'World record pursuit, Sydney fracas distracted Oz'

MELBOURNE: Australia got carried away in their pursuit for a record 17th straight Test win and by the fallout from the ill-tempered Sydney Test to allow India win at Perth, said former coach John Buchanan.

As the entire country finds it difficult to digest the defeat which robbed Ricky Ponting's team a world record 17th consecutive Test win at Perth, Buchanan, who guided the side to 12 of its 16 Test victories on the trot, said it was probably due to distractions.

"Having been involved when there are records on, and with all the distractions occurring between the second and third Tests, that's all part of it," he said.
   
"It (the record) is what everybody expected. People were talking up the wicket, that it was likely to be over in three days. All of those things can play a part in the end," Buchanan was quoted as saying by 'The Age'.

The coach said watching Australia collapse in Perth gave him a sense of deja vu and he recalled the 2001 Test in Kolkata where India thumbed the nose at Australia and scripted an epic win.
   
"It took me back to Calcutta, when after India's first innings we were expected to win. In that situation sometimes the way forward is not as clear as it should be," Buchanan said.
   
Buchanan, however, believes the defeat would help Australia shrug off the cobwebs and he also refused to see it as beginning of the end of Australia's hegemony in world cricket.

"Australia is not invincible but over the movie length they are an incredible side, so let's not get caught up in the snapshot of 16 wins or anything like that" he said.

Buchanan, however, admitted that with bowling greats Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne leaving the scene, opponents would tend to believe that they can upset the Australian applecart.

"It has already happened, when McGrath and Warne left. It is not so much how it affects Australia, because it gives some very good players an opportunity to come in, but it makes other teams believe they are a bit closer and they walk on the field with a bit more confidence," he said.