Australia need to start putting more focus on their One Day and T20 teams. It is good to see priority on the Test team but this form of cricket is beginning to lose popularity.
It is not helping Australia when the selectors decide to rest star players such as David Warner, Steve Smith and Matthew Wade in their ODI team and schedule the T20s when none of the players in the Test squad available to play.
The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) are trying their best to get bums on seats in limited overs but people aren’t going to want to pay to see the Australian second XI play.
Being in the Test team is an honour for anyone and that should be the same for the ODI team, but it seems as if the coloured clothing has lost its value.
People such as Billy Stanlake and Sam Heazlett are simply not ready for Australia, Heazlett hasn’t even played a List A game for Queensland. Stanlake has only played six list A games.
The obsession the Australian selectors have with picking young players hurts specialist One Day players like George Bailey who averages over 40 in ODI cricket. In the Test team players have to prove themselves over a long period of time, but in the limited forms players only need a good performance in the Big Bash to be picked.
With the upcoming champions trophy Australia need to win to show that they are still number one in One Day cricket and show that they care equally about Test cricket and limited overs cricket.
With all this in mind this is the best team that the Aussies can play in order to do well in the Champions trophy.
1. David Warner
Warner’s record speaks for itself, he has an average of 44.84 and has 13 hundreds to his name, he is a very reliable batsmen at the top of the order and at the moment his One Day record speaks for itself.
2. Matthew Wade
Wade averages 29.89 when opening the batting in one day cricket and it would be worth the Australians trialling him batting up the order again because there is no one else who is a recognised opener. If this experiment doesn’t work it is easy to open with Head or Lynn and Wade could go further down the order.
3. Steve Smith (C)
Smith is in the form of his life at the moment scoring three hundreds in the recent Test series in India and also doing well in the IPL. His captaincy is also very valuable to the team, this one is a no brainer.
4. Chris Lynn
Lynn has done incredibly well in the T20 cricket over a long period of time and seems to do well in any conditions, including India. If he is fit he will be an unstoppable force in the Australian team and is also capable of batting anywhere in the order.
5. Travis Head
Head has done very well since he made his debut in 2016, averaging 37.20 with the bat. He also contributes well with the ball bowling ten economical overs and fulfills the all rounder position.
6. Marcus Stoinis
Since his second ODI against New Zealand when he scored 146 not out and almost got the team to victory, Stoinis is a must in the One Day side. His aggressive batting is good for any position in the order, he is also a good medium pace bowler and gives Smith another option.
7. Glenn Maxwell
There is not much to say about Maxwell, he is an absolute force in the One Day team. His style of play suits this form of cricket and the unconventional shots he plays at the back end of the innings are very effective making him a great finisher, preferably he would be batting further up the order but the order is to strong for him to be any higher.
8. Pat Cummins
Since his return to the Australian One Day team Cummins has never looked like getting dropped, his bowling is very dangerous and he forms an excellent partnership with the rest of the pace attack.
9. Mitchell Starc
Starc is the most experienced of the bowlers in this team and he is at the peak of his career at the moment when he is at his best there is no doubt he is the best in the world. He is very effective in the back end of the innings when the batsmen are looking to score he has an excellent fast yorker.
10. Adam Zampa
Zampa got more wickets than any other bowler in the world in 2016 and it left many people baffled when he wasn’t picked early in the Australian One Day summer. He didn’t have the best BBL season but did well when his was picked in the Australian Summer.
11. Josh Hazlewood
Hazlewood give good yin and yang to the fast bowlers, the other two are quick and intimidating but Hazlewood has less pace but more bounce and seam movement, he starts of the innings well keeping the runs down to a minimum.
12. George Bailey
Despite his excellent record their isn’t a place for Bailey in the strong Australian team, if there is an injury or a batsmen is dropped he would definitely be the best option for Australia, coming off an excellent Sheffield Shield season.
This would be the best team Australia could play in the Champions Trophy and will give them the best possible chance of winning.
