Mickey Arthur has no regrets about his controversialdecision to suspend four players for a test during the tumultuous 4-0 seriesloss in India, saying he hopes the new disciplined approach will help Australiaregain the No. 1 ranking.
Arthur dropped vice-captain Shane Watson, pace bowlersMitchell Johnson and James Pattinson and backup batsman Usman Khawaja forfailing to meet a deadline in delivering self-critiques after the second test.The punishment was widely ridiculed by ex-test players as being excessive andtreating the players like naughty schoolboys.
"It's galvanized our team," Arthur said Tuesday ashe arrived back in Australia. "Our team responded fantasticallywell."
The bare statistics tell a different story. The 4-0 seriesdefeat was Australia's most comprehensive loss in four decades. It highlightedconcerns over the batting depth in the wake of the retirements of veteransRicky Ponting and Mike Hussey and Australia's problems generally against spinbowling, particularly in the sub-continent.
After missing the third test and rushing home to Sydney forthe birth of his first child, Watson was elevated to the captaincy for the lastmatch when Michael Clarke was ruled out with a back injury.
The Australians were more aggressive in the fourth and lasttest in Delhi, but still had no answers to the Indian spinners and thetop-order batting let them down again, with Watson failing to find form. Withthe Ashes starting in July in England, it wasn't a good omen for theAustralians.
But Arthur said the tour wasn't a complete disaster, and theplayers and management were in harmony about what was required to rebuild theteam.
"Hopefully this is the foundation for somethinggood," Arthur said. "We want to get ourselves to No. 1 in the worldand give ourselves the best possible opportunity to do that.
"We've put some stuff in place that we think can getthat team there over the next 24 months."
Arthur said the bans for the four players came after anumber of warnings to the squad regarding discipline.
"If we had our time again, we'd do the samething," he said, adding that it "galvanized our team"
"The team needed to just be pulled together just alittle bit and again we did it for that reason. With representing Australiacomes massive expectation, we all are very aware of that, and with that comes alot of responsibility, so we've done it to make the players really aware ofwhat that is and what is expected of them."
Arthur said the bulk of the squad which played in Indiawould be in contention for the Ashes series.
"We felt that we took the best players possible toIndia, barring one or two guys that were struggling with slight injuries whowill come back into the equation," he said. "We took a couple of guysthat were pertinent to subcontinent conditions.
"But we feel that we had our best young batsmen there,no doubt about that, and to see them grow through the tour was fairlyencouraging.
"We know that they have a bit of experienceand are going to be better for it."