Coach Mickey Arthur has given Australia’s World Twenty20 squad a two-day break following their two victories in the group stage of the tournament in Sri Lanka.
Australia thrashed Ireland by seven wickets then produced an excellent batting performance to overpower West Indies in a rain-shortened match at Colombo’s Premadasa Stadium on Saturday night, scoring 1-100 from 9.1 overs in reply to the Windies’ total of 8-191.
Arthur says some members of the squad departed on Sunday for sightseeing trip to the southern city of Galle.
Australia’s Super Eights campaign starts with Friday’s clash with India in Colombo.
Allrounder Shane Watson won the man-of-the-match award in both games.
Arthur said he pulled Watson aside for a standard one-on-one briefing during the T20 series against Pakistan earlier this month.
“I remember sitting with Shane when he arrived in Dubai and saying he really needed to stand up and set the tone for us and he’s done that incredibly well,” Arthur said on Sunday following Australia’s 17-run win over the Windies under the Duckworth/Lewis Method.
“I said ‘if you’re player of the tournament then we’ve gone very close to winning it’. That’s the impact he has on the team and he’s been outstanding, so long may that continue.”
Arthur has further challenged Watson to have the same impact at Test level as Jacques Kallis, the champion allrounder who was coached by Arthur during his time with South Africa.
Kallis and Watson will lock horns in the three-Test series in Australia in November with the No.1 team ranking at stake.
“Jacques Kallis’s record in Test cricket is sublime, especially with the bat,” Arthur said.
“And Watto’s aware of it. Watto needs to convert a lot more starts.
“He’s only got two Test hundreds which, for a player of his talent, is probably below par and he would acknowledge that.”
A humble Watson said he didn’t rank himself in the same class as Kallis and described the South African’s list of achievements in all forms of the game as mind-blowing.
“He will no doubt go down as if not the greatest player ever to play the game, he’ll certainly be in the top couple,” Watson said.
