The last time Australia and New Zealand hosted the World Cup, in 1992, the Kiwis were arguably the form team through the tournament.
They had won seven out of eight pool matches and were heavy favourites to knock over Pakistan in the semi-final in front of their adoring fans at Eden Park.
Everything seemed to be going the Kiwis’ way on the day. Batting first they made a formidable 262 runs, with their inspirational skipper Martin Crowe leading the way with sublime 91.
But Crowe twinged his hamstring on 80. He continued batting but failed to lead his team while fielding. It was the greatest regret of Crowe’s cricketing life as he watched his deputy, John Wright, fail to follow the plans that Crowe himself had conjured throughout the tournament.
The game has moved ahead a long way in 20 years but given the rush to ease Michael Clarke back into the World Cup team, Australia needs to be aware of the consequences if Clarke suffers a similar setback in the tournament’s knockout matches.
George Bailey’s place in the team will be dictated by Clarke’s fitness: if Clarke is in the playing XI then Steve Smith will be his deputy. If Clarke suffers an injury before a knockout match then Bailey should take over the duties. So there is fair chance Bailey could be leading the team without having been on-field for majority of the World Cup.
That was exactly the case for New Zealand in the semi-final against Pakistan. Wright had missed a few games due to injury and all of sudden was in the deep end, making all the decision.
According to Crowe it proved to be catastrophic, as Wright deviated from the plans made throughout the tournament:
“In all we should be making minimum 13 bowling changes, that how we had played throughout the tournament. Under Wright leadership we made six,” he later said.
“Danny Morrison would always bowl only five up front because of his fitness, Wright had tossed him the bowl for sixth that day and Danny went for 14.
“I always wanted part timer Andrew Jones to bowl two or three overs in the middle, to take the load of Chris Harris.
“What was Wrighty thinking?”
It even got to a stage that at the second drinks break and with 16 overs to go, Wright came into the dressing room for a toilet break and asked for Crowe to write down the combinations. By the time Crowe had written out the plans and the note was sent out another two overs had been bowled and the tactics were once again pointless as Wright had to make his own decision due to pressure and the lack of time.
It probably cost New Zealand a berth in the World Cup final, but as Crowe put it, “It is difficult to blame Wrighty he had not been playing in all the games or sat out due to injury or the combinations.”
There is every chance that Clarke’s fragile body may give way and Smith or Bailey could be thrown in the deep end. Smith might be in the form of his life and Bailey may have led in the majority of ODIs in the past two years, but both men are a fair way behind Clarke in terms of their decision making on the field during crunch situations.
To be fair, this could happen to any team at the World Cup, but for other top teams their deputy or vice captain is a certain starter and will stand adjacent to their respective skippers. For Australia that may not be the case, and with the possibility that Clarke could be hampered through the match, Australia could face a similar fate as New Zealand in that semi-final in Auckland over 20 years ago.
If it does happen, let’s hope Australia are ready.
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