Nielsen wants to keep the players' minds fresh

MELBOURNE, June 20: In order to maintain a balance in the players' lives during the gruelling season ahead, new Australian coach Tim Nielsen advocates taking the cricketers to places of historic significance.
Nielsen thinks maintaining fitness and freshness of mind of the players is the biggest challenge during the next 18 months when Australia plays Sri Lanka, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and West Indies in various series.
Apart from hiring sports science expertise to monitor players' workload, Nielsen is determined to keep their minds fresh.
"We have got professional athletes now who aren't working, they are cricketers," Nielsen was quoted as saying in The Age on Wednesday.
"If we are not careful, their life experiences can be quite narrow, so it's a real opportunity for us to take them to different places."
"We're lucky enough to travel around the world, see different things that the regular Joe may not. If that opportunity arises, we will grab it and try and instill some real pride in being Australian" he added.
He said the inclusion of new players for the retired Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer and Damien Martyn had brought several challenges for the side.