Sydney: Aiming to square the series against England, Australia coach Mickey Arthur has urged his players to invoke the spirit of six-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer in an effort to fight their way back.
The third match at Edgbaston on Wednesday was a complete washout, but the Australian remain intent on squaring the series in the final two matches at Chester-le-Street and Old Trafford.
Having lost the first two games at Lord’s and The Oval Arthur told his players in a team meeting they should follow the example of Federer, who lost the first two sets at the All England Club last week against Frenchman Julien Benneteau, before recovering to win 4-6, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 7-6 (6), 6-1.
Arthur said his charges needed to learn from what the champion Swiss player was able to accomplish on the grass courts of southwest London against Benneteau, a newspaper reports.
“Mickey spoke to us after the game (at the Oval) about how great players and teams respond to challenges using the example of Roger Federer``s recent five-setter at Wimbledon,” Australian batsman George Bailey said.
“He learnt about his opponent in the first two sets, discarded the fact he had not played as well as he would have liked and then proceeded to focus all his energy on dismantling him for the following three. A great game plan for us going forward,” he said.
Bailey also recounted the team meeting where batting coach and former Australian opener Justin Langer also acknowledged Federer``s stunning reversal of fortune was the blueprint for the remainder of this ODI series against England.
ANI
First Published: Friday, July 06, 2012, 13:04