Series looked doomed, says Julian
TROUBLE was brewing from the moment the Australians emerged for the first Test in South Africa, says former Test quick Brendon Julian.
The Fox Sports commentator said the cultural car crash had been unfolding for a while and said that the players did not understand the gravity of the situation when first facing the media last Saturday.
Julian revealed that it was impossible to “connect” with the Test team in the South Africa series, which has descended into farce.
“That first presser, in their wildest dreams they did not think it was going to be such an issue, which to me gets back to culture,’’ Julian said.
“The first Test it was on, you felt after the first Test that something was brewing.
“You felt you could not connect with this Australian team. Everyone has got to take responsibility. It was the winat-all-costs attitude and pushing the boundaries.
“Much of the behaviour [sledging] was unwarranted. If not stamped on, by [CA high performance chief] Pat Howard or whoever, those things start to fester.
“I haven’t been happy with the culture. They were far too aggressive, at times stepped over the line.
“It’s just very sad it’s taken something like this to bring it to a head. All of a sudden they’re saying it should be changed, it should’ve happened a long time before.”
But Julian believes Steve Smith has been hard done by.
“He hasn’t match fixed,” he said. “Yes he made an error and the culture needs to be fixed, but you’d think he committed a massive crime, that it was more severe.”