WHERE TO FROM HERE?

WHERE TO FROM HERE?

Learn how to leave
Quality swing bowling will undo batsmen all over the world, but there are ways to minimise the risk. Australia's top-order men need to learn how to leave the ball more often, as did Cook, Strauss and Kevin Pietersen during their big centuries. Feeling outside off stump when the ball is moving is a recipe for disaster. Justin Langer is the batting coach and he has much work to do.

Push Ponting down the order
Ricky Ponting has been ruled out of the Sydney Test, and now he has decisions to make. Does he play on for the next Test series or retire? If he plays on, does he give up the captaincy? Does he move down the order? For the sake of Australia's batting, that last question must be addressed if Ponting does intend to tour Sri Lanka in August. At 36, he is no longer the force he once was, but he would still be a worry for opposition teams if he strolled out to the crease at No. 5 or No. 6, when the ball is moving less. Usman Khawaja is a player of the future and could be groomed at No. 3, or one of the trio of openers - Shane Watson, Simon Katich or Phillip Hughes - could do the job in the short-term while a longer-term solution is found.

Trust Hauritz
Hauritz might not have been a matchwinner had he played in the Ashes, but he could have tied down an end while the fast men attacked at the other. His record of 63 Test wickets at 34.98 is solid, and a disappointing tour of India, where even Shane Warne struggled over the years, should not have been held against him. The selectors seem to have decided that they want someone who turns the ball away from the right-handers, but Doherty was not the answer, Smith is not ready as a Test bowler and Beer is unlikely to be the magic solution. Until a better slow man comes through the ranks of state cricket, Hauritz remains Australia's most sensible spin option.

Plan for pressure
Twice this year, Australia have been bowled out on the first day of a Test for under 100. The bowlers should prepare for the fact that such collapses might happen again, and if they do, it will be up to them to rescue the side. That means always bowling to their plans, choking the runs and forcing mistakes from the batsmen with prolonged dry periods. Keep the opposition to a lead of 100-150 and it's game on; let them get 300 in front and it's game over.

Ease the squeeze
Ponting has repeatedly said there was nothing that could be done about the schedule, which is locked in well in advance. But somebody, somewhere inside Cricket Australia makes these decisions, and having a Test and ODI tour of India, then one-dayers against Sri Lanka, followed by a rushed preparation for the Ashes, was a poor choice. In future, a big series like the Ashes needs to be treated with more respect, and that means focusing solely on that first Test at least a month in advance.