When you start a campaign, you know that there will be losses along the way. Every movie that brings together a group of sassy and capable characters is going to let a few of them fall for the sake of narrative drive and dramatic development. For those in charge of Australia’s cricket team, perhaps the opening World Cup engagement against India was a sacrifice they were willing to make, one necessary dip in a long story arc.
That’s the most charitable explanation, anyway, for a strange start to the tournament – strange not in terms of the result or how it played out, but in how that situation was set up in the first place. It is a proud and ancient cricket custom to greet a bad batting performance by focusing solely on the bowlers, but even leaving aside Australia’s being bowled out for 199, something about the team’s configuration spoke of a lack of clarity.
