Calling the shots

New Delhi: He has won the hockey World Cup gold and Olympic silver, captained Australia for several years and been part of three Sheffield Shield winning sides in the fiercely competitive Australian domestic cricket circuit.

But Ric Charlesworth is also a trained medical doctor, has been elected to the Australian parliament, and has coached the Australian women's hockey team to two Olympic and two World Cup gold medals .

In between, he has found the time to write a few books as well as assist New Zealand cricket as their high-performance director. In short, Charlesworth is as versatile as he is successful.

Now, the 57 year old from Subiaco in Perth is keen to make a success of his stint as coach of the Australian team playing in the Hero Honda Hockey World Cup in New Delhi, India.

Having had tremendous success as the Australian women's coach from 1993-2000, when the hockeyroos swept everything before them, expectations are high. But Charlesworth is taking it one step at a time.

He didn't have an auspicious start, with Australia crashing to defeat against England in their first match of the tournament.

High standards

"We didn't play badly. We had a lot of chances but we didn't make the most of them. If you look at penalty corners, we had 12 and only converted one. That's shocking … it's unacceptable,'' he says.

"Apart from that, I think the video umpire did us no favours,'' he adds, never one to mince his words. "He's supposed to know the rules. But in this case, it was clear that he did not and he cost us some points. That's not acceptable at a World Cup."

The defeat, however, stung the kookaburras into action. Since then, they have scored seventeen goals and conceded a mere two in two games. Their 12-0 thrashing of South Africa was the biggest margin of victory in a World Cup.

"I'm reasonably happy with how we did against South Africa. Piling up the goals means that we are in a good place if it comes down to goal difference,'' Charlesworth says. "But if you look at it dispassionately, we had only 26 shots at goal and we converted 12 — that's pretty good finishing.''

He's keen to ensure that his team keeps its feet on the ground and any talk of being the favourites is brushed aside.

"We have made a bad start and I'm just hoping we get through to the semifinals. I haven't given any thought to winning the event,'' says Charlesworth.

Despite being one of the powerhouses of the modern game, Australia have only won the world cup once, and that was when Charlesworth was the skipper, 24 years ago. He also finished as the top scorer of the tournament — a major achievement for a midfielder.

With him at the helm, there is confidence that Australia, who have finished second in the last two editions, could win the World Cup. After their dominant performances in their last two games, few would bet against them.