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After Glenn Maxwell was axed from the Aussie one day team, Steve Smith said the all-rounder needed to train “smarter” – comments which saw Steve Waugh criticise Smith, saying he should “praise in public and criticise in private”.
Smith, especially in the shorter format, seems not to value specialists in the top four. In the Champions Trophy, he tried Moises Henriques at No.4 over Chris Lynn – and we all know by now how badly Australia performed in that tournament.
Smith has a say in selections and his record as ODI captain isn’t phenomenal, failing to win series in New Zealand, India and South Africa.
In fact, he lost out on even qualifying for the semis of the Champions Trophy and left the Sri Lanka tour to prepare for the Australian summer.
That’s where David Warner stepped in as captain, winning all three remaining matches to claim the series.
In Smith’s last 15 away ODIs in charge, Australia have suffered 12 losses, while Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright and Nic Maddinson were picked in the team despite average performance.
Winning away from home is what every side strives to achieve and when you start losing, confidence dips. For the World Champions to lose so often has alarm bells ringing.
Even in Tests, Smith has been accused of making irrational decisions, such as not enforcing the follow on against England at Adelaide in the second Test. Fortunately for him, England didn’t win.
Australia’s form in limited overs cricket has not been great over the last 12 months. Again on Sunday, the Aussies made the mistake of not picking specialist batsman Cameron White, instead choosing Travis Head – a part-timer who can admittedly bat and bowl decently.
Clearly, Smith isn’t learning from his past mistakes, such as choosing Henriques over Lynn.
A winning team has consistency in team selection. Australia certainly has that in Tests, but in ODIs and T20 they do not, so they need to start focussing on the shorter format. Perhaps relieving Smith of the captaincy in limited-overs cricket could do the trick.
Warner, who has led IPL team Sunrisers Hyderabad, is a natural choice to take over. His fearless attitude is what Australia needs in the shorter format.
Moreover, Warner has shown the ability to stick to the same team he believes is the best fit, not chop and change.
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