Three day batting camp for Aussies : Aussie batsmen go back to school

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There is a three-day camp in Melbourne in the lead-up to the Boxing Day Tests against India. Ponting will be joined by Test captain Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin as well as Dan Christian, Shane Watson and possibly Shaun Marsh in the MCG nets from next Tuesday. More... Arthur directs his blundering Test batsmen to training camp Chris Barrett December 15, 2011 BATTING camps are generally reserved for schoolboy and junior cricketers not the likes of Ricky Ponting, Australia's greatest swinger of the blade since Bradman. Yet that is exactly what is in store for Australia's batsmen after the calling of a three-day camp in Melbourne in the lead-up to the Boxing Day Tests against India. Ponting will be joined by Test captain Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin as well as Dan Christian, Shane Watson and possibly Shaun Marsh in the MCG nets from next Tuesday. Senior men ... (from left) Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting have been ordered to attend a batting camp. They will be facing bowling machines that will simulate the deliveries of tall Indian seamer Ishant Sharma and others. Up in Canberra, meanwhile, David Warner, Phillip Hughes and Usman Khawaja will be in action for a Chairman's XI, facing the real thing. Clarke and Warner aside, Australia's batsmen have not been in the finest of touch of late, capitulating infamously for 47 in Cape Town last month and playing a central part in an embarrassing seven-run defeat to New Zealand in Hobart on Monday. The Melbourne batting summit, coach Mickey Arthur said, is simply being arranged to sharpen the focus on the headline act of the summer. ''What we're going to do at the batting camp is we're going to talk about the Indian bowlers, we're going to set up bowling machines a la Ishant Sharma, guys like that,'' he said. ''We're going to practise against the swinging ball and get our basics right before Boxing Day. There's no major reconstruction of anyone's technique - it's literally getting our guys thinking about the Test match, thinking as a group and honing our four-day skills to get the guys best prepared to play on Boxing Day. We're not reshaping anybody's technique or anything.'' Several of the camp attendees will play for their Big Bash League teams beforehand, including wicketkeeper Haddin, who will captain the Sydney Sixers in the first game of the tournament at the SCG tomorrow night. The relationship of Cricket Australia's new Twenty20 competition with the upcoming Test series is a major talking point and there was a pointed reference from Arthur about the subject when he discussed the batting camp last night. ''It's just to get our unit of batters that we see playing in the Test match some sort of first-class batting practice without their techniques being compromised playing Twenty20 cricket,'' he said. Among those who will not be playing in the BBL is Watson, whose continuing recovery from a hamstring injury rules him out of the Sixers' match against Matthew Hayden's Brisbane Heat and leaves him in doubt for Boxing Day. He will not bowl even if selected for the first Test but yesterday endorsed the concept of a batsman's get-together, particularly as a vehicle to combat swing bowling, a weapon New Zealand used to great effect at Bellerive Oval. ''No doubt swing bowling [is] very hard to face … high-quality swing bowling is a big challenge, especially if the ball is moving late,'' Watson said. ''I'm not sure if it's a problem for Australian batsmen, it's a problem for cricketers in general. No doubt there have been times when we've had collapses when the ball is swinging around and seaming around, but other teams … are having challenges as well.'' Watson said Australia's batsmen would have been working diligently on preparing individually for the vagaries of the Indian attack, regardless of whether a camp was call or not. ''Guys would be doing everything possible to make sure their games are in the best place and make sure what happened against New Zealand doesn't happen again,'' he said.

