What ails Australia's best and brightest?-- Chris Rogers

[rkt.india]

There have been an alarming number of Test and Sheffield Shield batting collapses of late. From Australia's calamitous 47, to India's frequent capitulations, New Zealand's recent dramatic middle-order loss of 5 for 0, and Queensland almost surrendering the Sheffield Shield final - batting performances in the longer versions seem to have dropped off dramatically. Perhaps we can blame the wickets. Groundsmen have seemingly been less inclined to roll out flat, docile pitches. James Sutherland's pleas last summer for better Shield pitches have fallen on deaf ears. Or maybe the new breed of bowling coach has stolen a march on his batting counterparts. Certainly Craig McDermott seems to have found the right ingredient for Australia's young band of quicks. Or are batting techniques in a downward spiral? Perhaps the T20 catch-cry, "Clear the front foot and swing as hard as possible", is playing havoc with the techniques of young batsmen. During another highly enjoyable summer in the Sheffield Shield, I had lots of chances to get up close and personal with several fringe Test batsmen. The struggles with technique of most were noticeable. For years as Australia ruled the cricket world, we were blessed with champions who churned out thousands of first-class runs before being selected - Mike Hussey passed 10,000 before his ascendency, and before that, Matthew Hayden must have despaired of ever getting a decent go at Test level. Now as the guard changes, opportunities arrive for the new generation sooner than they did in the past - David Warner was around the 1000-run first-class mark when he got his baggy green. It has underlined the indifferent seasons the likes of Phil Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh and Callum Ferguson have had. The cricket public expects these young batsmen to have everything mentally and technically figured out when they are chosen, and that they should be the finished article, with complete understanding of their own games. Some, like Steve Smith, seem to be sorting things out, but others appear to have a fair way to go. Perhaps my most fascinating time on the cricket field this year was stationed at mid-off while Andrew McDonald went to work on each of these young batsmen with his exceptionally intelligent medium-pacers - and talked me through his tactics. Without the gift of pace, "Ronnie" has had to learn the skill of bowling inside and out, and his mastery on a helpful pitch is comparable to any I've seen. http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/562641.html

[Chandan]

Superb article! But this batting ailment is not restricted to Australia only. It has spread to all over the world. India too has tried few young batsmen and sent them to drawing board for now : Mukund, Vijay, Pujara, Raina, Kohli and the ones who will be given a break shortly, Rohit and Rahane. Can a domestic player, having played test cricket too, like Akash Chopra write a detail analysis about their technique? Or is Ranji trophy too poor to judge a player on the basis on that?