Secret weapon in bid to end spin woe

Australia have called on a secret weapon to help end their spin woes on next month's tour of Bangladesh, enlisting the services of former India allrounder Sridharan Sriram as a coaching consultant.

Sriram, who currently coaches in the Indian Premier League, shared his subcontinent expertise during Australia A’s tour of India in July and August and will be used again for next month’s two-match Qantas Test tour of Bangladesh.

His expertise will be a powerful tool for Australia’s new-look Test squad, which boasts just 207 Test caps between them – none of which have come in Bangladesh – and only four players who have ever played on Bangladesh soil in any format.

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“Working with the Australian Test team is a great honour,” Sriram, who is assistant coach to Gary Kirsten at IPL team Delhi Daredevils, told cricket.com.au. 

“I’ve played international cricket for India and I’m looking forward to sharing my experience and knowledge of subcontinental conditions with the squad.

“The Australian cricket team talks about ‘one-percenters’ and my role will be to contribute that one percent to help the team adapt to the conditions and opponents quickly, which can ultimately influence the outcome of the game.

“In the long run, I see myself as someone who can help the Australian batsmen become better players of spin bowling and also help spinners understand the psyche and technique of different batsmen and adapt to different conditions.”

Sriram played eight one-day internationals for India between 2000 and 2004 while he scored more than 9500 runs across a 20-year first-class career at an average of 53. He has been coaching in India, England and New Zealand since 2008.

Several members of the Test squad have already flourished after working with Sriram during the Australia A tour of India.

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That series saw batsmen Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja prosper on the subcontinent wickets, with Bancroft scoring 150 in the second four-day match in Chennai, while Burns and Khawaja both starred in the one-day triangular series.

Their performances played a major role in Australia A’s successful tour, which saw them draw the first four-day game, win the second, and advance unbeaten through the one-day series before falling to India A in the final.

“Pleasingly, quite a few boys from that tour have been included in the Test squad,” Sriram said.

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NSW spinner Steve O’Keefe and Tasmanian quick Andrew Fekete have also been called into the Test squad following that Australia A tour.

“My time with the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL has also given me the pleasure of working with Marcus Stoinis, Travis Head, Gurinder Sandhu and Nathan Coulter Nile,” Sriram said. 

“The thing that impressed me most was their willingness to be open to new ideas and their desire to learn and succeed not only as individuals but as a team in different conditions.

“It was a great learning experience for me to work with the Australia A boys. The beauty of coaching in this game is being able to share one’s knowledge and, at the same time, learn from different cricketing cultures and backgrounds.”

Watch: Burns and Khawaja star in Chennai

Speaking after his 150 in Chennai, Western Australia opener Bancroft pointed to Sriram’s expertise as a contributing factor to his impressive performance.

“He's been awesome, just to get comfortable playing in defence and being able to be comfortable with the ball spinning past the bat,” Bancroft said.

“I've been working really hard on being able to sweep and things like that. It's been good to be able to be comfortable and back myself to sweep.

“You get lots of ideas from coaches and apply them to yourself and see what works.”

Sriram's enlistment is the latest move by Cricket Australia in its quest to conquer the mysteries of spin bowling.  

Earlier this year, CA unveiled a subcontinental-style, hybrid spin pitch at the Bupa National Cricket Centre in Brisbane, which aims to replicate the spin-friendly conditions seen in countries including India and Bangladesh.