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Early criticism fell on deaf ears as Aussies got their strategy all wrong in Pakistan series disaster
Ian Healy • November 11th, 2024 10:27 pm
I don’t go swinging after the fact, but I'll just add to what has already been said with what I've seen and read in the disaster that was the great Pakistan win having been 1-0 down in a three-match series.
My initial game one critique fell on deaf ears, and rookies were not only okay to express opinions that were wrong but encouraged to keep going with tactics that have never worked in Australia.
Bouncy, seaming, wickets were excellent for all three contests and brought the bowlers into contests that are better than ever before.
This means conserving wickets for the first 20 overs is the way to reach winnable totals, both if you're making runs and chasing big totals.
It isn't India where you need to get in before the spinners slow things down in those conditions. So just check how Pakistan batted and how easy they did it when they took their time and conserved their wickets up front.
Assessing what a realistic good total is, was absent as well. So too, batting for 50 overs.
140 in 31.5 overs, 163 in 35 overs and 204 in 33.3 overs were the results when we said, ‘We're going for big totals’.
For mine, the Australian coach's judgment went on the line in game three.
He openly explained on Saturday that he'd heard the criticism that his strategies were dangerous when grit and fighting for 40 or 50 more here and there might be the way to get the totals you need in Australian conditions.
After game two, he scratched his head saying there were defensive shots in that rubble of 163.
So, I went back and had a look, what defensive shots was he talking about? There were two.
An airy wafting LBW, a stand-up cover drive attempt to hit a ball on the up, a tentative cut shot caught at cover, a late chop on a pull shot, and a back away hero shot didn’t even get a mention. It was just the two defensive shots that he wanted to talk about.
His batting coach must be quietly seething that the group of newbies playing yesterday were forced to learn the hard way and watch how great bowlers do it tough when Pakistan batted appropriately.
Anyway, this is a new week and a return to T20 where conserving wickets isn't as important, so let's just see how we go.
Glenn Maxwell has to get going – 0, 16 and 0 hasn't been a start that he wanted.
Wickets are generally flatter in T20s and let’s see if that is the case – Brisbane, the SCG and Ninja Stadium in Hobart are all in for some fireworks before the Test cricket starts in Perth.
My initial game one critique fell on deaf ears, and rookies were not only okay to express opinions that were wrong but encouraged to keep going with tactics that have never worked in Australia.
Bouncy, seaming, wickets were excellent for all three contests and brought the bowlers into contests that are better than ever before.
This means conserving wickets for the first 20 overs is the way to reach winnable totals, both if you're making runs and chasing big totals.
It isn't India where you need to get in before the spinners slow things down in those conditions. So just check how Pakistan batted and how easy they did it when they took their time and conserved their wickets up front.
Assessing what a realistic good total is, was absent as well. So too, batting for 50 overs.
140 in 31.5 overs, 163 in 35 overs and 204 in 33.3 overs were the results when we said, ‘We're going for big totals’.
For mine, the Australian coach's judgment went on the line in game three.
He openly explained on Saturday that he'd heard the criticism that his strategies were dangerous when grit and fighting for 40 or 50 more here and there might be the way to get the totals you need in Australian conditions.
After game two, he scratched his head saying there were defensive shots in that rubble of 163.
So, I went back and had a look, what defensive shots was he talking about? There were two.
An airy wafting LBW, a stand-up cover drive attempt to hit a ball on the up, a tentative cut shot caught at cover, a late chop on a pull shot, and a back away hero shot didn’t even get a mention. It was just the two defensive shots that he wanted to talk about.
His batting coach must be quietly seething that the group of newbies playing yesterday were forced to learn the hard way and watch how great bowlers do it tough when Pakistan batted appropriately.
Anyway, this is a new week and a return to T20 where conserving wickets isn't as important, so let's just see how we go.
Glenn Maxwell has to get going – 0, 16 and 0 hasn't been a start that he wanted.
Wickets are generally flatter in T20s and let’s see if that is the case – Brisbane, the SCG and Ninja Stadium in Hobart are all in for some fireworks before the Test cricket starts in Perth.
