The ‘reality check’ after their embarassing loss against South Africa boosted Australia to prepare harder in ‘tough’ Dubai conditions before their tour of India, says vice-captain David Warner
Melinda Farrell01-Mar-2017A humiliating defeat at home. Fans in the stadium silenced by the sheer scale of the drubbing. A prime-time television audience unable to believe what unfolded on the screens in front of them. Players slammed for their inability to adapt and for their lack of resilience.Yes, it was a difficult match for Australia.The second Test against South Africa in Hobart was the nadir of a horrible run for the Australian team. In hindsight, it sparked a revival. To tweak the words of a former Australian treasurer furiously trying to put a positive spin on the recession: It was the defeat Australia had to have.While India’s situation is vastly different – they went into the first Test on the back of an outstanding run of results – the pain of suffering such a huge loss in the public scrutiny of a home fishbowl is something the teams share. Australia haven’t lost a Test since Hobart. They know how such a loss can galvanise a team.”I think it takes a loss like that at home sometimes to really get guys going,” David Warner said. “It’s not that we needed that, it’s just the fact it’s a bit of a reality check really that you can [have] one bad session or one bad Test, it can be taken away from you even on home soil.”For us it was obviously poor cricket in general. We didn’t adapt to the conditions and that’s one thing we’ve done very well here. We’ve had the preparation in Dubai which has been fantastic and we’re grateful for that opportunity and it’s really put us in a really good position coming here to India.”As the old “Six Ps” management mantra goes, Prior Preparation Prevents Piss-Poor Performance. And if Australia’s performance in the first Test is anything to judge by, there may be more camps in Dubai ahead of Asian tours, something Warner would be happy to see.”Having that week in Dubai, and having freshened up as well after our summer was fantastic for me and my preparation,” Warner said. “And I know the guys that went to Dubai early, they were all talking about how good it was to prepare over there and get their mind set and get the miles in the legs to come here.”We’re truly grateful for that opportunity. Sometimes when you come here to these countries, in these conditions you probably don’t have as much preparation because as a player sometimes when you’re in this heat you fatigue quite fast. And the next day, when you’re not used to it, you can’t back up.”So being in Dubai with the temperature at 24, 25 degrees the guys could back up day in, day out. We were fortunate for that, and the boys are prepared and have prepared well.”The conditions in Bangalore are vastly different to those that greeted both sides in Pune. Three days out from the match, the square at M Chinnaswamy Stadium was barely distinguishable from the lush outfield, watered liberally and treated with fertilizer. Where the MCA pitch, rated “poor” by match referee Chris Broad, looked ready to crumble ahead of the first Test, the Bangalore pitch had a distinctly green tinge.”A lot of the guys had their plan A but before you got out there – you had to use plan C and D”•AFPThose factors – in addition to the traditionally fast outfield and smaller boundaries – should suit Warner. His returns of 38 and 10 in Pune were modest by his high standards and his approach measured and restrained, particularly in the first innings.”Having looked at the wicket [in Pune], it was probably going to be a wicket where you couldn’t really play your shots,” said Warner. “You were going to have to sweep off length, not just off line. So for me it was about playing with soft hands and figuring out where am I going to get the ones to rotate strike and the boundaries will hopefully come by me putting pressure on their bowlers with my defence.”There’s a couple of instances where I was a little bit in my mind thinking, ‘I can play a big shot’. But I sort of reined it in and talked to myself that it’s good with Matt [Renshaw] out there, to talk to him about how I thought they were going to get us out and we sort of controlled ourselves together. And when we saw the opportunity to try and pounce on one or two loose balls, we did that and you saw Matt play with [Ravindra] Jadeja bowling into him, and took him down over long-on because you saw the field was up. They’re the little moments we are thinking about when we’re out there.”The thing that we reiterate to ourselves is that we played very good cricket on a wicket that was very hard, and conducive to spin, and you had to think outside the box.”A lot of the guys had their plan A but before you got out there – you had to use plan C and D.”Warner was particularly impressed by the performance of his new opening partner and his adaptability, especially considering the bouts of illness he suffered throughout the match. ‘The Reverand’ had some advice for the touring novice on nutrition, too.”I actually gave him a bit of a tip the other day about taking some tablets, like gastrohealth and stuff to get those probiotics into you and make sure you have your Yakult in the morning to make sure you line your stomach a little bit, because if you have the odd hot chilli it can definitely go through you.”
