'What progress have we made as a team?' - Buchanan

John Buchanan, the coach of the Australian team, wrote what he insisted was a "private" letter to the players after they were bowled out for 196 on the fourth day of the Adelaide Test. The Press Trust of India (PTI) has got hold of that letter, one that reveals his disappointment and the deep-rooted bond between him and his players.

Buchanan's disappointment was evident when he wrote, "I am so disappointed with the soulless, un-Baggy Green, immature performance [at Adelaide]. I love each and every one of you but like my own family, you thrill, you frustrate, you anger. I question, what progress have we made as a team, as individuals."

He also voiced his concern over the player's priorities. "In the lead-up to this game and up till tonight, the issues that have dominated conversations, priorities and by definition (I may well be incorrect), your attention/focus/clarity-deal-making; sponsors, Tug's [Steve Waugh's] farewell to Adelaide; helmets; what the media is saying about you."

He cited a specific example to bring out the tough situations that the team had responded to in the past. "About this time, four years ago in Hobart [against Pakistan in 1999], Gilly [Adam Gilchrist] and JL [Justin Langer] responded to a `no-win' situation with courage, conviction, and a toughness of character and concentration that is the pure fabric of the Australian cricket team. Today the only similar response I saw was Willo [Brad Williams who had injured his shoulder] bowling, batting, throwing and diving at mid-off!! What has happened in the interim?"

Buchanan concluded by looking forward to the next two Test matches at Melbourne and Sydney. He adds, "However if the result does not go our way [in the Adelaide Test] then we would expect to see the Baggy Green spirit...the courage of Willo, Gilly, JL to be clearly on show to you all so that we march to the MCG and the SCG playing in the spirit."

When asked about the letter, Buchanan said it was "disappointing if it found its way anywhere." He added: "It's a matter between myself and the players, not just the players, the whole team. That would be my only comment."

This is not the first time that a leaked letter from Buchanan has found its way into the newspapers. On the Ashes tour in 2001, an inspirational note invoking theories put forward by Sun Tzu's The Art of War, intended as a gee-up for his players, was pushed under the door of a reporter by accident.