Coach's Blog: We need senior players like Roy

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Losing senior players is one of the toughest things that can happen to a team in any sport and for the Australian Cricket Team it’s no different. After going through a period which saw the retirement of some of the greatest players to wear a Baggy Green it’s not often you’re able to welcome one back! It’s fantastic to be able to do that this week with Andrew Symonds.

There’s no doubt the 24-hours leading into the first ODI against Bangladesh in Darwin was probably as tough it has been for me as a coach. In the evening which followed Andrew’s infamous fishing trip, the decision was made by the leadership group to remove him from the team until he found a way of fulfilling his obligations and sorting out what was important for himself as far as the team and Cricket Australia was concerned.

It’s never easy to pull anyone out of the team environment, but particularly someone as senior and important as Roy has been to this group over the past decade, not only as a key member of two World Cup winning teams, but also in the last couple of years as a vital member of our Test squad.

The critical thing I felt during this period was to ensure we treated everyone with consistency. There are levels of acceptable behaviour for all players - most importantly how they present themselves while playing cricket for Australia - and players have to remember they aren’t just representing their team-mates but also the entire country.

That’s all in the past now and having seen Roy back amongst the group during the Emirates All*Star match on Friday night and during our training camp this week, it has certainly been encouraging to see the smile back on his face. His enthusiasm for cricket and his commitment to our team really adds a lot to our group and having that back is a real plus.

I think Roy’s greatest attribute, apart from the fact that he is such a quality player, is that he is such a hard competitor. He just competes every ball, whether it’s an ODI, a Twenty20 or a Test Match, and he is 100% committed to doing his best and finding a way to contribute to the team’s cause.

He’s a natural fun-loving member of the team, he enjoys being part of a group of blokes and enjoys the up and down nature of our game. Most importantly has the ability to carry other guys along with him when times are tough. Those sorts of people are few and far between.

Currently, we’re going through a time in the Australian Cricket Team where things are changing, particularly our personnel. Over the last 12 to 24 months we’ve seen the likes of Warne, McGrath, Langer, Martyn, Gilchrist, MacGill and Hogg leave the team and we’ve had four debutants in our last two Test-series alone! With that there is a lot of inexperience and a lot of learning to be done.

We need to make sure our senior players are leading in all facets of the game - something I certainly ask of our senior group regularly - and how they present themselves in their preparation and in game really defines how they assist the younger players in their development, both on and off the field..

While it might be difficult losing the talent of senior players, it’s often more difficult replacing the intangibles they bring to the team as the onus then goes to the remaining guys to pick up the slack. In our group, we ask that senior players set the expectations, the work ethic and ‘mentality’ of the team, and the most important thing they can do is encourage and instil this in the next generation.

For us, when at his best, Roy really characterises what that team culture is about, and having him back in the group is really important to us as we tackle New Zealand and South Africa this Australian summer.

Australian Coach Tim Nielsen will be keeping a blog all summer long for cricket.com.au.

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