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Australia must back Maxwell and Khawaja for Champions Trophy

Glenn Maxwell knocks it out of the park. (AAP Image/Rob Blakers)
Expert
14th January, 2017
19

Adam Zampa and John Hastings were the two highest wicket takers worldwide in ODIs last year yet neither of them can squeeze into Australia’s current XI.

Usman Khawaja also can’t get a game despite averaging 40 with the bat from his 11 ODIs last year. Shaun Marsh has averaged 45 with the blade from his past 15 ODIs but he’s also watching on from the sidelines.

And that’s even with the space created by Australia having just dropped veteran batsmen George Bailey and Aaron Finch.

In the lead up to the Champions Trophy tournament, Australia are in the fortunate position of having too many quality ODI players to fit into one XI.

Khawaja, Marsh, Hastings and Zampa all are world-class 50-over cricketers yet there’s no room for them. This embarrassment of one-day riches is why Australia are strong favourites to win the Champions Trophy in England in June.

There’s also the danger, though, that Australia could be distracted by having too many options. They only have seven more ODIs scheduled between now and the start of the Champions Trophy, which means they need to settle very soon on their best XI for that tournament.

Dropping batting mainstays Bailey and Finch was the correct move. Now Australia must decide upon the appropriate balance of their line-up and resist the temptation to chop and change which comes with having so many fine players to choose from.

In the opening ODI of their five-match series against Pakistan, Australia decided to open with Travis Head, in place of Finch, and put Chris Lynn in Bailey’s old number four spot. That meant Australia had three all-rounders in their top six – Head, Maxwell and Mitch Marsh.

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From the moment this side was announced it looked unbalanced. That was then emphasised as Australia slipped to 5-78 batting first. Australia needed another specialist batsman in the side and one who was more of a traditional strokemaker rather than a blaster.

Khawaja undoubtedly shapes as a better option at the top of the order than Head. The elegant left hander has the ability to anchor an ODI innings without getting bogged down. Khawaja is supreme against the new ball, rotates the strike nicely and can reach the boundary when necessary.

Head simply is not in his class as a batsman. The 23-year-old South Australian should not be competing with Khawaja. Head’s only possible role in the side at present should be as a spin bowling all-rounder batting in the middle order. That’s the spot which he filled while Bailey and Finch were in the side, and which was long held by Glenn Maxwell.

At their respective peaks as 50-over cricketers, Head and Maxwell are streets apart. Maxwell is comfortably a better bowler, is arguably the world’s best fieldsman and is far and away the more dynamic batsman. What sets Maxwell apart is the ease with which he scores at a scorching pace.

There is not another Australian batsman in ODI history who comes even close to matching Maxwell’s astonishing strike rate of 125. The next closest, among Australian players to have faced at least 500 ODI deliveries, are James Faulkner (SR 107) and Adam Gilchrist (97).

Not only does Maxwell’s lightning batting pace help propel Australia to larger totals but it also makes life easier for his batting partners. Australian keeper Matthew Wade confirmed this after he and Maxwell’s crucial 82-run stand against Pakistan which rescued the home team from 5-78.

“Batting with Maxi is always great, you don’t have to do too much,” Wade said. “You can just try to keep it in the gap and get down the other end and watch the show go….Whenever you bat with Max, the scoreboard is always ticking so it makes it a lot easier on me, I can just get down the other end.”

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During their partnership Wade was struggling to score fluently, making just 28 from 43 balls, at a dawdling strike rate of just 65. But he was able to take his time, get his eye in and then press on to a match-winning ton because Maxwell took the pressure off him by making 51 from 45 balls during their stand.

This valuable aspect of Maxwell’s batting too often is overlooked in analysis of his ODI efforts. When Maxwell is at the crease opposition bowlers tend to be on edge, much in the same way that David Warner intimidates Test bowlers and eases the pressure on opening partner Matt Renshaw.

Head, at this stage, does not have this same commanding presence or match-turning ability. With the Champions Trophy to be played in England, where ODI decks have been hard and true in recent years, there is no room for two spin bowling all-rounders in Australia’s top six.

One of them must go. While Head’s recent form has been solid he hasn’t made himself undroppable, averaging 30 with the bat and 55 with the ball from his 16 ODIs.

“Hang on Ronan, Maxwell’s ODI form hasn’t been any better”, I sense you saying. That’s correct.

But he’s also the type of player who can catch fire very quickly and if he does, Australia will have one hand on the Champions Trophy. Maxwell at his best is one of the most valuable ODI players on the planet, only a shade behind the likes of Mitchell Starc, Virat Kohli, and AB de Villiers.

Australia should back him in for the Champions Trophy, and bring Khawaja in to open with Warner. Too much tinkering with their XI, due to the beguiling array of options they possess, could derail Australia’s Champions Trophy push.

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