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Shaun Marsh not giving up on playing in Boxing Day Test INJURED Australian batsman Shaun Marsh is hopeful of playing in a Big Bash game on Wednesday in a bid to prove his fitness for the Boxing Day Test. More... Shaun Marsh not giving up on playing in Boxing Day Test Michael Washbourne PerthNow December 15, 2011 HANGING IN THERE: Australian batsman Shaun Marsh remains hopeful of playing in the Boxing Day Test. INJURED Australian batsman Shaun Marsh is hopeful of playing in a Big Bash game on Wednesday in a bid to prove his fitness for the Boxing Day Test. Marsh, who has not played any cricket since injuring his back in the first Test against South Africa in Cape Town early last month, pulled up well after a net session at the WACA Ground today and is looking to “up the ante” further over the next couple of days before he heads to Melbourne for a fitness assessment. But the final call on whether Marsh takes to the field for the Perth Scorchers against the Melbourne Renegades and, in turn, the Boxing Day Test will be left up to Cricket Australia. Marsh was supposed to line up for the Chairman’s XI against India in Canberra next week, but has been ruled out because of his ongoing injury battle. While a Twenty20 match would not be the ideal preparation for a Test against one of the game’s powerhouse countries, Marsh knows he has little other choice if he wants to realise a childhood dream of wearing the baggy green on one of Australian sport’s proudest days. “I have to play a game to prove my fitness and the only real game is the Big Bash on Wednesday,” he said. “I’m still hopeful (of playing on Boxing Day), but you never know. My back’s my priority at the moment and I’ve got to make sure that’s 100 per cent right to even play a game. “It’s all heading in the right direction. The last week there have been more positives than negatives and I feel as though it’s getting better.” Back surgery is one option for Marsh if the injury continues to linger, but it’s a path he would prefer not to go down. Marsh, who scored a century on debut for Australia in Sri Lanka earlier this year, has taken comfort from several conversations with former Test opener Phil Jaques, who had surgery to correct a troublesome back problem three years ago. The 28-year-old also hit back at suggestions from Australian great Ian Healy that he is just one more injury away from losing his Test career. “My back’s been really good for the past year and it’s not like it happens every month or so,” he said. “It’s happened three times in the past two years, which is disappointing, but it’s something I’m managing. “I’ve put a lot of work into it over the last four or five months, especially over the last month. Hopefully all that hard work stops it happening.” Meanwhile, veteran batsman Mike Hussey has scoffed at calls for him to give the game away following his recent failures with the bat against New Zealand. Former captain Allan Border is among those who believe Hussey, 36, and fellow veteran Ricky Ponting must retire for Australia to move forward as a cricketing nation. But Hussey said he has no plans to call time on his Test career while he still has the passion to succeed and improve at the highest level. “I still enjoy the battle out in the middle and I still enjoy going to training every day and trying to get a little better each day,” he said. “While I still have those feeling and I still feel like I can contribute to the team I definitely want to be a part of it. “I feel like I’m batting well enough in the nets and preparing well, but it’s a very fine line (with) batting. You make one mistake or you get a good ball and you’re on your way back to the pavilion. “You can’t let it fill your mind too much. You’ve got to try and keep your mind as clear as possible and stay as positive as you can and believe there will be a big score just around the corner.” Hussey also defended the batting line-up despite the fact coach Mickey Arthur will assemble the team in Melbourne next week for a boot camp. “I think as a team we’ve played some really good cricket through Sri Lanka, through South Africa and the first Test against New Zealand,” he said. “We’ve played some outstanding cricket, but we have sort of let ourselves slip with a couple of poorer performances as well. “We’re trying to get more consistent with our performances, but I think on the whole is definitely going in a good direction.”

[J P K]

Greg Chappell to help Aussies in preparations for Boxing Day Test Former India coach Greg Chappell will help Australia's preparations for the Test series between the two sides, which starts on Boxing Day in Melbourne. Australia coach Mickey Arthur has asked Chappell, whose three-year stint in charge of India ended in 2007, to share his knowledge of the tourists with Arthur's squad, according to Sydney's Daily Telegraph. http://www1.skysports.com/cricket/news/12175/7382342/Chappell-to-help-Aussies more troubles for aus :cantstop:

[Number]

He will make them play kho-kho and will get someone injured.

[Sachin=GOD]

Poor Aussies.

[Ultimate_Game]

Best piece of news I have heard in the lead-up to the first test. If anything that can level the playing field for the Indians after the fast bowling injury crisis, this is it!

[Pagalpanti]

They just kicked him out few months ago and now are going back to him? :hehe:

[Magneto]

He will make them play kho-kho and will get someone injured.

