"Got to go back further and look at their county cricket system as well" - Michael Hussey on England's Melbourne debacle
Former Aussie batter Michael Hussey has questioned the county cricket system following England's abject surrender in the third Ashes Test in Melbourne.
Australia outclassed England in every department, blowing them away for 68 in their second innings on the third morning to retain the urn.
Reviewing the match with Cricbuzz, Hussey said:
"They'll (England) be utterly disappointed. England will be shellshocked and there's got to be a lot of soul-searching. They have to look back at a lot of things. The way they prepared for this series. I know the schedule was tough, but the preparation for both teams has been compromised."
The batting great added:
"They got to go back further and look at their county cricket system as well. Is that an environment where they can help produce Test players to play against the likes of Cummins and Starc? There are a lot of things that needs to be looked at."
The Day 3 (well, one-third of a day) report on a ridiculous 80-minute session that ended with Scott Boland lapping up every journey to fine leg and a two-Test captain leading his team to Ashes glory. @FoxCricket 👇foxsports.com.au/cricket/the-as… https://t.co/kNKkjkWu9g
Earlier this month, former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen criticized England's domestic cricket structure, calling it "flawed."
"England need to have conditions that are conducive to producing Test players" - Michael Hussey
Hussey called on England & Wales Cricket Board to look at preparing players to succeed across the globe.
The cricketer-turned-commentator said:
"England need to have conditions over there that are conducive to producing Test players that can succeed all around the world. So you want some conditions that really have a lot of spin. So players can learn how to play spin. Spinners can learn how to bowl in those conditions. But make good pitches so that batters can learn to make big scores. Build an innings, score double hundreds."
He continued:
"If you're playing on doggy pitches where the slow seamers are taking a lot of wickets, it makes it really difficult to prepare players to go on and play at the next level. You got to keep looking down the levels and making sure that conditions are good to help produce players for the next level."
The fourth Test starts in Sydney on January 5.