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Australia in India 2009-10
Nielsen raises workload issue again
Sidharth Monga in Nagpur
October 27, 2009
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Preview : India out to hurt injury-hit Australia
News : Hopes out for Nagpur, doubts over Lee and Johnson News : Ponting upset by disrupted ODI lead-up Matches:
India v Australia at Vadodara
Series/Tournaments:
Australia tour of India
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Australia
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Murphy seems to have changed camps. It was India who started the series wounded: no Zaheer Khan, no Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag's fitness not tested in proper match conditions, and MS Dhoni injured in the nets before the first ODI. One match into the series, and Australia have had a scatter-bomb experience. Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and James Hopes knocked out in two days. And India welcoming back Yuvraj at the same time.
Australia did have a semblance of good news four hours after they had first announced that all three were unfit to play in Nagpur; Johnson responded well to treatment and showed positive signs during training, enough to hope he might just play. But that didn't take away from the disappointment in the Australian camp over the scheduling and the clashes between non-international Twenty20 matches and international cricket.
The coach Tim Nielsen didn't sound as annoyed as Ricky Ponting two days ago, but actually said a lot more. It was as if he wanted to talk about the issue, and responded with a smile and a "very good question," when asked about those clashes. Then he went on to directly blame the hectic workload, increased by the Champions League Twenty20, for Lee's injury.
"It's something that we grapple with every day, dealing with players who are playing with Australia and then their domestic states, and then domestic teams in [the] IPL or Champions League or whatever it may be," Nielsen said. "Brett played six one-dayers in England, followed by five in the Champions Trophy, and then backs it up two full weeks here in the Champions League. And then straight to us, and it's probably no surprise that he has got a stress-related injury.
"We need to be very careful and we need to prioritise what is most important for these players, and to ensure that their long-term future is safe. Having said that, when the initial editions of the Champions League and IPL are coming on, they want their best players to play to ensure that they are marketable and the product is good. It is a balancing act right now that we are going through."
The timing of this series could not have been more absurd. Three Australian players (New South Welshmen) joined the team late in the night on October 24, less than 12 hours before the start of the first game. Three others (Victorians) joined them the night before. Ponting said none of the six was a part of team plans, meetings, long-term preparations. They were lucky to scrape through in Vadodara despite Lee's injury leaving them four overs short from their best bowler, and in the end only four runs separated win and disaster.
Australia are trying their best to manage these workloads, Nielsen said, monitoring the number of balls the bowlers bowl in the nets, testing them pretty much everyday, "getting a feel on how they are going physically, mentally and technically."
"When we get to a stage that we feel the injury risk is big, we talk to the bowler about it and make a decision to either give him a rest or reduce his bowling load." With Lee, though, such assessment was not possible during the two weeks leading into the series. He is yet to play Tests after recovering from a side strain earlier this year, and this elbow blow puts his Test return in further doubt.
Regardless of whether Johnson miraculously returns to full fitness, India will fancy their chances of levelling the series in Nagpur. "If Mitchell and Brett can't play, we are losing about 300 matches in ODIs in terms of their experience," Nielsen said. "And we are talking about six or seven [games] between Ben Hilfenhaus and Doug Bollinger so that is one of the issues that we have faced and James Hopes has played 60 or 70 games as well - 350 games out is quite a loss."
In hindsight, calling Australia's win in Vadodara an escape will not be way off the mark, given the extent of Lee's injury. It can be said before the start of the Nagpur ODI that they need another escape.
Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo
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fantastic coment Winsome, i have no idea who Murphy is either and i find it quite funny how people don't realise that Australia is playing with an understrength team...i guess because they are still doing so well. India are missing Zaheer Khan and were missing Yuvraj Singh which has definitly hurt them but the rest of their bowling has been pathetic to say the least. Brett Lee decided to play in the CL so i'm sure he's not complaining over his injury. However, i find it strange that he was allowed to play in it int he first place. Brett Lee due to international duties, made hardly any contribution to NSW's win of the Big Bash last year. The poor domestic players who made it all happen have to sit back and watch on tv at home. Also i don't understand why there should be an IPL, CL and India vs Aus ODI series every single year. If the Ind vs Aus series was every 2-3 years it would be much better. Too much cricket is being played but i can't remember the last time India played a Test.
