Australia are prepared to drop Steve Smith from the Twenty20 side in their World Cup defence and also shuffle Aaron Finch down the order to accommodate Cameron Green.
That much was proven by the nominated Australian batting order for the opening T20 against the West Indies on the Gold Coast.
Another six flies off the bat of Cameron Green against India.Credit:Getty Images
It turned plenty of heads around the country, underlining how the selectors are working through different scenarios less than three weeks before the hosts’ first World Cup match.
In a strong signal to the absent Marcus Stoinis and not yet fully fit Mitch Marsh, Green’s retention as an opener alongside David Warner indicated that the national selectors and captain Finch are seriously weighing up how to use the 23-year-old allrounder.
Green effectively forced the conversation by clouting some of the world’s best T20 bowlers to all parts during the recent brief tour of India, granted a chance at the top of the order with Warner rested from the trip.
Finch, meanwhile, has batted in the middle order for Australia and also domestic T20 sides in the past, making use of his ability to attack spin bowlers and reducing the chance he might be swiftly plucked out by the swinging new ball.
That move down the order in turn forced out Smith, arguably the best Test batter in the game but a somewhat diminished force in the T20 arena – during last year’s global tournament he played throughout but had precious little impact.
Glenn Maxwell remained at five, and Tim David kept his place at six after a promising international debut in India. Having played a domineering role for multiple T20 franchise teams including in the IPL, David is regarded as a proven quantity in one of the format’s toughest gigs.
In all, it looked like a lineup devised to best balance Australia’s resources should Stoinis not recover from a side strain in time to take his place in the Cup squad.
“He had a really good tour of India, it was good for him to get an opportunity to open the batting,” Finch had said of Green on match eve. “So he’ll get more opportunities, he’ll get an opportunity at some point in the series. But the reason with carrying him is to have an extra bowling resource as well.
“[Stoinis] is still in Perth but he’s at a level where we think he’ll be fully fit for that game against England. We were just conscious of the travel with a quick turnaround here, and then only a travel day with the game in Perth, it can be quite a high risk for some guys with soft tissue injuries.
“So he’s still planning and preparing there, but he’ll be good to go for that third game out of the five and excited to get him back in. He’s such an important part of our side and the makeup of it, especially with his bowling.”
Stoinis and Ashton Agar, both members of the Cup squad but not yet with the team as they both recover from side strains, will provide updates about their injury status in Perth on Thursday.
