Richie Benaud is still the captain of the commentary team, the controversial rotation policy should be re-visited this summer and Australias batting is a worry but they can still win the World Cup.They were just some of spin king Shane Warnes thoughts as Channel Nine launched a massive summer of cricket at the SCG on Monday. The legendary Benaud was the star attraction as he posed for a photograph with the entire commentary team on the SCG outfield before heading upstairs to a formal luncheon to reveal he is battling skin cancer. Benaud understandably did not face the media pack but Warne waxed lyrical for several minutes about his good friend and mentor as well as all things cricket. Richie is still the man Richies been fantastic ever since I started playing international cricket. Its been a long time, Ive probably known Richie for nearly 30 years. He taught me a lot with my leg-spin bowling, we always had a good chat. Id ring him and say, what do you see Rich? and wed have a good chat about leg-spin bowling, so that was always nice. Hes just one of the great men Richie, its fantastic to see him here and hes still the captain of the team and whatever Richie says goes. Theres not enough wonderful things we can say about Richie, hes just a wonderful man and what hes done for cricket ... hes the man, simple as that. Rotation is not a dirty word this summer I mean you want everyone to be playing every game they can for Australia and the best team every time, but the selectors and Michael Clarke have to be a little bit careful and also look ahead to the World Cup. Its a big summer (and you have to) keep everyone fresh but everyone also wants to play every game too, so its a balancing act and Im sure theyll get it right. In February when the World Cup starts if Mitchell Johnson and Michael Clarke are out injured then Australia lose. Its a very hard (schedule) and I think injuries and whos fully fit at the time will play a huge part, so Im sure youll see a bit of rotation through the one-dayers once we get into it. Australia can be ODI kings once again Michael Clarkes side start the summer ranked number two in one-dayers behind South Africa but Warney is bullish about Australias chances of winning the World Cup. The tournament will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand in February-March. I think they can win the World Cup, if they pick the right team I think they can really win the World Cup, he said. Theyve got enough match winners and the best captain in the world in Michael Clarke and Im sure hell find some form straight away. I think hes in pretty good touch and I think hes cleaned up his mind a little bit and I think hell be pretty good. Aussie batsmen need to step up I think theres a lot of spinners and a lot of quicks, my concern is the batsmen. We need the batters making runs. I thought collectively as a group they didnt bat very well against Pakistan, they played pretty poorly so Id like to see the batsmen making some runs - if they do that Im sure the bowlers will be able to knock the opposition over. The Warney hotline is always open The great man travelled to South Africa with the team recently and there has been talk of getting Warne on board in an official capacity. He says he probably has too much on his plate to enter a formal arrangement but encouraged players to call him anytime for advice. And we all know Warney does his best work on the phone! I do a lot of sessions with a lot of the young players, myself and Michael Clarke speak all the time but theres a lot of players I do a lot of things for, he said. Its not official but I just speak on the phone or have a session with them. Im available to help whenever I can. Obviously with myself Im working for three different TV networks for cricket, Ive got poker commitments, Ive got my children, Ive got my foundation and Ive got sponsor stuff too. So juggling all that is very important and its what I like to do too so Im sure well find the time to do that and when they need me Im available.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 22:00:04 +0000
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