Australia can’t match the spending of India to produce and develop Test stars
Australia’s lack of Test depth was brutally exposed by India’s back-up squad, highlighting how far our pathway program is lagging behind.
Cricket
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The million-dollar salary given to one of India’s off-field legends has exposed a major soft spot in Australia’s development of Test-ready stars.
Rahul Dravid has been widely credited as the man behind the team of Indian second-stringers who created history by upsetting Australia because he mentored Shuban Gill, Hanuma Vihari, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini and Mayank Agarwal in his role as coach of India A.
Since January 2014, India A has played 35 international matches around the world compared to just 16 by Australia A. The England Lions have played 21.
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Cricket Australia’s head of national teams Ben Oliver has declared his intention to re-establish Australia A tours after the pandemic, but to use the Moneyball baseball analogy, in some ways CA is playing an unfair game.
It’s believed Dravid earns in the vicinity of $1 million for his behind-the-scenes role with India A, not far behind the $1.4 million salary of national head coach Ravi Shastri.
Cricket Australia simply can’t print money like the BCCI, and there is a long-held belief that the game simply doesn’t – or can’t – offer enough money to entice superstars like Ricky Ponting, Simon Katich, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne to coach full-time in the system.
Ponting is regarded as one of the world’s best coaches, and while the IPL can afford him, in Australia he’s signed on at Channel 7 on a contract believed to be worth more than $700,000.
Already, CA was forced to cut smart coaching minds Chris Rogers, Ryan Harris and Graeme Hick – who often took turns leading Australia A teams – due to the COVID crisis, and it’s now more difficult than ever to stop the brain drain of cricket nous going to the IPL and England 100 for more money for less work.
India’s enormous population naturally lends itself to an endless production line, but will Australia ever be able to entice a superstar of the game like Dravid to oversee a national program that develops Test-ready stars?
“One of the big advantages of the India A program … was that (prior to COVID) India A played a lot of cricket under Rahul Dravid,” Indian commentator, Harsha Bohgle told News Corp.
“So a lot of these boys, like Mayank Agarwal, Vihari, came into the Test set up ready for that level. India A was producing these ready-made players. There’s depth in the bowling.”
What is more in CA’s control is to ensure over the next seven years that India A doesn’t more than double the matches played by Australia A.
India’s stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane is living proof of regular A tours being a key component of a successful system.
He played 13 matches for India A and had leadership experience doing so.
Right now, Australia has a leadership vacuum under Tim Paine that’s causing an enormous conundrum ahead of the Ashes.
When Australian staffers first saw Shubman Gill as a junior, they asked, “could we develop a Test-ready technique like that?”
Gill has also captained India A, and so Dravid has already started a succession plan that could still be years away from coming to fruition.
Oliver has made a concerted push to bring back the Australia A system and there is a growing belief around the game that Australia needs to commit to regular home season and off-season tours for Australia A to build Test-ready competitors.
“Unfortunately Australia A overseas tours were paused this season due to the impact of COVID-19 however our intention is to re-establish these tours as we emerge from the pandemic,” Oliver told News Corp
“While we continue to focus on ensuring our domestic competitions are as strong as possible, we also see value in our Australia A program (and Australia Under 19 program) which provides an opportunity for players to experience the challenge of overseas conditions and international level competition.”
Some leading figures around the game don’t believe Australia A can’t thrive under a current model which still lets development be dictated by the states.
An Australia A program which contracts players on a yearly basis to make a proper second-team has been one suggestion to put it on a pedestal above State cricket.
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