
Strongly criticising Ricky Ponting’s team, former Australian captain Ian Chappell has said their priority should be to settle on the best combination for the World Cup matches.
“Thanks to a dangerous mixture of arrogance and stupidity during the Commonwealth Bank Series, Australia fiddled rather than found their best combination and then the coach incited the opposition by indulging in ridicule,” he was quoted as saying by The Herald Sun.
“Now they find themselves unsure of who are the best bowlers in the final overs and they are also struggling to unearth a spinner to take a wicket or two in the middle overs after the power plays.
“Australia are now not only a team searching for answers and confidence but are also a side whose aura has faded. This lack of an air of invincibility will be the
hardest thing to rediscover,” he said.
Simmons to coach Ireland
Dublin: Former West Indies Test player Phil Simmons will take over from South African Adrian Birrell as Ireland coach after the World Cup, the Irish Cricket Union (ICU) said. Simmons’s contract will be for a period of just over two years, up to the conclusion of the 2009 ICC Trophy, which is being held in the UAE. Simmons was coach of the Zimbabwe team back in 2004-05.


