Aussies take fitness cues from India!

Charting a way to success

When the Australian blind cricket contingent walks onto the field, it is obvious that it would put some normal cricketers to shame.

Bulky and nimble at the same time, the super fit Australian line-up is dynamite when it comes to fielding as its players slip and slide around in anticipation of the jingling ball. Even though they lack some of the skills required to make it past teams like India and Pakistan in the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup for the Blind, they have shown that by staying fit, they stand a good chance of upsetting the giants.

Much like their conventional cricket team, blind cricketers have a set regime to subscribe to and the results are quite evident. But the state of blind cricket in Australia was not always the same.

After looking at how they lagged behind some of the teams from the sub-continent, Cricket Australia, realising that their only hope of any success in the format was to get fitter, roped in former men’s senior national hockey team physiotherapist Julie Michele Clay in 2006. Since then, Australian blind cricket has shown more promise than any other blind cricket team in the world.

The consistent Australians, who are pioneers of blind cricket, have also managed to captivate audiences with their prowess on the field in the inaugural edition of the event.

“When I joined in 2006, the concept of fitness was almost non existant but now they are all showing remarkable prog­ress,” said Head Sports Therapist Julie, who operates with assistant Andrea Shaw.

“It is not so different to train them (blind cricketers). As Australia is a very big country, it is hard for us to get all the players together so we send out a schedule that they need to follow and they do that in their respective states and send us all the information on a weekly basis. We work on things like cardio, strength training, diet and of course cricket skills. As far as their diets are concerned, they keep a diary and then they keep us posted on it.”

When asked if it is hard to keep a tab on players as their routines are monitored loosely over the internet, Julie said: “There is no question of slacking off as they have a few players from their own state who are also working on the same schedule so they are all in line. Plus, these are international players so they normally follow things very seriously.”

India and Pakistan possess some of the most athletic and skilled players on the field and that has provided them an edge over the rest. However, teams like Australia and South Africa are not too far behind, and that is something that will bother the giants.

“We had the motivation when we saw teams like India and Pakistan play. We knew we had some catching up to do but at the end of the day we realised that the fittest teams stand the test,” said the physio.