There are no excuses for the Test team this summer, with chief executive James Sutherland claiming Australia’s Ashes preparations are far superior to England’s.
Sutherland defended the timing of Australia’s one-day tour to India and said the quick change in formats will have minimal effect on players featuring in next week’s first Test in Brisbane.
If rain hadn’t ruined England’s tour match in Hobart last week, the three-time Ashes holders would have had three full first-class matches to lead them into the series.
In contrast, Australia’s Test players have in some cases had an interrupted start to the Sheffield Shield season, with the Indian tour and then the scheduling of England tour matches taking talent out of the domestic fixtures.
However prior to landing in Australia for this tour, England hadn’t played a first-class match since August and no cricket at all since mid September.
Speaking at a Melbourne Press Club function on Wednesday, CA chief Sutherland said white ball cricket is better than no cricket.
If Australia lose a fourth-straight Ashes for the first time since the 1800s – they won’t be blaming preparation.
“There weren’t actually a lot of players who are playing in the Test team in Brisbane who were actually in India, and at the same time there were a lot of players who were back here playing RYOBI Cup who have been able to play in the first couple of rounds of (Sheffield) Shield cricket and had a really good preparation,” said Sutherland.
“We’ve had a lot more cricket than England have over the last couple of months, so don’t tell me we haven’t had a good preparation because England have hardly played.”
Speaking on a raft of issues, Sutherland also reiterated his support for night Test matches as the future of the five-day game.
Sutherland said Test cricket was fundamentally flawed because at least three out of five days have to be played on weekdays when most of the general public are working.
CA is hopeful of staging a day-night Test against New Zealand in two summers’ time.
Sutherland also defended the Big Bash League.
Despite its negative affects on developing Test match skills in players, Sutherland says T20 is a crucial tool in boosting interest in cricket across the board.
“It’s about optimisation because there’s no perfection here,” he said.
“I read a lot of comment about how we’ve got it wrong but I don’t read a lot of comment about what the solutions are to the problem.”
Batting is again the major concern for Australia heading into the Ashes after a raft of collapses in recent years and an inability to dig in and occupy the crease.
Former Australian Test captain Greg Chappell, speaking at the same event, said that T20 was a part of the modern game and governing bodies simply have to find a way to improve coaching of young players.
“The kids that are coming up, they don’t know what it was like fifty years ago, they don’t give a shit really what it was like fifty years ago,” Chappell said.
“This is what they’ve got.
“We’ve got to think about ways that we can make it better for them and help them to survive and prosper in that environment.”
ChrisUK
Guest
British sport is doing rather well actually.
Bayman
Guest
Adam, An observation not lost on many fans. It seems that whenever James Sutherland talks cricket, or defends his and CA's position from critics his answers are never cricket related. He invariably mention finance and CA's capacity to generate income. Witness his recent response to perceived criticism from Ricky Ponting. After one hundred and thirty plus years 'Sutho' has come to the realisation that Test cricket is 'flawed' because it's often played 'mid week' when people are working and unable to attend. This, no doubt, explains why Sheffield Shield cricket is almost exclusively played 'mid week'. I'm sure it was only last year that I went to a Shield game which ran from Tuesday to Friday. The clear inference, based on 'Sutho' logic, is that Shield cricket is not an income generator, ergo, CA can treat it like the necessary evil it is. Forced player 'rests', interrupted by meaningless ODI series, mid week scheduling, etc. One day, we might even get a CA CEO who likes cricket as much as he likes his income generating bonuses. But we are not there yet!
Adam
Guest
"Sutherland said Test cricket was fundamentally flawed because at least three out of five days have to be played on weekdays when most of the general public are working." I think this gives an insight in to his true feelings on test cricket. During work time, not as much ticket revenue, reduced revenue reduced CA interest
Atgm
Guest
Yeah you blokes are jack of all trades but master of none.
James
Guest
english do care about cricket. the english love their sports and cricket is one of their favourites.
Disco
Roar Guru
"We've got the best captain, we've had the better preparation! So ner!"
jameswm
Roar Guru
Maybe he's respected Don. However a physio I know told me Watto is not doing the right work in the right areas. I believe he was referring to the CA people, but he was also referring to the lack of strength in key parts of the body. I wouldn't have thought this could have been wholly lost since Watto stopped working with Popov.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
*
Don
Roar Rookie
jameswm, Shane Watson basically had his own physio for several years from about 2008 and used him exclusively outside of the CA structures. The physio is a Brisbane guy named Victor Popov who was the Brisbane Lions physio. Shane even took him along on some short tours. There were articles a few years ago about him offering to pay Vic's costs to keep him on tours. Victor is the guy who basically fixed SW for a few years and enabled him to hit that purple patch back then. To say he hasn't been doing the right work until the last 12 - 18 months isn't right. The past 2 years is when Shane has been basically forced back to using only the CA physios because of the volume of cricket he has played and the subsequent lack of access to Vic. In this time he has had the calf and hamstring injuries again albeit not as bad as those pre 2009 injuries. Vic has been physio to Aus Olympic teams and Tour de France teams - very highly respected man.
Gr8rWeStr
Guest
That about sums it up.
ChrisUK
Guest
Don't be misled by the peculiar 'mare he had in the ODIs your holiness. Carberry is a brilliant fielder.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Cranberry took a pearler at point yesterday.
ChrisUK
Guest
Since I'm English, couldn't care less about James Sutherland or CA, I'm in a decent position to ask this: why do you think he's above reproach, why do you think fans of Australian cricket don't have the right to criticise and why do you think just because he has the job makes him automatically know more about the game than people on here?
jameswm
Roar Guru
I can understand what you're saying Roger, but it seems to be "they are running it so they automatically know more than you". I don't subscribe to that philosophy. I thought the same with their medical staff, until my son's physio told me they are pretty useless. for example, Watson hasn't been doing the right sort of work until the last 12-18 months, and that's why he's been getting injured. His calves and core areas were weak, despite having a muscular frame. So don't assume people know what they're doing just because they're in the position they are. Sutherland and CA have made far too many errors for me. And as I've said before - the real reason for the Argus report was so that Sutherland wouldn't actually have to make any decisions. He could just rely on what the Argus report said. As Chui said, teflon James.
Roger
Guest
I'm trying to work out why all you heroes think you know more then James Sutherland? I've spoken to the man before and trust me he's not stupid. What is it that he actually said in this piece that have you all so upset? Is it because you're all arrogant enough to think you know more then the guys running Cricket Australia?
AlanKC
Guest
Seriously if CA was a listed company this guy and most of the board would have lynched by the shareholders years ago.
Chui
Guest
Teflon James. Nothing changes.
ChrisUK
Guest
I'm trying to work out what a vindicated drongo is...It sounds amazing!
Tim Holt
Roar Guru
This guy is a vindicated drongo
Hookin' YT
Guest
+1000