So I miss 2 days of the Ashes due to a 12-hr flight and a bit of the jet lag, and I find that in 12 hours of cricket England lost 15 wickets for less than 200 runs!

Remember this?

Is Brett Lee still the leader of Australia's pace attack?

Or are they staying back and using the next 30 days to prepare for the Ashes?

I never thought that I would say 'Australia' in the same breath as 'Scotland and Bangladesh', but after tonight I am compelled to do it.

Scotland, Bangladesh, and Australia are out of the ICC World Twenty20.

And how.

The world may have figured out the mystery of Mendis, but this was the first time the Australians were up against him.

And they had no idea what to do.

Watson was clueless, Ponting tried to hit him out and failed, and Mike Hussey didn't read him at all.

Johnson played him the best; if it wasn't for him, Australia would have scored a lot less than 159.

Even Murali was difficult to score of; the Aussies managed only 8 runs of his first 3 overs, before Johnson came out and smashed 21 of his last one.

Have Ponting and Co. ever thought of taking batting lessons from Mitchell Johnson?

Malinga was also on top of his game. I just loved those slower balls that the Australians failed to pick throughout their innings.

What a beauty to get rid of Haddin. Johnson also faced one and was left bemused. Then that scorching yorker that got Lee. Awesome!

Then Dilshan happened.

Drives, cuts, pulls, sweeps, slog sweeps, sitting-down-in-weird-frog-type-stance-and-scooping-over-the-keeper shot, and what not.

Dilshan threw the entire kitchen along with the sink at the Aussies.

And then King Sanga took the Lankans over the finish line in his first international match as captain.

End result, Australia became the first major team to be dumped from the ICC World Twenty20.

Who would have thought, or as Homer would say, "thunk"?

Come tomorrow, Pakistan may join them, but for now Australia face this embarassment alone.

There are a lot of things regarding the upcoming Pakistan-Australia series that the Dubai public is excited about.

Watching a match in the ring of fire for the first time ever.

Watching the first ever 20-20 to be played on UAE soil.

Watching David Warner in action.

Most of the people I spoke to are looking forward to witnessing Warner, more than any other player, in action.

Ricky Ponting and Mitchell Johnson were the other 2 favorites on the must-watch list of the Dubai fans.

But Cricket Australia has robbed Dubai of the chance of witnessing Ponting and Johnson in action.

The squad they announced is very much a 2nd string side and one that is a comback trail for Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson, and Shaun Marsh.

No Ponting.

No Johnson.

No Mike Hussey.

No Siddle.

No Cameron White.

I'm not sure if this squad will remain the same for the 20-20, but if it is, then we have also been robbed of the David Warner spectacle!

Well maybe we'll witness Pakistan win a few matches this way.

I guess I was too early in calling "how times change". It took a couple of days for an Aussie debutant to get a ton; and for the Aussie debutant opener to become the top scorer among the 3 openers that made their debuts during the week.

I have not been this delighted at an Australian victory since they beat the West Indies in 1992 to ensure Pakistan a semi-final spot at the world cup.

On the 1st day of this test, I tried explaining my support for Australia, whom I have not supported during their 15 year reign of invincibility, by arguing the case of the underdog and talking of my dislike for South Africa.

After their victory, I have more reasons.

There is no arrogant 6 foot plus bully at the top of the order trying to intimidate and decimate a bowling attack. Instead there is a 5 and half feet determined, innocent looking kid trying to make a mark in international cricket.

There is no pigeon legged pacer irritating the crap out of me by sticking to one line and length and dismissing batsman after batsman. Instead there is a sturdy looking swing bowler who moves it both ways and bowls with a smile that was rarely visible on the pigeon.

There is no drunkard brawler who was more of a slogger than a test batsman and annoyed me by scoring runs so easily. Instead there is a correct batsman who works hard for his runs.

There is no wannabe rockstar who bowled beamers and smiled for the cameras and started the lawn mower after every wicket. Instead there is a young pacer who hops like a one legged kangaroo and looks better while batting than the former.

There is no spinner who turns it a mile, or one that had a larger than life image, or one that bowled with his tongue out that made me feel like pulling it out and chopping it off. Instead there is a medium pacer, who does not even have a permanent test spot.

There is no pigeon wannabe who bowls the same nagging length and looks more like an office clerk than a test cricketer. Instead there is real hard working test bowler who shows a lot of passion in his effort on the field.

