[Akib]

Post Austalia Trend
Before Pakistan came to India, it was expected that India would easily romp to victory in the Test series - Pakistan's batting was brittle, they were missing Shoaib Akhtar, and the rest of the bowling wasn't expected to pose too many problems for India's champion batsmen. Halfway into the series, the mood has changed completely, though. Pakistan's resistance has surprised many, but it shouldn't have – they have just toured Australia, and if recent trend is anything to go by, then teams raise their games by a couple of notches after a tour Down Under.
Pakistan's solid performance here is only a continuation of a trend that other teams have shown – India toured Australia in 2003-04 and then went on to beat Pakistan in both the Tests and the one-dayers immediately thereafter. Sri Lanka played a couple of Tests in Australia in 2004, and then went on beat South Africa at home, and draw an away series in Pakistan.
More surprising than Sri Lanka's results, though, were what the minnows Zimbabwe and Bangladesh managed after their tours to Australia. Bangladesh had been to Australia in 2003, and then, in next series, they almost had their first Test win, and were denied only by an Inzamam-ul-Haq special at Multan. Zimbabwe's fortunes had an equally dramatic upswing – in their first Test after their Australian sojourn in 2003-04, they nearly beat West Indies, falling short only because of some stodgy resistance from the West Indian last-wicket pair. Later this year, West Indies themselves are scheduled to tour Australia – here's hoping it sparks a much-needed revival for them.


I read this interesting article on cricinfo.... It talks about how teams play well after haveing a tour down under (no matter how bad they played against Aus).....

It seems to occur more than enough to show it might not be a coincidence. What to you guys think of the matter.