Posted by sreyassree on (October 28 2009, 07:39 AM GMT)both munaf patel and praveen kumar are same sort of meduim pacers,they will be effective only in bowling pitches.we must give chance to kamran khan left arm fastbowler,who made IPL debut this year and impressed every one.he is lefthand version of lasith malina
Posted by Nuxxy on (October 28 2009, 07:06 AM GMT)@maddy20: It's about more than how much they bowl/play. It's also about how much they rest. And between England ODI's, Champion's Trophy, and now the T20 Champion's League (including just an overnighter before playing), Lee didn't have time to rest. Quite frankly, though, he and Hauritz probably shouldn't have played that first ODI.
Posted by 68704 on (October 28 2009, 06:55 AM GMT)Actually injuries are a way of modern cricket. I think it speaks of the bench strength of the aussies that without Haddin, Clarke, Ferguson, Bracken and now Lee they are still competitive. I think the key is not to make excuses but get on with it. Every board has bought into this dangerous practice of killing the goose which lays the golden eggs= the game itself. India was very defensive before the first game and Dhoni spoke about it being a long series and how we could come back. This match India does not have any excuses, it must win, particularly when Australia is even missing players from what is originally a depleted side. While India came close, it was largely due to substandard bowling and some very ordinary fielding. I feel that Australia will still try to win, they will not hide behind injuries and that should make the match interesting. sridhar
Posted by Gilly4ever on (October 28 2009, 06:46 AM GMT)I don't understand all of these whinges about playing too much. This is their job. They get paid a retainer (for some) but then they get paid per match. Take away this "hectic schedule" and they don't get paid as much. Do the players really want to go back to the "good old days" where they had to work for a living and play cricket matches, even representing their country, out of the goodness of their hearts? Yes it is tough and yes there is a chance of an injury, but you can also work that out by resting players on a rotation during less important matches, like, say, this ODI series, which, in the scheme of things, doesn't mean an awful lot. Indeed, I have to wonder how genuine these "injuries" are. Maybe these guys just want to have a little break for a while and are faking it somewhat, or at least exaggerating it? I have no sympathy for highly paid professional sportsmen being "over worked". If you don't want to play, just ask for a rest. You are allowed to.
Posted by popcorn on (October 28 2009, 06:02 AM GMT)It is credit to the well -structured,very competitive, Australian domestic system that Australia has a good bench strength. This has been amply displayed by Australia thrashing England 6 -1, and winning the Champions Trophy WITHOUT Michael Clarke,Brad Haddin and Nathan Bracken. It will be even more creditable when Australia win the current series they are playing against India,despite their current injuries. On the other hand, india has zero bench strength - and the playing eleven can't bowl,can't field, and dependent on one player Yuvraj Singh returning from injury. Sic.
Posted by dyogesh on (October 28 2009, 01:35 AM GMT)Or differently put, if India still loses, better they forget their numero uno aspirations. This is assuming even after Champions trophy debacle, they believe that they are close to it.
Posted by Winsome on (October 27 2009, 22:56 PM GMT)Siddharth, the Aussies were already down 3 of their first pick players at the beginning of the series so what is this about India being the wounded team? Bracken, Clarke and Haddin would be there if not for injuries. This is just more injuries on top of an already injury hit team so whoever Murphy is, he hasn't gone anywhere.
Posted by Romeo248 on (October 27 2009, 22:39 PM GMT)when the players get more money from domestic competitions than international and only have to play 20 overs even the best players will do that...clt20 and ipl is a big success...in socer people like clubs/club matches than international team matches...later on thats gonna happen to cricket as well..its an opportunity for many players to prove themself
Posted by desibabu90 on (October 27 2009, 22:23 PM GMT)well you can't really blame the ICC on this part... it is the Champions League and the county cricket boards fault. the series is already decided under the Futures Tour Program and it is up to your players to make sure that they are healthy. I mean i dont think Brett Lee and Haurtiz would be complaining because they got a whole lot richer for playing for two weeks and a little niggle in the arm wont hurt too much... lol.