How About We Just Pick Captains Again And Start Over?

So is this what the future holds for international cricket? 30-year-old Australian players who could never get a game for their own country moving to bottom-of-the-table teams just to get internationals? Will we soon see David Hussey anchoring the middle order for Bangladesh, or Matthew Inness opening the bowling for Zimbabwe?

My favourite bit from the interview -- with Brendan Nash, the ex-Queensland batsman now trying to get into the West Indies team -- was his answer to this question:

What are the major differences between Australian and West Indian cricket?
The on-field stuff like the lack of facilities to train or play on. The culture is also a lot more laid-back...

Yeah, you know, that "on-field stuff"... as in, actually having a field on which to play.Yeah, that one might be the biggie. In Australia, they have that. In the West Indies, they don't. Gee, I wonder which of the team has been doing better recently?

And does this mean we are headed for a world where Australia play Australia A and Australia B to see who's best in the world? Ugh. Should I just go back to sleep for a half-decade or so?

(But hey, if it makes the West Indies relevant again, bring on the Aussies, I say! Isn't Shane Warne available again? Shit, where's Allen Stanford and his money when you need them?)

Comments

[Soulberry]

John Buchanan suggested it sometime ago. I don't think most cricket watchers understood where he was coming from, including yours truly. Being in the loop, so to speak, he must have understood that there were many cricketers on the table who could be in a position to take advantage of their accidents of birth (I mean the place of, of course!), perhaps migration...early or later. World society has made it possible for people to move around a lot more than they did earlier.

Perhaps the most vulnerable in this regard could be England, for having once had presence in almost all parts of the world, it is quite likely that there will be players somewhere who can trace back roots to England. Then all the immigrations over the years.

Makes for some curious times.

I don't have a problem with sons of immigrants but it does look funny when people migrate just to facilitate their chances of playing for a national team. That in itself isn't wrong since laws permit and other fields also see such movement, but it does look funny at times.

[J Rod]

Matthew Inness would be a good pick for Zimbabwe.

[D.S. Henry]

Soulberry, I actually remember Buchanan saying that, because I wrote a post about the insane levels of arrogance the Australian team were reaching at that point.

(http://outsidetheline.typepad.com/outside_the_line/2007/11/neros-spot-migh.html)

Maybe Buchanan was right after all.