Cricket: India considering walking out on rain-soaked match
5:30 AM Tuesday Dec 20, 2011
India considered walking out on their rain-affected tour match in Canberra and heading straight to Melbourne before a ball was even bowled yesterday.
The Indian camp were said to be panicking in the morning, with rain threatening their final preparations before the four-test series against Australia starting on Boxing Day at the MCG.
Manuka Oval head curator Brad Van Dam was spoken to by liaison officials for the Indian team and told that their coach Duncan Fletcher was seriously contemplating getting his team on the first plane out of Canberra and abandoning their scheduled three-day game against a Chairman's XI side.
India feared rain was predicted for the majority of the week in the nation's capital and Fletcher requested an urgent meeting with Van Dam at the ground.
However, Van Dam said the situation had calmed by the time he talked with Fletcher, and the Indian coach was happy to trust the curator's judgment that rain would likely clear for today and tomorrow.
"A few people were just in panic stations ... obviously there was talk in the hotel or something," said Van Dam.
"They looked at the wrong forecast and put one and one together and got three."
Had the issue not died down and India did jump town, it wouldn't have pleased Cricket Australia.
They have incumbent test players David Warner, Usman Khawaja and Phil Hughes, as well as Boxing Day aspirants Ed Cowan and Doug Bollinger on deck for the Chairman's XI.
India are desperate for key players to get some much-needed match practice under their belts ahead of Melbourne, particularly experienced fast bowler Zaheer Khan who is making his return from an ankle injury.
Meanwhile, Australian veteran batsman Mike Hussey insists he's in a good frame of mind after doing his best to avoid recent criticism about his wavering test form. Hussey, who just three months ago cracked 463 runs at an average of 92.6 against Sri Lanka, is now battling to hold his test spot after posting just 83 runs at 11.86 in recent series against South Africa and New Zealand.
The 36-year-old's lean trot continued on Sunday night when he made a duck in Perth Scorchers' 31-run Twenty20 loss to Hobart Hurricanes.
But Hussey believed his lack of recent runs was more a case of bad luck rather than bad form and hopes to prove the doubters wrong in the series against India.
"I haven't really taken much notice of the external stuff at all to be honest," Hussey said of recent criticism.
"I pretty much just tried to get away from it for a week, or for a few days anyway.
"I still feel like I'm in a good frame of mind. I still feel like I'm hitting the ball well in the nets.
"But that's the way batting goes. You're going to get times when things go well ... and you've got to cash in ... and then there's times when things don't quite go your way and unfortunately the last few innings that's what it's been like for me." AAP
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