Australia have been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism ever since they lost the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth. They were thrashed by 295 runs as India recorded a memorable win despite missing a few key names.
In fact, Australia have not won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in a decade now. The pressure is on. However, they have been a very consistent side across formats over the last few years. Under Pat Cummins, they have tasted quite a bit of success. They won the World Test Championship (WTC) and ODI World Cup, both in 2023.
The core group of players has been very similar for the last few years. But it is no secret that it is an ageing team. The XI that stepped out in Perth had just one player under 30, which was debutant Nathan McSweeney. Josh Inglis is the only other player in the squad who was under 30 but he’ll turn 30 next year.
Todd Greenberg who is the new Cricket Australia (CA) CEO acknowledged that it is a concern, especially in Test cricket. He wants conversations about transition need to take place in the dressing room.
“We do have a more ageing side, particularly in red-ball cricket, and that won’t be easy. There have to be hard and honest conversations between players and staff, and I think those are happening, to be fair,” Todd Greenberg was quoted saying to media reports in Adelaide.
However, Greenberg acknowledged the fact that the current fitness and rehab of players help them extend their careers. However, it is a ‘fine balance’.
“In saying that, though, the professionalism of modern athletes are tending to take them longer in their careers; the way we take care of them, the way we rehab them, the way they take care of themselves. I think it’s a very fine balance,” CA’s new boss added.
Greenberg wants to improve communication
Recently, Australia rested their key players from the third ODI and the T20I series against Pakistan. That was in order to keep them fresh for the all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However, it wasn’t received well by the public, fans or cricket experts.
The absence of key players could’ve been one of the reasons for the low turnout during the white-ball series between Australia and Pakistan. Hence, Greenberg wants to better communicate with the fans and explain certain reasons to them.
“We want to explain the reasons why we might do certain things. And again, that might polarise opinion. Sometimes people might not agree, and that’s okay, but I think it starts from the premise of being really strong communicators,” the 53-year-old said.
