Retirements won’t hobble Aussie Test side, says Hughes

PERTH (Australia)—Two legendary cricketers announced their retirement from Australia’s national side this week, but former captain Kim Hughes believes it is now better able to handle the loss of superstars.
Champion spinner Shane Warne and veteran paceman Glenn McGrath both announced their decisions to quit, following batsmen Damien Martyn into retirement and signalling a period of upheaval for the national side. It last faced a similar situation some 20 years ago, when Dennis Lillee, Greg Chappell and Rod Marsh retired in 1984. They left a gaping void that took several years to fill.
Warne will hang up his whites after the Ashes series, while McGrath’s final challenge will be the World Cup in the West Indies. Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist are also in the twilight of their international careers. So the next two years will see a major generational change in an Australian side currently on a 10 Test winning streak. Hughes, who led Australia during the turbulence following the departures of Lillee, Chappell and Marsh, said Saturday the latest retirements would dent Australia’s dominance at Test level — but that it would be a soft landing.
He pointed out there was no outstanding opponent, compared with the fearsome West Indies in the 1980s, and said domestic cricket now had more depth. “I think we won’t win as many games,” Hughes said. “Where we’ve got wins in the past, there will be draws. We won’t be able to win nine out of nine, and 10 out of 10 and that sort of thing.
“Sides are going to hang on a bit more, because whenever we have been in trouble we’ve thrown the ball to either Warne or McGrath or both.” Warne leaves the game with Australia holding every major trophy available to it after an amazing period of success.
Australia reaffirmed its status as clearly the best side in both one-day and Test match cricket by reclaiming the Ashes and winning its first Champions Trophy. The defence of the World Cup, meanwhile, is just months away. The record of a 16-Test winning streak by Steve Waugh’s side between 1999 and 2001 is also in the sights. Hughes, who sees Australia as the side to beat at the World Cup, identified injury-plagued Queenslander Shane Watson as a key player in the next phase of Australian Test cricket.
“Of greater importance now is the all-rounder position,” Hughes said. “We could get away with four bowlers because of the two champs. Without the two champs, we are going to need an extra bowler. Watson will become very, very important indeed.” After the retirement of Lillee, Marsh and Chappell, Australia slumped and it won just four of its next 29 Tests, going eight series without a win.
The drought broke with successive home series wins against New Zealand in 1987-88 and then Test minnow Sri Lanka the following season. Australia finally regained the Ashes in England in 1989 and it proved to be the dawn of a new golden era for Australian cricket.
Hughes said Australia’s ability to recover relatively quickly from the lows of the mid-1980s showed even the greatest players could be replaced. “Lillee, Marsh and Chappell were viewed as once-in-25-years players, but within 10 years we had three of the best of all time in Warne, McGrath and Gilly,” he said.—Agencies