Australian cricket legend Allan Border has slammed Australia A captain Alex Carey following the side's three-day test against India, accusing the side of "not having a go", per The Australian.
Border, who was commentating the match with Fox Cricket, expressed his outrage in Carey's leadership, stating the side put up one of the worst performances he has ever seen.
“They gave up. Australian cricket teams, you can handle getting beaten and we put in some poor performances, I’ve been part of quite a few. But I don’t think you’d ever accuse Australian sides of not having a go. Just their attitude. I don’t blame them all but there was general (lethargy),” Border said.
“It’s one of the worst, (most) lethargic performances I have seen in the last session of any cricket.
“This is Australia A, they are representing Australia, they are young blokes trying to make their way. That fielding performance, bowling performance, captaincy performance – an absolute disgrace. Not up to scratch at all.
“If Alex Carey is in line to be an Australian captain, he has got a lot of work to do for me.
“He has gone down quite a few pegs. He is a good cricketer Alex Carey, he has got a bit of energy himself, but yesterday he should have reacted to the way the general feel around the team was.
“I’m happy for any of those guys to come talk to me about what was going on yesterday afternoon and (I would) stand corrected but it was very ordinary stuff.
“I would’ve been sending out some pretty terse messages about lifting your expletive, expletive game otherwise you’re out of there. I’m going to get the under 16s from the Mosman cricket club to come and do a better job in the field. I would’ve absolutely hammered them last night. Just not good enough boys, I’m afraid.”
Carey responded to Border's comments, stating he'll take the criticism on board and would be open to chatting with the Australian great.
“I highly respect Allan Border and if he sees that, I guess you take a bit out of it,” Carey said.
“The way we responded today was outstanding. Last night was difficult, they had two set batters and Rishabh (Pant) the way he played… we’ve also had a lot of injuries the last couple of days.
“I love talking to the greats that have been in Australian cricket and picking their brain, and one of Australia’s best captains and players… I’d love to have a chat to AB.
“I guess personally being out there, the attitude wasn’t bad. We were trying. (But) I’d absolutely like to sit down and chat to AB for all parts of my game.”
Australia A and India drew after the home side amassed 108 & 4-307, while the visitors made 194 & 4-386 (declared).
Carey wasn't the only name in Border's firing line after he was left dumbfounded by the idea of Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins being rested during the nation's limited overs series'.
Cummins returned for a long stint in the IPL and featured in a portion of Australia's ODI's vs India before being rested for the upcoming test series.
Border stated that while Cummins wasn't to blame, there were some questions that needed to be answered.
“Why wouldn’t you (go to the IPL), it’s a fantastic pay packet and you’re bowling four overs every three days. But he gets rested from an Australia game … He shouldn’t be rested from an Australia game. If he’s ready to play he should play,” said Border.
“Knowing Pat … there’s no way he’s suggesting it. It’s the powers that be. The management. Trying to work their way through their season, and I get it (COVID has made it hard).
“But it just annoys me. There’s no problems playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders and you get paid accordingly – and that’s fantastic, I’d be doing it myself – but I wouldn’t expect to be rested when I came back to Australia.
“We are an entertainment sport now. You’ve got punters out there, big television rights being paid. You’re doing the game a disservice by making these moves.”
