Melbourne: Australia opener Joe Burns is eyeing the Tests against India should they take place later this year, to stabilise his stop-start international career, saying “you want to play in and do well in” in this kind of series.
India is scheduled to play four Tests in Australia in December-January, a series which is currently in doubt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed over 2.5 lakh lives across the world.
“They are obviously world class team. I think the two teams going at each other will be very exciting to watch and players playing against each other as well,” Burns told reporters in a video conference on Thursday.
“You look at the world ranking, they were number one and now we have got to number one, so I know that series will be anticipated by everyone and as a player this is a sort of series you want to play in and do well in.”
With the coronavirus also threatening the T20 World Cup, Cricket Australia is under financial stress and has gone on a cost-cutting drive, which included standing down 80 per cent of its staff at 20 per cent salary.
There are also speculations that the Sheffield Shield for 2020-21 would be curtailed to cut costs.
Burns, however, hoped it won’t be tinkered with.
“I love the fact we have a really strong first-class system. The 10 games, where you play everyone twice,” Burns, who was struck down by a fatigue illness after an indifferent season, said.
“It leads to world-class players coming into Test teams. You don’t want to see that get changed.
“Obviously it is unique circumstances at the moment and There’s a lot of things to work through … The players’ association is consulted on those things.” (AGENCIES)
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SPORTS-MIND SKILLS-INITIATIVE
MFORE, an initiative to enhance mind
skills of players, launched
New Delhi, May 7:
MFORE, a non-profit initiative offering mind conditioning programs to achieve peak performance in sports, was launched by former Indian cricketer S Badrinath along with Saravana Kumar on Thursday.
It offers mental toughness and mind skill training for players, coaches, parents, referees and the extended sporting ecosystem across all sports.
The main objective of MFORE is to remove the interferences caused by the mind and enable the player to perform to their true potential.
It will also identify needs of the sporting ecosystem and fulfill them with customized training programs that in turn brings in a culture of mind conditioning and mind skills training among the sports fraternity in India.
The programs of MFORE will help them overcome anxiety, self-doubt, fear etc, and achieve peak performance consistently. By unleashing the power of their minds, MFORE intends to train sportspersons to get through any hardships effortlessly.
“Having undergone mental conditioning coaching during my playing days, I can vouch that it can bring in a positive difference in the players’ performance,” S Badrinath said.
Star Sports 1 Tamil is set to launch a show ‘Mind Masters by MFORE’ on May 10, where the likes of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin along with others will share their thoughts on mind conditioning and mind skills in sports.
(AGENCIES)
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