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The Steve Smith furore is a joke

27th August, 2016
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Steve Smith has been in average form against the white ball. (AFP PHOTO/ MARWAN NAAMANI)
Expert
27th August, 2016
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This week, ex-players and fans howled down the decision to send Steve Smith home, ahead of a frantic six months of cricket. The furore is laughable.

The online criticism has ranged from suggestions Australia aren’t taking the tour of Sri Lanka seriously, to claims they’re looking for readymade excuses for a series loss, to allegations Smith is putting up the white flag.

Retired Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene tweeted that he was “surprised” Smith was leaving, questioning whether any other Australian would have done the same.

Ex-Australian players Michael Slater, Michael Clarke and Dean Jones all queried the selection decision on Twitter too.

Give it a rest. This is a bilateral ODI series, which has as close to zero meaning as you will find in modern cricket.

The next World Cup is nearly three years away, and next year’s Champions Trophy 50-over tournament will be played on English pitches – nothing like the dustbowls prepared in Sri Lanka.

There have been suggestions Australia need to salvage some pride with a win in this series, after being doused 3-0 in the Tests.

Yes, a series victory would be nice. But it won’t go close to making up for the Test debacle. What can do that is dominating quality opponents Pakistan and South Africa in six Tests this summer, then being competitive in the four Tests in India next February and March.

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To achieve this, Australia need their captain and best batsman fresh, hence why he’s been sent home to rest.

Playing ten Tests in five months is a lofty order for a cricketer. Doing so against quality opposition, as your side’s captain and key player, is especially challenging.

Add in the fact that Smith is captain in all three formats, and that he has to fly across the globe to South Africa next month for another limited-overs tour, and it astounds me how many people are bagging the decision to give him a break.

What makes the criticism even more peculiar is that his situation is nothing new. Australia have been rotating key players in and out of their limited-overs sides for years.

It’s hard to criticise this policy, given Australia are the world’s number one ranked ODI side, the reigning World Cup champions, and have lifted that trophy four out of the last five tournaments.

International cricketers who are automatic choices in all three formats are in particular need of being well managed. Australia have only three such players – spearhead Mitchell Starc, David Warner, and Smith.

Starc doesn’t need a spell, having only recently returned from seven months on the sidelines. Warner seems to want to play every possible fixture available, so Australia need to be wary of burning him out.

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Ditto for Smith. He is ranked the best batsman in Test cricket, an asset so rare and valuable that he simply must be protected, even from himself and his own competitive drive at times. Australia’s focus, justifiably, is on having him primed for the Tests against Pakistan, South Africa and India.

Each of those three series have deep meaning and vast importance to Australian cricket. The same cannot be said of the coloured clothing cricket going on in Sri Lanka.

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