BRISBANE // Australia's bid to address their recent crisis at the crease has already been dubbed the "batting boot camp".
Cricket Australia on Wednesday announced the training session would be held from December 20 to 22 for batsmen in the selection mix for the four-Test series against India who were not already involved in the scheduled tour match in Canberra.
The first match against India, the team rated second in the ICC Test rankings, starts on December 26 in Melbourne, and the Australian team is in a state of upheaval after losing eight wickets for 74 in a seven-run loss to the No 8 ranked New Zealand earlier this week in Hobart.
It was New Zealand's first Test win on Australian soil since 1985.
The collapse against New Zealand exacerbated concern over a batting order which became glaring in South Africa last month when the Australians were dismissed for 47 at Cape Town.
So the former captain, Ricky Ponting, will go into the camp a day after his 37th birthday along with the 36-year-old Mike Hussey, team captain Michael Clarke, all-rounder Shane Watson, injured top-order batsman Shaun Marsh, wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin and all-rounder Dan Christian.
Phillip Hughes, the opening batsman, who is arguably the most in need of some fresh instruction on technique after being dismissed by Chris Martin in almost identical fashion in all four innings against New Zealand, is among those exempt from the camp because they are playing for the Chairman's XI against an Indian XI at Canberra at the same time.
Others playing in that game are David Warner, who carried his bat for an unbeaten 123 in the second Test against New Zealand, Usman Khawaja and the uncapped Test prospect, Ed Cowan.
MS Dhoni, the India captain, said the tourists would use the game to introduce the less experienced players to Australian conditions while also aiming for a strong performance to start the tour on a positive note.
"You don't really want to lag too much behind right from the very start, so going with a good start is crucial," Dhoni said.
"We are here close to 12 days early and if 12 days are not enough then one month wouldn't be enough so we have to ... adapt to the conditions."
Pat Howard, Cricket Australia's general manager for team performance, said Mickey Arthur, the coach, had driven the camp concept.
"We want to bring the key batsmen together to start focusing on the Boxing Day Test match ... just to put the microscope on everything and for fine-tuning," Howard said. "Arthur has done a great job. He said, 'Look, we need to put some extra time and focus on this' ... to deal with everything to give us our best chance."
The Test squad will be announced December 22.
Elsewhere, Sri Lanka will need to find a way to handle South Africa's pace attack on a fearsome looking Centurion pitch when the first Test starts on Thursday.
Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, said on the eve of the series-opener that the Sri Lankans would be targeted by his fast bowlers in helpful home conditions.
"That's the reality that Sri Lanka face - that our pace bowlers are in their own conditions and want to exploit that," Smith said.
Yet even Smith would have been surprised by how fast bowler-friendly the Centurion surface appeared on Wednesday after plenty of rain this week at the stadium just north of Johannesburg.
"The wicket is looking pretty green. I think the groundsman has got a small panic going on at the moment," Smith said. "It could be interesting, especially day one. It looks like it might do a little bit."
Sri Lanka's touring Test team - now without Muttiah Muralitharan and Lasith Malinga - has been seen by some as one of the country's weakest in recent history. A raft of injuries to fast bowlers has further hampered them ahead of their first Test series in South Africa in nine years.
The Proteas, meanwhile, failed to close out recent home series against Australia, India and England - when they lacked the killer instinct.
And Smith said of an unpredictable Sri Lanka: "They always find a way. They're a pretty crafty team."
