JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
Chris Lynn states that rugby coach's lessons helped turned Australia's World Cup 2019 campaign around
Australia were not in the fray to qualify for the semis till a year ago, after a torrid time in the format. They were losing regular games and were affected by the bans to Smith and Warner, but Lynn credits their turnaround to rugby coach Kevin Walters
Australia big-hitter Chris Lynn believes that Queensland rugby coach Kevin Walters' coaching method and his lessons has majorly helped in the turnaround of Australia in the ODI format in the last twelve months. Not in the squad for the World Cup 2019, Lynn, who is commentating for the edition, stated that the team, who were in a ditch till a year ago, have worked hard to reverse their fortunes. They became the first team to qualify for the semis.
“We sat down and had a meeting and tried to explain what’s the outside noise, what’s going to affect us on game day, and we wrote it all down,” he said.
“Whether it might be journos, crowd, social media, whatever it may be, we just said ‘if we can cross all these things out on game day, let’s focus on knowing ourselves’. It’s like what Kevvie Walters is doing with the Queensland team at the moment. It’s ‘let’s focus on us, don’t worry about the opposition, the rest will take care of itself’.
“What that’s done really well is they’ve been able to focus on themselves and the opposition because they worked out the Pommy batsmen the other night with the left armers and the planning is absolutely spot on. It means they can go out there with a clear mind and just try to execute to the best of their ability.
“What I’m really liking about Aaron Finch is when he gets asked a question that’s a little controversial, he gives really short answers and just moves on because he knows his job isn’t to talk to commentators like a commentator, it’s to go out and score runs and win games of cricket for Australia.”
He also stated that Ricky Ponting's calming presence in the dressiong room has played a massive part in the team's success after a torrid 18 months, where they were losing regular games and had been jolted by the bans to Steven Smith and David Warner.
“I honestly believe the key to Australia winning the World Cup is Ricky Ponting,” Lynn said. “He’ll just keep that composure for (head coach) Justin Langer. He’s the number one most respected guy in Australian cricket, so for Ricky to be in that camp is a huge boost, not only for the players but the coaching staff as well.”
Australia will play their last league game on Saturday against South Africa.
