"We'll Manage Our Players On A Needs And Priority Basis" - Andrew McDonald
Updated - 10 Aug 2022, 04:50 PM
Australian head coach Andrew McDonald said that the management will be keen to handle the workload of the players well in order to avoid fatigue and burnout from playing all three formats.
Following Ben Stokes‘ retirement from ODIs and Trent Boult’s decision to give up NZC central contract, the debate on the feasibility of playing multi formats has gained traction. Speaking about the same, McDonald said it shouldn’t be a problem if handled well.
“You can’t be everything to everyone and we’ve said that from the get-go,” McDonald told SEN. “We’ll manage our players on a needs basis and a priority basis. I think it’s disappointing to see Ben Stokes retire. Could they have managed him through that? We feel as though we can manage our players through all three formats.”
“But that will mean missing the odd series here and there and we’ve got to be clear on what our priorities are and at the moment the priority for Pat is to get his body right for the summer, the World Cup and the Test matches, and being the captain as well we’ll probably err on the side of caution when it comes to big decisions,” he added.
“The game has accelerated in the last 10 years” – Andrew McDonald
McDonald said that Tests were threatened a while ago but it has stabilized now. Unfortunately, the focus has shifted to the ODI format, which has lost its relevance apart from the World Cup year.
“The short answer is, I don’t know [where we are headed],” McDonald said. “If you reflect on the last 10 years, did you think we’d be here in this situation? The answer is probably no.”
“The game has accelerated in the last 10 years, and what does it look like in the next 10 years? I’m not sure. What I will say is that Test cricket was under the pump 12 months ago and now one-day cricket is. Seems like we have three formats that are all trying to co-exist among a franchise-driven world,” he also added.
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Andrew Mcdonald Pat Cummins
