This Ashes series has exposed the massive gulf among the expertise of the England and Australia coaching staffs. Andy Flower's careful movement has his men purring while Tim Nielsen's home side has spent most of the summer praying for a handful of guys to cover up a glut of mistakes. The stark reality is Australia have been out-batted, out-bowled, out-fielded and out-thought for most of the campaign. Playing strength is obviously the main reason for the result, but the combatants are groomed by the head coaches and their bulging batch of assistants.
Flower, a enormously valued former Zimbabwe batsman, appears like a Godfather over the England side, working out his strategies and speaking simply and sternly. Nielsen is more like a mate to the Australians than a task master, a friend on the training paddock and a sounding board, rather than a master diplomat or tyrant. Since being defeated in the 2009 Ashes, the Australians have beaten West Indies, a questionable Pakistan outfit at home, and New Zealand away. In the past six months there has been a drawn campaign with Pakistan, a 2-0 loss to India and now this fumbling Ashes show.
Australia's summer began with a seven-match losing streak across all competitions and so far the only international successes have been a dead-rubber ODI win over Sri Lanka and the dead-cat bounce in Perth. Changing personnel and under-performing leaders have contributed heavily to the results, but the coaching staff has been unable to give much measurable support. Under Nielsen there is the bowling mentor Troy Cooley, the batting assistant Justin Langer, the fielding coach Mike Young and the analyst Dene Hills. Stuart Karppinen, the fitness and conditioning coach, also has a first-class bowling background.
Flower, a enormously valued former Zimbabwe batsman, appears like a Godfather over the England side, working out his strategies and speaking simply and sternly. Nielsen is more like a mate to the Australians than a task master, a friend on the training paddock and a sounding board, rather than a master diplomat or tyrant. Since being defeated in the 2009 Ashes, the Australians have beaten West Indies, a questionable Pakistan outfit at home, and New Zealand away. In the past six months there has been a drawn campaign with Pakistan, a 2-0 loss to India and now this fumbling Ashes show.
Australia's summer began with a seven-match losing streak across all competitions and so far the only international successes have been a dead-rubber ODI win over Sri Lanka and the dead-cat bounce in Perth. Changing personnel and under-performing leaders have contributed heavily to the results, but the coaching staff has been unable to give much measurable support. Under Nielsen there is the bowling mentor Troy Cooley, the batting assistant Justin Langer, the fielding coach Mike Young and the analyst Dene Hills. Stuart Karppinen, the fitness and conditioning coach, also has a first-class bowling background.
Top
0 comments:
Post a Comment