howardj
International Coach
This guy is totally off on another planet. There are some things that I've recently noticed him saying, or not saying, that really call into question his fitness to coach this team. He seems to totally obsessed with the mental side of things, to the virtual exclusion of the technical aspect of cricket. The following article is a monument to this:
http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,16470533-5000061,00.html
Here, he blames England's dominance over Australia's batsmen as being a 'mental thing'. Of course... it's not Flintoff's ability to come around the wicket, angle it in, and then swing it away - it's Australia's mental approach! Likewise...it's not Simon Jones' unmatchable ability to reverse swing the ball on a perfect length - it's Australia's mental approach! .
Rather than work on ways - in the nets - to combat this type of bowling, Buchanan just says: "It's not technical, it's not physical...we just need to win some of these mental battles". Seriously, this guy has lost the plot.
As Robert Craddock outlined so eloquently in the paper today, Australia needs a coach that is prepared to do the hard yards and address Australia's actual technical problems - our no-balls; our catching (which the players admit that they don't work on as much as they used to); our inability to swing the ball; our inability to play reverse swing. We don't need a coach who is off with the fairies, and who is writing everything off as some sort of psychological battle.
Concentrating on psychology and fancy theories was fine when we had a gifted team at the top of their game, but right now we need a coach who is willing to admit our technical problems and work on them. If he doesn't have this ability, then bring in specialists who do. And what's Buchanan's response to bringing in specialist coaches? He says "It's a misdirection to continue to look outside for help. The best form of help is to get things right yourself."
Clearly, on the evidence, with our catching, no-balls, not swinging the ball; and our inability to play reverse swing, the players have not - against good opposition - been able to "get things right ourselves". But no, Buchanan seems more concerned with showing everyone that he knows fancy theories like "self management" than getting in the nets and addressing the glaring technical problems that have been exposed this series. It just concerns me the effect he is having on this team, in such a big series - not telling the players to work on obvious technical flaws, but rather writing it all off as a mental battle. That he is misdirecting the players, is of serious concern in such a big, closely fought series.
Either he adapts his coaching style to take account of the fact that we are no longer the all-conquering team we once were, or he stands aside for someone who will.
Rant over
http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,16470533-5000061,00.html
Here, he blames England's dominance over Australia's batsmen as being a 'mental thing'. Of course... it's not Flintoff's ability to come around the wicket, angle it in, and then swing it away - it's Australia's mental approach! Likewise...it's not Simon Jones' unmatchable ability to reverse swing the ball on a perfect length - it's Australia's mental approach! .
Rather than work on ways - in the nets - to combat this type of bowling, Buchanan just says: "It's not technical, it's not physical...we just need to win some of these mental battles". Seriously, this guy has lost the plot.
As Robert Craddock outlined so eloquently in the paper today, Australia needs a coach that is prepared to do the hard yards and address Australia's actual technical problems - our no-balls; our catching (which the players admit that they don't work on as much as they used to); our inability to swing the ball; our inability to play reverse swing. We don't need a coach who is off with the fairies, and who is writing everything off as some sort of psychological battle.
Concentrating on psychology and fancy theories was fine when we had a gifted team at the top of their game, but right now we need a coach who is willing to admit our technical problems and work on them. If he doesn't have this ability, then bring in specialists who do. And what's Buchanan's response to bringing in specialist coaches? He says "It's a misdirection to continue to look outside for help. The best form of help is to get things right yourself."
Clearly, on the evidence, with our catching, no-balls, not swinging the ball; and our inability to play reverse swing, the players have not - against good opposition - been able to "get things right ourselves". But no, Buchanan seems more concerned with showing everyone that he knows fancy theories like "self management" than getting in the nets and addressing the glaring technical problems that have been exposed this series. It just concerns me the effect he is having on this team, in such a big series - not telling the players to work on obvious technical flaws, but rather writing it all off as a mental battle. That he is misdirecting the players, is of serious concern in such a big, closely fought series.
Either he adapts his coaching style to take account of the fact that we are no longer the all-conquering team we once were, or he stands aside for someone who will.
Rant over
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