Two major sporting disasters Down Under

Two major sporting events in Australia have ended in disaster, for very different reasons. Novak Djokovic, world number 1 tennis player and Serbia's greatest sportsman, finally lost his case against the Australian government and has been deported. The Australian Open will have to carry on without him which probably means that Rafa Nidal, his closest rival along with Roger Federer, will now have his best chance of winning another grand slam and moving ahead of Djokovic and Federer as the holder of the largest number of Open trophies. At the same time, The England cricket team was slaughtered by the Australians in the latest Ashes series, losing overwhelmingly badly in the fifth Test in Hobart, Tasmania, and began packing their bags to return home after losing four out of five of the Test matches. Just one draw. Not a five-nil whitewash as had been feared but as close as dammit. The batting display was abysmal. The bowling, particularly by the wonderful fast bowler Mark Wood, was excellent. But their achievements were let down by the batters. Djokovic has already left Australia after his visa was revoked, and the England team, their heads bowed in regret and disappointment and misery, will soon be on the plane home. For tennis and cricket lovers (me), both events are a crying shame. Djokovic can really only blame himself for what happened to him because he refused to have a vaccine jab against Covid-19 and the Australian rules were clear. But then again, they clearly weren't because the world number 1 had applied for exemption from the Australia tennis authorities and had won his argument. He was given a visa. So he and his team flew to Australia, expecting to play in the tournament. Why was he given a visa if the rules were supposed to be the same for everyone: no vaccinations, no visa for entry. Well, it's obvious of course. The tennis tournament bosses were desperate to have Djokovic playing to make sure the Open was a big money-spinner. They must have hoped that despite a potential outcry from the public about Djokovic being treated differently from everyone else, they could sneak him in without too much of a fuss. So in that context and that context only I feel sorry for Djokovic. I think he is wrong not to have had the vaccine and find it difficult to understand why he is so against it but that was his choice. And on that basis he should never have been allowed into Australia. But he was and then it became a worldwide issue. Now all that has to be said is, good luck Nidal (Federer isn't playing because of injury). As for the England cricket team, it may have been a disaster series and a terrible letdown for us fans, but let's hope the next matches will be totally different and the talent in the team will be on much better display. The troubLe with losing so badly is that it creates a failure mindset. Already there are calls for a massive turnover of staff and players. But the team was supposed to be the best available. Better to stick with these players and give them every encouragement to turn into superstars. The only three acknowledged world-class players in the team were Joe Root, the captain, Ben Stokes, the all-rounder, and Jimmy Anderson, openng bowler. But even they didn't do that well. So the Ashes series was a disaster. But there's life after Australia, both for the England cricket team and for Djokovic.