Season preview
It's that time again. The start of a new Australian season is upon us, and
again it arrives with all of the usual connotations in the way of
excitement, anticipation and expectation about the six months that lie ahead.
The commencement of a new summer also prompts the staff at
baggygreen.com.au to undertake our annual ritual of assessing each of the
six state teams and their respective Pura Cup and ING Cup prospects.
With the caveat - or perhaps that should read 'ready-made excuse' - that
predictions about finishing positions in these two competitions are
probably as difficult to formulate as any in Australian sport, it's
therefore the moment for us to reach for our spasmodically-trusty crystal
ball. To weigh up the fallout from last summer, to cast our eyes over
developments in the off-season, and to assess what comes next.
In noting that we successfully nominated three of the four finalists last
summer, we should say that this is another season that already looks like
providing close races in each of the two competitions.
Inevitably, the hardest part of this process again lies in deciding which
teams might finish at the feet of the two tables. The likelihood of being
embarrassed later in the season by marking particular teams down at the
start of the summer is very real.
Nevertheless, we expect that it might be a season of surprises. Last
season's expansion of the one-day program brought with it one of the most
competitive and keenly-fought campaigns in memory. And, while two teams
again established their dominance in the Pura Cup, developments just below
them on the table can not be ignored.
With that in mind, we believe that one state will reach its first one-day
final in as many as seven years and that another will progress to its first
first-class decider in eight seasons. Naturally, such outcomes are heavily
dependent on good fortune, but they would provide powerful evidence of the
fact that no state has a mortgage on a finals position in either
competition.
Wherever the teams finish, though, there is one thing that's probably for
certain even now. Australian interstate cricket in 2001-02 will
undoubtedly continue to be played at a tremendous standard, a standard that
adds real weight to observations that it is currently the strongest
domestic arena in the world.
To administrators, players and spectators alike go our best wishes for a
memorable summer.
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