In Steve Smith, David Warner, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, Australia have all-timers whose numbers match the best of any era. But there are gaping holes in their resumes, and this winter is their last chance to fill them.
For a generation with so many great players, this Australian men’s team has not been more than the sum of its parts.
Steve Smith dominated the 2019 Ashes.Credit: AP
Since the 2015 World Cup success, when Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson played key roles, Australia’s greatest achievement came against the odds in the 2021 T20 World Cup.
They have not beaten India anywhere, missed the inaugural World Test Championship final, nor have they won the Ashes in England.
An hour of madness in Delhi wrecked their hopes of conquering the final frontier in India but, to appropriate a line from Meat Loaf, two out of three ain’t bad. It would at least match them with Mark Taylor’s team of the 1990s, which finally climbed the pinnacle of world cricket by conquering the great West Indies and also won in England.
Selectors have picked a squad for the here and now. In an era when teams are picked with an eye for the future, that is to be commended. Performance has eclipsed potential.
Eleven of the 17 played in the 2019 Ashes. Eleven will also start the series older than 30. Of the likely starting XI at Edgbaston, only Cameron Green and Alex Carey will be playing their first Ashes Test on English soil.
Michael Neser is the closest to a hard-luck story, but he is not a first-choice player, nor is Cameron Bancroft, whose numbers are almost identical to Marcus Harris. Bancroft’s selection would have been as keenly disputed as his non-selection. In Harris and Matt Renshaw, selectors have opted for continuity.
For the second time in as many weeks, George Bailey refused to guarantee Warner’s selection beyond the WTC final. The uncertainty over the veteran’s Test future means both Renshaw and Harris are live chances to start the Ashes.
By virtue of a central contract, Harris is the nominal favourite, but there are good judges who believe Renshaw has the sounder technique to counter conditions in England.
As unreasonable as it would be to expect Smith to reprise his Bradman-esque feats of the last Ashes tour, selectors can be confident Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khawaja and Travis Head are in positions to provide stronger support this time.
Australia’s pace attack is again their strength. Cummins is at the peak of his powers. Starc is a wiser bowler for the hard lessons learned four years ago. Hazlewood, who has played four of Australia’s past 19 Tests, may be showing signs of wear, but Scott Boland is tailor-made for bowling in England.
With six Tests in eight weeks, four quicks is light on but Michael Neser and Sean Abbott will be on county duties during the Ashes, which will no doubt frustrate some in English cricket that their first-class system is assisting Australia.
In India, Cummins’ men were dragged out of their comfort zone by its alien pitches. This time, Bazball – England’s new ultra-attacking play under Brendon McCullum – is the wildcard.
Traditionally, the teams that worry Australia the most are those that can take the game away from them quickly. Though Ben Stokes has already requested for fast and flat tracks to suit their methods, this would also blunt the effect of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, who have caused many an Australia batter heartburn over the last four tours.
They are the main reasons why Australia haven’t tasted Ashes glory overseas since 2001. If this group don’t get the job done, there will be players next time who were not born when Australia last won in England.
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