The honeymoon is over for Australia’s selectors, who face difficult calls on several veterans as they weigh up generational change in the limited overs set-up following the T20 World Cup.
In the sights of past players after the controversial decision to dump one-time white ball king Mitchell Starc against Afghanistan, George Bailey’s panel, assembled this year after Justin Langer’s departure, has even bigger headaches to come when it maps out the path to the next world title in the US and Caribbean.
Not least of selectors’ issues will be the future of skipper Aaron Finch, who was part of an ageing top order which did not fire in the Super 12s. Finch and David Warner will both be 37 for the 2024 tournament, Glenn Maxwell and Steve Smith will be 35 and Marcus Stoinis 34.
Wicketkeeper Matthew Wade has already declared this event to be his international swansong.
Selectors face tough calls on Australia’s veterans after the T20 World Cup.Credit:Getty
Former captain Mark Taylor said while form would ultimately decide who made it to 2024 he believed the time was right to inject fresh blood into the team.
“I don’t see T20 cricket being a 37-year-old’s game at the absolute elite level,” Taylor said. “It might be terrific from a spectacle point of view but at the top level you want young people playing this game.”
Taylor, a former opener who was jettisoned from the one-day team in 1997 for Adam Gilchrist, cast extreme doubt over Finch’s future, albeit one which does not need to be decided immediately given Australia’s next T20 series is not until August.
“When you’re an opening batsman – I do know what it’s like even though I didn’t play T20 – and facing guys bowling 140 km/h or quicker it’s not always easy to stay in, but take them for eight or nine an over that’s even harder.
“That often requires younger people with younger eyes and quicker feet. That’s what Australia need to look at for our future.”
Even as they waited for the outcome of England’s game against Sri Lanka, there was acknowledgement within the Australian camp that a few key factors had to be weighed up in assessing the Cup campaign.
These included the patchiness of performances, the retention of a very similar team from last year’s World Cup to this one, the lack of top order runs from Finch, Warner or on Friday night Green, and the balance of bowlers selected.
In particular, the lack of a stand-out death bowling specialist has hurt in a team largely staffed by the same quick bowlers who also feature for Australia in Test cricket.
Consistency there is rewarded with wickets, but can become something like predictability in T20. Shuffling Starc into the middle overs and then dropping him for the Afghanistan game illustrated this tension.
Starc’s omission baffled many, including former captain Michael Clarke, the Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott and Taylor, who would have left out Test and one-day international captain Pat Cummins.
“He’s been struggling in this World T20,” Taylor said. “I was surprised with it because I thought if there’s one guy who might be able to bundle out the tail or pick up some wickets with the new ball it might be Starcy.”
Once the cornerstone of Australia’s white-ball attack, Starc was left out as part of a “tactical decision”, assistant coach Dan Vettori said. His replacement Kane Richardson was battered, taking 1-48 from four overs.
“It was more about the effectiveness of [Josh] Hazlewood and [Pat] Cummins at the top, and their ability to take the new ball and be wicket-takers,” Vettori said.
“Therefore that pushed Starcy into a different role, and he came up against Kane Richardson, and it was thought amongst the hierarchy that Kane was exceptional at the death, and so to utilise him there as opposed to Mitch.”
