After one win from four matches, the World T20 is over for an Australia team touted as one of the more dangerous to be unleashed on cricket’s shortest form. Here are the five things Australia could learn from the tournament.
Dead at the death
The alarming lack of death bowling from Australia was critical in the losses to Pakistan and West Indies.
Most agonising was in our second match, with Australia in a strong position and the Windies needing 31 off two overs. Mitchell Starc proceeded to bowl a series of half-volleys and leg-side deliveries to one of the world’s most dangerous late-order hitters in Darren Sammy. The West Indian captain took full toll, amassing 19 runs off the over.
Then our most well-renowned death bowler, James Faulkner, delivered two stinging yorkers, followed by two half-volleys that Sammy ruthlessly belted over the fence to end the game.
Tempo, boys, tempo
It seemed every batsman that walked out tried to hit the first ball for six. Glenn Maxwell aside, the timing of most of the Australian batsmen was off, especially during the Indian farce. Aaron Finch showed fight in the first match, crafting out a patient innings (by T20 standards) but ran out of partners to finish the job.
Despite the experience in the side, the lack of tempo was evident during our two losing chases.
Spin on the subcontinent
The lack of quality finger spin in the team was a serious oversight from the selection panel. By the last match, part-time finger spinners Maxwell and Brad Hodge were preferred over wrist spinning duo James Muirhead and Brad Hogg.
The conditions in Bangladesh, and over most of the subcontinent, favour the quicker-paced finger spin dealt out by the likes of Saeed Ajmal and Ravi Ashwin.
The rise of Finch and Maxwell
One of the few positives is the continued rise of both Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell as world-class T20 performers. Both will anchor Australia’s T20 side until the next World T20, and both shape as explosive gems for the 50-over World Cup next year.
Both showed the ability to hit to and over the boundary and Maxwell’s handy off-spin and excellent fielding provide a real x-factor in our limited-overs teams that has been missing since the retirement of Andrew Symonds.
The long grind
The long summer took its toll on the Australian team, with players like David Warner and Shane Watson looking worn out during stages of the tournament. The injuries to Mitchell Johnson and James Faulkner robbed us of two of our most influential bowlers and late order hitters and upset the balance of the team.
Doug Bollinger, Starc and Nathan Coulter-Nile tried manfully but they lacked the ingenuity of Faulker and the shear brutality of Johnson.
Ruminate
Roar Guru
I'm a fan of SOK too, but he does not have a great record in either short form. I might be wrong but I think Nathan Lyon has a better record and certainly Cameron Boyce has a better one. On the whole, It was the leggies who starred in the tournament, not the offies, not that they were bad mind you.
Ruminate
Roar Guru
Not sure about the comment on finger spin. 4 of the top 5 wicket takers in the tournament were wrist spinners, number 3 was Ashwin, whose Carom( increasingly becoming his stock ball to right handlers in T20) behaves like a leg spin delivery anyway. Finger spinners are certainly important, but wrist spinners were the most effective. We did not play well, but the bowling attack selected was very poor too. NCN and Christian were poor selections given the conditions. It seemed to me like we were going in to the tournament as if were being played in Australia. The captaincy did not rate a mention above either? George was found wanting on the big stage and seemed to have no fallback plan when things were not working. He also had a poor tournament with the bat, it would have been better to see Cameron White in the side...
Ra
Guest
The boys need to play like girls - well done to your girls team, a three peat
dave
Guest
I tried to watch my 1st 20/20 game as it it was a world cup. Didnt make it through the game,i found it boring which is ironic given that there was more sixes hit in the hours I watched than in most tests. Thats just me though I love seeing players battle it out for days, there's no other sport in the world like test cricket. However i think with a few changes 20/20 could be better. 1.tennis ball 2.wheelie bin for stumps. 3.both teams must have a cattle dog feilding. 4.when mum calls dinner a system far more complex than duckworth/lewis has to be agreed upon by both captains to decide the result in 1 to 6 balls depending on the how strict the mum is on dinner time.
Matthew Skellett
Guest
One thing the men can learn from is looking at the Australian Womens National 20/20 Cricket Team who have just become World 20/20 Cup Champions for the 3rd straight Tournement !!!!!! Congrats to Elyse Perry and Meg Lanning you bloody beauties !!!!!!!!
jameswm
Guest
He was our main spinner and the tournament was in the subcontinent. Something's wrong there.
jameswm
Guest
Maybe you can find some more threads to say the same thing.
Wyrden
Guest
one thing I that Aus should have a younger t20 side. I still don't understand why smith didn't play and why Haddin was chosen over Paine who performed so well in the BBL. PS need to get O Keefe in too. especially for the tour of UAE both in T20 and tests. Make him play tests on turners(India, UAE, Sri Lanka) and T20 everywhere. He is the finger spinner we need
Silver_Sovereign
Guest
Hogg only played 1 match. Bit hard to criticise him when he didnt have much of a chance to play.
Gordon smith
Guest
I loved it - last nights game was sensational - kohli gave a classic display for a 23 year old - don't kid yourself that this form of game is not important or popular
trev
Guest
As a Kiwi, I know how you feel. We should've won this tournament - only needed 120 to beat SL on a decent batting pitch and just imploded. That followed a terrible choke against South Africa. Then we would've had our West Indian and Indian bunnies in the semis and final. Anyway, it is a funny old game.
DCNZ
Guest
Another lesson learnt maybe: Faulkner should shut his gob and focus on cricket.
Johnno
Guest
Australian cricket fans lack passion for T20, not just the purists and traditonilists.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
With the amount of T20 now being played it is time to taker a leaf out of rugby 7s games. Players are picked for the Sevens and that's where they stay unless released. They can still play for their regular teams when Sevens isn't on. Maybe CA should look at picking a T20 side and sticking with that rather than having players have to change their style of play every few games.
ms
Guest
A lesson ... don't count your chickens before their hatched
AlanKC
Guest
Pace is not always ace?
ak
Roar Guru
One more lesson that they learnt : Old is not always gold.