It’s just a plain fact that Australia can’t win the World Cup and the Ashes.
Our ODI and Test teams are inexperienced at best. With the return of Steve Smith and David Warner, one wonders how long it will take them to adjust to not facing Sydney grade cricketers and Canadian T20 players anymore.
The lack of Test cricket between now and August creates a bit of a conundrum for how to prepare for the Ashes in particular. Unexpectedly, we now have four recent Test centurions, at least two of whom, will be unlikely to get much game time at the World Cup or face any international talent.
Let’s think about who will probably be at the World Cup and is also an Ashes contender. As mentioned, Smith and Warner will be back and will be considered for every fixture on English soil in the hope that they will get enough top tier form back to perform well.
Like the centurions, Mitchell Starc performed just in the nick of time to slide his neck out from under the guillotine. Pat Cummins, Jhye Richardson and Josh Hazlewood (if fit) will also be in the mix. On the back of a team-leading batting season at home, one would think Travis Head will also appear in both squads.
There are other players who will be locks for one squad but not even looked at for the other.
There is also a long list of players who have a chance to make both squads, but certainly are not guaranteed: Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Peter Siddle, Marcus Stoinis and on and on it goes.
If the ODI World Cup stirs passion amongst the public and the players, we should absolutely field our best 50-over team. We are a very strong ODI team and despite a patchy performance against India, we do tend to lift in the World Cup, in particular. We would be a strong chance of defending the trophy.
Do we even care about the World Cup that much though? It is nice to defend titles we already however we have won it five times and no other team even comes close to threatening that lead at the moment. India and the West Indies are next closest on two each. Yawn.
Pursuing the World Cup with all our might would mean that players about to play the Ashes, do not get any international opponents between now and August. They will then have to show up and play in conditions that has been unbearably hostile to touring Australian teams, for almost two decades.
Australia’s Usman Khawaja. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)
Do we even care about the Ashes? Yes we really do. It is another title to defend and even more than that, an Ashes win in England is unprecedented in this era of Australian cricket. The last Australian team to do it, had recently just strung together 16 consecutive Test match wins ending earlier in the year.
The 2001 team was a phenomenal bunch of individuals. Their achievement, even with the talent that stuck around and followed them, has not been repeated. For any chance of this year being different, preparation is obviously the key.
So why waste time? Why not stack our World Cup squad with potential Ashes players? Joe Burns, Tim Paine and Kurtis Patterson seem to be way out of the conversation for World Cup spots but why not give them a chance in English conditions against the best bowlers in the world?
Of course white ball cricket is different to red ball cricket, but a strong mental game and problem-solving skills that are gained by playing the fiercest players is what Australia has lacked in recent years. Instead of banishing them from the international scene, give them all the experience they can get so that they get a good look at their English opposition.
Otherwise they will rock up to venues where we will expect performances at the drop of a hat and still be trying to remember how to play for their country.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Yes, we should care more about the Ashes. Another way of looking at it: it will be a morale booster and quite an achievement to do respectably in the Ashes, even a narrow loss, particularly as there is a danger of a hefty defeat given recent history of the team, past series in England, and England’s recent record at home. Whereas the chances of winning the World Cup are very slim, probably a semi is the best we can hope for, and the care factor will be high. But not sure stacking the ODI team with Test players is the way to go. More important for prospective Ashes batsmen to get experience in English conditions on A tour or in County Championship. And that the selectors dont read anything into ODI form for Ashes tour - I.e. if Stoinis does well in WC, it will have negligible relevance to his chances of doing well in the Ashes, which should be obvious to anyone who has followed cricket seriously.
