Nathan Bracken spoke to skysports.com about his hopes of breaking back into the Test team.
Having battled through a frenetic calendar of one-day international cricket, including the World Cup and inaugural World Twenty20 Tournament, Australia revert to Test cricket for the first time since the retirement of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.
It's a mark of just how good a team is when a bowler ranked third in the ICC one-day international bowler rankings can't get a look in. The number one team in the world face home series' against Sri Lanka and India, which you can see live on Sky Sports, and although overlooked for the squad for the first Test, one man hoping to break back into the team is Nathan Bracken.
Speaking to promote Sky Sports' live winter cricket schedule, Bracken was in an upbeat mood following the recent birth of his first child, and having been an integral part of Ricky Ponting's one-day team the left-arm quick is aiming for another crack at Test cricket.
"I guess there are a lot of guys trying to put their hand up and get the opportunity," he says, "and the thing is, I might not be playing in the first Test but as we've seen in the past there have been injuries and things can happen when players have come in. So it's about performing well and being that player that's always asking the question."
Bracken has worn the baggy green on five occasions but hasn't featured since December 2005. "It has been a while since I played [Test cricket] and it's something that I'd love to have the opportunity to improve upon.
"The second innings in Brisbane (Bracken's second from last Test appearance) I got four wickets and played alright, but I guess it comes down to taking wickets and I wasn't doing that satisfactorily so I had to do something about that. I went away and worked on that and I feel confident that, if I get an opportunity, I'm able to take wickets, fill a hole and bowl exactly how I'm needed to bowl."
"That's what you've got to aim at when you do get an opportunity to play. You're not being picked just to be a part of the team, you're picked to win the game and be a star. If you're a batter you're there to score a hundred; if you're a bowler you're there to take five wickets. You're not there to bowl dot balls or push the ball around."
The New South Wales-born bowler worked closely with Troy Cooley. England's former bowling coach, who notoriously returned to his home country to work with Australia, worked on a new weapon for Bracken to add to his repertoire.
"Troy Cooley is tremendous," continued Bracken. "He understands each player's workload and the good thing for us is that he understands what each player's capabilities are. And he just points things out and looks over certain aspects of your game.
"We sort of looked at it and put it down to the fact that batters facing the swinging ball will push forward and get on that front foot. Now, having a bouncer as a weapon and having the confidence when I'm running up that I know I can bowl it any time I want - and knowing I can land it - is perfect. All of a sudden I can get the batter on the back-foot - get him pushing back."
Left-field
Zaheer Khan, Chaminda Vaas, Ryan Sidebottom - left-handers are having a prominent say in international cricket at the moment and it seems that every team could do with the variety and change of angle that they offer. Bracken is up there with the best lefties in the world.
"There wasn't truck loads of us running around a few years ago," he says. "Recently we played India and out of six bowlers, five of them were left-handers. So it's probably becoming more common in the game.
"In England's recent ODI series in Sri Lanka Sidebottom had great effect early in the innings, especially with Sri Lanka's top three all being left-hand batters. He bowled really well there, moved the ball in consistent areas and just kept asking the right questions. And I think if you do that often enough, and for long enough, then you're going to get the rewards for it."
With an ODI bowling average of 22.27 and a phenomenal strike rate - taking a wicket every 30 deliveries - Bracken knows that now is the time for him to break back into the Test side, especially as the retirement of legends, McGrath and Warne have left two vacant bowler berths.
It appears that Mitchell Johnson, another lefty, has galloped ahead in the pecking order, if only by a nose, but Bracken aims to keep taking wickets for his state side, New South Wales, until the selectors will have no option but to give him the call.
"I want to perform consistently and bowl well whenever I get the opportunity - be it for Australia or New South Wales. I want to get my name in a position where people are thinking that I'm a possible for the Test team. From there I will look at what aspects I can improve on and make sure that my game's going in the right direction, and for me that's taking as many wickets as I possibly can."
Australia haven't played a Test match for almost 10 months - since the fifth Ashes Test in January - a fact that adds to the growing concern of the logic put into planning the ICC calendar, and Bracken agrees that it may take a little time for the team to switch back to Test cricket against the fourth ranked team in the world.
"It will take the guys a little bit to hit their straps, but one thing we've always prided ourselves on is being able to get up for games at the right time and perform well when we need to. The boys have got to do that, they've got to get it right and hit the ground running. Sri Lanka have played some pretty good cricket over the last 12 months and are improving in both forms of the game and the side that they're bringing across (to Australia) is in form and playing well."
Still number one
Australia's dominance of international cricket is plain to see: they head the ICC rankings in both Test and One-day cricket, are World Champions and they also won the Twenty20 World Cup. The Green and Golds also boast three batsmen in the ICC Test Top 10, and top of those rankings is, of course, Ricky Ponting.
"Everything he does, he does from the front," says Bracken of his skipper. "If we need something in a crunch situation he's the bloke who puts his hand up. He's the guy that wants to be the man under pressure, whether that's with the bat or in the field. He wants to know your ideas and thoughts are in the field, without telling you what to do - he wants to know what you think because as a bowler it's in your control."
So how do the best continue to raise the bar and strive for greatness? How does a team that have won everything the game can offer continue to motivate themselves?
"We prepare as if we're number two in the world. If a team is doing something, we make sure we're doing it a little bit more. For example, we worked really hard for the World Cup. My wife came over to visit when we were based in St Kitts for the pool matches and my wife's sister said: 'when do you actually get time off? When do you get to come and have time with us?' We were training twice a day in-between games and making sure we were ready to go.
"We want to be number one - we want to stay where we are."
Nathan Bracken was talking to James Root
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