Brendon McCullum confident of Australian resurgence

Brendon McCullum congratulated Michael Clarke on his last ODI match

The current state of the belittled Australian side is no different from a rudderless and captainless ship. Who could have predicted that a side which was crowned the world champions just a couple of months back will fall into such disarray. Their performance in the current Ashes has forced Australia to take a deep look inside and come up with an action plan.

Australian captain Michael Clarke bore most of the brunt for the pathetic show, more so for his own lack of runs. Clarke had to buckle down and call curtains on his otherwise sterling career. His decision took many by surprise. Clarke shall be playing his last international match in the upcoming 5th Test at Oval.

McCullum wrote in his column for the Daily Mail that despite the setbacks faced by Australia, they will bounce back. He was also a bit critical of selection practices of the Australian management in this Ashes.

"The Aussies have always produced talented cricketers. It’s just a question of getting them in the right seats on the bus — something I don’t feel they’ve done that well during the Ashes. But they’ll find a way. They usually do.”

McCullum was particularly surprised by the retirement decision of his Australian counterpart. The same captain who had snatched the coveted World Champion title from the Kiwis.

“As for Clarke, I was surprised by the timing of his decision but I’d rather focus on what a wonderful player he’s been. He was one of the first rock-star cricketers but he backed that up with his runs.”

He concluded that it will not be an easy task for the incoming captain to take charge.

Australia face another challenge now that Steve Smith is set to replace Michael Clarke as captain. He’ll have his work cut out because they look set to lose a few players and he’ll have to balance his desire to stamp his mark on the team with the need to get results

One has to admit that under Clarke’s leadership the performance of Australia was never up to the mark in the overseas series. Now, Smith needs to get his act together and push the team out of the shadow of the Ashes and stage a come back like the typical Australian side. Their next series in October against the Bangladesh is going to test their skills thoroughly.