Lack of preparation hurt Oz in Dhaka
Not surprisingly, Australia struggled and eventually lost to a Bangladesh side that has lately shown marked improvement after many years of stagnation.
It wasn’t so much Australia’s renowned reputation for ineptitude against good spin bowling in Asian conditions or even the players’ prolonged dispute with Cricket Australia (CA) in the lead up to the tour, that made the loss almost inevitable.
Even though international cricketers are fully professional and play nearly all year round, Australia’s failure was more to do with not playing any competitive cricket in the lead up to the Test series. Not only did some Australian players miss out on competitive matches when an A tour to South Africa was can- celled due to the dispute with CA but the team were also then deniedawarm-upgamebecause the ground was flooded.
Some might point to the Indian team and suggest, as a strong cricket nation they had no trouble annihilating Sri Lanka in a three Test series with only the benefit of a leisurely two day warm-up game. True, but the Indian players were involved in the IPL in the lead up and that makes a huge difference.
All the nets in the world don’t make up for a lack of match practice before a testing series. It’s a common refrain among cricketers; you don’t make runs or take wickets in the nets. More importantly as a batsman, being dismissed in the nets doesn’t count against your record.
For a batsman, a decent score — whether it be at club or firstclass level — prior to an international series is crucial. As long as it’s in a match that counts, the runs confirm that the feet are moving well, concentration is honed and consequently, the batsman’s confidence is high. Likewise for a bowler, a bag of wickets tells him his rhythm is good, the ball is coming out of the hand well and again, his confidence is boosted.
With success achieved, both batsman and bowler feel well prepared for what lies ahead.
Bangladesh’s achievement shouldn’t be devalued; it adds another major scalp to their record and confirms they are finally attaining a level of competitiveness against the top sides. However, Bangladesh shouldn’t relax, since a wounded Australian side is a dangerous opponent; they’ll definitely be better for having played a game — albeit one they lost — that counted.