The discussion progressed from there into the whole issue of injury-prone quicks, which has been revisited often enough to be skirted around here, and ended up with Grigor expressing the hope that we’d have a competitive series.
That’s probably what almost everyone wants, but almost everyone doesn’t quite include Yours Truly.
A competitive series is fine with me, provided it involves an Australian side that’s playing close to or above 100%, and that notion gave me something to ponder on the pre-Jimbo portion of today’s morning walk.
The Critical Reader might have difficulty with the concept of achieving a result that’s better than 100%, but here’s my take on the seemingly incongruous mathematics.
I had cataract surgery at the beginning of 2012, and was surprised to be informed on a follow up visit that my eyesight was now better than 100%. That threw me for a while, but things got clarified on a subsequent visit when I ran across the very bottom line of the chart on the wall.
The second bottom line, I figured, equates to 100% normal vision, the best that you can reasonably expect to have. Read onto the next line and get things right and you’ve exceeded the perfect percentage.
So, as far as Australian cricket is concerned, I want to see an Australian side performing to around 100% of its potential. I’m not interested in a competitive series against Bangla Desh or Zimbabwe if it means we have to play down to their level to get the competitiveness.
Until recently, we haven’t been sure what our best side is, and there seem to have been definite factors within the squad that have prevented individuals and the group as a whole delivering the best they’re capable of.
When you look at this Australian Twelve, I think it’s about the best Dozen we can deliver. If they can play to their full potential we’re going to go very close to getting The Urn back, and, yes, it will probably be a competitive series.
More significantly, there are a couple of players in there who have the potential to deliver something that will really make us sit up and take notice for all the right reasons, and that’s definitely something to look forward to.
That’s where I’m coming from, anyway…