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Cricket Australia high performance manager Pat Howard says the disciplinary breach that resulted in four players – including vice-captain Shane Watson – being ruled ineligible for the third Test in India was the “straw that broke the camel’s back”.
Howard conceded that the call to dump Watson, James Pattinson, Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Johnson for the Test would polarise people but said the team had to send a “strong statement” after previous disciplinary breaches.
A reportedly angry Watson has flown home to Australia to be with his wife Lee Furlong, who is expecting a baby at the end of March
“We have obviously made a very tough decision,” Howard said, as he stoutly defended the decision, which has been slammed by former greats and players including Allan Border and Mark Waugh.
“The captain and coach have sent a very strong message about the expectations that are required to play for Australia.
“It’s a high performance culture we are after and they have made a stance on what the minimum is required.”
Howard backed the decision to drop the quartet after they failed to complete a written task outlining what they could bring to the team following one of Australia’s heaviest Test losses at Hyderabad which left them trailing 2-0 in the series.
“This was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Howard said.
“Across the board there have been wins but there are others who are taking longer to get on board.
“Eventually at some stage you have to make a call.”
Howard also queried how vice-captain Watson performs in a team. Watson has reportedly threatened to walk away from Test cricket after his dumping.
“Look, there’s the individual aspect. I think that’s a hard one to measure. I know Shane reasonable well. I think he acts in the best interests of the team sometimes.
“That’s probably a better one for the players to judge,” Howard said during a press conference in Brisbane.
“There are failings in our system that we’re not getting the best out of Shane. So that’s our fault.”
Howard said the player disciplinary action was taken with the Argus Report in mind – the review of Australian cricket revealed in August 2011 that overhauled the structure around captain Michael Clarke’s team.
“There is a lot more behind this,” he said.
“The Argus Report had a page and a half on culture.
“We are trying to lift the standard.
“It was raised in the Argus Report that we have been dealing with small issues that any organisation has to deal with for a long time but effectively you can only get your last chance so many times.
“These are the consequences over not fulfilling them over a number of times.
“If you want to be No.1 in the world you have to fight a lot harder than this.
“We are winning when we are expected to win and we are losing when we are expected to lose – we need higher standards.”
Watson’s future appears up in the air after revealing he would “weigh up his options” when he returned to Australia.
But Howard said all four disciplined players would be welcomed back to the team – as long as they met required standards.
“The door is open for anyone who wants to come back,” he said.
“But there are standards for the team regardless of who the person is.
“No matter who they are they have to demonstrate they want to be part of the Australian team.”
Howard would not detail the list of previous indiscretions by players and admitted it may have been the first breach by some of the suspended quartet.
However, Howard said it was time team management drew a line in the sand.
“There’s many times players have not been doing what has been asked by selectors, coaches, management even public relations – this was the final straw,” he said.
“The message is trying to lift the level overall.
“We are not No.1. The lessons that we applied 15 years ago don’t apply any more.
“We have to be hungrier than that, we have to fight harder than that. To do that the minimum standards have to be set.”
Cricket Australia’s Board has met and is supportive of CA management.
In a release, CA Chairman Wally Edwards said: “We had a discussion so we could be fully updated on the issues surrounding this event and allow board members to ask questions of the management.
“The board is completely supportive of the actions taken by team management,” said Edwards.
(with AAP)
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