MORE TIGER WOES
TIGERS coach Adam Griffith concedes he has inherited a batting group scarred from recurring collapses – and he will not shy away from the work required to overcome the debilitating problem.
Tasmania was beaten by seven wickets by Queensland yesterday afternoon, the third consecutive season it has started the Sheffield Shield with back-to-back outright defeats.
The damage was done in the last session on Sunday where from a position of power at 1-92 the hosts lost 8-30, unable to navigate some highquality reverse swing bowling.
It came after the group sunk to 9-35 in its second innings against Western Australia last week before being rolled for its lowest ever Shield score of 63.
Since Christmas last year, the Tigers have consistently struggled to stop the flow of wickets when the opposition applies the blowtorch – and Griffith has labelled the trend a mental and technical issue.
“The two most important batters when the ball starts re- versing are the two set batters, it was disappointing we lost one and then the other in pretty quick succession,” Griffith said of when the momentum swung late on day two.
“The stats would say it is something that is an issue for this batting group. It is a little bit of a trait with this batting line-up, which has unfortunately been going on for a little while now.
“You work really hard in the nets and try to put them under as much pressure as you can in those situations, but ultimately it comes down to the batter and how much they want to spend time at the wicket and watch the ball really hard and get themselves into good positions.
“A little bit of technical stuff there . . . but it is also a mental thing as well, and a lot of the times it is as simple as concentration and watching the ball really hard.
“All those batters in the line-up have shown in the past they can do it, they have shown they can score runs and they have shown they can score hundreds.
“Talent doesn’t disappear, but I think application and concentration does.”
Griffith pointed to Queensland’s opening stand of 82 between Joe Burns and Mark Renshaw as the blueprint on how to grind when the going is tough. Renshaw scored just 19 from 109 balls but it was a vital knock in ensuring the Bulls did not lose early wickets in pursuit of their 156-run target.
“In the end, their senior batters showed how to play defensively in those conditions and how to absorb that pressure and get through those tough periods,” Griffith said.
“Unfortunately our batting group couldn’t do that.”
Tasmania’s next assignment is against Victoria at the MCG starting this Monday.
Queensland plays NSW at the Gabba next week and could face the attack that will take on England in Mitch Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon.
It could make or break Renshaw’s prospects, but Burns said the duo is up to it.
“It is nice to make runs against anyone, but I guess NSW have a very good attack, in particular for the opening batters, we have a big job to absorb that and get through it.”