Former Test great says a glut of limited over cricket before Test series could be counterproductive.
Micheal Hussey has expressed his concerns about the schedule the Australia team faces before they face England in the back-to-back Ashes series starting in November.
After being shown for the side many feared they would be in their 3-0 series loss on English soil, several top players faces a the Twenty20 Champions League in September before Australia play a seven-game one-day series against India.
And with just three weeks before the coloured uniforms are put away and the creams dug out again, Hussey said the lack of preparation could hurt Australia’s chances of gaining back the Ashes.
“The players definitely understand how different the conditions are and how challenging it is changing from the different conditions – from Australian to Indian, to South African, playing all around the world,” Hussey said.
“I’m sure there will be a small adjustment period when the boys return from India to get back into Australian conditions.
“Getting used to the quicker conditions, more bounce, the bowlers will have to change their lengths a little bit and the batsmen will have to adjust to the faster pitches in Australia.”
The truncated timetable will mean many of Australia’s top players will only have one, or possibly two, Sheffield Shield games to get used to the longer form of the game again.
This is in contrast with the Three Lions who leave a month before the first ball of the first Test and play a tour match 10 days after arriving in the country.
Hussey said the convoluted nature of cricket politics means that while player’s associations are working towards spreading the timetable out, it’s an uphill battle.
“We’re constantly talking to Cricket Australia and making the players opinions … putting them across as much as we can,” he said.
“Obviously there’s a lot of politics involved, and a lot of financial implications which need to be balanced out.
“The players have one voice, but obviously we’re not one-eyed that we think everything the players say should be done. We’re understanding that there’s a lot of other factors involved.”
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