Sitting on the dock of the bay....

Ben Thompson posted a detailed comment here.
Telling ourselves that we are capable of being world class is just classic amateur mental gymnastics to help ourselves be satisfied with our (lower) performance level.

The original quote was
"...best of Australia’s top players are pretty close to the best in the world but their worst is a lot worse...."

which I interpretted as
"best (performances) of Australia’s top players are pretty close to the best in the world but their worst (performances)(are) a lot worse"

With our liberal definition of world class (quarter finalists at a World Championship), I find myself in easy agreement. Not on the basis of any delusions but simply looking at the results over the last 10 years. Made the cut in the olympiad once, the bowl twice, 19th in the world pairs, 2nd in the PABF, 7th in the Cavendish.

No one claimed "We have a bunch of players who are world class"

And instead of running away from the possibility of making the ranks of the elite, my intention is to try and understand the reasons we fail to make the mark consistently. There are plenty of excuses floating around: not enough time to devote to the game; other priorities in life; if only I had the ozone million ...

I see enough who are capable, and have proven so on some occassion, in the big league.

The secret, to me, is in understanding the difference between those best days and the others. And to do something about it.

I do not intend to build some convenient little excuse and then sit on it for the rest of my life.