Australian cricketers longing for home as they fight battles on and off the field
IN the midst of a pay war Australia’s cricketers need to find the enthusiasm for a tournament that not many know is on.
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STEVE Smith hasn’t been home since February.
David Warner snuck back to Sydney for a day after a long stint in India that included the feisty Test series and the Indian Premier League over a couple of months. He collected his family and headed to the UK.
Glenn Maxwell had two days in Melbourne when his IPL stint was done to “grab some jumpers”, having been in Dubai for the pre-Test series training camp, then India for the previous three months.
The arduous nature of the 12-month cricket calendar could be starting to take its toll and, despite protestations they are “pumped” for the Champions Trophy, you can’t just manufacture enthusiasm and hope it’s enough to get you through at the elite level.
Smith was grumpy after the washout against New Zealand at Edgbaston.
It was his 28th birthday, but his bowlers were off and the batsmen swung like rusty gates in a limited showing between rain breaks that forced them off the field three times.
His infamous “teapot”, hands on hips, curled up lips, was on show often.
No one could ever doubt that Smith and his teammates don’t take any chance to represent Australia for granted.
And they have been doing all the work to get ready for the Champions Trophy, having come together as a squad more than two weeks before the event to reconnect after the six-week separation of their “leave period” in May.
But there is no denying they look flat.
It might have been Birmingham, which failed to provide an atmosphere conducive to excitement for a form of the game plenty believe is on the wane.
Local cabbies, who can talk your ear off about cricket, knew there was a game in town, but couldn’t tell you who was playing. That’s rare.
Then there’s the pay deal spat lurking constantly in the background, a topic of conversation between players at breakfast and over coffee.
Their contracts expire in 26 days, after which they will stop getting paid.
Public utterances have not deviated much from “we support the players’ association and hope a deal can get done”.
But in Edgbaston they were being asked to serve a master, Cricket Australia, that has threatened them with unemployment, in a tournament not many people even knew was on, after lengthy periods on the road, and in a city that is anything but like home.
They’ll probably beat Bangladesh in London to keep their tournament hopes alive ahead of what could be a do-or-die final clash with England, back in Birmingham next Saturday.
But it will be a long week in between ... and down time, thinking time, could be just what Australia’s cricketers don’t need right now.
Originally published as Australian cricketers longing for home as they fight battles on and off the field
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