Young returns to Aussie fielding role

Australia's squad for the Carlton Mid ODI Tri-Series and ICC Cricket World Cup will be boosted by the return of American fielding guru Mike Young.

With fielding consultant Greg Blewett in Adelaide for the birth of his child, Young will link with the side after the 15-man squad for the Tri Series and World Cup is announced in Sydney tomorrow.

Blewett will then return during the Tri-Series and work with Young for the rest of the summer.

A Cricket Australia spokesperson said the decision to bring Young into the squad was made months ago due to the impending birth of Blewett's child and is not linked to Australia's fielding performance during this Commonwealth Bank Test Series.

Blewett, a former state and national teammate of Bupa Support Team Head Coach Darren Lehmann, was unveiled as Australia’s fielding consultant in August.

Initially appointed for the tours of Zimbabwe and the United Arab Emirates, he has remained with the squad for the current series against India.

Blewett's appointment last year came after Young, who has worked intermittently with the Aussies for 15 years, returned to the United States following the tour of South Africa in February and March.

Australia have put down more than a few chances during the current series against India, the most costly of which came during the third Test in Melbourne, when Lehmann described his team's fielding as "shoddy at best".

While the Aussies have taken some spectacular catches this summer – most recently Steve Smith's diving effort to remove Rohit Sharma at the SCG – Channel Nine today reported that they had missed 17 chances or half chances over the course of the series.

Speaking after the third Test, Lehmann said the missed chances were a confidence issue and had nothing to do with their training methods.  

“(Blewett) has done a really good job,” he said.

“Michael (Clarke) said it really well on TV the other day; he's worked the boys as hard as he's seen anyone work them before.

“We've done a lot of work and I can't complain about the work ethic from the lads.

"So the volume and all that isn't an issue, it's actually the confidence of the players in having the ability to take those chances.

"We missed a couple of run outs that we probably should have taken as well.

"I've been really pleased with the work ethic.

"We made a conscious effort in the UAE and then after that series that we had to work harder on it and they've been excellent with it.

"They're catching brilliantly in practice so it's probably just more confidence."

Lehmann again backed his side's work ethic when quizzed about their fielding during the Sydney Test this week.

"It’s not a skill level or concentration or any of those issues," he said on Thursday. “Maybe it’s case of them having the confidence to take the ball.

Young, a former minor league baseball player and coach, first became involved in cricket in 1999 when he was invited to join a Queensland training session by then Bulls coach John Buchanan.

When Buchanan was elevated to the Australia coaching job, Young was brought on board and was credited with a sharp increase in Australia's fielding standards up until 2005, when his contract wasn't renewed.

When Australia's fielding slipped during their 2005 Ashes loss, Young was again called on by Buchanan.

He was involved in Australia's World Cup wins in 2003 and 2007 and their Ashes whitewashes in 2006-07 and 2013-14, and has also worked as a consultant with teams in India, England, South Africa and New Zealand.

This summer will be Young's third separate stint with the side in less than two years.

He was brought in by Lehmann as a fielding consultant for the home Ashes series and the tour of South Africa last summer and had previously been used by Lehmann's predecessor Mickey Arthur ahead of the 2013 Champions Trophy in the UK.

Lehmann implemented a re-structuring of Australia's support staff in January last year, which favoured the use of specialist consultants rather than general assistant coaches.

The change included the departure of Steve Rixon, who had been employed as fielding, spin bowling and assistant coach at various times since 2011, and has seen specialists like Young, Blewett, Shane Warne and Muthiah Muralidaran brought in on a short-term basis.