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Australia need to play their strongest possible side against Afghanistan today, which should rule out Shane Watson.
Facing a nation competing in its first World Cup, Australians could be tempted to experiment with their line-up. The reality is they could field a state side and still beat Afghanistan in a 50-over contest.
But now is not the time to start tinkering with their XI. Australia need to vaporise their ill-equipped foes in this match at the WACA.
Fresh from an embarrassing batting display in their loss to New Zealand on Saturday, Australia require a major injection of confidence. A huge boost in their net run rate would also be extremely valuable to try get their noses ahead of Bangladesh, who currently sit one spot above them in third place in Pool A.
The Bangladeshis have an easy match tomorrow against minnows Scotland, followed by a very winnable fixture against the floundering England on Monday.
Australia, meanwhile, will tackle Sri Lanka in their next outing, one which could determine whether they get a soft or a treacherous path to a semi-final berth.
Today they will benefit from the expected return of arguably their most influential player, James Faulkner. The potent all-rounder is an automatic inclusion after missing the first two-and-a-half weeks of the World Cup due to a side strain.
With pace bowler Pat Cummins out because of rib soreness, Australia have the option of replacing him with Faulkner. That would give Australia a phenomenally deep batting line-up, with either Faulkner or keeper Brad Haddin at nine and talented late-order hitter Mitchell Starc at 11.
That would be overkill, however. As I wrote recently, specialist bowlers should not be undervalued and three all-rounders is sufficient for Australia.
One of Shane Watson, Mitch Marsh or Glenn Maxwell must give way for Faulkner. Maxwell is a must due to his underrated spin, which not only offers Australia integral variety but helps them to avoid major over-rate problems.
The choice is between Watson and Marsh. The former is the more proven performer and has been one of the finest limited overs players his country has produced. But Australia require a first drop capable of playing an influential innings when the chips are down. Watson’s recent record in both ODIs and Tests indicate that he rarely produces his best performances when his side most needs them.
Steve Smith, by comparison, has made a habit of scoring runs at crucial junctures for Australia in coloured or white clothing. Smith clearly is the superior option at number three based on recent performances.
Skipper Michael Clarke’s best position looks to be at number four, so should Watson move down to five or six, positions he has not held with any regularity for many years? I don’t think so.
Over the past year or so, Watson has made just 245 runs at 23 in ODIs, while his bowling returns have also dwindled, with only two wickets at 135. In the field he has become increasingly cumbersome. Marsh looks better suited to batting in the middle order, is fresh from a five-wicket haul and is a superior fieldsman.
Watson should sit out today’s clash, with Faulkner slotting straight back in at eight and lanky quick Josh Hazlewood replacing the injured Cummins.
Australia’s pace bowling is a strength, as we saw on the weekend when Starc nearly engineered an unlikely win over the Kiwis. That match highlighted that quality specialist bowlers remain a prized commodity in the modern game, despite the fact it’s evermore dominated by batsmen.
Expectations were that the power-laden batting line-ups boasted by each side would light up the oddly-shaped Eden Park in Auckland. Instead, the stars were Starc and New Zealand pair Trent Boult and Daniel Vettori.
Faced with canny bowling, many of the highly rated batsmen involved in the contest merely combusted. ODI batsmen have become so accustomed to bossing bowlers that they can be swiftly found out when confronted by a searing or clever spell.
Australia have the quicks to skittle even elite batting line-ups like New Zealand, South Africa and India. They should field their strongest possible attack today and aim to do just that to Afghanistan.