Buchanan: Domestic cricket systems favor Australia
Posted: Wednesday October 21, 1998 04:40 PM
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) -- If Australia's forthcoming Ashes series against England were to be decided on the strengths of the two countries' domestic competitions the outcome would be simple for leading local coach John Buchanan.
It would be a knockout to Australia.
Buchanan, the current coach of the Queensland state side in Australia's Sheffield Shield competition, spent time in England this year coaching the Middlesex county side.
He departed agreeing with the widely-held view that Australia's domestic competition is far stronger.
"The quality of player and quality of the competition [in Australia] is consistently higher," said Buchanan, 45, who has coached the Queensland team to two Sheffield Shield titles in his five years as state coach.
He says there is too much domestic cricket in England, putting a strain on the ability of both the counties and players to prepare properly and perform consistently at their best.
"What I'm saying is not new," he said. "But there is too much cricket being played in England, it reduces the standard of cricket that is being played across the country."
He said from his observations, Australian players took part in significantly fewer domestic matches, allowing more time for preparation.
"Here in Australia we are able to recover from a game both mentally, physically and technically and then prepare for the next game, so that both teams enter it as well prepared as they can be," he said.
"In Australia you have two teams that are very professionally prepared for their cricket and therefore the player is at his best and the team is.
"In England you just don't have that preparation to improve the standard.
"The only way you can produce high quality players and that is what national selectors look for in the test and one-day arenas, is if you've got quality games all the time.
"The gap between the county and test level is huge."
Buchanan said wickets in England generally favored one aspect of the game in a match and that hurt the development of players' skills.
"At the end of the day that is detracting from the standard of the game," he said. "It doesn't allow a player or the game itself to expose all facets of playing."
But Buchanan believes all is not lost for England in the forthcoming Ashes series in Australia.
"What is important is that they get through the first two tests relatively unscathed, so they can build up the momentum," he said.
"Then, quite possibly, they can compete right to the end of the series.
"But at the moment from what I've read they may be tending to focus on the likes of [Shane] Warne and, really, what they need to do for the first two tests is be concerned about the facing the Australian pace bowlers.
"Potentially, it can be [a good series]. But they have to get themselves into a winning frame of mind early on.
"I think they are a much tighter unit than what they have been, but nowhere near as tight as the Australian side."
England arrives in Australia on October 23. The first test is in Brisbane from November 20-24.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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