Australia drop the ball over skills training

Australia's skills training is neglected on tour and is one of the reasons for a spate of dropped catches, according to the coach John Buchanan. The slips catching has declined since the days of Mark Taylor and Mark Waugh, and it has been so bad this season that 15 of the remarkably high 18 misses in the past five Tests have come from the cordon.

Buchanan said the record was a worry but travel and lack of time reduced the emphasis placed on catching. "One of the difficulties for a side that's been on tour since mid-August is that the skill training is neglected because we're in competition all the time," he told The Australian. "Things like slips catching, even though we do a fair amount of it, are limited in terms of the length of time we can do it. You can also notice that our hit ratio on the stumps probably peaks somewhere in the middle of the season and tails off towards the end."

Buchanan said a touring side didn't have the luxury of spending two or three days in hard training before resting, and by the end of the season it was more of a problem. In the first Test against New Zealand last week Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer and Shane Warne dropped easy catches while Michael Clarke spilled a sharp rebounding effort at first slip off Warne. Australia's cordon was rearranged to cope with Matthew Hayden's injured right shoulder, but he should return to his usual position at gully for the second Test starting at Wellington on Friday.