The art of leaked memos

Upon seeing the headline, you could be forgiven for thinking you had been transported back in time 18 months. Leaked documents, a private Australian team memo, fallen into the wrong hands and published by the media. We have seen this before.

Rewind to February 2000. It's the beginning of Australia's tour of New Zealand. A copy of the tourists' game plan critiquing their opponents' strengths and weaknesses is placed under the wrong hotel door and subsequently broadcast on New Zealand radio. It caused no damage, save for the embarrassment, as Australia went on to win the one-day series 4-1 and the Test series 3-0.

One would assume whatever mistake had been made in the conveyance of team papers had been corrected at the time but incredibly, it's now happened again. Team tactics have evidently undergone vast advances in the preceding year and a half, however.

Then, it was your fairly typical "Fleming...a bit lazy early" and "McMillan...very impatient, dot balls the key." Now, it's all about conquering Dispersive Ground and Facile Ground, and applying military tactics from Sun Tzu's 2400-year-old Art of War.

The Australians don't leave much to chance... except for the security of team plans, that is.

The English Daily Telegraph revealed the leaked memo, detailing Aussie coach John Buchanan's adaptations of the ancient Chinese military scientist's "Nine Varieties of Ground." Clearly the idea is to cover every eventuality in the battle to whitewash England.

For a team renowned for its all-round professionalism, the lapses of the coach in misplacing the documents is surprising but welcome, for it gives us a glimpse into the war room of an international team. With the eccentric and scholarly Buchanan the coach to err, the insights become all the more intriguing.

Of most interest was one particular quote, confirming what had been suspected about the Australians' public attitude towards the England team, under the heading Ground of Intersecting Highways:

"We have 'joined hands' with public, sponsors and media about the way the English team plays its cricket and thus its 'ability' to play Australia. Consequently, we have currently gained 'psychological control' over England."

At the start of the tour the Australians were happy to go along with the prevailing mood of English cricket, respectfully acknowledging the home team's recent form and speaking of nothing but demure caution and the expectation of intense competition. Yet it was difficult to buy into for a few reasons.

Firstly, Australia had swept all before it with the exception of an honourable loss to India. Considering their form, and the transformation in style since the last Ashes series, the improvements made by England were less than intimidating.

Secondly, history was on their side, as an Ashes series in England is familiar and successful territory. And thirdly, and most importantly, they were confronting virtually the same group of England players they had mostly dominated in previous series, making it likely they believed old wounds could quickly be re-opened.

England have certainly done little to win the off-field and very public psychological battle. The players have paid almost reverential respect to the ability of the Australians, potentially elevating their relatively simple task - play good cricket - to arduous and imposing heights. Whatever the merits of the opposition, it's still one team playing another, and England have been guilty of affording their opponents too much respect.

Until the escape of the memo, John Buchanan and Australia had been winning the off-field battle conclusively.

Buchanan has apparently mixed teachings from Chapter 8 of Sun Tzu's The Art of War, The Nine Variables, with Chapter 11, The Nine Varieties of Ground, to form his "Nine Situations." Instead of merely using the headings as an artistic template on which to base his point, many of the ground varieties are accurate interpretations.

The Ground of Intersecting Highways reference comes from The Nine Variables, where Tzu writes "Unite with your allies on grounds intersected with highways." Buchanan appears to have re-named three grounds from The Nine Varieties of Ground to suit his own purposes, while transposing Focal Ground with Intersecting Highways from the other chapter.

Facile Ground ("we have only done part of the job") is actually Frontier Ground ("a shallow penetration into enemy territory"), Contentious Ground ("discipline for the whole game") is really Key Ground ("ground equally advantageous to occupy") and Hemmed-in Ground (the slightly ambiguous "foreign ground") is Encircled Ground ("where the way out is tortuous"). Even with the name changes, the analogies are apparent.

In Offensive Strategy, Tzu writes that what is of extreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy. Now that the Australian strategy has been partly exposed, England too could be well served by adopting some of Sun Tzu's principles and beating Australia at its own game.

In The Nine Variables, Tzu says there are five qualities which are fatal in the character of a general and perhaps, in this case, a cricket team. "If reckless, he can be killed; if cowardly, captured; if quick-tempered, he can be provoked to rage and make a fool of himself; if he has too delicate a sense of honour, he can be easily insulted; if he is of a compassionate nature, you can harass him."

Cowardice, compassion and sense of honour can be scratched, but recklessness and quick temper can be exploited. By selecting five bowlers for the third Test England has the ideal combination to induce and exploit recklessness in the Australian batting, while in the second Test Glenn McGrath was provoked to rage when bowling to Dominic Cork in the first innings and Brett Lee became quick-tempered against Graham Thorpe in the second. Lee, not yet in peak form, represents the "desperate enemy not to press too hard" but McGrath bowls poorly when upset and if heeding Tzu the England batsmen should do what they can to facilitate the fast bowler making a fool of himself, like playing the hook shot.

From there, England may draw Australia into Desperate Ground, in which an army survives "only if it fights with the courage of desperation." This is also mentioned in The Nine Variables as "death ground," where a last-ditch battle must be fought. The last time Australia fought one of those, it lost.

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