'The game will advance'
Reverses before the World Cup helped the team identify deficiencies
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In an interview published in the latest issue of Cricinfo Magazine, Buchanan said that while Australia hadn't planned to lose the games against England and New Zealand before the World Cup, they were not overly concerned about the defeats because they had a bigger picture in mind.
Australia came to the World Cup with five consecutive losses, three to New Zealand in the Chappell-Hadlee series and two to England in the Commonwealth Bank series, prompting observers to label the tournament "the most open World Cup ever."
"We needed to find out what some of our weaknesses were," said Buchanan, " and through the Commonwealth Bank series and through the Chappell-Hadlee series, some of our deficiencies were exposed. In terms of telling us what we had to do precisely, that was a big plus."
One big weakness was in the bowling, with Australia failing to defend 300-plus scores in successive matches in New Zealand. To Buchanan, though, it was a mere confirmation of what they knew. "We actually had to get a bit better."
"It might have been in the type of bowler we needed to bowl at a certain time. Or type of ball - be it a yorker, a slower ball, or change of pace. It might have been with timing, with a certain player at a certain stage of the game."
Those matches also served to finalise the selection for the World Cup. "We had [Stuart] Clark, [Mitchell] Johnson, and we didn't really know what we wanted to do there. [Shaun] Tait too. And we had some injuries. [Shane] Watson was injured, and we were trying to bring him back, and at that time he was perhaps well short of where you would want a player [to be] at that stage of a series. But it was important for him to get some game time before he came here.
"We were also trying some of the guys a bit differently from what you would do normally. So there were a lot of things going on at the time. We knew there were things happening which would help us when we came here"
After Australia won the World Cup in 2003, Buchanan had said they could get even better and, after overwhelming every opponent in 2007, he believes that the game could advance still.
"Our batting has certainly been much more consistent," he said pointing to one of the areas in which Australia have improved, "particularly our top order, in how they have gone about the game and how aggressive they can be.
"It has advanced because of the type of players we have had, because of the time they have put in, and because of the way they have thought about playing the game", he said.
"And if anybody thinks the game is at its peak at the moment, that will be wrong, because the game will advance. It has to advance."
He went on the identify a few areas. "Now that you have the wicketkeeper coming up... you look at the catcher in baseball, and I think there is great synergy there for the same thing to occur. It gives the bowler more options when the batsmen are trying to hit every ball."
He also thought the bowlers could bowl much faster. "Athleticism is going to play a major part. Bowlers can bowl a lot quicker. They just have to find the right athletes and train them to be able to generate pace, and also sustain that pace."
"We have done a few things this time which were an advance on what we did last time, and that has made a difference. And there is a whole concept of professionalism, and understanding what that is, and how it can impact the game. If you understand what that concept is and put it in place, that can significantly change the game. "
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