Left- field bid out of North net
Why Roos knocked Lisa
NORTH Melbourne has rejected former Australian Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander as a potential candidate for their vacant AFL head coaching role.
Alexander, who was head coach of Australia’s successful national netball team from 2011 until 2020, applied for the role vacated last month by Rhys Shaw, saying she genuinely wanted the job at the Kangaroos and would bring a unique perspective to the game from a high performance point of view.
But the Kangaroos informed Alexander over email on Monday afternoon that she was not the right candidate.
“I had a go, I put the CV in, I’ve been treated very professionally, in that they’ve looked at it and given me a little bit of feedback, which is obviously getting AFL experience and, at this stage, they are looking for a senior AFL coach,” she said.
Alexander said she respected the process North Melbourne had gone through in deciding not to pursue her as coach.
“I may not be the person they’re looking for, but at the end of the day, I want to make sure that all of our football teams around the country acknowledge that there could be a female out there who could be really good and could add to their programs,” she said.
“I put my hand up, I had a go, but if it’s not me, I certainly hope that I can pave the way in making people think differently for women who come after me. That’s the main thing.”
The former World Cupwinning coach said she would now work towards gaining more football experience.
“That’s part of what I’ll work towards, just making sure I go and do the things that I think are important for me to have a go,” she said.
“To be honest, I was pleased just to be taken seriously by North Melbourne, and I think that’s a step in the right direction.”
Alexander said what she would have brought to the role, aside from her extensive high performance knowledge and winning culture, would have been a different way of seeing things about the game.
“My observations from outside, and netball is very connected with the Olympic and Commonwealth Games sports particularly, we do a lot of cross work together as coaches and we learn off each other a lot more in high performance ways and how we put programs together and look after individual athletes.”
said. “Then there’s the IPL. Talking and playing with fast bowlers from around the world and having fast bowling coaches from around the world, has it changed their training, their diet and their sport science? I think it has. I think it’s a combination of those three things.”
Below the eight esteemed head coaches in this year’s IPL sit fast bowling coaches Ryan Harris ( Delhi), Shane Bond ( Mumbai), and Adam Griffith ( RCB).
It is a melting pot of global intelligence, which accelerates about 130 domestic Indians for eight pulsating weeks every year.
Bumrah is the bees knees right now, shaping as the biggest threat to Australia’s rock- solid top order seven years after he was discovered by Mumbai Indians.
Bumrah launched his career when, as a teenager, he snared 3- 32 on debut, starting with the wicket of Virat Kohli. The 26- year- old catches the eye with that offputting action and keeps it with bags and bags of wickets.
“He’s almost like the firstgenerational Test fast- bowling star that brings T20 varieties to the Test arena,” Fleming said.
“The thing the Australians have prided ourselves on for years is to intimidate the opposition’s tail. With Bumrah and Shami they’ve certainly got that ability.”
Bumrah’s story is a wholesome one. He lost his father at five and grew up with one pair of shoes and one T- shirt, washing them every day, and dreaming about one day affording a pair of Nikes.
That toe- crushing yorker was sculpted as a 12- year- old, when Bumrah realised that if he aimed at the floor skirting inside the house he could bowl for longer, because the quieter sounds wouldn’t disturb his mother’s naps.
“He’s got 68 ( Test) wickets at 20 and an unorthodox, stuttery run- up, so I don’t think batsmen get a real sighter with him,” Fleming said. “When bowlers like Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar comes off long runs you’re expecting it quick. Whereas Bumrah with that weird runup and unique action – the non- bowling arm going out to gully.”
Kohli rates Bumrah as the world’s most skilful bowler, taking pride in rarely losing his wicket in the nets.
Bumrah is the ace in a growing pack, and India’s answer to Aussie golden boy Patrick Cummins. But Fleming warned the tourists had been blunted by injuries to swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar ( thigh) and the everripening Ishant Sharma, 32, ( abdominal muscle), who is unlikely to recover in time.
“Their biggest concern is what they do with their third seamer. ( Umesh) Yadav’s got 144 Test wickets, but he’d need to be right at his best.
Then you’ve got these two younger bowlers – Navdeep Saini and Mohammed Siraj. One of them might be the Xfactor with their pure pace. Not many attacks have got their back- up bowlers as 150 ( km) bowlers.”
For Bumrah’s band the challenge will largely be a fresh one, at least with a red ball. Steve Smith and David Warner were suspended two years ago, while Marnus Labuschagne was a mere mortal when Shami got him for 38 at the SCG.
Perhaps they should speak to Cummins. Bizarrely, Cummins is the only player on the planet to thump four sixes off a Bumrah over in a T20.
Labuschagne scored backto- back Sheffield Shield centuries last month and onlooker Fleming said he had risen to another level.
“He bats the way the great batsmen bat. They just seem to be in control,” Fleming said. “Like Smithy in the Ashes, the opposition lose hope because he’s in so much control. He’s hungry. He wants to score big.
“We know Warner will get runs in Australia, but Marnus might score as many as Smith. And they’ve got a bromance, and what I’ve learnt from cricketing bromances – like ( Matthew) Hayden and ( Justin) Langer – you know what they like doing? Batting together.
“We’ve got three massive ins, but Labuschagne might be as big as any of them.”
Cummins’ crew knows what to expect. King Kohli is world cricket’s biggest rock star and Cheteshwar Pujara faced a staggering 1208 deliveries in the last series. No other player faced 685.
Cummins has 4- 66 in Tests against Kohli and captain Tim Paine seemed to toss him the ball every time the strutted out. “That new ball is really important for the Australians – get Pujara and Kohli in as early as possible,” Fleming said.
“Everyone’s vulnerable to a swinging or seaming delivery. You can’t think Pujara can bat as well as he did two years ago. That was a blueprint for Test match batting. I’d always be trying to rush him because he likes to wait for the ball to come to him.
“He reminds me a lot of VVS Laxman, beautiful timer. When he wants a single he generally bunts it into legside, so maybe we can have some catchers in those positions so he takes a risk when he wants to bunt.”
With new- ball aces Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood it is a stable seam trio.
Cummins is only 27, Hazlewood is 29 and Starc is 30. James Pattinson, 30, is often left to carry the drinks despite his habit of unsettling the very best batsmen. It was Pattinson who dismissed Kane Williamson for nine and a duck in last year’s Boxing Day Test.