Australia's ODI team must be overhauled

Australia’s ODI batting line-up and selection strategy is in need of an overhaul after yet another loss on foreign soil yesterday left them 2-0 down in their five-match series in India.

The tourists bowled tidily to dismiss India for 253 and were in a decent position to chase that down at 2-85 before an all-too-familiar collapse saw them lose 6-43. Once again Australia were unable to halt a slide.

For two years now, Australia have had a poorly balanced batting line-up, fielding too many all-rounders and too many hitters who rely on striking boundaries and cannot steady the team’s innings when required.

They badly lack a steady middle-order batsman who can work the ones and twos, build an innings patiently, and allow other more dynamic batsmen to play their shots around him.

This was the role played previously by the likes of Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey. The same role which Indian veteran MS Dhoni plays so well, as we saw in the opening match of this series.

In a deep hole at 5-87, India were hauled to safety by Dhoni, who constructed a calm, perfectly-paced innings of 79 from 88 balls which frustrated Australia and allowed India to reach 7-281.

His cautious approach allowed his batting partners to play instinctively and take some risks. Safe in the knowledge that Dhoni was protecting his wicket, aggressive youngster Hardik Pandya went for his shots and took the Australians apart, smashing 83 from 66 balls.

Australia would benefit greatly from having a similarly calm, composed batsman in their middle order. In the first two matches of this series Australia have fielded four players in their top six who are essentially all-rounders – Hilton Cartwright, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head.

Based on recent performances, Head and Stoinis deserve to stay, which leaves no room for Maxwell and Cartwright in Australia’s best XI beyond this series.

Cartwright is an odd selection given he is yet to bowl a single ball in his two-match ODI career, and his batting average of 25 in List A cricket does not go close to justifying his selection as a specialist batsman.

Maxwell, meanwhile, has averaged just 22 with the bat in his past 20 ODI. That is a poor record for an all-rounder but even worse for someone who has been used as a frontline batsman during that period, having bowled just one over per match on average.

I have long defended Maxwell as an ODI player because of his rare talent for demolishing attacks and putting the finishing touches on an ODI innings. But, as a number five batsman, he is not suited to coming to the crease with Australian three wickets down for less than 100 in need of rebuilding their innings.

(AP Photo/Jon Super)

And that is what he is often being asked to do. Maxwell was an asset when Australia had a top four of David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steve Smith and George Bailey functioning well two to three years ago.

Back then Maxwell regularly came to the crease with a solid platform set, giving him the opportunity to explode.

Right now Australia’s top four is shaky which means they cannot afford the luxury of such a cavalier batsman at five.

Australia say they want to groom Head as their long-term number four. The 23-year-old has cemented his position in the side by averaging 39 with the bat in his 27-match career and showing steady improvement with the ball.

Stoinis, meanwhile, has been immensely impressive in his brief ODI career and has the makings of a fine number six or seven, a position he would compete for with Mitchell Marsh. In his five matches, Stoinis twice has played fantastic unbeaten knocks for Australia under immense pressure away from home against a quality opponent.

Both times he may well have guided Australia to an unlikely win if his teammates had stuck around with him. Most famously he hammered 146 not out from 117 balls against the Kiwis last January, taking Australia from 7-148 to within a seven runs of chasing down 287.

Yesterday Stoinis was at it again. As the batting line-up subsided around him, Stoinis remained composed, played himself in and then gave India cause for concern as he started to launch sixes. He finished on 62no from 65 balls and made batting look easy.

After five matches he 257 runs at an average of 86 and a blistering strike rate of 105. It’s a small sample size, but those two rearguard innings are the kind which Maxwell is not suited to playing. Stoinis also has bowled very tidily so far, taking five wickets at 37, but most importantly keeping things tight and conceding just 5.08 runs per over.

Behind Stoinis, at seven, wicketkeeper Matthew Wade is under growing pressure. Over the past year, Wade has an unsatisfactory batting average of 25, which is identical to his career ODI mark.

(AAP Image/SNPA, Ross Setford)

Australia could add great depth to their faltering batting line-up by handing the gloves to Peter Handscomb, who has kept for Victoria more than a dozen times in 50-over cricket. It would be an experiment, but a reasonable one. Handscomb has only batted four times in ODIs so far, without great success, but is fresh from a dominant campaign in the England domestic 50-over competition, scoring 504 runs at 63 (strike rate 110).

Handscomb and Stoinis could bat at six and seven, or vice versa. With Warner and Usman Khawaja opening, Steve Smith at three, and Head at four, Australia would also have room for an accumulator-style batsman at five to further glue the order together.

Batsmen could audition for that role in next month’s Matador Cup. There are numerous candidates for such a role, including South Australia veteran Callum Ferguson who has averaged 51 across the past three domestic One Day tournaments and averaged 41 across his 30-match ODI career.

Or 24-year-old NSW middle-order batsman Kurtis Patterson, who averaged 50 with the bat in the last Matador Cup and is also a strong Test prospect.

Other batsmen could also jump out of the pack during next month’s domestic tournament. But it is clear that Australia need to dispense with some all-rounders, hand the gloves to Handscomb, and add two more specialist batsman to their top six.

Australia’s bext ODI XI (beyond the tour of India)
1. David Warner
2. Usman Khawaja
3. Steve Smith
4. Travis Head
5. Callum Ferguson
6. Peter Handscomb (WK)
7. Marcus Stoinis/Mitch Marsh
8. Mitchell Starc
9. Pat Cummins
10. Adam Zampa
11. Josh Hazlewood