Australia's youngsters propel them to World Cup final

Australia’s recent glories in Test cricket have been the work of a core group of veterans.

But their ascension to the number one ODI ranking and berth in Sunday’s World Cup final largely is due to their youngsters.

Dynamic all-rounder James Faulkner, strike bowler Mitchell Starc and prolific first drop Steve Smith are now their three best ODI players, aged 24, 25 and 25 years old respectively.

After Smith and Starc, who have had phenomenal World Cups, 24-year-old seamer Josh Hazlewood and 26-year-old all-rounder Glenn Maxwell have arguably been their next best players at this tournament.

Undoubtedly there is cause for concern about the medium-term future of the Test line-up, with veterans Ryan Harris, Michael Clarke, Chris Rogers, Brad Haddin, Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson all a chance to finish up within the next 18 months. However, the outlook scarcely could be rosier for the 50-over side.

Hazlewood, who was brilliant in Australia’s quarter final win and again last night, is the latest gem unearthed in ODIs. Using his lofty, easily-repeatable action to extract maximum lift from the SCG pitch, the beanpole operated on an impeccable length.

Able to bowl fuller than most quicks because of his towering 196cm frame, Hazlewood consistently had the Indian batsmen uncertain whether to play forward or back. In the end, often they did neither and were trapped on the crease in the manner perfected by Hazlewood’s bowling doppelganger, the legendary Glenn McGrath.

Despite possessing an ordinary record in domestic 50-over record, with 60 wickets at an average of 31, he has looked at ease in ODIs. Hazlewood does not possess the menace of Johnson, curve the ball like Starc, or boast the slower ball tricks of Faulkner or Pat Cummins. He just gives the batsmen little to work with. Very little.

Hazlewood’s pitch map last night was a thing of cricketing splendour. The majority of his deliveries demanded that the batsmen take a risk to try to find the boundary. It was more of the same in the quarter final when he smothered Pakistan’s batsmen.

His new-ball partner Starc has been even better. Starc is now, in many people’s minds, the best bowler in ODI cricket. He and Hazlewood can form the bedrock of Australia’s 50-over attack for the best part of a decade. Johnson will continue to provide the pace experience for the next year or two – maybe even three.

Waiting patiently for opportunities are a long line of gifted young pacemen. Cummins has not been at his best in this tournament but when he gets it right he is devastating. He’ll fight vigorously for his spot in future ODI squads.

Fellow quicks Nathan Coulter-Nile and Kane Richardson have impressed during their limited opportunities in coloured clothing for Australia, while the likes of Jason Behrendorff, Gurinder Sandhu and James Pattinson have excelled at state level.

The sole glaring weakness in Australia’s 50-over unit is the lack of a frontline spin option. Nathan Lyon deserves further opportunities, although he may be denied some chances by the continuing improvement in Maxwell’s off spin.

The Victorian’s past 21 matches have seen him snare 21 wickets at the wonderful average of 25. While his spectacular strokeplay has caught the eye his bowling quietly has been blossoming. In Maxwell and Faulkner, Australia have two of the elite all-rounders in the world and both could potentially be around for another 10 years.

That’s without mentioning the expansive talents of 23-year-old Mitch Marsh, who would be a fixture in most other ODI teams in the world.

Then, of course, there’s the man who is on the way to becoming one of his country’s best-ever all-round batsmen in Smith. So fluent was his innings yesterday that it fooled many observers, including myself, into believing the SCG pitch was an absolute belter. As almost every other batsman for the match struggled to come to grips with the tacky surface until well set, Smith’s genius became more obvious.

Since taking Watson’s position at first drop just over three weeks ago, Smith’s scores have been 95, 72, 65 and 105. His ODI record since the start of the Australian summer is astounding: 1016 runs at an average of 68, including four centuries and six fifties from 19 games.

When Clarke retires, which could be fast tracked if he holds aloft the World Cup trophy on Sunday, Smith may well take over as skipper. He would have at his disposal a core unit of young players who look set to lead Australia to more World Cup finals over the next decade.