Australia brush off Border criticism to focus on bold plan

Nagpur: Alex Carey has shrugged off criticism from former captain Allan Border that Australia need to play with a harder edge, saying the team would stick to the formula that had brought success in the past 18 months.

The Australians flew to Delhi on Tuesday promising more boldness against India’s spin kings when the second Test starts on Friday.

They have plenty of deficiencies to address in the nation’s capital but adopting a more in-your-face approach is not on the agenda, despite Border wanting Pat Cummins’ men to dial up the bile.

Border singled out Steve Smith for giving the thumbs up after being beaten on the outside edge during Australia’s innings defeat in the first Test, describing the gesture as “ridiculous”.

Since the sandpaper scandal and, more recently, under Cummins’ captaincy, Australia have adopted a calmer approach to matches, focusing on skill rather than emotion.

Carey, who was targeted by Border in 2020, said he respected the man known during his career as “Captain Grumpy” but backed Smith’s methods.

Alex Carey attempts a sweep shot in the first Test.Credit: Getty Images

“We highly respect Allan Border,” Carey said. “I guess among the group, guys do it differently. We come up against these players a lot.

“You’re probably alluding to the Steve Smith comment more than any but, you know, he’s mates with a lot of them. And that’s the way he [Smith] plays. He does it in all situations. He plays around with his hands and does all that stuff. And I think that’s probably what gets him pretty focused.

“They’re obviously strong comments but, as a group, we believe in what we’re doing and come the second Test we’re ready to put a few learnings into place.”

Carey refuted suggestions the on-field atmosphere was too friendly, saying he had not been warmly welcomed by the hosts.

Steve Smith was criticised by Allan Border for his gesture after being beaten on the outside edge.Credit: Getty Images

The need to huff and puff is the least of Australia’s concerns after their frailties against spin in India were exposed last week.

The first look at Australia’s bold new approach to batting on Monday suggested a nerve-jangling time lay ahead at Arun Jaitley Stadium.

“Proactive” and “brave” have become keywords in the Australia camp since the disastrous first Test defeat – a stark contrast to the valiant campaign six years ago when one of the buzz phrases was “trust your defence”.

It illustrates the difference in thinking among the current squad – 10 of whom were in India in 2017 – whose play on spin-friendly wickets has regressed after defeats in their last two games in such conditions.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja would not have been concerned if they had been at VCA Stadium for Australia’s centre-wicket practice on what was supposed to be the fifth day of the series opener.

‘[I was] maybe a little bit too keen to play a different style.’

Alex Carey

Marnus Labuschagne was busy at the crease, but David Warner, Usman Khawaja and Travis Head all struggled against net bowling clones of the champion duo and left-armer Ashton Agar, who is suffering from a loss of confidence on a tour where he was supposed to play a key role as Nathan Lyon’s spin partner.

In their defence, they were batting on a pitch they believed was much more difficult than the deck rolled out for the Test match.

Warner, under more pressure for his place than at any time in his 102-match career, was at his best when he used his feet to get down the pitch but was vulnerable when pinned to the crease and prodding – a method that led to his downfall to Ashwin.

Khawaja had problems with the sweep but continued to play the stroke, suggesting it will be a key part of his plan in Delhi.

After a confident start, Head was bowled twice in quick succession by Agar. He was seen taking advice on his head position from Smith, who played the role of batting mentor.

One of the few Australians who played with dare, Carey is reassessing if he needs to be so bold against the spinners. Of the 28 balls Carey faced against spin, he played 18 sweeps – conventional or reverse – at a rate of 64 per cent.

As a comparison, Australia’s batters swept just 4.18 per cent of spin deliveries in the 2017 tour, according to stats provided to cricket.com.au by Opta last year.

“Probably you can fall into over-playing conditions and certain names and what you see before you go out to bat, as well,” Carey said. “For myself today, I went back to batting more than anything else and reacting to what’s being bowled down at me and trusting that method as well.

“[I was] maybe a little bit too keen to play a different style, but I guess in my first Test over here that’s not a bad learning to have. Hopefully, I can find that balance along with all our players as well. We obviously want to be proactive, but calm and patient, and we had a pretty good look at that first hand with a few of their players.”

Though Carey was dismissed reverse-sweeping in each innings, he knows the shot is vital to throwing spinners off their radar, but there is pressure from an unlikely source for him to change.

“It will be my downfall at times, I’ll have success with it at times,” Carey said. “My wife’s been onto me quite a bit about it, so [you] might not see it for a little while.”

Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.