Mental disintegration is dead according to the man who coined the phrase but Steve Waugh insists Australia will be as combative as ever during the Ashes even though the team have overhauled their culture in the 18 months since the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal.
Waugh has been embedded in Australia’s camp as a mentor in the lead-up to the first Test at Edgbaston on Thursday. The 54-year-old, the last Australia captain to win an away Ashes series in 2001, will remain with Justin Langer and his players until the end of the second Test at Lord’s next month.
Whatever wisdom Waugh, a man who won eight successive Ashes series between 1989 and 2002-03, imparts on the current generation of Australia’s cricketers will no doubt prove invaluable. One of his chief tips will no doubt be to maintain their aggressive edge on the field, even if off it Langer and the captain, Tim Paine, have cultivated a touchy-feely atmosphere over the past year or so. That was in response to the sandpaper incident when Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were caught plotting to doctor the ball during the Cape Town Test against South Africa in March last year. All three received lengthy bans from Cricket Australia following a public backlash that exposed a wider culture deemed toxic by many.
Smith, Warner and Bancroft are all back and in contention to play at Edgbaston and, although Waugh has not directly addressed the team about the events of 16 months ago, he has no doubts this series will be as hard-fought as any Ashes campaign.
“There aren’t going to be any shrinking violets out there,” he said. “It’s an Ashes series, so expect them to play in a positive frame of mind with strong body language. This side is going to be combative – that is the Australian way. They know they can’t cross over the line. What happened 12 to 18 months ago has had a huge impact. These guys have played in a fantastic spirit since then.
“We have to play with conviction and courage. That is the way we play. We are brought up to play in a positive, aggressive manner and I don’t see that being any different in this series.”
Asked to define mental disintegration, a euphemism he came up with during his playing days, Waugh said: “Disorientating the opposition through extreme pressure.”
But he believes the familiarity between players today has made it a thing of the past. “Playing in the IPL, the players haven’t really got the mystique and you sort of know the players a lot better,” Waugh said.
“When I was playing against West Indies back in the 80s we didn’t really know them and you didn’t engage too much, so you sort of had a fear factor. Maybe teams against us felt the same way.
“You can’t really have that power over the opposition any more because they all know each other.”