Plans are in place to help Lehmann's charges solve the mysteries of world cricket's trickiest tweakers.
As Australia’s fitness and conditioning gurus set about ensuring the national men’s team is in peak shape for the gruelling two-year playing schedule that lies ahead, strategies are being put in place to counter the mystery weapon that looms as the team’s biggest technical challenge.
With next October’s two-Test series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates to be followed by four Tests against India (in Australia) and then the ICC World Cup on home soil, Australia’s batsmen face a steady and distinctly unfamiliar diet of mystery spin.
The first course will be served up by Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal, whose indecipherable doosra destroyed England’s batting in their three-Test series in the UAE in 2012 when he pocketed 24 wickets at less than 15 runs apiece.
Then, the Australians are likely to run into India’s latest spin wizard, Ravichandran Ashwin, whose ‘carrom’ ball (or ‘sodukku’ ball as he calls it) grabbed the cricket world’s attention when the off-spinner got it to turn from leg stump past South African Hashim Amla’s bat and into his off stump.
It was the most memorable of many ‘mystery’ deliveries perpetrated during the recent World T20 tournament in Bangladesh.
And many of the exponents of that craft – which has become so pivotal in the limited-overs game – such as the West Indies Sunil Narine and Sri Lanka’s Ajatha Mendis, are expected to play decisive roles in the World Cup.
Even on the traditionally pace-friendly pitches of Australia and New Zealand.
As a result, and in the wake of Australia’s early exit from the ICC World T20 in Bangladesh where their batsmen showed vulnerability against the myriad variations spin bowlers from around the world are now practising, efforts are being stepped up to decode the puzzle.
Cricket Australia’s Executive General Manager of Team Performance, Pat Howard, said an evaluation of the men’s team’s disappointing performance in Bangladesh had been completed and forwarded to the CA Board.
And with spinning conditions expected for the Tests against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi and Dubai later this year, plans to bolster Australia’s arsenal of and armoury against spin bowling are in place.
Not only does that include closer examination of ‘mystery spin’ to help batsmen survive and score against that type of bowling, but also fast-tracking the development of promising young Australian spinners of which there are many at domestic first-class level and below.
Howard said the proliferation of ‘mystery spinners’ and the impact they are having on the game worldwide meant that experience in a range of conditions against a variety of international opponents was crucial for aspiring Test players.
“The important thing is we’re sending players to India, we’ve got Australia A playing India (in northern Australia) this year, so we’re trying to expose ourselves to what’s happening in the world at the moment,” he told cricket.com.au.
“The UAE is effectively subcontinent play, and we’ve got to get better at this, we know that and it’s very difficult.
“It’s going to take a lot of practice.”
While Australia continues to favour the development of conventional spin bowlers over those who are able to master the doosra and other varieties – which many purists believe can’t be bowled with a technically legal action – Howard is confident there are bountiful options.
He cited the example of 20-year-old leg-spinner James Muirhead, who worked closely with champion bowler Shane Warne during Australia’s recent tour of South Africa and who played two matches in Bangladesh, claiming the prized wickets of West Indies opener Chris Gayle and star India batsman Virat Kohli.
“James Muirhead (imparts) the highest amount of revolutions (on the ball) of any spinner that we’ve ever had up here (at the NCC), so there are some positive signs,” Howard said.
“We’ve introduced Ashton Agar to the Test arena, we have players like (Queensland leggie Cameron) Boyce and Muirhead, and Nathan Lyon is now a 100 Test-wicket taker.
“And the oldest of them is Nathan at 26 years of age.
“We are on a journey, we are definitely not completed and I think we’ve got a lot of work to do both in (producing) spinners and playing spin.
“But I think that process has started, and these things don’t happen in five minutes.”
Warne is believed to have shown interest in doing further work with the next generation of spin bowlers, if not with the senior Australian team then possibly with members of the National Performance Squad, four members of which are currently in Sri Lanka for a week-long spin bowling camp.
“We are very open to that idea and the very last conversation we had (with Warne) was ‘go away, look at the calendar and see what the opportunities are’,” Howard said.
“I think the timing of when Shane got involved (in South Africa) was excellent, and the feedback I’ve had was excellent.
“At the end of a long summer he was a great burst of energy and I know the players enjoyed having him around.”
CA
