NEW DELHI: Coming down heavily on Cricket Australia for agreeing to the upcoming ODI series against India, former captain Ian Chappell said the “badly timed” matches will dent the team’s morale by exposing its “glaring” batting frailties on spin-friendly tracks.
India and Australia will clash in a Twenty20 and seven ODIs starting October 10 in Rajkot. Chappell said the entire series has been planned just for money.
“Agreeing to this meaningless ODI tour of India so close to an Ashes series is evidence that Cricket Australia is more concerned with dollars than sense,” Chappell wrote in ‘ESPN Cricinfo’.
“Australia’s mounting Test losses not only hurt in the record book but have also shredded the team’s aura… Australia’s weakness in this bleak period has been batting in general, and coping with good spin bowling in particular,” he explained.
“The flaws have become so glaring that at a Lord’s Taverners function I attended recently in London, the comments from former players were pointed. ‘What’s happened to Australian batsmanship?’ was the welcome from past opponents before I received the obligatory ‘Oh, and by the way, how are you?’,” he added.
In the absence of injured skipper Michael Clarke, Chappell said Australia would be all the more vulnerable against an Indian team, which dominates on home turf.
“The glaring batting weakness will be exacerbated in India by the absence of Michael Clarke, easily the best player of spin in the Australian side. Without Clarke to guide them and be a steady source of runs, Australia are at risk of again losing in India,” he said.
“While few from the ODI team will be in contention for the Test side, a demoralising loss on the eve of an Ashes series won’t help Australian morale, while it will boost England’s outlook,” he added.
Chappell said the series will also make it more challenging for the Australian selectors to pick the right squad for the Ashes next month.
“Not only is the scheduling of this tour badly timed for the players, it also hasn’t done the Australian selectors any favours,” he said.
“Normally at this time they would be gauging batting candidates for the No. 6 position in the Test side based on their domestic first-class form. Now they’ll feel obliged to take into account any contenders who put up good performances on the tour of India.
“This could lead to some selection blunders. Runs scored in the relative serenity of a 50-over game are a far cry from those that need to be earned in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of an Ashes Test against a good attack,” he opined.
Chappell said the Aussie weakness against spin bowling would be thoroughly exploited by the Indians and that would hit the confidence of young or unestablished batsmen.
“I don’t see a potential No. 6 Test batsman in the ODI squad. Worse still, there are a few batsmen in that squad who are vulnerable against spin bowling, a weakness the Indians are sure to exploit. This means potential contenders could return to Australia’s firmer pitches with their confidence undermined,” he said.
“It has been obvious for some time that the No. 1 priority among cricket administrators is the bottom line, and the timing of this ODI tour is further proof. What wasn’t so obvious was that Cricket Australia isn’t superstitious and nor does it believe in bad omens,” he concluded.