Australian batsmen shackled by indecision

Aaron Finch has pinpointed the woes that sees the Australian ODI side at their lowest point in 34 years.

Aaron Finch and Marcus Stoinis share a joke during training.

Australia’s coaching staff gathered for dinner in England’s oldest pub last night while Usman Khawaja bided time in a nearby county and Aaron Finch listed the woes that now see the ODI side at their lowest point in 34 years.

Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem is, almost literally, a hole in the wall establishment. A cask ale pub whose history can be traced back to 1189, its rooms are burrowed into the rock below Nottingham Castle.

You would have to be living under a rock to have missed the fall of he Australian limited overs team. Three years ago they won the World Cup, this week they slumped to sixth in the rankings on the back of their 15th loss in 17 matches. The team haven’t been below five on the rankings since 1984. The coaches, led by Justin Langer and visiting assistant Ricky Ponting, had plenty to talk about.

Finch, who had opened in 89 of his 89 previous matches but was tried in the middle order against England on Saturday, is feeling the pain.

“In the last couple of series we’ve been below par and really behind the eight ball from the start of the series, so to be 2-0 down in this one is not ideal,” Finch said after arriving in Nottingham. “Last series it was the fourth game before we won one, which I didn’t play in. So it’s been even longer for me compared to most of the other guys.

“It’s frustrating, obviously. At times I think we’re playing some good cricket, at times we’re making some mistakes that seem to be happening pretty regularly. Mainly as a batting group. We keep talking about middle-order collapses and losing wickets in clumps and it keeps happening.”

It’s frustrating also for Khawaja who is in England playing for Glamorgan after being overlooked for the ODI squad. The Test batsman has an outstanding domestic 50-over record, averaging over 60 across the past four seasons.

“I was extremely disappointed,” Khawaja told RSN yesterday. “I’ve had a lot of chats to the selectors and a couple with ‘JL’ (Langer) about it. I was a bit disappointed but some things you can’t control. Hopefully I’ll get a chance over the next year. I scored a lot of runs in one-day cricket for the last five or six years, especially in domestic cricket. Even when I’ve been away and played in a couple of (Australia A) tours. I’m not sure there’s a lot more I can do other than just keep trying to score runs and hopefully I get a chance.

“That’s part of cricket, selections. You’ve got to figure out a way to move past and try to score runs.”

Scoring runs with two of your best batsmen absent through bans is the issue at hand. While David Warner was in the television studios in Australia for the second game the players have not been distracted by his near certain return.

“It honestly hasn’t been talked about it at all,” Finch said. “That’s a selector and coach and probably whoever is the captain at the time. I have been speaking to Davey quite a bit, just as a friend, not about cricket.’’

Finch said the coaches spoke to them about a number of areas where things went awry in the most recent loss in Cardiff on Saturday.

“It was just about getting better, challenging each other to get better all the time with our decision making and execution,” he said. “With the ball, starting off our spells better. I think we had quite a few overs (that conceded) over 12 or 13 (runs) yesterday, more than would be acceptable in a one-day game. And just some poor execution with the bat. That was the main messages around the debrief, and we’ve got to win a series still.

“ It’s up to us now to try and win three on the bounce. We know it’s going to be very tough but we still think we’ve got a lot of confidence in our group.”

Finch said England’s approach of going hard with the bat has Australia second guessing.

“They are an ultra aggressive side and they do it with a lot of confidence as well,” he said. “I think at times that can put a little bit of doubt in your mind as a batter. Do I hang in for another five overs and drift along at four, five an over? Or do we push it? We are still fighting ourselves a little bit in regards to that.

“When you do play against a powerful side, that when they bat first they post big totals, they chase down some big totals, you have to weigh it up. At times we have probably got that balance wrong. Do we push the envelope and try and get 350, or do we try get 280, be in the game, and maybe get 310, 320. It’s a fine balance and one we haven’t found for quite a while. It’s the basics that have let us down. You could have the best thinking in the world and if you don’t execute, it’s all for nothing.”