This is pseudo-serious attempt at selecting Test, ODI and T20 sides ahead of a huge summer of cricket, with the Old Enemy heading to our shores for the Ashes.
To start with, my Test team will have six batsmen, one specialist wicketkeeper, three pace bowlers, and one spinner.
The ODI and T20 Sides teams will be made up of four specialist batsmen, one specialist wicketkeeper, one batting all-rounder, one bowling all-rounder, and four bowlers.
My Test team
David Warner (vc), Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (c), Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Peter Nevill, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon
This team picks itself really, with the only change being Wade out and Nevill in. Maxwell keeps his spot with his ability to bowl if needed. With the WACA finishing this season, you’d still let Lyon loose. Barring injury, the side wouldn’t change too much.
ODI team
Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (c), Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Peter Nevill, James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Andrew Tye, Jon Holland
Extended squad: Billy Stanlake, Mitch Marsh, Cameron Boyce, Chad Sayers
This is a little more controversial. I’m saving Warner for the T20 squad, and my rule states you can’t play all three. Head and Stoinis come into the side, with Renshaw out.
Lyon is out for Holland, Cummins for Andrew Tye, which is more workload management than anything.
The squad is a half/half of the Test and T20 sides, so there is some continuity, without having to overload the players.
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T20 team
Dave Warner (c), Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Sam Heazlett, Ashton Agar, James Faulkner, Alex Carey, Chad Sayers, Andrew Tye, Cameron Boyce
Extended squad: Billy Stanlake, Jason Behrendorff, Jon Holland
I’ve swapped Smith out for Warner, giving the latter the captaincy, while Sam Heazlett, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, and Cameron Boyce all come into the team.
This team was the hardest, because T20 doesn’t really suit having four specialist bowlers – it’s a mix of bits and pieces.
Heazlett is a left handed batsman that has plenty of years of playing ahead of him, so he can cut his teeth here. Carey is in the same boat, getting involved in the national setup through T20s, with an eye to a Test or ODI spot in future.
The main reason for setting the teams this way is to stop fatigue. Playing all three formats just isn’t feasible anymore, especially with the Test team and T20 team potentially playing back-to-back, as we had last year. Obviously, Warner would drop out of my T20 squad if that happened here, but I wanted his experience.
But what do you think Roarers? Which players would you have coming in and out of these teams? Which players have I overlooked, or put too much faith in?
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