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Australia's Asian woes have to be stopped, but how?

Shaun Marsh is a bizarre answer to an unknown question. (AFP PHOTO / William WEST)
Expert
18th August, 2016
36

Not so long ago, while perusing the website of the bookmaker with which I hold an account, my interest was piqued by the price being offered on Australia to triumph in Sri Lanka.

They weren’t overly generous, but neither were they prohibitive.

Anyway, to cut an average anecdote short, I didn’t take the bait and the fact I opted to have a punt on Newcastle getting the better of Fulham instead is neither here nor there. My judgement was sound regarding the cricket, every cloud, etc.

But there is no desire to down the gloating road, as there must be many more who really didn’t see a 3-0 thumping coming. To expect an Australian cakewalk would’ve been pushing it a touch, but a series which turned out to be so one-sided? No, me neither.

Yes, Australia’s struggles with decent spin on the subcontinent have been the subject of many a column inch, but there is struggling and there is struggling.

What transpired should be cause for serious concern due to the all-round ineptness of the tourists’ effort.

There was the odd bright spot – there always is – but when specialist batsmen are being replaced by non-bowling allrounders, then it is all too apparent those charged with doing the selecting aren’t thinking straight.

Something will have to give before they tour the subcontinent again, as what has gone on can’t continue unchecked, but to realistically expect significant improvement overnight may well be wishful thinking.

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Not because they won’t make any effort, but because the schedule – and, more specifically, the game of cricket in 2016 – is weighted well and truly against them.

Ask one simple question: just why should there be improvement?

Players don’t enjoy a concentrated diet of first-class cricket like they used to, the mindset of the modern-day batsman is by and large not geared towards an attritional form of the game, alien conditions are exaggerated by the two above points, and the inexorable slant towards the shortest format simply can’t be discounted.

If it indeed is a generational theme, then it is difficult to see how it can be turned around. The skills desired and required for the five-day game will not, and cannot, be formed in a 20-over thrash. All the IPL experience in the world means next to nothing when Ravi Ashwin or Rangana Herath has a dustbowl in front of him and a sizeable total to play with.

Experience has to be relevant and very little of it is. It can’t be a coincidence that the shrinking number of first-class fixtures played by the elite has a detrimental effect overseas. Australia aren’t the only team in this boat – they are merely the latest side to tour Asia, have their pants pulled down and their backsides slapped – and they certainly won’t be the last.

There has been plenty of discussion about how to make Test cricket more relevant in the age of instant gratification, but while, for example, two divisions sounds nice in principle, it would do little to stop touring sides turning up undercooked. Find space in the calendar for a start but that presents a challenge in itself. It is barely there.

The days of lengthy tours with ample warm-up fixtures are long gone and aren’t coming back. The shoehorning in of short-form tournaments, and more crucially the revenue it brings in, is a trend that won’t disappear, regardless of whether it means international cricket has to be trampled on.

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And put yourself in the shoes of the current international cricketer. Take a month to try and prepare for a tour, or pick up a healthy bounty for a few weeks work? It would be a gamble for all but the very best to lean towards the former and until the national cricket boards effectively hold the players to ransom, which they are understandably reluctant to do – “Hello, is that my lawyer?” – the battle will continue to be fought with one arm tied behind the back.

I will never buy the argument of such a defeat not meaning enough to a professional cricketer, and if nothing else their pride should have taken enough of a pummeling to encourage some serious introspection. But once the Big Bash is in full flow and Steve Smith’s men are laying waste to whoever is on Australian soil this summer, Asian troubles will be brushed under the carpet to some degree.

A lengthy run of defeats is a stain on the Australian cricketing CV and how it’s going to be halted is the $64-million question. Answers on a postcard please.

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