The Sad Decline of Australian Cricket and the Steady Rise of Its Misery

Recently in cricket we have seen the downfall of its biggest empire: the Australian empire.

This is something to cherish for most non-Australian cricket fans. It is something many have been hoping for.

Personally, it was really fun as an Indian to see Australia get bashed up by India last year. What was even more special was the fact that Australia never looked like winning.

Later that year, we all enjoyed the great South Africa vs. Australia series which was the defining moment of the decade. We saw the new world champions, South Africa. It was something very similar to when the Aussies beat the West Indies and became the unofficial world champions.

India is the other team which is now thought of as better than Australia.

But in all this happiness I feel, somewhere inside me I know that neither SA nor India has really beaten Australia.

Australia is the team which has Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, who could run through any attack. They had Mathew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, who made the ball fly through the field. They had Langer and Martyn, who were not as great but were still great enough to usually be very consistent.

That was the Aussie camp. And if I am not wrong, they were never beaten.

So what I can conclude from this is that world cricket hasn't improved, it is just that Australian cricket declined.

Another thing to notice is that Australia not at their prime are at maximum worse than the Indians and the Proteas. Just shows you how good they are.

And if that is the case, then in about a decade we might see a comeback from them similar to that of this team of the southern hemisphere, compared to the one they made in the '70s or the '80s (please tell me which) after they lost the likes of Denis Lillee and Jeff Thomson.

So the Aussie team is not actually down and out. They are just down for a very small period of time.

Even if they never become world beaters again, it still means that world cricket hasn't been at par with the real Australian team.

So what would I want more? To beat Australia or the betterment of world cricket?

My answer would be the latter. What is yours?