Kookaburras skipper Shane Riordan believes that his inexperienced team is headed in the right direction, on the eve of their one-day match against Court House at Wolseley Park on Saturday.
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Riordan has been critical of his players’ shot selection and while he says there has been improvement of that front, it is still very much a work in progress.
He said: “We’re improving slowly.
“We were actually keen to get out and have a bat last weekend, so that was good.
“We’re getting more confident.”
Riordan will miss the match due to a personal commitment, with his deputy Cameron Milne stepping in as captain.
He said getting his batsmen to be more judicious with their shot selection “was always going to take a while”.
He said it was expected it would take most of the season for them to “realise what they can and can’t do”, “how to bat properly and bowl properly and what’s needed”.
“You could say that,” he said when asked the team has improved.
He said that often players had a misguided belief in their own ability that was reflected in rash shots.
“They’ve just got to learn what’s good for them and what’s not,” he said.
“Look at Steve Waugh. He cut out hook and pull shots.”
Riordan said a key task was to keep the side basically intact for the start of next season so all the rebuilding efforts were not wasted.