Greg Chappell has delivered a scathing assessment of batting collapses in the ongoing Ashes series, arguing that modern Test batters surrender too easily and the game is flirting with an identity crisis.
The Boxing Day Test in Melbourne finished inside two days, with England defeating Australia by four wickets. Chappell attributed batters’ failure to a lack of technique and temperament rather than bowlers being unplayable.
“Two Tests in the series have failed to reach Day III, not due to superior skill but a glaring absence of desire. Batters slashed wildly, abandoning technique for bravado, as if playing their ‘natural game’ excused capitulation,” the former Australia
captain wrote in his column for ESPNCricinfo.
“They let down predecessors who bled for this rivalry; they shortchanged fans who braved the holiday heat; they betrayed their own generation by forsaking cricket’s core tenets — playing each ball on merit, scrapping for every run, enduring bruises for the greater good. I cannot believe any player left the field thinking they had given their all over those paltry sessions.”
Chappell blamed the batters for their plight in Melbourne.
“What shocked me most was not the conditions themselves, for cricket has always been a game at the mercy of the elements. No, it was the batters’ reactions: gestures of disbelief, muttered oaths, wry smiles as they trudged off, as if they alone had been cursed by a rogue delivery in the sport’s long history.
“They behaved like novices encountering adversity for the first time, oblivious to the blood, sweat, and sheer willpower that have sustained Test cricket through far worse trials.”
The former Aussie skipper also highlighted the influence of white-ball cricket, where power and instant impact are rewarded more consistently than time spent absorbing pressure.
“I get that white-ball cricket has changed the game, and power is valued more in the marketplace today than the ability to absorb pressure, but if the modern player does value Test cricket, as they say, then they must show it by being able to bat collectively for a minimum of 100 overs in any conditions. If they can’t, or won’t, do that, then the format is doomed,” he wrote.
Matthew Hayden caustically criticised batting coach and former Australia cricketer Michael di Venuto for the implosions in both innings of the MCG Test.
“That’s an unacceptable scorecard. I don’t care if it was 50 millimetres of grass. You need to be better than that,” Hayden fumed on the All Over Bar The Cricket podcast.
“Head, Weatherald, Labuschagne, Khawaja, Carey, Green; they’re all at sea with their basic techniques. The only technical thing I see is coming from our bowlers, who look more technically sound than our batters. Why is that?”
Hayden flayed the batting coach, emphasising there was nothing personal.
“I’m not a fan of him. It’s not a personal thing,” the former opener said of Di Venuto. “I just think for too long there has been an influence in this group around batting, and I don’t feel it’s served the development of the team
or the technical element of Test cricket.
“Not just on green wickets but in the subcontinent, where we’ve been competitive but haven’t had the skill sets required to cope in those conditions,” he said.
Hayden urged him to be more accountable. “At some point, you have to take accountability. That’s the piece I really struggle with the most. It’s like, ‘Yep, it’s green, therefore we’re going to play a certain way’. Or, ‘It’s spinning’ (like in) Delhi a couple of series ago. Every player was sweeping on a wicket that wasn’t turning an inch.”
Hayden also did not spare the underwhelming Green and Labuschagne. “You didn’t see Ricky Ponting batting at three, like Marnus Labuschagne is, throwing his wicket away. There is no fricken chance because … you would have your teammates and your former generation of players saying, ‘Bud, this is not the way we play cricket’,” Hayden said.
Greg Blewett, the former Test opener, sympathised with Di Venuto. “I’m sure these conversations take place. You would like to think ‘Diva’ has gone to Marnus and said, ‘mate, do you know how front-on you are? Look at your shoulders and hips. It’s like you’re playing French cricket. Do you want to do something about it? All he can do is give that information to the player, and then it’s up to the player.“
