No Mitchell Starc, no Mitchell Johnson, no Shane Watson, no Brad Haddin, no Michael Clarke. Same positive result.
Yesterday Australia played their first home ODI since the World Cup missing almost half the side which won the final.
Together those five cricketers – four retired and one out injured – have played 760 ODIs, which is almost twice as many as the whole side which cruised to victory against India at the WACA.
You would expect such an exodus of experience and talent to cripple a team. Yet, since the World Cup, Australia have displayed an intimidating level of depth in their 50-over talent pool.
They started this new era by beating the resurgent England 3-2 away from home, claiming the final match of that series with a makeshift line-up missing seven players from their world-beating XI.
Yesterday they cobbled together a bowling attack which was minus four of the men who made up their top five ODI bowlers just months ago – Starc, Johnson, Pat Cummins and Nathan Coulter-Nile.
As India rolled towards what looked set to be a huge first innings score, it seemed Australia had been overconfident in the depth of their pace stocks by fielding two debutant paceman.
Joel Paris, the 23-year-old West Australian, is very green, but at least earned his spot with back-to-back standout seasons in the domestic 50-over competition.
Having surprised everyone by making the Test squad this summer, Scott Boland was a similarly unlikely starter yesterday. He would not be among my top 15 limited-overs bowlers in Australia.
Boland has averaged a very poor 36 with the ball across the past two domestic 50-over competitions. To offer debuts to both him and Paris in the same match against the number-two ranked ODI team in the world was a bold, even arrogant move by the Australians.
To be fair to Boland, though, he bowled tidily before going for 30 from his final two overs at the death. It was interesting to see that he operated at a fairly gentle pace – an average speed of 133km/h and top of 139km/h.
Boland often has broken 140km/h in domestic cricket, but given his supposed hurrying pace was the main justification for his shock international selection, his lack of speed was notable.
Paris operated at the same speed as Boland, yet he had been picked for his ability to swing the ball rather than intimidate batsmen. The left-armer found minimal movement through the air, which limited his threat to India’s star-laced batting line-up.
Much more so than 26-year-old Boland, Paris shapes as a fine prospect in both ODIs and Test cricket and should benefit greatly from this early exposure to the top level.
Attack leader Josh Hazlewood looked leagues ahead of either of them though, as he continues to flourish into a high-quality international player. Watching his mature and intelligent performance yesterday, one could easily forget that he himself is a rookie, having played just 33 matches for Australia across all three formats.
Australia’s most experienced player was David Warner, with just 66 ODIs to his name. Highlighting the massive gulf in experience is the fact six of the Indian players had played more games than Warner.
Most of Australia’s experience lies in their batting line-up, which remains supreme despite the retirements of Clarke, Watson and Haddin.
The home side were in bother when they lost two early wickets. But captain Steve Smith and former skipper George Bailey built a pair of clinical hundreds to guide Australia to a comfortable win.
Bailey’s position in the side had been questioned by many cricket followers, in a large part because of the glut of gifted batsmen plundering runs in the domestic 50-over competition. The likes of Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Joe Burns, Adam Voges, Callum Ferguson, and Michael Klinger all are worthy of international selection.
Indeed, those batsmen would command a spot in most other ODI line-ups. It is this intense level of competition which has kept Australia at or near the apex of ODI cricket for the past 20 years.
Australia have a gigantic lead atop the ODI rankings and the signs are positive that they can hold on to that spot for some time to come.
Don Freo
Guest
And that's just to put their names in front of state selectors. Those 2 are way off international selection with even younger batsmen performing way better.
Don Freo
Guest
It is an absolute certainty that if Paris could not move the ball in those conditions, neither would Behrendorff. BTW, The Dorff still has stress fractures. JL said that's why he is ok to bowl 4 overs in BBL but would not yet be ready for 10 in a day.
Craig Swanson
Guest
WE are still talking ODI? If so I agree with you. Bancroft/Warner opening in both ODI and tests. Silk and Carters need huge runs in the second half of the shield to put their names in front of selectors again. They have lost a lot of ground.
Craig Swanson
Guest
Forget about pace.These blokes were picked because one can swing the ball as in Paris'case and one is an ccurate death bowler as in Boland's. The ball did not swing and Paris looked pedestrian. Would have had Behrendorff. Boland just could not find his length. Should be better for the outing.
Baggy_Green
Guest
Lots of potentials - Bancroft , Lynn , Maddinson , Handscomb for the immediate future Head , Silk, Carters , Heazlett , Renshaw , Doran and Patterson sometime in the future I would actually have Burns own to No 5 when Voges goes and have Banc opening with Warner
Baggy_Green
Guest
I think there was a bit of nerves yesterday with both debutants. Boland can hit it up to 145 and Paris also ramps it upto 142-144 ... maybe as they settle down we can see their real speeds
Nunny10
Guest
Would Bancroft ever get a look in to play limited-overs cricket this summer for the national side? I know his game is more conservative than the likes of S.Marsh,Maddinson,Burns and Khawaja, but he has shown promise in the BBL before.And he can be a handy wicket keeping option. If there ever was a back up batting/keeping slot available.Surely he and Handscomb would be in the mix.