:haha:

[Robelinda]

Not a single cricket fan in Australia cares at all about Greg, we all want him to go away forever. He has achieved NOTHING since his retirement in 1984.

[Magneto]

Not a single cricket fan in Australia cares at all about Greg' date=' we all want him to go away forever. He has achieved NOTHING since his retirement in 1984.[/quote'] We should have known that a few years before.

[Robelinda]

We had a brilliant batsman in the late 70's/early 80's, David Hookes, used to score hundreds in state cricket off less than 50 balls for fun, Chappell(as an aussie selector in 1985) told him he wouldn't get selected again for Australia unless he showed he could score a hundred in 5 or 6 hours. Hookes told him to get f****d. If Hookes was handled correctly we could've seen some amazing feats in test cricket, Hookes was the original Warner.

[kabira]

LOL.....Why would you hire a person who has not been good coach.

[Ultimate_Game]

We had a brilliant batsman in the late 70's/early 80's' date=' David Hookes, used to score hundreds in state cricket off less than 50 balls for fun, Chappell(as an aussie selector in 1985) told him he wouldn't get selected again for Australia unless he showed he could score a hundred in 5 or 6 hours. Hookes told him to get f****d. If Hookes was handled correctly we could've seen some amazing feats in test cricket, Hookes was the original Warner.[/quote'] I thought Hookes didn't have a longer run in the game due to technical shortcomings. He was found out by fast bowlers (I think WI pacers) and was even hit on the head while playing a hook shot. To me Hookes story was very similar to Kambli's with both extremely talented and had a great start to their Test career - Kambli with 2 double 100s and Hookes with sparkling maiden innings which featured 4 or 5 consecutive 4s off Tony Greig. But knowing Chappell he very well could derail a youngster's career. He is the sort of chap who thinks he knows it all and believes in "my way or highway" philosophy totally disregarding the fact that your approach has to be tailored depending the environment and the player you are working with. It amazes me Cricket Australia is still allowing him to be anywhere near the Aussie team after what he did to Team India when he was the coach.

[Robelinda]

Greg never rated Hookes, and fought hard to not have him selected all through the early 80's. Hookes always needed a bit of faith (like Steve Waugh got), but Chappell just didn't like him. Apparently Ian Chappell and Greg had big arguments over his treatment of Hookes, seeing as Ian was a 100% supporter of Hookes.

[Misu243]

Chappel ki maa ki...Dada will be there on the ground when India crush the Australians then lets see Chappel give advise.

[Stuge]

Greg Chappell to address Australian team to 'demystify' Sachin Tendulkar:In Hindi Guru Greg Bane Gaddar

MELBOURNE: Former India coach Greg Chappell will address the out of form Australian cricketers before the first Test starting on December 26 to reveal them the chinks in Sachin Tendulkar's armour, according to a report. According a report in Daily Telegraph, Chappell will address the Australian team next week on how to tackle the likes of Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag in the gruelling Test series beginning in Melbourne. "Chappell will address the Australian squad for the first Test next week and he is the one man with the knowledge to demystify the champion (Tendulkar) Australia never feel they have got to the bottom of," the report said. "To Australian bowlers Tendulkar has been the master they have never mastered. His record against Australia in Tests - he averages 60.6 with 11 centuries in 31 Tests - makes him the greatest Aussie basher of his generation," it said. Chappell, in his just released autobiography 'Fierce Focus', has said that Tendulkar was "surprisingly fragile" during a particular phase in his career when he had to cope with struggling form and a tennis elbow injury. According to the report, Chappell, who had a controversial three-year stint as India coach from 2005-07, will be able to give insights into the character of the Indian team including the explosive opener Virender Sehwag, a player he greatly admired.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/series-tournaments/india-in-australia/top-stories/Greg-Chappell-to-address-Australian-team-to-demystify-Sachin-Tendulkar/articleshow/11135446.cms

[kubrickian]

Wow great news for Sachin and team India.:yay::two_thumbs_up:

[Number]

Dada on aaj tak :haha:

[achilles]

Aata Majhi Satakli.

[punjabi_khota]

I am sorry but the title 'greatest Aussie basher' is already taken.