Steve Waugh and his men came so close in conquering the 'final frontier'. But their best simply wasn't enough; Harbhajan Singh ripped through their batting and destroyed the Australian dream of winning the Test series. The Australians do realise the significance of winning a Test match series in India, their last success came in 1969-70. Australia are the World champions and have been the most successful side in Test cricket in recent times. The abundance of talent Australia has can be attributed to the vision of the Australian Cricket Board (ACB). They have been sending squads to India to get familiarised with the conditions in the subcontinent.

A squad of nine young players led by ACB Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy Coach Wayne Phillips landed in Chennai on the 4th of April; the third of its kind to have visited India. The focus of this trip is to prepare the young cricketers for the next big Test series in India. The Australians have their task cut out, and are on the right track. Phillips was happy to see the young men get first hand experience of the conditions, the people, the weather, the pitches and cricket in India.

The ACB has filled the squad with talented young spinners, Mark Higgs (NSW), Anthony Clark (NSW), Scott O'Leary (QLD), Xavier Doherty (TAS), Steven Coombes (NSW) and Brad Hodge (VIC). Of the lot, Brad Hodhe has played for Australia 'A'. Sean Clingeleffer (TAS), Shane Watson (TAS), and Simon Dart (VIC) are the other members of the party who enjoyed their eight-day stint in the hot and humid conditions in Chennai. They had two days of extensive practice in the nets at the MRF Pace Foundation and also enjoyed the opportunity to play in four matches against club sides organised by MRF.

Wayne Phillips has very high opinion about the two Tasmanian boys in the squad, Sean Clingeleffer and Shane Watson. Clingeleffer is a talented wicket keeper and he says Shane Watson is a genuine allrounder who is developing his skills. These boys might make the nucleus of the Australian side that will be in India for a Test series in a few years from now. Shane Warne has a place in cricket history for his prolific wicket taking ability by spinning a cricket ball. His career however, will be dulled by his failure in India. Phillip says, "The major purpose is to allow the spin bowlers in the group to gain some experience under Indian conditions. We find it tremendously beneficial and have the opportunity to work with two of India's former spinning greats, Bishen Singh Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna. We enjoy working with them and we have done that on a regular basis. It all works out smoothly with tremendous benefits."

Phillips looks forward to further such frequent visits to India, "we get looked after so well by our good friends at MRF. We have a very good working relationship with them and have a free and open exchange of players, coaches and different sorts of personnel. We hope that this will continue and that it allows us to return frequently. That will be terrific."

He was quick to admit that such visits to India are an investment that is aimed at winning a Test series in India. "We were all thrilled that one of the players who came on the first trip that we did of this type, was Matthew Hayden. That was the first time he had been to India. Having come back with the Australian side and played as well as he did in both the Test and ODI series, we were delighted. The important thing is, we don't want players coming to India for the first time as part of the Australian senior team. We want them to have had some experience before they come to this part of the world."

There is the will in the Aussies to get better than their best. Perhaps it is this that makes them a very good cricket team. The ACB should be lauded for the honest effort they put in. Other cricketing nations would benefit by taking a leaf out of the ACB strategy: making the right kind of investments for the future.

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