Ponting says weaker teams don’t learn from big defeats

Tatenda Taibu & Co. have a mountain to scale

Harare: Australia coach John Buchanan says his world champion Test players have tunnel vision which allows them to stay ahead of the game.

“If they allow any distractions to interfere with their preparations, then that interferes with their play. They know that very well and it doesn’t happen,” he said ahead of this week’s three ODIs against Zimbabwe, led by Tatenda Taibu. The first match will be played on Tuesday.

There have been endless distractions threatening to impinge on the Australians’ motivation and preparation since arriving in Zimbabwe ten days ago. They have played only one and a half days cricket, a two-day fixture against Zimbabwe A — in fact a B side — which ended by agreement three hours early.

They have been surrounded by a bitter dispute between the Zimbabwe Cricket Union and senior players which led to a two-Test series being scrapped.

The Australians spent Friday and Saturday waiting for news, playing golf, going fishing or moping about the hotel.

But on Sunday Buchanan put them through a punishing three-hour training session as if they were about to play a fifth Ashes Test against England with the series poised at 2-2 rather than a group of nervous local lads, half of whom are still teenagers.

“In the end the situation here is way out of our control. All we can control and all we are concerned with is what we achieve on the field and that’s why these players are so good at what they do,” he said.

But will the Australians relax against an under-strength Zimbabwe side? “They really amaze all of us how they are always able to get into their own game and their own world. Our job as coaches is to keep that environment around them so they feel good about what they’re doing and then be prepared to play their best cricket,” he said.

Captain Ricky Ponting has called for one-day cricket’s weaker teams to be removed from the top flight, adds another report.

“The standard of some of the one-day sides from lesser countries has to be looked at,” Ponting said on Monday. “We want to play the best cricket we can all the time against the best teams.”

Ponting believes countries still emerging as cricketing powers should not be exposed to the rigours of competition at top international level.

“I don’t think some of the less established countries should play at the World Cup or at the Champions Trophy, basically because I don’t think they learn anything against the more powerful countries,” he said.

“If you look at some of the results from the last World Cup, Canada were bowled out for 36. I can’t see how they learn anything out of that. They’re better off playing against themselves for an extended period of time, against slightly better opposition.

“They can improve that way first and when you have a couple of sides that are standouts among that group then they could probably make the step up to the top level of one-day cricket.

“You want to play against the best players, but that doesn’t happen all the time now.”