ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
Brother of Steve and Test great Mark Waugh is going to wind back the clock next week and show the struggling Australian batsmen how to get the job done.
After yet another dreadful batting performance, the Australian men’s cricket team is looking for inspiration and a bit of subcontinental know-how as they scramble to save face in the third and forth Test.
Mr Waugh spoke to The Advocate this morning after making the announcement overnight.
“Look, it’s not that hard to score runs in India. I don’t know what the problem is with these blokes,” he said.
In India, Waugh averaged 45 from seven Tests – which is only bettered by a handful of players such as Matthew Hayden and Dean Jones.
“You just have to make sure you hit the ball with the bat. If you’re going to play a sweep shot, you sure as shit better make sure you’re hitting the fucking thing. As we’ve seen in this Test and the last, if you don’t hit the ball when you’re playing a sweep, you’ll make a cunt of yourself,” he added.
“What ever happened to just blocking the good ball, waiting for the pie and just cross-batting the fuck out of it? What ever happened to playing the ball off your pads with the spin? Fucks sake, it’s not that hard.”
However, Australian captain Pat Cummins has shot shown suggestion that the 57-year-old pundit will be joining the team for the third Test.
“While it is nice of Mark to offer, we are probably going to mix things up again,” he said.
“Our bowlers really need to work a bit harder to make sure they take more wickets. It’s very hard to defend a total like 100-150 when your bowlers aren’t firing on all cylinders,”
“If the Indian bowlers can take wickets on that pitch then so can ours. There’s no escaping that reality.”
More to come.
