Michael Vaughan has echoed the sentiment of Michael Clarke and says leaving out Steve Smith has been a “shock” and a “mistake” heading into their do-or-die T20 World Cup match against England on Friday.
Clarke, the 2015 World Cup-winning captain, was the most outspoken cricket of Australia’s selection ahead of the T20 tournament.
The former batsman, who scored centuries at the top of the order and in the middle during a glittering career, slammed Australia’s decision to drop Smith on the eve of the tournament.
Speaking during the lead-in matches against England, Clarke said Smith would be the leading run-scorer of the tournament if he opened the batting and added that the right-hander was essential to Australia’s World Cup defence because he added balance to a big-hitting order.
“Like, they took Steve Smith to Western Australia. Flew him to Perth to make him 12th man – that’s not right,” Clarke said on the Big Sports Breakfast.
“And don’t tell me Steve Smith has to bat No.3 or No.4.
“If he opens the batting, he will be the leading run-scorer in the T20 World Cup. He’s still that good a player.”
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Clarke’s comments came after Smith was dropped following the three-match tour of India, with Cameron Green, who until Josh Inglis’ injury on the eve of the opening match was not in the World Cup squad, chosen to open the batting alongside David Warner while captain Aaron Finch was conspicuously batting in the middle-order.
Two matches into the tournament and Australia’s World Cup defence is hanging by a thread following their humiliation in Sydney against New Zealand.
They received a World Cup lifeline following England’s shock loss to Ireland on Wednesday in Melbourne, but they must now beat their Ashes foe to keep their tournament alive.
Australia’s selectors now face a crunch call, with questions hanging over Finch’s place in the side after an ugly innings against Sri Lanka while Pat Cummins’ position is also shaky after receiving more tap.
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But given Smith’s lack of time in the middle, as well as the struggles Cameron Green faced after a blistering series against India as well as the fickle nature of T20 cricket, Australia is caught between a rock and a hard place.
Vaughan, who is credited for his crucial role in ending England’s Ashes drought in 2005 and famously took on Australia Down Under in 2002-03, said he was shocked by Smith’s exclusion.
“I do think that there is a place in a team for a player like Steve Smith,” Vaughan told foxsports.com.au.
“You only have to look at (Dawid) Malan for England, he’s a timer of the ball, hits it in the gaps, knows where his boundary options are and I think if you gave Steve Smith 50 balls he’d get you an 80.
“He’s that good a player. He’s skilful. But he might take you 20 balls to get going.
“I do think in most T20 teams you do need a real skilful player who can manoeuvre the ball against seam, spin, hit the gaps. It’s not all about whacking sixes and fours, it’s about manipulating the field.
“I don’t know how much of an impact he has (as a leader), but clearly he’s a great player and I was shocked to see him not in there.”
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Following Australia’s loss to New Zealand former Black Caps wicket-keeper Ian Smith questioned whether opposition teams feared the defending champions without his namesake.
Vaughan however said Smith’s absence was crucial because of his ability to adapt to the situation of T20 cricket, which is more intricate than simply trying to smash every delivery, and described him as the “perfect three”.
“I’m not too sure if it’s that as much as a feeling in T20 cricket,” he said.
“I just think you need skilful players, not just powerful players. You also need manipulators of situations.
“I think Smith can play the situation and manoeuvre the ball 360 in his own different way. He’s also got a good cricket brain. It is a shock.”
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He added the bouncy wickets in Australia suited Smith’s ability to score off the front and back foot.
“That’s the thing, and that’s why it surprises me because I guess in the UAE on those slower, lower wickets you probably think you need more power and hitting down the ground ability but on Aussie wickets, with a bit of bounce, I think Smith’s perfect for those wickets,” he said.
“So it’s a big shock, it’s a big mistake in my view. But the Aussies generally do seem to find a way and they’ll have to find a way.”
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Vaughan also slammed the constant tinkering of Australia’s batting order, saying Finch hurt his own chances by constantly shuffling throughout the line-up this year.
“Finchy’s form has been a debate for such a period of time,” he said.
“If you’re out of touch, you keep playing in the position that you’re going to try and play in the World Cup and get yourself rock solid in terms of form.
“I didn’t get the swapping and changing.
“It’s just looked a little bit disjointed over the last few weeks. Too much swapping and changing. Too much rotation. And I get rotation when you’ve got players in fine form and you’re trying to give them a chance, but Finch hasn’t been in great form and he just didn’t play enough for me at the top of the order leading into the World Cup.”
Meanwhile, Vaughan said India’s extraordinary last-ball win was what the World Cup needed and added that Virat Kohli’s match-winning knock had given the cricket heavyweights a chance.
“I think India needed that win, they needed that moment,” he said.
“Virat needed that moment for himself as well. We know he’s a brilliant player, he’s had a little bit of form in the Asian Cup but to do it on that stage, it took me back a few years where he seemed to chase down everything on his own, and to do it under that amount of pressure, against all the odds, it was a brilliant game.
“I don’t think I’ve seen a better T20 spectacle in terms of the crowd, the expectation, the noise, and then obviously the game itself. It was exactly what the World Cup needed.”