Don Freo
Guest
You and your WA blinkers rubbish. I have regularly written in aupport of Maxwell, Boland, Paine, Head...you read selectively as you are with this thread. Read it properly. Already, however, Paris bowls with great control of line and length, moving the ball both ways. To do that regularly at soeeds between high 130s and low 140s is excellent. His record in all forms, particularly his ability to make early incursions into the top order, has underlined his ability. Just because Starc is good doesn't mean Paris is bad. Thst is just dumb thinking.
Nic
Guest
Be serious for a moment and take off your WA blinkers. Paris is a virtual novice and the best we can hope for atm is a couple of serviceable performances in this series followed by a return to domestic cricket for some much-needed experience. Talk of surpassing Starc is utter rubbish as Mitchell does everything Paris does (and more) at 10-15 ks quicker Show me somebody that would prefer to face Starc rather than Paris and I'll show you an idiot
The Bush
Roar Guru
I found it refreshing during a BBL game a few days ago when Howey told I think Gilly and Flintoff (or maybe it was Waugh and Flintoff) that he'd receive orders from the Producer to get the conversation back onto the cricket (they've veered off to some rubbish). I dunno if Howey was being serious or not, but that is the exact purpose of a "straight man" in the comm box, to stop the boys club from blabbering away about rubbish all day (like on Channel 9).
The Bush
Roar Guru
No, it's just you're stuck in 2014. Maxwell's taken his game to a new level and does what the team needs when the team needs it. People just can't get over the fact that he has such an aggressive and unorthodox (though he plays orthodox when he wants) "style". Style does not always mean an absence of substance.
Don Freo
Guest
What is your explanation for his consistently strong performances, Craig?
The Bush
Roar Guru
We say that, yet Finch averages over 37 in ODI cricket. That's not too bad. He must be a hell of a lot more "consistent" than we think he is...
Tom
Guest
No actually I think the vast majority of cricket fans are with him. He is the most important batsman in world one day cricket.
Tom
Guest
You must have been watching a different game to me if you think that team flourished. Goodness me. The way India played it wasn't really feasible, at least extremely unlikely that we wouldn't win. We batted very well. Yes. But there is nothing new look about our batting line up. It is basically the same as from the world cup, the best batting line up in the world by far. Our ability to score quick runs is incredible. We were never at any stage in our batting innings above a canter, we strolled to the target very easily. The new look part of the team was the bowling. And it was poor. Absolutely poor. And awfully unbalanced. No wicket taking ability whatsoever. We had NO real spinner and NO fast bowler. Instead we had 5 medium pace bowlers!! My mind was boggled. Our selectors are fools. We were totally passive in our bowling innings, and completely dominated. India could've made however many runs they wanted. And that is where the awful mentality of India masks our poor bowling. You could say we restricted them to a mediocre target (300 is very mediocre), but you'd be wrong. We didn't restrict them at all. They made a decision to score a mediocre total, with 1 wicket down for much of the innings they never even attempted to reach a big total, and essentially just handed the win to Australia. I was sitting at home shaking my head during their innings at 30 overs then 35, but even by then it was too late, from the 35th over in their innings with one wicket down, It was always going to be a stroll in the park for our batters. Their field placements and bowling tactics just highlighted further India's terrible mental attributes. Our superior mentality doesn't take away from the fact that our bowling lineup was one of our worst in a very long time. And that is all down to the selectors. They have no clue and they need to be sacked.
Nunny10
Guest
I can see Silk as a future short-from prospect for Australia,can ? But i'm unsure about his test chances, what do you believe about his future prospects? He does have four first class centuries to his name.
Nunny10
Guest
look honestly i think first game nerves would of been rife , especially against India with another debutant in the mix.Richardson and Paris are easily the quickest bowlers in the squad, I've seen Richardson bowl 142 km/h+ consistently, Whereas Paris' speeds have fluctuated between 132-140+ km/h.Both are useful and at the top speed are similar,but Richardson looks more aggressive.
Craig Swanson
Guest
The rest of us must have been watching a different Maxwell to the one you are watching then.
Craig Swanson
Guest
Like Nic Maddinson is a sheer natural talent. But he is not in our ODI side. These types, Finch included, run far too hot and cold, We need consistency in our national sides, not blokes that may come off twice in 10 knocks.
Craig Swanson
Guest
Agree about Tubby. Sounds like he should be selling snags at the local butcher. Hate when the Victorian trio of Brayshaw, Warne, and Lawry are together on air. You do not hear too much cricket but rather why the "G" is so much better than other grounds and why everything Victorian is better than anywhere else. Sickening.