4 axed for 3rd test

[peternorth]

if already discussed apologies in advance.

so they say watson was always gonna go home after the 3rd test.....was this announced at the tours beginning? if so why not?

 

[Whowants2know]

Be interesting when Watson arrives back, hope the journalist at the airport willing to ask the hard questions

 

[swingdog]

Be interesting when Watson arrives back, hope the journalist at the airport willing to ask the hard questions

Fox should get his wife out there.

 

[swingdog]

I think neither the players nor the management have come out of this well.

Players didn't do as they were asked but management has adopted a questionable feedback policy in terms of its usefulness - "Boys, can you tell use why we were crap in the first two tests? Nah, a text will be fine" - one which suggests they weren't taking it that seriously.

The truth is that boards of cricket / management get heavy-handed when teams aren't performing (e.g. WICB and now CA) and when they know they can get away with it. They wouldn't have dared do this with a strong team (as has been noted upthread, imagine if the early 00s equivalents, say Warne, McGrath, Martyn and Gillespie had been dropped for this). When teams do well or the player group is strong (and that can include financial strength, e.g. Team India and the BCCI), boards / management leave them alone.

The problem for Cricket Australia is that this follows a summer of questionable selection policies, a schedule which obviously favours Big Bash (despite the recommendations of the Argus report) and a sports science team who couldn't accurate diagnose a cut finger.

 

[campbell]

Fox should get his wife out there.

media would be champing at the bit over this, with one of their own involved.

and imo, it is NOT the players who should be telling the coaching panel what they need to improve.....Load of bollocks.


IMO we need to seriously look at the power our captain has in these areas, selection as well.
IMO we need to look strongly at the coaching panel and other administrators.


IMO they are now looking for the damn biggest carpet to sweep their inadequacies under and blame only the players. A sign of poor leadership and management.

 

[TassieEagle]

It's simple, they were asked to do an exercise to HELP IMPROVE THE AUSTRALIAN CRICKET TEAM! If four players don't care enough to jot down some thoughts on how to help us improve then action needed to be taken. This is obviously not an isolated incident and as heavy as the punishment is, it ensures the message will now get through.

For people saying its over the top, perhaps it is. But how are we going to improve if a quarter of the squad is always in a mode of not giving a f**k?

 

[campbell]

Its simple they were asked to do an exercise to HELP IMPROVE THE AUSTRALIAN CRICKET TEAM! If four players don't care enough to jot down some thoughts on how to help us improve then action needed to be taken. This is obviously not an isolated incident and as heavy as the punishment it ensures the message will now get through.

their job is toprepare themselves to play and then play.

administrators and coaches onlys job to do that stuff. players play only, they should not be involved in anything else.

 

[lihei]

The problem for Cricket Australia is that this follows a summer of questionable selection policies, a schedule which obviously favours Big Bash (despite the recommendations of the Argus report) and a sports science team who couldn't accurate diagnose a cut finger.

Absolutely spot on! I think this is the root cause.

 

[Del35196]

A similar questionnaire has been done before when touring Aussie sides have struggled, and from memory everyone come out of it a lot better. I just think it digs deeper than just not filling out a piece of paper. I think they have had a gut full of the selection criteria and team lineups that they want part of the blame to be on the people picking the side, not just the players out there performing

 

[campbell]

Absolutely spot on! I think this is the root cause.

now their inadequacies are being used to blame the players....rubbish leadership by CA.

 

[swingdog]

Its simple they were asked to do an exercise to HELP IMPROVE THE AUSTRALIAN CRICKET TEAM! If four players don't care enough to jot down some thoughts on how to help us improve then action needed to be taken. This is obviously not an isolated incident and as heavy as the punishment it ensures the message will now get through.

For people saying its over the top, perhaps it is. But how are we going to improve if a quarter of the squad is always in a mode of giving a f**k?

I kind of question the value of this unless these guys are far more advanced strategic planners than I give them credit for.

Okay, so let's say they respond with the most obvious answer: "Learn to play spin bowling."

Either they can unconsciously write off the rest of this tour (which they may have already done) by saying, that's a long term prospect and the next two tests are all about learning what we're doing wrong. Or, they unrealistically think they can turn it around in a few days between tests.

Or they could say "wait a minute, you're the coach. Isn't that your job to identify weaknesses and improve the team?"

The other scenario is that they are asked to identify where they, as individuals, can improve. Right. On a tour where the selection panel has jumped from one idea to the next, players are going to put their hand up and say "you know, I've got no idea what Ashwin is doing". More likely, they'll be talking about the "need to be more positive in the field" and "execute our plans."

