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Martyn blames Buchanan

Melbourne: Former Australian batsman Damien Martyn has blamed ex-coach John Buchanan for the team’s failure to retain the 2005 Ashes, saying the team management made the mistake of considering it as just another series and not planning it right. “All comments by Warne and MacGill are right and you’d find that 99 per cent of the group from that era would agree. The management team didn’t plan right, we had a not-very-good, quick preparation in Brisbane and away we went,” Martyn said.

Poor preparation

Martyn, who joined Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill in slamming Buchanan, said Australia’s poor preparation was one of “a million behind-the-scenes reasons” for the series defeat.

“We got slack, everything clicked for them, they haven’t played that well since then and they won’t ever again. They built themselves up so much for the Ashes when the Ashes for us had dropped off because we’d won it so many times,” he told the Wisden Cricketer.

“For us it was conquering all things, World Cups, Champions Trophy, the subcontinent. The Ashes was just another series but for England it was their pinnacle and we just went under-prepared.”

Martyn also said Australia made a lot of mistakes on the tour, many of which would never come out in the open. — PTI

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