The Psychological warfare before the Ashes
The Ashes is just around the corner and everyone who is a fan or a critic is starting to comment on the players, its outcome, and conditions et cetera. It must be said that the hype that Ashes creates no other series has been able to create it for a long
time. Even the famous Pakistan-India series failed to create the hype similar to Ashes. Initially, the Pakistan-India series used to have a lot of hype among its fans but due to the strained relations between the two countries it failed to grasp the same interest
and gossip among its fans. Even the players were not that excited to play against their arch rivals; they treated it as just another series. But one must give credit to the Ashes series because even after a century it is still as popular as it used to be.
Players are still very interested and don’t pass up any opportunity of commenting on each other's performance. One possible reason might be the fact that players have faced each other quite often and have witnessed their performance quite a lot. They also
understand each other's weaknesses and it does give them something to comment on.
Ashes series will begin with the first match in Gabba on Novemeber 25, 2010. Criticism started many months ago as players and ex-players both are highlighting the positive and negative aspects of the opposition. They are also pointing out their favorites
of the tournament and discussing how a certain team has a certain capability that would give it an edge over the others. But overall this warfare cannot be taken lightly and does have a huge impact on the players if not on the outcome of the series.
Its not just the experts from Pieterson to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 who are commenting on the Ashes series, the younger lot is also actively taking part in the heated discussion. The latest individual to come forward is Stuart Broad. Broad believes that a decent Australian
side would not be able to hold for too long against the English bowling. Broad's comments were just few of the many comments that are circulating in both English and Aussie cricketing circles regarding Ashes. He is quite confident of this as the English side
has been able to win major matches for last 18 months.
According to Stuart Broad, the controversies that surrounded the spot fixing labeled series with Pakistan has shown that the English cricketers are strong enough to focus on the game even when off field issues are the prime source of discussion. Broad shared
that he was only few months old when England won the Ashes in Australia in 1986 and he thinks it is the high time to repeat this feat. How much his predictions are true, only time will tell.
Shane Watson also commented on England’s bowling line-up saying that apart from Broad both Anderson and Finn would find it difficult to bowl in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746. Watson was of this view that Broad can adapt to flatter and harder surfaces and has the height to make
most of the bounce but he is not so sure about the other two. This comment shows that Watson wants to create a certain image of the bowlers in the mind of Aussies, and more importantly in the bowlers mind about their suspected weaknesses. It also compels the
bowlers that the opposition has certain opinion about them and they would be handling them in a particular way. In case of Anderson, Watson's comments might have been just a casual remark or an indicator that he has to bowl according to a new method. Whatever
the outcome may be of such comments, one thing is for sure: Players do become uncomfortable and do think twice over such comments. Anderson did bowl some good spells in the recent past and Finn has been exceptional since he made his debut. He further said
that Australia is a very challenging place to bowl compared to England where bowl swings all day long. Regarding Anderson he was of the view that he is effective when bowl is swinging but when it stops swinging it becomes easier to bat against him.
Anderson took only five wickets at an average of 82.6 in the last Ashes series. Again http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 was quick in highlighting his under-achievement by saying that he would still have scars of his previous tour and would be trying ways to be more effective.
Regarding Finn, who has managed to take 32 wickets in his eight Test series, he said that the Ashes series would be something very new to him and would be a big challenge for him. These are just tactics before a war and one wonders how much these two sides
are in process of derailing the other to win an event that they cherish the most.
More than a week ago, John Buchanan who coached the Australian team, called Pieterson a weak link in their line-up and would be under pressure to perform. Many people came to Pieterson’s defense like their coach Andy Flower who defended Pieterson and said
that he has the ability to come good in big series. Andrew Strauss also defended Pieterson by saying that Pieterson has the ability to perform at the top level. Later Pieterson fired back at him by calling him a “nobody”.
Pieterson reactions reflect that he did pay some heed to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 this summer, but a person who is not performing
well does come under a lot of pressure when faced with such criticism.
The Australian team have this habit of coming strong and united against a weak link on the opposition side and in case of Pieterson they did just that. Ponting also made some comments regarding Pieterson’s current form.
Whatever may be the outcome of Ashes series one thing is for sure: both teams will leave no stone unturned in exploiting the weaknesses of the other team. More than any other teams these two arch rivals seem to exploit the every bit of weakness of their
opponent. Both teams are also cautious in this regard that they don’t end up damaging their own interests. When Ponting was criticized by Shane Warne of not placing the fielders in the right place in the last Test match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 he was cut to the quick
by saying that he and Ponting are close friends and it was just a practical advice. He did not want to criticize him before the Ashes.
The impact of these Psychological attacks does create an impact especially if a player is not performing well, it can affect his performance to a great level.
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