Former Australia cricketer Mark Waugh has said that the next week's batting camp organised by Cricket Australia ahead of the four-match Test series against India must focus on the mental preparation of the players, besides addressing their problems with technique.
Published: Dec 18, 2011, 11:48 AM (IST)
Edited: Dec 18, 2011, 11:48 AM (IST)
Mark Waugh said Aussie batsmen are low on confidence after a few batting collapses © Getty Images
Melbourne: Dec 18, 2011
Former Australia cricketer Mark Waugh has said that the next week’s batting camp organised by Cricket Australia ahead of the four-match Test series against India must focus on the mental preparation of the players, besides addressing their problems with technique.
Waugh said there was no doubt that after a long run of batting collapses, the batsmen are short of confidence but felt that it was up to the individuals to develop self-belief.
“They’ve got to forget about the collapses, each batsman has just got to worry about his own game and if you do that then you’ll score well as a team,” Waugh said.
“It’s up to each player to probably look over their career and look over their good times and know they’re good enough to succeed at this level. Then make a few minor adjustments to their techniques.
“Batsmen in the squad normally help each other out as well. If there’s technical problems they’re normally the best players to talk to — the other players in the side. There’s no magic involved, just a bit of belief in your ability and a bit of hard work,” Waugh was quoted as saying by AAP.
Waugh admitted that Australian batsmen are going through a bad patch at the moment but predicted that their experience would help them come out with flying colours.
“You don’t lose your ability overnight and Ricky (Ponting) and all those guys are pretty good players. It doesn’t matter what sport you play. If a few mental doubts start creeping into your mind, then the good players just manage to keep them out and worry about keeping it simple.
“That’s just part of the whole make-up of the Test match batsman. You’ve got to be able to handle the low times and the high times and obviously believe in your own ability,” he insisted. (PTI)
