Avoid middle of March
There is now one more reason why Australia should consider not playing cricket around the middle of March.
On 14 March 2001, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid started that unforgettable 376 run partnership at Eden Gardens and the game was over, in India's favour, the next day. It was only the third time in test history that a side had won after being made to follow on. Australia were at the receiving end on every occasion. On the same day in 1999, Brian Lara and Jimmy Adams put on 344 at Jamaica when West Indies were 34/4.
On 15 March 1979, Sarfraz Nawaz blew away Australia who collapsed from 305/3 to 310 all out. Sarfraz took 7 wickets for a single run.
On 17 March 1996, Australia were thrashed by Sri Lanka in the 1996 World Cup semi-final.
Mind you, Australia have had success in March. But these have been some pretty glaring mess ups!
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| Brilliant points!
The curse of the Ides of March for the ruler..ehh? ;-)
By 
worma (15 Mar 2006, 3:21:00 pm)
worma: Heh. Of course, after Australia's recent high profile cock ups, some folks could doubt if they're actually the "ruler"!
By Jagadish (15 Mar 2006, 3:36:00 pm)
Yeah, and add to it the loss to Bangladesh on an English pitch, and almost failing to defend 300+ twice in a row against Nz, and we realise that the crown is indeed slipping. They still rule, but the mob is gathering at the doors..
By worma (15 Mar 2006, 5:20:00 pm)
worma: Come on, we all know Bangladesh lost only because Symonds was drunk :) Australia actually barely won the second one dayer against New Zealand when NZ made 320 chasing 323! They did a wee bit better in the final game. I think Australia are still ahead of the rest, by a fair margin. But when they have an off day, they sure seem hopeless.
By Jagadish (15 Mar 2006, 8:30:00 pm)
And these off days are coming a bit more frequently off late. One more thing, they don't have the bowling to do well in batting friendly conditions....when experience and discipline is required. And WI is going to be like that, so if McG doesn't come back...and they don't manage to persuade Warne out of retirement, I expect some desperate measures by the selectors. Even as desperate as an ODI recall for Gillespie/Kasper/Bichel(yes!!).
By worma (16 Mar 2006, 3:14:00 am)
As India found out in 2003/04 when we toured there ... no McGrath & Warne and the bowling looks so nice to bat against. Lee isn't the finished article yet. The problem is that he isn't ready to be the spearhead of the attack and has been thrust in that role all of a sudden since McGrath got injured just before the start of the Edgbaston test. Then Gillespie started bowling tripe. Given that Lee had spent nearly a year without test cricket, he may not have been prepared for the responsibility since he wasn't sure about his place! I think Gillespie will come back. Kaspa and Bichel is a little bit tougher.
By Jagadish (16 Mar 2006, 9:10:00 am)
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