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| June 18, 2005 | Saturday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 10, 1426 |
Kasprowicz hopes pacers to raise performance
CARDIFF, June 17: Michael Kasprowicz has backed Australia’s under-fire pace attack to raise their game during this weekend’s triangular series one-day matches against Bangladesh and England.
On Monday, Australia were beaten by 100 runs in their Twenty20 international against England.
Ricky Ponting laughed that defeat off but the Australia captain was furious after seeing his bowlers fail to defend a 50-overs total of 342 for five in Wednesday’s four-wicket defeat against Somerset at Taunton.
Kasprowicz’s none for 89 off eight overs were the worst set of bowling figures in an undistinguished list and after the Taunton game Ponting, who played briefly for Somerset last season, spoke of his “anger and embarrassment”, even suggesting Australia might struggle against Bangladesh.
Given the Asian minnows suffered a 10-wicket thrashing against England in Thursday’s series opener at The Oval, anything other than an Australia win, bar bad weather, on Saturday remains the longest of long shots.
In the meantime Kasprowicz was absorbing Ponting’s criticism of his attack’s inability to adapt as they came under a sustained assault from South Africa captain Graeme Smith and Sri Lanka star Sanath Jayasuriya, Somerset’s overseas openers, who both made hundreds.
However the 33-year-old Queenslander, who knows all about the ups and downs of international cricket having been in and out of the Australia side over the course of the last decade, laconically said the team’s self-belief would hold for the moment despite back-to-back defeats.
“We should be okay until around the end of September. That is when I suppose it could start hurting a bit, but I do not expect that to be the case.”
But, on a more serious note, he added: “Taunton does not look good on paper. But sitting down and talking with the bowling group, our guys are feeling that they are improving every time they bowl here.
“We need to be getting things right as soon as possible. We have to play well. There is no doubt about that, and it is something we are guaranteed to see. It is early in the tour, and we just need to organise ourselves a bit better.”
In contrast to the quick pitch at Taunton, wickets in Cardiff traditionally offer slow and low surfaces. But whatever the state of the cut strip, Kasprowicz said Australia’s attack were well aware of the need to be able to react to aggressive batting.
“We know in one-day cricket one of the keys of successful bowling is being able to adjust to what is happening, and that is something we did not do well against Somerset.
“If the batsmen come out and play the same way tomorrow we will just have to adjust better. We know what to do and the areas where we have not quite fired yet - and we hope to rectify it.”
Australia have won the last eight Ashes series and, until a six-wicket reverse in September’s Champions Trophy semifinal at Edgbaston, had beaten England in 14 successive one-day internationals.—AFP
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