right when students have exams, just before the holidays, yet we still rack in 15-20k+ but couldr ack in more if it was in a better time. Saying that I still love test cricket I just think ODI cricket is a bit outdated nowadays.