Lets not forget, where were Clark, Clarke, Johnson and Hussey 5 years ago?
And how good were Symonds, Jaques and Lee 5 years ago?
People will come out of the woodwork, and other players will mature beyond belief, its just the way the cricket world works.
I couldn't resist a tale.
Symonds, a well established 27 year old all rounder in domestic cricket and a veteran of several ODIs, was looking the national selectors' axe in the face. A few words from Ricky Ponting kept him in the World Cup side and a few more when the chips were down saw him unleash his potential; a player previously thought by many to be a bowler with some handy hitting ability became one of the most destructive batsmen in world cricket.
The irrepressible Mr Cricket already had 7 full seasons with WA and was beginning his run of dominance in England. In 2001, he topped the tables, scoring 2055 runs for Northants at an average of 79. It was concurrent with a missed chance to break into the Australia top order following the axing of Slater in the 2001 Ashes. Nevertheless, he remained a popular name with pundits, not to mention the selectors when they convened to pick an Aus A squad.
Jaques, 23, having struggled to crack into the seemingly invulnerable NSW side, was just about to embark on his debut county season with Northants, having qualified as a British passport holder. He joined Mike Hussey in the top order, forming a formidable combo and scoring 5 centuries in his 16 matches. It proved a resourceful ploy, rocketing him into the NSW team, as well as establishing a grey cloud of fear over county bowlers.
Stuart Clark had been in and around the game for several years, like Jaques, finding it difficult to get a game, but 01/02 was his breakthrough season. He took 45 wickets, which left him second only to Kasprowicz, who was at the time considered the best bowler in the domestic scene by his peers. This then lead to Australia A selection at the beginning of 02/03, touring South Africa with players such as Simon Katich, Andrew Symonds, Nathan Bracken, Brad Hogg, Mike Hussey and Justin Langer.
Unlike Clark or Jaques, Michael Clarke danced his way into the NSW lineup. The 21 year old wunderkind had just made his debut in the ODI team, having already made 3 first class centuries for NSW and in the midst of a season where he made 4 more. There was little doubt that one of the youngest ever Australian domestic players was destined for greater glories.
Mitchell Johnson had been labelled as 'a once in a generation bowler' at age 17 and subsequently, toured England as an under-19 and was selected by Queensland at age 21. Alas, recurring back injury reduced him to a grade cricket batsman for most of the first 3 years of his first class career and he didn't even feature in 02/03. However, even if not a well known performer, he was well known to the big dogs and following a full recovery from injury, he toured Pakistan with Aus A.
Ok maybe not but theres a lot of talent coming through for all the nations, but it's the mental ability to do it conistsently at the highest level which will decide how successful they are and thats why Australia are so good.
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