Published: Sep 23, 2017, 10:20 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 23, 2017, 10:20 AM (IST)
Michael Bevan enjoyed a decade long ODI career with Australia and established himself as one of the greatest to grace the format. A master finisher, Bevan ended his ODI career with 6,912 runs at 53.58. The Australian legend finished his First-Class and List A career with a batting average of over 57. The 47-year-old former New South Wales cricketer expressed his interest to Cricket Australia (CA) to join the national side as their ODI batting coach through a tweet. “@CricketAus would love to be considered for the role of ODI batting coach -where do I apply?” Bevan tweeted.
@CricketAus would love to be considered for the role of ODI batting coach -where do I apply?
— michael bevan (@mbevan12) September 22, 2017
Australia are currently trailing India in the ongoing five-match ODI series 0-2. The world champions have been suffering collapses of late, in both Tests and ODIs. Needing less than 6 an over to win the Kolkata ODI and with skipper Steven Smith at the crease, Australia were in a decent position when the battling faltered again, triggering a collapse which resulted in a 50-run defeat. Even in the first game, chasing around 8-an over in a rain-reduced 21-over contest, they lost 9 wickets. Bevan however added a postscript to his expression of interest.
@CricketAus would love to be considered for the role of ODI batting coach -where do I apply?
— michael bevan (@mbevan12) September 22, 2017
Who better than one of their finest ODI players as their batting coach?
An upset Smith lashed out, “It’s happening a bit too often for my liking, to be honest with you, in all forms of cricket. We’ve had a lot of collapses and we need to stop. It’s easy to just sit here and say ‘it needs to stop’, but when you get out in the middle you have to change what you’re doing because it’s not working.
“Watching the ball closer (could be a solution), or maybe the guys are trying to watch it too closely and forgetting about just playing the game. It’s a hard one to put my finger on. But whatever it is, it needs to change and we need to make better decisions when we’re under pressure and start playing the game properly. Because we’re having too many collapses and it’s not good enough.”
Australia, who started the series as the No. 2-ranked ODI side have slipped to the third spot. They fill face an upbeat India in the third ODI at Indore on Sunday. It’s a must-win game for the visitors, who are trailing the series 0-2.
