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In dropping George Bailey and Aaron Finch from the ODI squad to take on Pakistan this week, Australia has all but ruled out that pair for the upcoming Champions Trophy tournament in England.
After the five-match series against Pakistan, which begins on Friday in Brisbane, Australia only has three more ODIs scheduled before the Champions Trophy kicks off in June.
Thus the move to drop Bailey and Finch strongly suggests neither player is in Australia’s plans for that tournament.
The two beneficiaries of that selection decision are Usman Khawaja and Chris Lynn, who look set to take the positions of Finch and Bailey as opener and number four batsman, respectively.
Australia’s top four against Pakistan looks likely to be Khawaja, David Warner, Steve Smith and Lynn, followed by two of Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell and Mitch Marsh, with keeper Matthew Wade at seven.
Finch and Bailey have been fixtures of the ODI side for several years but paid the price for lengthy form troughs.
The burly opening batsman started the 2015 ODI World Cup in style, with 135 against England. But since then, Finch averaged just 29 with the bat from his 35 ODIs.
Bailey, meanwhile, had an incredible start to his ODI career but averaged just 32 over the past three years.
What was even more damning than that poor average was Bailey’s dawdling strike rate of just 76 in that period.
In the modern ODI game, where 350 is now a par total on some pitches and 400 often considered “gettable”, Bailey had fallen behind the times.
While he remained useful at holding innings together, particularly after a few early wickets, Bailey was too one-dimensional for the modern game in that he struggled to score briskly from ball one when required.
Australia has swapped old school Bailey for a batsman in Lynn, who is famously brutal from his first delivery onwards in T20 cricket.
Strangely enough, Lynn isn’t in Australia’s T20 or Test sides but instead has been picked for what is his weakest format.
While he has a commanding first-class average of 44 and a phenomenal T20 record, Lynn’s 50-over stats are humble.
In 39 List A matches, Lynn has made 1070 runs at 31 and never scored a century.
Lynn missed all of the last domestic one-day tournament – his last 50-over match was for Australia A against South Africa A just over four months ago, when he made an unbeaten 56 from 51 balls.
The inclusion of Lynn at four could potentially make Australia’s batting even more ballistic.
Already the Australians have arguably the most destructive top six in the ODI format thanks to the match-changing power of the likes of Warner, Maxwell and Marsh, plus the class of Smith. If Lynn can find his range as a 50-over batsman and translate his astonishing form in T20 cricket, Australia’s ODI batting will be truly monstrous.
Combined with the world’s best attack – Mitchell Starc (ODI bowling average of 20), Josh Hazlewood (24), Pat Cummins (23) and Adam Zampa (28) – Australia’s batting power makes them the team to beat at the Champions Trophy.
Not only has Australia won that tournament two of the past three times, but they’ve also claimed four of the past five World Cups.
The folly of picking a third-string attack in South Africa last year saw them punished 5-0, but once they selected a proper side again they were back to their brutal best smashing the Kiwis 3-0.
While Lynn has been picked for his power, it was Khawaja’s finesse which appealed. He shapes as a fine opening partner for the more dynamic Warner.
That pair, along with Smith, will seek to set solid platforms upon which Lynn, Maxwell, Marsh and Head can build gigantic totals.
The decision to dump Bailey and Finch was timely and has set up Australia nicely for a run at the Champions Trophy.