The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Hayden lists problems on India tour

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Hayden lists problems on India tour

Blames over-rate trouble on external factors
It hurt to see Australia lose, says Symonds

Melbourne: Australian opener Matthew Hayden blamed his team’s sluggish over-rate in the lost Test series on the host batsmen’s reluctance to “face up” quickly enough and the constant movement around sightscreens.

“They (opposition batsmen) are very difficult to get to face up,” Hayden was quoted as saying by The Australian.

Hayden said sightscreen adjustments also played a part in delaying the proceedings as someone or the other kept moving around it.

Australia was nine overs or 40 minutes behind schedule on the penultimate day of the fourth and final Test, which forced its skipper Ricky Ponting to use part-time spinners instead of pacers at a crucial juncture.

Ponting, who could have been banned for a Test for the slow over-rate, came under severe criticism for his tactics. Hayden said over-rates have always been a problem for Australia.

“We’ve had trouble with our over-rates for a long time now. It’s not just us in international cricket that seems to struggle with it for whatever reason,” Hayden said.

Meanwhile, Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds has revealed how painful it was for him to see the mauling of his side by India in the Gavaskar-Border Trophy while he was sitting out for a ‘stupid’ mistake.

Symonds, who missed the India tour due to the ‘gone fishing’ episode, said he felt desperate to go into the middle whenever a wicket tumbled during the Australian innings.

“It did hurt, watching the boys go through what they went through in India, and there were a couple of times where I was sitting there and I wanted to be the next in to bat,” Symonds said.

“Hopefully, to be back will be a great feeling because it did hurt me deep down inside to be out of it for a while there,” he added. — PTI

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