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Looking to keep on rolling

Even though the finalists in this one-day tournament have been determined, there is no way we want to be taking the foot off our accelerator in our final qualifying match, against India at the WACA tomorrow. On the contrary, we are desperately keen to go into the finals with another win under our belt, because we appreciate the value of being on a roll.

Experience has taught me that in modern cricket confidence and momentum can be elusive; the performance of the Indian team throughout this Australian summer shows this as well as anything. Consequently, keeping the momentum going is our mission statement here.

For our last qualifying match we come up against a team that does appear to be down and out. Still, India have nothing more to lose now, and I imagine they will come out playing their shots, intent on trying to glean something from what has been a very disappointing tour for them. Thus, it could well be an excellent match. Unfortunately, though, whatever the result tomorrow, there will not have been too many positives to come out of the past couple of months for India, though Agarkar showed himself to be a genuine Test-match cricketer and Ganguly and Srinath have enjoyed reasonably productive one-day series.

Individually, for the Australian guys there's a lot at stake in tomorrow's match. We have 13 in-form men in our squad, all of whom want to play a significant role in the finals. Over the past week, we have mixed the teams up a bit, to give everyone an opportunity to stake their claim for a spot in the starting XI in the finals, but rather than this settling anything it has confused the issue to some extent because everyone has taken their chance and performed exceedingly well.

Among the squad members there is currently a great deal of respect for each other and a great commitment to each other to play well at all times. We have developed extremely high standards, and have come to appreciate the psychological value of winning consistently against all our opponents. Hence our great desire to beat India once again, to ensure that we stay unbeaten against them throughout the entire Australian summer.

For Perth, we welcome back Shane Warne, for what will be an important game for him. He needs a good hit-out before the finals, as he's been out for three weeks, which has been tough for him. Hopefully he'll enjoy a productive and confidence-boosting 10-over spell at the WACA. Of course, with Shane back there is no longer a place for Stuart MacGill, who is very unlucky to be omitted, as he bowled superbly when called upon. However, he knew, as we all did, that Shane would be straight back in once he was right. It is extremely comforting for us to know that we have more than just the one high-class leggie that we can call on at any time, and yet another example of the wonderful depth of talent we have available at present.

For Australia, two highlights of the past week were the performances of Mark Waugh and Brett Lee. It was good to see my brother back in form. He was relatively cautious early on Adelaide, but after a ball or two hit the middle of his bat he went along nicely to register another one-day international century. In many ways, cricket can be a fickle game; you only need to get one or two shots right and your confidence and good form can come right back.

In Adelaide, Brett Lee was almost impossible to play with the old ball. The poor batsmen could hardly see it at the pace he was bowling. He's made quite an impression, and I am looking forward to seeing him bowling on the WACA track. He was outstanding here in Perth when NSW played Western Australia recently, and now, after his excellent debut in international cricket, his confidence is sky-high.

In many ways, Brett typifies the aggressive style of one-day cricket that we have tried to play in recent times. In this sense, it is ironic that he is so new to international cricket, for it has taken us two years of hard work to reach our current level. The rewards for that effort are now there for all to see, especially in our fielding. It has always been my belief that if you can be the best fielding team in one-day cricket, you will be close to the successful team in one-day cricket. Nowadays we rarely miss the chance to get that crucial run out, or take that difficult half-chance.

And the energy and confidence we get from our performances in the field are now been transferred into every aspect of our game, not least the way we are going past 250 as often as not. It seems that if we get in a spot of bother during our innings, these days there always seems to be someone prepared to back themselves, to try to take charge.

This characteristic is what has set us apart from our Indian opponents throughout this long summer. My great hope is that it will continue tomorrow at the WACA, and for a lot longer after that.

(Gameplan)

Steve Waugh