Hussey warns Arthur on team culture - Sydney Morning Herald

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Recently retired batting great Mike Hussey has warned Australia coach Mickey Arthur that putting the right team culture in place will take time.

Time is something Arthur doesn't have a lot of, however, with his third-ranked side trailing two-nil in their four-match series against India and facing an Ashes series in July.

Day one of Australia's third cricket Test against India in Mohali was washed out on Thursday and play is due to start half an hour early at 1430 AEST on Friday.

The Australian team has been rocked by the suspension of four players -- vice-captain Shane Watson, reserve batsman Usman Khawaja and pacemen James Pattinson and Mitchell Johnson -- for one match each for failing to complete a homework assignment on time.

Hussey, who dropped a bombshell in January announcing his retirement right on the back of ex-skipper Ricky Ponting's exit, said rebuilding a close-knit team will be a slow process.

"The thing about that team is it didn't really change much for probably a 10-year period, so they got to know each other extremely well, like brothers," Hussey told ESPNcricinfo.

"The environment now will get back to that I'm sure, but it just takes time.

"There's been so much change and upheaval in Australian cricket over the last year or so, changing of coaches and selectors, players have come out of the team and new players have come in.

"So you've got to expect it will take time for trust to build up, friendships to build, the hard times, the good times together, it all builds the culture over a period of time."

Watson and skipper Michael Clarke have both denied there's a rift between them.

Captain/selector Clarke, coach/selector Arthur and team manager Gavin Dovey were the three powerbrokers who made the call on Monday to suspend players.

Watson immediately returned home to Sydney for the birth of his first child -- who arrived on Thursday.

While Clarke is hoping his deputy is back for the fourth Test in Delhi on March 22, Watson says he's considering his playing future and feels his suspension was harsh.

Arthur says it's not ideal that the team's disciplinary problems have been made public.

"The (homeworkgate) incident was minuscule in the greater scheme of things but we needed to make an example of the direction we wanted to go," he said.

Arthur revealed other incidents included various players giving "backchat" and "attitude" and turning up late for team meetings.

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