Australians need a break

Australia beat Scotland reasonably comfortably at Worcester, which was no surprise, but they failed to embarrass the minnows. In fact it ...

Australia beat Scotland reasonably comfortably at Worcester, which was no surprise, but they failed to embarrass the minnows. In fact it was the Australians who had the red faces after a fielding performance that belied their much-vaunted reputation.

Never mind the luck of the Irish, it was with their near neighbours Scotland who enjoyed the good fortune. The Australians were extremely generous in dropping three chances and delivering numerous wides and no-balls which added up to thirty nine extras. It was a sloppy performance from the equal favourites. In addition, there was a lot of mis-fielding and some wayward throwing, all of which aided the first time World Cup entrants. This delighted the pro-Scottish crowd, but it annoyed skipper Steve Waugh who had asked the tartans to bat first in the hope that he could claim the two points quickly and in comprehensive fashion.

There were many transgressors in the Australian bowling effort, but Glenn McGrath8217;s performance was the most uncharacteristic. McGrathis normally the most accurate of bowlers, but he was unable to control the white ball, perhaps confirming the theory that it does swing more than the red cherry.

All the quicker bowlers except Damien Fleming were guilty of inaccuracy and the best of the bowlers was Shane Warne. The leg-spinner is not experiencing any pain from his repaired shoulder and he had the ball curving nicely, although there is definitely a little less turn these days. Warne bowled well early after the early indiscretions and then he picked up two late wickets when the two most aggressive of the Scottish batsmen, Gavin Hamilton and James Brinkley were building a worthwhile partnership. The left and right handers weren8217;t overawed by reputation. They went for the bowling with gusto and helped to provide the underdogs with a respectable total.

The positive side effect from the Australian slackness in the field was that it resulted in some very useful batting practice from a decent chase. This they did successfully thanks to a patientMark Waugh and his ever-efficient brother Steve, but at no stage were the Scottish bowlers collared to a point of embarrassment. In fact the bowling effort of Scotland was commendable, right down to the field placings of skipper George Salmond. Not once did the captain spread the field in order to purely prolong the Australian innings and he was prepared to give his bowlers the chance to take wickets.

The two most impressive were Asim Butt and off-spinner Nick Dyer. The left-arm seamer challenged Adam Gilchrist and eventually brought about his downfall on the pull shot and the fact that Butt was prepared to test the left-hand opener on his favourite stroke, suggests his nickname could well be kick some8217;.

Dyer used flight to capture two prize wickets; firstly Darren Lehmann and then Mark Waugh caught and bowled. He typified the Scottish approach: go out there and attack and have some fun along the way. It wasn8217;t such an enjoyable day for the Australians who were made to fight hard. Steve Waugh showedfirst in the field and then with the bat that he was unimpressed by his team8217;s performance. When he took a brilliant catch to get rid of Iain Philip, he hurled the ball into the turf in a show of anger, then when he came to the crease with the score mounting slowly, he belted a few boundaries as if to say this is the way you do it8217;.

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Under this onslaught, the Scottish effort finally wilted. The Scots could at least say they bettered Australia in the field and if they play with that skill and enthusiasm against Bangladesh it will be a great battle for the two points.

Australia will be hoping they got a bad game out of the system when it was least likely to be costly, but coach Geoff Marsh was taking no chances and ordered an extra fielding session on the scheduled reserve day. Judging by the way Australia fielded in this game I think they need a break, rather than another hard training session, so that they are fresh for the more difficult challenges ahead.