While their bowling shambles came in for some cutting criticism over the weekend, Monday morning has seen deep laments about where the Australian Test team is exactly headed.
Earlier, former Test opener Greg Blewett had torn into the team’s body language when commentating for Channel Seven. “Well, I have been critical of it for a while,” The Age quoted Blewett as saying. “That hour leading into tea (on Day 2) I just thought they looked like they were going through the motions. It’s unacceptable really. It’s day two of an important series (between) Australia and India.”
Australian head coach Andrew McDonald was left fending it off by saying, “Didn’t notice the body language at all.”
Former Australian bowler Damien Fleming had set the sombre tone on SEN declaring that an “absolute thrashing” awaited the home side.
Australia’s Josh Hazlewood, facing the camera, celebrates with teammates the wicket of India’s Virat Kohli during play in the first cricket test between India and Australia in Perth. (AP)
The Age reported that Cricket Australia’s national development coach Lachlan Stevens had been in Perth as extra support for the team, but McDonald was left to clarify. “Vettori is still connected with us. A lot of pre-planning, prep work gone in. The answer is no (it didn’t make a difference him not being there), he’s got some commitments elsewhere,” McDonald was quoted by The Age. Vettori was in Jeddah plotting the season shopping buys for SunRisers Hyderabad, while McDonald reckoned the wicket’s changed considerably and the seam and swing dipped compared to Day 1 as K.L, Jaiswal and Kohli played extremely well.
But as the team careened towards a defeat, despite Travis Head’s counter-attack, knives were dicing away.
Michael Vaughan expectedly chimed in telling Fox Cricket that some players within the Aussie line up had become “too comfortable” while raising posers on where the next generation was going to come from. “I think the debate over the next week or two going into the second and third Test matches will be: Are Australia short of a gallop and they needed this game to get back into Test match cricket mode? Or are they a team that’s just starting to get over the edge?” I think obviously the batting unit is a batting unit that has had plenty of success in the past. There’s some great players in it – but consistently now for a number of games it’s just not managed to score the runs that many would have expected, including themselves,” Vaughan stated as quoted by Fox.
He harked back to the days when many jostle for the same spot on the Test team, and while several Aussies yearned for Cameron Green to be fit, Vaughan sensed deeper issues. “What is underneath this Australian batting line up really pushing the standards in the first team? The standards generally get driven in a team because you’ve got many players pushing for places in it – I just don’t see too many doing it. When Australia had a batting line up that had many world class players in it, I reckon you probably had seven or eight world class players not in it – and that was just in the batting department. Who is pushing? How many players outside of this Australian camp… outside of (Josh Inglis), who are the players getting the numbers to put these players in this team under pressure? I just don’t see it,” he lamented breathlessly.
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Indian Ravi Shastri agreed and told foxsports.com.au, “I am seriously worried about the depth in Australian cricket.
There were times when players had to play years and years of cricket to make the cut. Mike Hussey, Matthew Hayden – years and years, and you look down the ranks there in Shield cricket and some of the youngsters coming through the ranks, there aren’t many there. When you look at the batting line up, a couple of guys in the evening of their career, on the other side of 30 – deep into the 30s, you want to have some depth,” he told Fox.
Mr Cricket Michael Hussey though, wasn’t willing to dunk this team just yet, reminding readers that just a fortnight ago, many were horror-struxk by India’s 3-0 capitulation to New Zealand. “I’m not willing to jump at shadows just yet,” he was quoted as saying by Fox. “You just think about coming into this series, all the talk was about India. They’d lost 3-0 to NZ. The Australian batting order has had one innings. Yes, they didn’t perform as well as they would have liked… I’m willing to just wait, be patient and see and make more of a judgement after three Test matches,” he stressed.
However even Hussey warned that the air was grim. “The Australian public don’t like the Australian team getting beaten, and beaten badly.”
Michael Clarke talking to Sky Sports’ Big Sports Breakfast, was livid even a day later about Mitchell Marsh not bowling more in the second innings. “I know this isn’t making a big difference, but I can’t understand (that) if Mitchell Marsh takes a couple of wickets in the first innings, why doesn’t he bowl a lot more … why are we bowling Marnus and Head if he’s your all-rounder? They’re worried about him getting injured …” he ranted.
Clarke reckoned the Aussies were preserving Marsh to bowl in the later Tests, according to Fox. He offered a pasting of an assessment. “Mitchell Marsh could walk out to bat in the second innings, you’re doing all this preparation to make sure he can bowl in the (third Test). Second innings, (he gets a) broken thumb, he’s out of the series. All that great planning around his bowling, what a waste. If you need to bowl the guy right now, mate, and if it means you’re bowling till you’re in the ground, you bowl; win this test. It was like we just expected to knock India over again for not many – there was no intent. They were right in our faces, but I didn’t see any of our bowlers give it to any (India) batsmen … it all looked a bit flat for the first Test of the summer,” he roared.
His final snark: “Boys, stop preparing for 2030 — because you mightn’t get there.”
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