Steve Waugh says tough, 'pressure exerting' players can help Australia 'rise from the rubble'

Former Australian Test captain Steve Waugh has backed the struggling Australian side in the Ashes to rise again, saying that the team need players who can get through the tough times and also constantly exert pressure over a long period of time and win Tests.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Waugh, who is on the publicity trail for his self-published book 'The Meaning of Luck' containing revealing insights into life after cricket, believed that the side needs to stop having disastrous sessions in the series, which have prevented them from being in otherwise winning positions.

Stating that he believed that Australia should lose a match if it happened on points, instead of being knocked out, Waugh however, backed the team to regain its former power and called for tough players like Chris Rogers, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle to be added to the team, instead of five or six flamboyant players who look fantastic.

According to Waugh, the team should not lose more than four or five wickets in Tests, adding that the selectors need to stick with the players they have picked, instead of constantly changing the line-up, and also keep things private so as not to put extra pressure on the players.

Sympathising with the team, Waugh also said that it must be hard to compartmentalize the pressures in their heads by players, adding that as he also could not do that for a number of years early in his career, he expects young players like Usman Khawaja or Steve Smith to do the same and urged critics to give them more leeway.

Waugh further said that he believed that the team is finally counting the cost of discarding Simon Katich before his time and allowing Michael Hussey to retire at his peak, although he admitted it was now too late to recall Katich for national service.