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
I like Test cricket the most and to some extend the ODIs but not T20s. T20s are for teenagers and Kids.
Targa
Guest
Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game, while short form cricket is less important. Australia has a very good ODI side (only marginally worse South Africa), but is lacking a decent spinner. Zampa is pretty average (no better than Maxwell and Head) and is definitely a poor man's Ish Sodhi, Sodhi, by the way, missed out on the NZ CT squad as they picked Santner and Jeetan Patel. In fact NZ has the greatest bowling depth of all the squads going to the CT with McClenaghan, Milne and Corey Anderson returning from injury. The trouble is that the batting is a bit light.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
There's this handy invention called radio that would let you follow the cricket at work...
Amith
Guest
Good points, khawaja does have the best test match technique, and maxi is best for quick run scoring, however you forgot Lynn who is probably our best quick run scorer
Amith
Guest
Well said Ron
Amith
Guest
I am not surprised, Khawaja has had this treatment all his career, absolute rubbish to see this happening in today's age, khawaja should open in the ODI side
Big Steve
Guest
I forgot about that. its crazy but not surprising sadly.
Big Steve
Guest
He just means india but is saying outside of most countries to make his point.
Andrew Young
Roar Guru
This makes me sad. Very sad.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Disagree tests are dying. Day/Night test matches and a shift to a 4 day match running from Thursday - Sunday is going to revitalize the game in this country in such a way that even diehard traditionalists will admit they were wrong to fight it for so long. test cricket just needs some context. A 4 year cycle building up to a test championship between the two top teams at the end of each 4 year period would give meat to otherwise forgettable series and mean every match was important. Re: the ODI sides I don't mind if Australia keeps playing yoof in the coloured clothing. ODI cricket is not what brings in casual fans, and it doesn't attract the hardcore traditionalists either. 20/20 and Tests are the two most important formats atm in terms of driving audience numbers.
Matth
Guest
Regarding Wade opening, there are only two reasons to play someone as an opener: 1. They have a good enough technique to survive do we have wickets in hand to accelerate, or 2. They are the best bat or close to it, so we want them to have as many overs available to them as possible Wade is neither of these options. Looking at our batting line up do we say that what we really need is Wade to take more overs? Or thanks Goodness Wade is there to steady the ship? If you want technique in case the conditions are more test match English, pick Khawaja. If you want to expose your quickest run scorers to more overs then use Maxi or Head.
AREH
Roar Guru
Yes but the best thing about test cricket is you can come back to it at different times during the day to watch and still get to pick up a lot of the play. I'm sure other test cricket fans (most Roarers, I presume) are just like me in the way that they can't leave the house without checking the scores on mobile every few overs...haha
dave
Guest
Bolloks. Australia's best should play test cricket and let the amateurs play the short formats until their ready to play real cricket.
davSA
Guest
Test Cricket is alive and well . When India tour SA later this year expect sell out crowds . Same when Aus or England tour here . Its only when sides like NZ , Pakistan , Sri Lanka or the Windies tour is crowd support a problem , but that has always been the case. What is happening though is that all new entrants to the sport be it recent adult converts or children taking to it are primarily absorbed into T20 and 50 overs . So what I'm saying is that in order to keep Test Cricket popular work needs to be done to ensure it stays that way. It cannot I'm afraid be a given .
Chui
Guest
So somebody watching test cricket isn't well rounded, or doesn't have a busy life....or is it just your definition of one?
Ron
Guest
In fact no one cares much about it and to be honest the one day game will be scrapped soon in favour of T20 as that's what the Indian crowds watch most
JGK
Roar Guru
Can you post the TV ratings and crowds for the various forms of cricket for , say, the last 5 years?
Ron
Guest
We are missing khawaja and handscombe , finch did nothing to warrant a recall
Ron
Guest
Disgraceful treatment of our third best batsman
Ross
Guest
Feel bad for Khawaja, he was asked to miss the nz odis for the Indian test prep and not even played there, talk about bad management of a very good player , Trevor hohns what are you doing