Cricket World Cup: Australia have baffling new training routine for England semi

Funky Aussie coach Justin Langer made his team indulge in a spot of barefoot ‘grounding’ at Edgbaston to bring some spirituality to their World Cup campaign.

There was no campfire or kumbayas, but the entire green and gold squad sat in a circle on the outfield, removed their shoes and socks by the order of Langer and told inspirational stories of yesteryear to get into the right frame of mind to take on England .

They then went for a walk to allow the turf to tickle their toes, in much the same way as Jofra Archer and Mark Wood will attempt to tickle their noses in Thursday's semi-final with 90 miles per hour thunderbolts.

It is unclear how the bonding session will help the likes of David Warner and Aaron Finch cope with that challenge, but at least they will feel at one with the ground when they walk back to the dressing room.

“It was Justin’s idea,” said batsman Peter Handscomb, who has replaced the injured Shaun Marsh in the squad. “Just a moment to get a feel for the ground — literally. You get a feel of the grass on your feet, a bit of grounding, the positive and negative energy flowing through and coming out of the Earth.

“It is a nice feeling and you walk round with the group, have a bit of a laugh while you’re going and talking. It is just a nice moment.

“There were some really good stories. It was just an open and honest conversation and it was great that some of the guys poured their heart out there about what it meant to get to the semi-final, what it meant to them and their first memories of cricket growing up. It was really nice. It was great to see what playing in the finals means to this group.

“Mitch Marsh was talking about the 1999 World Cup with his dad coaching and having a photo done with the World Cup trophy, so Mitch wants to be here if he is and he wants to have a photo on the balcony at Lord’s [after the final there on July 14].”

With this semi-final taking place at a ground where Australia have not won since 2001, Marsh might just want to put the framers on hold for now.

Source: Mirror

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