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| October 11, 2005 | Tuesday | Ramzan 6, 1426 |
Smith defends World XI after ODI debacle
SYDNEY, Oct 10: South Africa’s Graeme Smith has dismissed media suggestions the ICC World XI players were not trying hard enough in their 3-0 series loss to Australia. The World XI were thrashed in each of the One-day Internationals against Australia in Melbourne in an ominous build up to this week’s six-day Super Test in Sydney.
“I look at it differently. You can’t just build a team overnight,” said Smith, who did not play in the one-dayers but will captain the Test side.
“There’s always a lot of questions about players’ commitment in these sorts of series and I think it is important that we can turn that around in this test match.”
Smith, the South African skipper, said he had no doubts his side could win the test match but the key was getting his players to perform.
“If we can get things right we have the players to go and do it,” he said.
“I think when you have so many world class players it’s important that everyone knows their roles.
“Jacques Kallis plays differently from Brian Lara and Rahul Dravid plays differently from (Virender) Sehwag so it’s important that we balance that and get the right structure.
“It would be stupid of me not to use the players around me. Communication is an important part of my captaincy so I will communicate with all the players.
“There are other players who are captains and it’s important for me to use them. But at the end of the day, I’m leading the team and it’s my job to round up all the information to make the best decision for the team.”
Australia have not lost a Test series at home since 1992-93 and Smith said they were a different proposition on their home turf to the side that recently lost the Ashes in England.
“You’re in Australia and you’ve got different balls and different conditions...so these are all different things you have to deal with you when you come here. It’s very difficult to win here.”
Meanwhile, World XI coach John Wright has launched a stinging attack on his players after their dismal performance in the one-day series.
The former New Zealand captain and India coach said the world selection had not shown enough commitment in the series.
“As far as I’m concerned, we’re just looking for a hell of a lot more commitment and determination than we saw, particularly in the last match,” Wright said.
“We’re professionals and we have to play with pride in our personal and team performance and that’s got to be happening in this test match, that’s what I’ll be demanding.
Australia won the matches by 93 runs, 55 runs and 156 runs with the world team failing to bat out their 50 overs on each occasion.
West Indian Brian Lara managed just five runs in the series, South African Jaques Kallis scored 21 and Englishman Kevin Pietersen 18 in two matches.
“The onus in this game has to be on the batters,” Wright said.
“People want to get out there and stay at the wicket and make big scores, that’s what we’re going to need.
“We’ve got the players to do it and that’s got to be the emphasis for the next few days.”
The World XI’s bowlers also suffered at the hands of a rampant Australia with England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff finishing the series with the unflattering figures of 1-153 off 21.2 overs and South African skipper Shaun Pollock taking 2-148.
Flintoff, player of the series in England’s Ashes victory over Australia, said the world side had let themselves down.
“When you get picked for the World XI you want to play well, we didn’t come here to embarrass ourselves or play poorly,” he said.
“If we want to beat Australia we’re going to have improve dramatically. I’m sure we can do but a few of us are going to have to come to the party.”
Flintoff said it had been hard for the world players to build team spirit in such a short time but he was confident they would perform better in the Test, which starts on Friday.
“Playing with a bunch of blokes you have played with for a long time and then coming into a dressing room with people you don’t necessarily know is going to be harder,” he said.
“The one-day game is so structured and you have your own roles back in your country. A few players had to play outside those roles, whereas in Test cricket you just go out there and play...so hopefully we will be a better Test side.”—Reuters
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