Joe Burns content with his roller coaster year in cricket
Australian opening batsmen Joe Burns feels that his experiences over the past year have made him a better cricketer, cricket.com.au reports. The 26-year-old said that he has always accepted the selectors decision regarding his place in the national side and felt that it was up to him to stake a claim in the team with his performances.
Burns has had a rollercoaster year to say the least. After disappointing in his debut Test match against India at the MCG, Burns made a brilliant fightback with knocks of 58 and 66 in the next match at the SCG. However, the outstanding partnership of Chris Rogers and David Warner meant Burns was left out of the subsequent tours of West Indies and England.
Though Burns admitted that being excluded from the side was hard to take, he revealed that he had a chat with the Australian selectors and said that he understood the reasons behind the move.
“Anytime you get left out of an Australian side you're disappointed because you want to be playing for your country, there's no doubt about that,” he told cricket.com.au. “But it's part of professional sport that sometimes you're not going to be selected and you can't let that affect your training, your preparation or the way you play.”
“(I spoke with them) a little bit, but there wasn't really much to discuss,” he said matter-of-factly. “I understood the reasons; there were some fantastic players that came into the side and sometimes you've just got to wait your turn, make sure you keep performing and when a spot becomes available, make sure you're the guy who goes in. It's an outstanding side and that's why it's so hard to make it into the team. I accepted that easily.”
He has since forced his way back into the side with some excellent performances for Middlesex and then India A, featuring in the recently concluded ODI series against England while Rogers retirement has made him the front-runner for the opener’s spot in the Test team as well.
Burns revealed that focusing on his own performances was the key and felt that the experiences over the last year have made him a better player.
“All you can focus on is your next training session and your next game and making sure you try and make runs in every single innings you have, and hopefully have success in every team you play in. For me, it was very simple and that's all I tried to do over the months that followed with Middlesex, Australia, and the one-day side,” he said.
“At Middlesex, five out of the top six were international players, so the chance to play and train alongside some of the best players in the world was a great experience. I learned a hell of a lot over the few weeks I was there. And to go from there over to India for Australia A and back to England again for the one-dayers, it was a great experience over the winter. I've learned plenty of lessons that I'm looking to implement over the coming months,” Burns added.