Intense scrutiny has taken a heavy toll on Australia’s cricketers
AUSTRALIA’S matchwinning all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has revealed the toll the intense scrutiny of the past 12 months has taken on the national team.
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AUSTRALIA’S circuit-breaking victory in Adelaide has come at a cost, with matchwinning all-rounder Marcus Stoinis conceding the intense scrutiny of the past 12 months has left players “cooked.”
There was nothing glamorous about Australia’s seven-run win in the second ODI against South Africa, but the effort taken to break the worst ever losing streak in one-day history in the midst of the off-field turmoil has removed an enormous weight from the shoulders of a desperate team that has thrown everything at their cause.
Another batting failure made it hard to get too excited about a turnaround, but defending such a sub-par total of 231 only added to the tenacity of the fight and self-belief shown by Australia’s bowling attack.
Heading into Sunday’s series decider in Hobart, getting a first ODI win since Australia Day provides inspiration that the momentum can change.
However, three-wicket hero Stoinis outlined the challenges ahead by laying bare the extreme toll this unprecedented period in Australian cricket history has taken on the players.
The summer is only two games old, and Australia admit they’re fighting against a “mental drain.”
“We’re cooked right now and we just won. Maybe that’s part of it (with batting woes), the mental drain,” said Stoinis.
“… Maybe it’s the amount of noise that’s going on, people are drained.
“That’s what we’ve got to work on. That’s what we’ve got to get past. This was a good step forward.
“The talk (hasn’t just) started now a few games into the season. The season goes all year. Every year. It backs up to last year. It hasn’t stopped. So it’s been a long time.
“You’ve got to learn. That’s part of the art of playing international cricket is dealing with the noise.”
However, just like the match-saving draw in the recent Test against Pakistan in Dubai, Stoinis said Australia had again shown its character.
“You’re just trying to win and trying to scrap, trying to break partnerships. It’s just good to win,” he said.
“All the guys that are in that team fight so hard, and want to be there so much. They train so hard, think about cricket all day every day.”
Yet again Australia fell short of the basic ODI requirement of batting out 50 overs, with the batting card marked by poor shots and players throwing away starts.
The backs-to-the-wall win could prove invaluable for Australia, but the Adelaide match did resemble a tussle between two sides who are well off the World Cup pace, given neither side could post a competitive score on a good batting wicket.
Stoinis admits that the batting output at the moment is not good enough for international cricket.
But added another voice to captain Aaron Finch’s claims during the week that the bloodletting at Cricket Australia head office had impacted on the mental state of the team.
“You’re disappointed. That’s what we’ve been working at. We work every day trying to hone our skills and I personally think because there’s so much noise going on (it’s harder),” said Stoinis.
“Cricket moves so fast and you can’t possibly concentrate as well as you’d like to with all the noise, so that’s part of the art of playing international cricket.
“We’ve got to start really internalising all that sort of stuff and focusing on what’s really important for us.”
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