“In 1995 there were five, and in seven years, that has doubled,’’ informs Richard McGuiness, Australia’s performance analyst. “My job is probably the newest of additions to a group of the support staff,’’ he says, before he heads to the other end of the city, to take stock of New Zealand who are playing in another warm-up. “Work looks the easiest on match-days for me,’’ he quips, adding that strategising has had to keep pace with the game’s changing rules, a challenge that spills into the dressing room as much as it throws posers to the playing XI.

“The game has changed a lot. It’s not just about being cricket-fit, but you need to be an exceptional athlete now,’’ captain Ricky Ponting explained. Which justifies every Australian dollar paid to Kontouris, Cordy and Frostick who offer a collective backroom cushioning to what appears a spectacular dive from Ponting and Symonds but might show its after-effects when the yellow shirts troop in weary and bruised after the match is over.

Warm-ups and limber-downs are especially hectic for the team’s travelling masseuse Lucy Frostick. “Massaging’s not just about easing tired nerves. We also focus on strengthening muscles, so I’m on-call on a daily basis,’’ she says. “Sport in Australia is an inborn routine, and they’re smarter when it comes to doing the right things,’’ explains Kontouris.

Hamish Blair, a photographer with an international agency is the 12th man to this backroom squad of 11; contracted as he is by Cricket Australia when the team tours. “I travel with them, and have captured team-bonding amongst Australians as it happens off-the-field. And that’s over their team dinners, camel-rides, desert-drives and even scuba-dives since they are such happy travellers. Since Alcott’s days, the support staff has emerged as an integral part of the squad, and that includes pepping up the dressing room atmosphere and even helping each other improve their golfing handicaps.’’

... contd.