Former Australia captain Allan Border stormed Australia A for his “lethargic” performance against India in the three-day game of the tour that ended in a draw. Border criticized the team for “not having a chance”, something that he suggested is unacceptable as Australian cricketers. “They gave up. The Australian cricket teams, you can bear to be beaten and we had some bad performances, I have been part of quite a few. But I don’t think you would ever accuse the Australian sides of not having a chance,” Border was quoted as saying. dailytelegraph.com.au after the second day of the tour.
“Just their attitude. I don’t blame them all, but there was general (lethargy),” he said.
“It’s one of the worst and (most) lethargic performances I have seen in the last session of any cricket,” said the former Australia captain.
“This is Australia A, they are representing Australia, they are young guys trying to break through. That field performance, bowling performance, captaincy performance – an absolute disgrace. Not up to par at all.”
After Australia A folded 108 in response to India’s 194 in the first inning, Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal scored half a century on Saturday, while Hanuma Vihari and Rishabh Pant reached excellent centuries when India declared 386/4.
Border also criticized Australia A captain Alex Carey.
“If Alex Carey is on the line of being an Australian captain, he has a lot of work to do for me,” Border said.
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“He’s dropped quite a few pegs. Alex Carey is a good cricketer, he has a bit of energy, but yesterday he should have reacted to the way the general feeling around the team was,” he added.
Australia A fought back hard in the fourth inning, with Ben McDermott and Jack Wildermuth scoring centuries unbeaten, leading the team to 307/4. Chasing 473, Australia A was in trouble at 25/3, but McDermott (107) and Alex Carey (58) stabilized the boat before Wildermuth arrived to hit a 111.
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