4 axed for 3rd test

[damochandler]

over something so frivolous. this team and management are a laughing stock. it's barely a fineable offence

 

[Donnie Darko]

Maybe they should have tried to keep the punishments in-house and try not to put it out in the media. Dropping players for not doing "homework" makes them look bad in the eyes of the opposition teams. I imagine there will be plenty of sledging about this subject . The Indians arent big with sledging but you might hear someone like Ashwin say "Have you completed your essay assignment for this week ,michael? " . It will get even heavier in the ashes series .

 

[TheOz]

Basically it's better to be utterly shit but at least produce evidence in report form of your utter shitness (Phil Hughes) than be half decent but fail to complete a task that the coach is supposed to do himself anyway.

 

[Daniltchenko You Beauty]

'I feel I am in the prime years of my cricket career' - Shane Watson, former all-rounder who can't bowl anymore and has averaged 26 in the last two years without making a century.

 

[Father Jack]

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?

Clarke went along with this farce, that's what he did wrong. If you are going to pick on serious discipline issues, then pick a serious discipline issue to make a stand on, not an issue so minor as to be a joke and make the team a laughing stock.

 

[swingdog]

Maybe they should have tried to keep the punishments in-house and try not to put it out in the media. Dropping players for not doing "homework" makes them look bad in the eyes of the opposition teams. I imagine there will be plenty of sledging about this subject . The Indians arent big with sledging but you might hear someone like Ashwin say "Have you completed your essay assignment for this week ,michael? " . It will get even heavier in the ashes series .

Yeah, any team would have a field day with this. As Hughes fails to pick the spin yet again: "Wasn't this on your homework? What about the carom ball? Did you learn about that?"

 

[Glacier]

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 the " old boys club " squeal and moan and people take notice
Who cares what the likes of Warne and Lehman say ( and I was a huge fan of Boof )
The point is 4 guys didn't do as they were directed because they thought they were more special than the other guys who did
No point defending them , stiff shit I say, cop your whack boys

 

[campbell]

Boof for coach.

 

[Father Jack]

So the " old boys club " squeal and moan and people take notice
Who cares what the likes of Warne and Lehman say ( and I was a huge fan of Boof )
The point is 4 guys didn't do as they were directed because they thought they were more special than the other guys who did
No point defending them , stiff shit I say, cop your whack boys

Did they really think they were more special than the other guys, or did they simply forget/were late? How does not completing a meaningless assignment mean you think you are more important than everyone else, and by extension, how does completing the stupid bloody thing mean you are a humble salt-of-the-earth team player?

 

[courtjester]

Did they really think they were more special than the other guys, or did they simply forget/were late? How does not completing a meaningless assignment mean you think you are more important than everyone else, and by extension, how does completing the stupid bloody thing mean you are a humble salt-of-the-earth team player?

Anyone who thinks there isn't more to this is deluded. It's far more than just not doing the homework.

 

[JimDocker]

From my perspective as a Pom.

 

[Father Jack]

Anyone who thinks there isn't more to this is deluded. It's far more than just not doing the homework.

Yes, it's more to do with failures of administration. Easier to sack a few players though, and make it look like you're doing something.

 

[FRUMPY]

Watson article on Cricinfo saying he has to think if test cricket is worth it or along those lines. Shane, if you keep batting the way you are in tests and cant bowl you wont have to make a choice, it will be made for you

 

[courtjester]

Yes, it's more to do with failures of administration. Easier to sack a few players though, and make it look like you're doing something.

I don't even get this. In what ways have admin failed? Failed with the fact there aren't a heap of good young batsmen around at the moment?

 

[Underdog]

I don't even get this. In what ways have admin failed? Failed with the fact there aren't a heap of good young batsmen around at the moment?

Failing to manage the players appropriately before it 'requires' these drastic measures be taken for a start...

 

[Father Jack]

I don't even get this. In what ways have admin failed? Failed with the fact there aren't a heap of good young batsmen around at the moment?

I'd mark down the current mystifying selection policy as a failure. Using Quiney as cannon fodder was pathetic, as just one example.

 

[courtjester]

Failing to manage the players appropriately before it 'requires' these drastic measures be taken for a start...

These players are adults, and professional elite sportsmen. The fact that they need "managing" indicates that they are the ones to blame.

I'd mark down the current mystifying selection policy as a failure. Using Quiney as cannon fodder was pathetic, as just one example.

tbf, Quiney had had a very good FC season, and as an experienced FC opener he made sense at the time. I would have persisted with him beyond SA tbh

 

[MC Bad Genius]

Yes, it's more to do with failures of administration. Easier to sack a few players though, and make it look like you're doing something.

There is a big difference between being sacked and a one match suspension. Don't overstate it just to take shots at "the administration". Out of interest, what/who do you consider "the administration"?

While I think from the information we have been given that the punishment was too severe, I also think that if professionalism has been slipping then this is a great wake-up call for the whole team.

Knowing whether this was the right move will only be seen in the fruits it does/doesn't produce over the next year.

 

[Glacier]

Did they really think they were more special than the other guys, or did they simply forget/were late? How does not completing a meaningless assignment mean you think you are more important than everyone else, and by extension, how does completing the stupid bloody thing mean you are a humble salt-of-the-earth team player?

With all due respect, bullshit
Why would they be not expected to do as instructed?
In the AFL, there are all sorts of feedback and team meetings and theory work that is done, particularly doing per season
If its not done , you don't get far as simple as that
There is no difference

 

[Quokka]

Seems like stupid human resource professional development positive teaching wank

Doesn't matter, when you're performing well you can tell your boss to stay out of your way and strut about the place and when you're not you keep your head down, shut up and figure your **** out. Professional athletes get paid (often good money) to play games, that's great there's shit loads of money in sport as an industry but don't whinge just because there are parts of your JOB that you don't like.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

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?

Agree with this to a point. The exercise itself is fair enough. Players at that level should be able to analyse their own performance and find areas of improvement. Something to make sure they do that is fine. They had a choice of how to present that, written, oral, however they felt most comfortable.
In some ways it seems stupid to go about it that way, and not to just approach the players in question towards the end of the deadline and ask them for their thoughts.

The punishment, however, seems over the top and hurts the team as a whole. Surely, it is a very minor infraction and deserves something far less drastic. Clarke has said that this is just the latest in a string of minor issues, and that at some point a stand had to be taken.
Fair enough to a point, but exclusion from selection for a Test match is another step entirely, and should require a very significant incident before being invoked. All it does is hurt the team's chances further.

Of course, we don't know what the other failings have been - and whether the same four players have been involved.
Watson has been calling for somebody else's place, failed to show leadership here, and stripping him of vice-captaincy was possibly a fair result if there are other things on top of what we know about. Plus, form dictates he quite possibly would not have played the next Test if he was still in India anyway.

I guess traditional punishment through running laps and extra training has been ruled out by the sports science guys.

 

[MrKK]

What did the management actually want to achieve from this exercise? Was it to get some valuable player feedback that would improve individual and team performance? Or set a pointless task hoping that some players wouldn't do it and the management could find some scapegoats for their "line in the sand" moment? Given that Clarke didn't ensure every player completed the task (including his VC) I suspect it was the latter.

 

[courtjester]

Given that Clarke didn't ensure every player completed the task (including his VC) I suspect it was the latter.

So it's Clarke's responsibility to ensure that players (grown, well paid professional men) perform every small basic task given to them by coaches? Get real.

 

[Mancey]

Got nothing?

I really don't...the team administration have really outdone themselves this time

 

[peternorth]

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."

henriques basically said that in his latest interview. cliche after cliche.