There is a sense of anticipation around Australia’s upcoming Test tour of India. The series will be essential in determining the top two spots in the World Test Championship.
Notably, Australia have not won a Test series in India since 2004. Prior to that, they won a Test series on Indian soil way back in 1969.
Hence, many cricket pundits believe that the Pat Cummins-led Australian team should have played tour games leading up to the four-match Test series.
Speaking on the same subject, former Australia wicketkeeper Ian Healy said that the visitors are not playing a tour game because “we no longer trust" the facilities provided by the host nation.
“We’ve gathered our spinners in Sydney for strategic talks (on replica India surfaces) we no longer trust that the requested facilities will be provided for a nation," Healy said on SEN Radio on Monday (January 30).
“We’ve been part of this shenanigan too by the way when we’re over (in England) we spend our time whinging about weakened County teams that England put up as our opposition before the series."
Healy also expressed his displeasure over the trend of home boards serving different sets of wickets for tour games and actual matches.
“Our focus in cricket has shifted from creating opportunities and experiences for our best up and coming cricketers now we deny touring teams quality preparation before very highly anticipated series and I don’t like it.
“It’s disappointing to watch such dismantling of trust between cricket’s nations and it needs to stop," he stated.
Healy, however, endorsed the idea of a tour match midway through the Test series to give the touring party’s reserves some match practice.
“In India they’re (Australia) hoping everything will click and the squad freshens up with net practice our coaching staff are content with this and I’ll trust them for now. I would, however, like to see a tour match between the second and third Test in India I’d love to see a three-day game so that our seven reserves (in the 18-man squad) we’ve got over there can have a good hit out," he added.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 is slated to get underway on February 9 in Nagpur. Delhi will host the second Test from February 17 while Dharamshala and Ahmedabad will stage the third and fourth Tests from March 1 and March 9, respectively.
“Touring teams seem to all struggle these days and here we go again, we’re going to India without a whole lot of Indian practice under our belts, let alone England later in the year where we haven’t won since 2001," Healy remarked.
