Cricket - Aussies vie for back-to-back trophies

Just how will the once mighty juggernaut Australia and current Champions Trophy holders, perform at this year’s tournament?

It is probably the most talked about question of the summer and for many, there are just no clear-cut answers.

They started the season with a home test series loss to South Africa but then rebounded and beat the Proteas at home in the return leg to retain their top test playing nation spot.

They then headed to England after a horrible Twenty20 World Cup, which saw them bundled out in the pool stages with losses to the West Indies and Sri Lanka, they lost their second Ashes series in four years.

With their backs to the wall they then came out and absolutely pantsed and spanked the English 6-1 in the one-day series, which leads them to South Africa.

So, after a tumultuous year which saw them lose their top test nation spot along with slipping to third in the one day rankings, it’s no wonder that bookmakers have installed them at +400 for Champions Trophy glory.

But in saying that, the bookies may be too kind as the Aussies have form and confidence on their side and some of their key players have hit a rich vein of form, none more so than Brett Lee.

The Aussie quick missed the Ashes series but has hit back with devastating and will be a handful in South Africa. If the Aussies need one player to fire it is Lee.

Why?

The batting line up will take care of itself but Australia needs an old head with the new ball, a bowler who can tear the heart out of a team while not spraying runs across the field (yes I am looking firmly in your direction Mitchell Johnson).

That’s Lee job now, that’s his role in the team and without him, the Aussies just look too wayward. If they bowling second, they don’t look dangerous without Lee and when they bowl first, well the Aussie batsmen are forced to watch as their other top line bowlers get spanked.

With just one point separating Australia, India and South Africa for the top one-day spot, this tournament should prove to be a cracker for the Antipodeans. If they fail to make it to the semis, expect heads to roll.

The team:

Ricky Ponting (c): Punter came under fire following the Ashes series loss and for good reason, his captaincy at times was appalling however he redeemed himself with ruthless spanking of the Poms in the one-day series in which he averaged 58.25.

Michael Clarke (vc): Pup failed to find a big score in the one-day series against England but he still managed 253 runs at an average of 50.60. He seems to be more of a compiler of runs these days however, if Australia is deep in it at the start of the match, it's all good and well, but if they are not and the Aussies need some quick runs, they are going to have to push him aside for a pinch hitter like Cameron White. Had the poorest strike rate of all the Aussie batsmen with 63.09.

Nathan Bracken: Bracks didn’t set the world alight in England and the one day series yielded just seven wickets in six matches.