There is no wicketkeeper who used to change the course of tests in the matter of a session and pretty much changed the role of the keeper in todays times. Instead there is someone trying to make his own presence felt, both in front and behind (no pun intended) the stumps.

Matthew Hayden, Glenn Mcgrath, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Stuart McGill, Stuart Clark, and Adam Gilchrist won many tests for Australia during their decade and a half of dominance.

They intimidated the opposition, completely dominated the matches, and made winning so easy that it made it impossible for me to support them.

Great cricketers they were no doubt, but for them it didn't seem like hard work.

For them it was more like winning was their job.

They rarely failed, which is why I wanted them to.

Phil Hughes, Ben Hilfenhaus, Marcus North, Mitchell Johnson, Andrew McDonald, Peter Siddle, and Brad Haddin are no where near the stature of the players they have replaced.

Not yet anyway.

Nor do they seem to be as naturally gifted as their predecessors.

Which is why supporting them is all the more easier.

While the former group seemed to win it all without breaking a sweat, the latter one worked hard for their win at the Wanderers.

Hughes, Hilfenhaus, and North were playing their 1st test. McDonald his 2nd. Siddle his 5th. Johnson and Haddin their 20th or thereabouts.

For the first time in probably 2 decades have I seen an Australian side this inexperienced, for whom winning was not as easy as it has been for Australia over the years.

More than that, these players are still trying to make a permanent place for themselves in the line up.

It felt good to see the Australians work so hard for their runs and wickets.

It felt good to see the Australians pushed and intimidated.

And it felt good to see them come out of that on top.

It always feels good to see new cricketers, trying to establish themselves at the international level, ending on the winning side against a top team.

Despite the ugly face of Ponting still lingering around the team, I like the look of the new Australia.

Somehow, I hope they remain the new Australia and not turn into the old invincible Australia.

Elsewhere, NC has said something similar.

The build up to the series was a quiet one unlike the previous one when Smith had come out all firing.

This time round, it was a much quieter Smith, one that Cricinfo likes to call Graeme Smith 2.0.

An upgraded version!

Since Smith wasn't doing any talking, we decided we would do it for him instead.

Hence started the preview.

Damith billed it as the biggest test series of the year.

And I argued saying it hardly was.

After the 1st day's play and Australia's fightback after being down at 15-3, Damith responded saying that the first day had definitely lived up to the billing.

It sure had. We got everything.

A Hayden and Ponting failure that has become all too familiar with this Australian line up, a Clarke and Symonds fightback (I wonder how that went), the upgraded Haddin 3.0, and a fighting Australian tail including a spinner at number 9 who remained unbeaten on 30!

I thought so too.

I thought the test lived up to the billing of being a big test series.

But then the unthinkable happened.

Johnson took 7 wickets! I was shocked!

The South Africans collapsed, which to me wasn't shocking at all and I asked Damith again if now it were living up to the hype.

He thought it was. I didn't, because a South African collapse meant it was over.

Then for 2 days I ran away to Pakistan.

I got back last night and found out that Johnson had finished with an 8-for, Haddin had upgraded from 3.0 to 10.0, Australia had South Africa a target of 414, Smith had responded with a 100, and South Africa were left with 190 odd to get on the last day with 7 wickets in hand.

Shocking.

This morning I woke up and what do I see?

92 to win. 6 wickets in hand!

Finally.

Finally an Australia vs South Africa match was living up to its billing.

I can see that smile Damith!

This is just us neutrals getting excited about the series - go have a look at the Aussies here, here, and here.

It didn't surprise me that South Africa lost 5 wickets for 7 runs in 7 overs.

They're playing the Aussies, it was bound to happen.

Living up to the billing now Damith?

It didn't surprise me that Smith & Co. collapsed from 234-3 to 241-8.

They're South Africans, that's what they do.

It didn't surprise me that a debutant and the tail didn't survive for long against the Aussies.

But it sure as hell surprised me that those 5 wickets went to Mitchell Johnson!

Johnson!?

A 7-for?

I thought only Krejza was capable of stuff like that.

How can a boy who hops and skips like a limping kangaroo towards the crease and turns his arm over as if he's about to throw a javelin pick up 7 wickets in an innings including 5 in 4 overs!?

How?

Only if the opposition is South African I guess.

Whats more annoying is that I didn't have him in my fantasy team!