Healy outlines keys to long-term success

Test great Ian Healy says a good old-fashioned flogging is just what Steve Smith and his embattled men need if they are to put up a fight to South Africa in Adelaide.

Healy likens the current Test team to the one that underwent a similar transition in the mid-1980s when coach Bob Simpson and captain Allan Border relentlessly hammered the Australian team on the training paddock to prepare them for the rigours of Test cricket.

Under the watch of Border and Simpson, who had a sharp eye for technical deficiencies and drove his charges tirelessly on the track, Australia won the 1987 World Cup, the Ashes in England two years later and unearthed some of greatest players to wear the Baggy Green, like Healy, Steve Waugh and Mark Taylor.

And it all started with their preparation.

"The team was flogged every day," Healy told cricket.com.au. "Catching practice, fielding drills, team stuff all the time. Batting techniques talked about. Time spent together. Don't take any time away from the game.

"These (current) guys will be extremely tired even though they haven't played much cricket, they'll be feeling so tired because it's just stress and pressure.

"They've got to deal with that. There's a psychologist there, there's coaches for coaches.

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"They've got to flog them and really get some confidence into them that when they enter a cricket game they feel like they're ready for it.

"That's how you should prepare for a contest.

"You train so that the contest feels easier and that's not old school, that's sense.

"There's the problem right there. If they've gone that way and they're not developing skills through hard work, that's the problem."

Australia surrendered the Commonwealth Bank Test Series to South Africa yesterday after losing 10-85 and 8-32 in their innings-and-80-run defeat in Hobart.

Bupa Support Team Head Coach Darren Lehmann forecast change following the "humiliating" loss, with batsmen Joe Burns, Adam Voges, Callum Ferguson and wicketkeeper Peter Nevill all under heavy scrutiny after combining for 16 runs between them in the second Test.

Healy says the new faces coming in not only need to be talented but have the temperament to withstand the pressure cooker of Test cricket and enjoy each moment in the Baggy Green.

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"There's not a whole lot of experience in this team and that's like the mid-80s," Healy said.

"Eventually they picked people with temperament, like a young Steve Waugh and a Mark Taylor, myself, Dean Jones, Geoff Marsh and David Boon, who was a long-time performer for Tasmania, to get up there and be around the age of Allan Border.

"It's that temperament that's required now to fight hard, to not fall in a heap because of this but to drag a few out with you to have some fun.

"These next selections need to be (particular) types of people as well as performers.

"They really do have to look at a personality balance in that team to have a sense of humour on bad days and a sense of fun when it's going poorly or well, so that Steve Smith can just breathe and relax a little bit and not stress for everyone else as well as himself.

"Clarity of selection and support of the people you select is paramount now. I think they've got to give this team a chance to bounce back."

The upcoming Sheffield Shield round, which starts tomorrow in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth, will act as a final audition for Test hopefuls before the third Test squad gets announced on Sunday.

Lehmann has confirmed only four players – Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood – are certain starters for the day-night Test in Adelaide, meaning up to seven spots are up for grabs.

Healy is concerned by the "thin" first-class batting depth, but urged someone to stand up and lead the way, like Border, Taylor and Waugh before them.

"There's a concern we're losing eight, or 10 for 80 or 8 for 40 like we did (Tuesday) too often in the last five Tests," Healy said. "It's got to be confidence.

"We're not looking at the right things when we're batting.

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"We're not looking at the ball, looking at how to score and what's our job for the team because we're anxious and we're introverted and we've got really heavy in our personalities.

"Someone's got to crack them out of it, a player or a group of players have got to crack them out of it and have some fun and they're not going to get any worse.

"I don't know of any first-class cricketers putting their hands up. There's Peter Handscomb, there's Travis Head.

"There's some good young players but they're not performing very well for Queensland – Sammy Heazlett, Marnus Labuschagne.

"There's a few there but I don't think they're demanding selection."

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