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The sight of Aussie cricketer Shane Watson surrounded by journalists at Sydney Airport as he arrived back from India last week revived memories of last year’s saga that embroiled Quade Cooper.
Suggestions Watson is rethinking his future in the team, and wasn’t happy with the way he was ‘treated’ in India etc, also had a familiar ring to them.
While I am not party to what has gone on in the Aussie cricket camp, the details released paints a picture of internal sloppiness on behalf of individual team members which is not entirely dis-similar from the circumstances that led to last year’s blow up.
In the team environment, maintaining discipline and adhering to team enforced standards – whether you agree with them or not – across the board is critical to success.
Invariably, when public blow ups like that just witnessed occur, they come at a time when said team is not performing, or has experienced recent disappointment – whether that be personal, with regards to the individual involved, or as a team.
Disappointments and defeats invariably put pressure on fault lines within any group.
There are no quick fixes and no magic formulas in team sport.
Ultimatums, such as those hinted at by Watson, don’t work: they really just reflect on the individual as opposed to the team, and are generally interpreted that way by the public, leading to a climb down (public or otherwise) at a later date.
As far as the group goes, unless everyone is pulling in the same direction, and are all prepared to make the required sacrifices; a team won’t perform to its potential.
Attention to detail, and doing the little things that might seem trivial to those on the outside (like the homework the cricketers seem to have not bothered about!) are paramount.
It’s as much the action of attending to the task that matters, as it is the outcome of it: doing it says, ‘we are all in this together, and we all will do whatever it takes!’
It was noticeable within the Wallabies after last year’s blow up that the team got tighter as a group and won some big matches (think Argentina at Rosario and England at London) when the odds seemed against us.
The current saga could have the same galvanising effect in India, but more particularly beyond.
When things start going awry, team environments generally go one of two ways and Australian rugby has had an example of a team that has benefitted from a dramatic internal cultural shift in recent times.
(I will leave it to the reader to judge which team I’m referring to.)
In this instance, a team that was underachieving, was facing plenty of dissension internally, and was being abandoned by its supporters, turned it all around on the back of a lot of enthusiasm, an absence of egos, the removal of a couple of powerful but selfish individuals, and some smart off-field management decisions.
It didn’t have to turn out that way and wouldn’t have without a firm commitment, from all involved, to accept the decline, and buy into arresting it by adhering to the principles they set for themselves.
I sense the Aussie cricketers have reached their tipping point, with short cuts in preparation being taken while powerful individuals dominate, at the expense of the team overall.
If the players all buy into the collective vision as a result of last week’s events, the pathway should lead to improved performance on a consistent and tangible basis.
The alternative is to stay as they are: a gradual decay of standards and decline in outcome that becomes the norm.
It will be interesting to judge in time which path it was the Australian cricket team took.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.