Aussies set up batting camp ahead of India Test

SYDNEY: New Australia coach Mickey Arthur has set up a training camp for his under-fire batsmen ahead of the opening Boxing Day Test against India in Melbourne.
Concerned by Australia’s fallibility against the swinging ball exposed in the team’s seven-run loss to New Zealand in this week’s Hobart Test, Arthur has put in place a three-day camp in Melbourne next week.
Cricket Australia said Thursday Test captain Michael Clarke will be joined by Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin, Dan Christian, Shane Watson and possibly Shaun Marsh, who has a back injury, in the MCG nets from next Tuesday.
They will be facing bowling machines that will simulate the deliveries of tall Indian seamer Ishant Sharma and others.
Meanwhile in Canberra, David Warner, Phillip Hughes and Usman Khawaja, who all played in the Hobart Test, will be playing for a Chairman’s XI against India in a three-day game.
Arthur said the camp was designed to sharpen the focus of the Australian top order ahead of four Tests against the second-ranked Indians.