T20 World Cup: The problem with Australia

Despite being widely considered as the best cricketing nation of all time, the Australian Cricket team is yet to achieve that one trophy which has alluded them for nearly a decade now.

Despite winning a whopping five ICC Cricket World Cups (ODI), which includes winning four of the past five tournaments, Australia has never managed to clinch victory in the relatively new ICC T20 World Cup.

It’s no secret that Australia’s emphasis on the shortest format of the game is less than both Test and ODI cricket. This certainly shouldn’t be the case considering the popularity, talent and success consistent within the Big Bash League.

Despite making two semi-finals (2007 and 2012) and finishing runners up in 2010, Australia haven’t looked like winning a World Cup. In 2007 they fell 15 runs short of the Indians in Durban, while in 2012 they were obliterated by the West Indies.

The star-studded Windies outfit piled on the runs in the first innings with 205 and the Aussies never looked like chasing down the hefty total, being bowled out for 131. After an undefeated tournament up until the 2010 final, the Aussies disappointed against arch rivals England on the big stage, managing just 146 in the first innings, a total which was chased down with ease by England in just 17 overs.

In the other two tournaments, the Aussies have been knocked out during the group stages (2009, 2014).

From 76 matches, Australia have won 40, lost 34 and tied 2.

The recent ankle Injury to left-arm quick Mitchell Starc has required surgery and he has officially been ruled out of the World T20 in March next year in what comes as a major blow for the Aussies. It’s the news Australian fans would not like to hear, especially considering they have drawn previous T20 World Cup champions Indian and Pakistan, as well as New Zealand, in the group stages of the 2016 tournament.

Australia currently holds the second biggest T20 domestic franchise series in the world – the Big Bash League (BBL). The tournament continues to expand every year, as more international guns sign on to play and bigger crowds flock into local stadiums to watch the most exciting form of the game.

In recent years the Australians have seemingly lacked stability in the T20 ranks with a large turnover of players. Australia has a total of 72 internationally capped T20 players.

If we were to compare this to the other strong T20 cricketing nations around the world, the number one ranked side – the West Indies – have just 56. Sri Lanka has just 58 and South Africa slightly more with 60 capped T20 cricketers.

Unusually the Australian selectors often stick with players for a long period of time and the likes of Ben Laughlin, Ben Rohrer, Fawad Ahmed, Chris Lynn, Kane Richardson and Nathan Reardon have all received three or less opportunities at the highest level despite dominating domestic ranks for extended periods of time.

Why don’t the selectors stick with a constant stable line-up? In the past 24 months there has been just five new additions to the Australian One-day side, seven new additions to the Test team and in that same period of time the T2O outfit has welcomed 12 new additions.

If we were to analyse the current Australian squad it would appear just five players – Aaron Finch, Steve Smith, James Faulkner, David Warner and Glenn Maxwell – would be considered absolute locks for next year’s World Cup, making this year’s Big Bash League all the more important with spots up for grabs.

There are plenty of players to watch this tournament – both young and old – and this were Australian selectors must not discriminate in as they have done in the past.

In recent times it has honestly seemed as though the Australian selectors truly do disrespect the T20 form of the game. In a selection, which was extremely hard to fathom, youngster Marcus Stoinis was somehow selected for the most recent tour of the United Kingdom in August, despite never proving his worth at domestic level.

Prior to his debut against England, Stoinis had played just ten domestic matches totalling 89 runs @ 14.83 and just two wickets. How can the selectors justify his selection considering how many cricketers have done much more over an extended period of time, some of whom have not had a single opportunity?

The likes of Nic Maddinson, Ben Dunk, Chris Lynn, Nathan Reardon and the unluckiest man in Australia Michael Klinger all come to mind when thinking about players to watch this summer. The latter once again will be looking to put his name in mix for an international cap of some sort.

Despite being sensationally overlooked for the Test squad earlier this summer after two sensational years of first class cricket, Klinger’s T20 record is just as impressive.

In last year’s Big Bash League, Klinger topped the run scoring table with 326 runs @36.22 opening the batting for the Perth Scorchers. This included a second round annihilation of the Melbourne renegades at the WACA where he smashed his way to an unbeaten 105*, consisting of seven fours and four sixes to end up with a strike rate of 175.

This form was no fluke and the year before in BBL|03 Klinger piled on 223 runs at an average of 44.60 and 242 runs in BBL|02 @34.57, making him the most proficient scorer (989 runs) in the Big Bash League since it’s inauguration in 2011.

Furthermore, Klinger has proved his worth all around the world and more recently murdered opposition bowlers in the English domestic T20 competition with 654 runs @ 82, which included three centuries. How is this man yet to receive an international cap?

There are also a decent number of capable T20 bowlers lurking around domestically and the likes of Nathan Coulter-Nile, Gurinder Sandhu, James Pattinson, Kane Richardson and Ben Cutting all have the potential to make the cut for India next year.

Unfortunately two of the most exciting young bowlers in the country in Patrick Cummins and Jason Behrendorff are currently injured, with the latter a sim chance to take part in the Big Bash League if his reoccurring back injury can ease up. Take away the recently retired Mitchell Johnson from the line-up and the pace attack looks substantially weaker.

Australia must begin to take T20 International cricket much more seriously and build a strong, experienced squad without gifting players’ games.

Predicted squad
Aaron Finch, David Warner, Steve Smith, Michael Klinger, Glen Maxwell, Shane Watson, Matthew Wade, George Bailey, Mitchell Marsh, Moises Henriques, Ben Dunk, James Faulkner, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Cameron Boyce, Nathan Lyon, James Pattinson, Gurinder Sandhu