JayG
Guest
JamesH, completely agree with you. To give up on the World Cup even before it begins is just not Australian
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Cummins averages 45 with the ball in his last 20 ODIs. Behrendorff has played a total of 2 ODIs and has been injured non-stop for years now. Tremain struggles in 50-over cricket, he averages 32 with the ball and often goes for runs, he's a red ball specialist. Richardson has played 7 ODIs. Hazlewood is a very good ODI bowler but not nearly as verstaile as Starc - eg. he really struggles to bowl at the death whereas Starc is a fantastic death bowler. Coulter-Nile is very talented but like Behrendorff he just cannot stay fit, he has non-stop injury problems so leaving out Starc and instead basing your World Cup campaign around super-fragile bowlers like NCN is super risky. Faulkner I would definitely give a go in India but he's not at all in competition with Starc - Faulkner is a 4th bowler who is picked to add batting depth whereas Starc is picked as your 1st strike bowler. So the only ODI bowler there with anything close to the pedigree of Starc is Hazlewood who is not nearly as well-rounded, he's just not a good death bowler at all, to the extent Australia often avoided using him at the death.
Rick Wallaby
Roar Rookie
Test cricket for me. ODI’s poorly attended. T20 declining for the same reason it succeeded at first by attracting people with short attentions spans. Now, they’re losing interest.
Paul
Roar Guru
I think in England, on small grounds with flat pitches, we'll need guys who can take the pace off the ball but also don't allow batsmen to free their arms by bowling an ODI line and length. Cummins, Richardson, Hazlewood, NCN (if fit), Faulkner, Tremain (?) , Behrendorff would be the sort of guys to consider. I just think Starc's pace and Test style line& length will be an open excuse for top orders to just go for it. He might get wickets, but I think he'd be very expensive. If the WC was played over here, that's another matter entirely.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Paul I'd be very interested to know who are these bowlers you speak of who are clearly better ODI options than Starc?
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Yep Nudge England were cruising in the 2017 Champions Trophy until they reached the knockout stages and fell apart against Pakistan, getting thrashed by 8 wickets with 13 overs to spare. That failure, at home as massive favourites, will only have increased the pressure on them to win the World Cup in front of their home crowds.
Harvey Wilson
Roar Rookie
Test cricket will always be the pinnacle of the sport.
Kieran Kirk
Roar Rookie
If Paine could do what Ponting, Clarke, Smith couldn’t do, that would be remarkable.
Waxhead
Roar Rookie
No contest for me :) Test cricket has always been the main game for me. One day cricket falls a long way 2nd. So any Test match is more important than the world cup imo. T20 just annoys me, I never watch it and would like to see it abolished.
AREH
Roar Guru
Tough one, always is when comparing Australia's pinnacle in both formats. But considering Australia has won four test matches in England post-2001, and lost the same number of series, has to be the Ashes for mine. During this same period Australia at least has three WC victories to boast.
bowledover
Roar Rookie
I hope so. I think there is very little cross over between our strongest test team and our strongest odi team.
JamesH
Roar Guru
If we make the semis (or even get into a do-or-die final round robin game) then the high pressure situation will be a valuable experience. But if we play a substandard side we'll struggle to win more than a few matches, which means we're unlikely to be in such a situation anyway...
Nudge
Roar Rookie
No sorry, Head will not “definitely be there” he would need an injury to Handscomb S.Marsh or Smith to be considered. Having 3 middle order types to guide the innings is probably 1 to many. Having 4 and you got no chance. Cummins and Starc are definite’s for me, and I’d have Richardson and Behrendorf before Hazlewood
Rellum
Roar Guru
What did that old Taco commercial say?
Kieran Kirk
Roar Rookie
Just trying to do what I can to help us break the English curse! I realise it's too radical.
El Loco
Roar Rookie
Interesting outside-the-box thinking, but nah, we'll be sending the best possible team for each of the two different jobs. My gut tells me we look a bit too pedestrian to win the World Cup, but I'd never write us off beforehand.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
Tests over all others, always. The WC is the only time its even a question, and then the answer is "Tests over all others".
Kieran Kirk
Roar Rookie
Would much rather retain the Ashes. I love all cricket, but everything we do should come second to keeping the urn.
Kieran Kirk
Roar Rookie
If our Test players are getting a chance to play lots of County or ‘A’ Tour red ball matches then yes that could be a good substitute. I agree the game and environment will be different from a Ashes Test, however, the lack of mental fortitude, in our batsmen especially, I feel has been our problem. Thinking about shot selection and match awareness skills will all be honed in an intense WC setting. I think they are useful Test skills as well.