Lack of competition may hurt World Cup chances Buchanan

SYDNEY, Jan 25 (Reuters) Australia coach John Buchanan fears his team's World Cup preparations are being hurt by New Zealand and England's failure to put them under enough pressure.

Australia have beaten both sides twice during the tri-series competition but Buchanan is concerned his team are not being tested sufficiently in vital areas of the game.

''Our ability to deliver yorkers, length balls, bouncers, variety balls (such as slower balls, cutters, etc) has not been placed under constant scrutiny by an opposition batting lineup,'' Buchanan said in a ''progress report'' on Cricket Australia's Web site.

Buchanan said that with Australia exerting control in the games, their bowlers were not being tested under conditions where the opposition held the upper hand.

''In essence, the batting efforts of our opposition are not assisting the development of our bowlers' one-day skills, and the decision-making that accompanies being placed under the microscope of competition,'' he said.

''And while this is not occurring, we cannot have our fielding tested also for its ability to create and make opportunities.'' Buchanan has a long history of playing mind games and Australia captain Ricky Ponting said the comments were probably aimed at stopping complacency creeping in.

''I'm not sure if John's trying to use it as a motivational sort of thing for us to keep our foot on the accelerator or not,'' Ponting told reporters on Thursday. England batsman Paul Collingwood said it was hard to disagree with Buchanan's assessment after his team lost all of their eight matches on tour, including the five Ashes tests.

''We're probably not at the moment, but hopefully we can turn that around and stretch them...if that's what he wants,'' Collingwood said.

New Zealand dismissed Buchanan's comments, with chief executive Martin Snedden saying there was no need to respond.

''I'd imagine the players read it with a bit of interest, and it may even provide a little bit of motivation for them,'' Snedden said.

''But I don't think you're going to see any sort of major reaction from our camp.'' Reuters SAM GC1538