Bevan volunteers for ODI coaching role

One-day legend Michael Bevan has used social media to put his hand up for a coaching role with Australia's current ODI team.

The Australians are currently 2-0 down in the five-match series in India, and have lost their past 10 away matches on the trot – their worst-ever away losing streak – with a visibly frustrated captain Steve Smith on Thursday calling out too many batting collapses from his side.

"It's happening a bit too often for my liking, to be honest with you, in all forms of cricket," Smith said. "We've had a lot of collapses and we need to stop.

"It's easy to just sit here and say 'it needs to stop', but when you get out in the middle you have to change what you're doing because it's not working.

"Watching the ball closer (could be a solution), or maybe the guys are trying to watch it too closely and forgetting about just playing the game.

"It's a hard one to put my finger on. But whatever it is, it needs to change and we need to make better decisions when we're under pressure and start playing the game properly.

"Because we're having too many collapses and it's not good enough."

On Saturday, Bevan sent out a tweet saying simply: "Would love to be considered for the role of ODI batting coach – where do I apply?"

The 47-year-old has been the club coach for Easts in Sydney Premier Cricket in recent times and his offer on social media immediately drew an endorsement from World Cup-winning captain Michael Clarke, who said it was "exactly what this team needs".

Bevan played 232 ODIs and his batting average of 53.58 is peerless among Australians, and among the top handful worldwide in the history of the format.

The left-hander is considered by many to be the greatest executor of a run chase ever to play the game, and he ended his career a two-time World Cup winner (1999 and 2003).

While the Australians have been widely criticised for their batting collapses in Test cricket, particularly against spin, it's a trend that has also crept into their one-day cricket away from home. They lost 6-63 on Thursday night, 8-109 in a rain-reduced chase in Chennai last Sunday, 8-118 in their Champions Trophy loss to England at Edgbaston in June, 6-67 against New Zealand at Eden Park in February, and 8-121 against South Africa in Port Elizabeth 12 months ago.

In a column with ESPNCricinfo in January 2015, Bevan provided an insight into his mind-set during a run chase.

"I found having small, achievable goals that I knew I could reach – such as a reasonable strike-rate for the first 30 balls, or setting targets per over – helped," he wrote.

"Rather than winning the match for my team, my ultimate goal was just to be there at the end, win, lose or draw.

"I never knew I could win the match but I knew I could be there at the end, and it's amazing how often you have an opportunity to win the match if you are there at the end."

Australia's Qantas Tour of India

Australia ODI squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.

Australia T20 squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Jason Behrendorff, Dan Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa.

India squad (first three ODIs): Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.

ODI Fixtures

September 17: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

September 21: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

September 24: Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore

September 28: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

October 1: VCA Stadium, Nagpur

T20 Fixtures

October 1: JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi

October 10: Barsapara Stadium, Guwahati

October 13: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad