Why Australia is the best test team in world?

Australians got a stiff competition from SA and India in 2008. Australians barely managed to overcome stiff Indian resistance in their own backyard while Indians trounced them 2-0 in India. India is a vastly improved test side from what it was 2 years ago. On the other hand SA was on the verge of dethroning Australia as number 1 test side in the world. Alas! They stumbled at the last step. Some would say that they are perennial chokers.

I think, even though SA and India have challenged Australian hegemony over last few years, Australia will remain number 1 team in times to come. In my earlier post "Why is Australia the number 1 team?" we looked at one aspect of Australian cricket - their bench strength. But more than their bench strength, it is their seriousness about about the test cricket that sways the ranking in their favour. Test cricket is considered to be the holy grail in Australia. 2008 was just an aberration for Australian cricket.

When the best players of the were playing in IPL 2009, Australian stalwarts were resting at home. They renounced playing lucrative IPL and also didn't participate in one dayers against Pakistan. Why so? Because they wanted to keep themselves fresh for Ashes. While IPL was in full flow, the voices emanating from Australian cricket suggested that the team was getting into groove for Ashes. Even today, when rest of the world is focused on ICC T20 championship (which is just round the corner), all the news coming from Australian team is about Ashes preparation.

ICC T20 championship is the most prestigious international T20 tournament in the world. Barring 1 or 2 T20 matches in a bilateral series, all the teams play international T20 matches only during ICC T20 championship. And what is the news from Australian camp about ICC T20 championship? Nothing...This says it all. Australians attach immense importance to test cricket and that is why they have been so successful in this format.

What hopes does Australia have in ICC T20 championship? Even though they are placed in group of Death, along with WI and SL, Australia has a strong T20 team. They should be able to go through to next round. Anyway, that is another story...