This crap worked well when we had a once in a generation team who weren't bothered by it. It works less well with the current cattle because we can no longer confuse causality with correlation, due to a pure and simple lack of talent.

 

[Mancey]

Clarke could score a million runs and it still won't change the fact he is destroying Australian cricket

 

[courtjester]

Clarke could score a million runs and it still won't change the fact he is destroying Australian cricket

That's just unsubstantiated bullshit. In what ways is he "destroying Australian cricket"?

 

[Mancey]

Anyone with half a brain can join the dots.

Can't believe people have the gall to defend this after it has been roundly condemned by the cream of former players.

They think its ****ing ridiculous and rightly so

 

[courtjester]

Anyone with half a brain can join the dots.

Can't believe people have the gall to defend this after it has been roundly condemned by the cream of former players.

They think its ******* ridiculous and rightly so

So once again I ask you, how is Clarke "destroying Australian cricket"? In real terms? Not from what PAID former players say in the media

 

[TassieEagle]

How awesome would it be if we managed a win, or even a draw, in the next test

 

[MisterMarcus]

Anyone with half a brain can join the dots.

Can't believe people have the gall to defend this after it has been roundly condemned by the cream of former players.

They think its ******* ridiculous and rightly so

These former players aren't out there.

The comments from Clarke and Arthur imply that a general lack of discipline has crept into the team during this tour, hence "the line in the sand" needed to be drawn.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Seriously, can the coach and selectors just resign already? Enough is enough.

 

[courtjester]

The fact that there is no one in shield cricket pushing hard for spots doesn't mean these pricks can take everything easy.

I'd rather people who wanted to play for the country played, than people who think it's their right.

And the results would be better, even with a loss in skill level.

Anyone painting Clarke as the villain in this is the moron. You don't "drop" four guys like this without there being real issues with them.

 

[gbatman]

It's hard to believe at this level that there are players who could not complete a simple team exercise that would have only taken a minute of their time. How bloody easy is it to come up with three ways they can improve and submit it! They should be able to come up with ten! And considering this is the pinnacle of the sport and the amount these guys are on, this is something that should be completed without a fuss. You would expect a team of thirds from the suburbs to complete this task, let alone test players. It's an insult to the rest of the playing group that gave their time, did the right thing and completed this task.

This has unearthed a lack of dedication and a poor mental attitude from some of the members of the team who obviously feel too good for school. This has brought out a lack of work rate, lack of discipline, lack of team dedication and a lack of respect from the players. The punishment is a timely wake up call for them.

Shane Watson, what a bloody sook, pissing off home because he was punished for not doing a simple task that he should have done. At that level, when you are asked to do something it is non-negotiable, this is not club cricket people. That's not the sort of attitude you don't want from any of your players let alone a vice captain. It's poor leadership.

These princess need to suck it up, cop their wack and learn to be more disciplined and team orientated in the future.

Good to see a tough stand taken here as it appears it obviously needed to be taken. It's sending the right message. If you want to play test cricket for Australia, then you have to earn it.

 

[courtjester]

Anyone with half a brain can join the dots.

Can't believe people have the gall to defend this after it has been roundly condemned by the cream of former players.

They think its ******* ridiculous and rightly so

Got nothing?

 

[Father Jack]

The fact that there is no one in shield cricket pushing hard for spots doesn't mean these pricks can take everything easy.

I'd rather people who wanted to play for the country played, than people who think it's their right.

And the results would be better, even with a loss in skill level.

Anyone painting Clarke as the villain in this is the moron. You don't "drop" four guys like this without there being real issues with them.

No you don't, and not filling out forms, even if you are a serial offender, does not count as 'real issues'. You also don't dick around with team morale on the basis of trying to shift the blame for the failings of the team, which is all this is. The team is getting worse each test and no amount of questionnairing from the players is going to fix that. The problems lie elsewhere, and this smacks of scapegoating.

 

[GPW1]

should of really punished them and made them play.

 

[courtjester]

No you don't, and not filling out forms, even if you are a serial offender, does not count as 'real issues'. You also don't dick around with team morale on the basis of trying to shift the blame for the failings of the team, which is all this is. The team is getting worse each test and no amount of questionnairing from the players is going to fix that. The problems lie elsewhere, and this smacks of scapegoating.

I disagree. It seems to me there is a much deeper problem, and that this "homework" thing is a way of dealing with some serious discipline problems within the team.

I just don't understand Clarke copping the heat for all this. What did he do wrong?

 

[legend166]

Can someone point me to where Arthur said a text message would be okay. From what I've read, he said a 'text message followed by an email.'

Anyway, I don't have too much sympathy for the players here. Even if you think something is dumb, just do it.