Australia cannot be competitive in the World Cup with the level of inflexibility in the current set-up.
This ODI series against India is the perfect opportunity to find the right balance, spread the workload and discover the right tactics that will assist the future of Australian cricket. Even better, it can be done without the non-stop, critical media coverage of a home summer placing pressure on everyone, given the time differences.
Instead we had D’Arcy Short – Australia’s most in-form cricketer – go home before the first ODI because he was only selected as an injury-replacement player, Aaron Finch stay at the top of order despite his woes, and Marcus Stoinis become the much-hyped lynchpin of the team.
Despite Saturday’s series opener heading into the penultimate over, India were comfortable in victory and once again, the lack of thought in Australia’s tactics made an upset win unlikely.
There is absolutely no doubt that D’Arcy Short should open the batting for Australia in the World Cup, and the less time he plays that role on the international stage, the less effective he will be.
Short was the perfect player to take to India, testing his mettle against quality spinners in foreign conditions while also taking full advantage of his bowling.
For a team that has won just four of its last 25 completed ODIs – yes, 25 – it becomes frustrating to see the ability of dangerous players not maximised by the Australian national cricket team.
Other than Short, a player like Chris Lynn seems to have a line through his name at the moment despite his most recent ODI failure against South Africa last November coming when he was thrown into an unfamiliar position at the top of the order. The game before that he finished with a run-a-ball 44 and looked quite good.
Travis Head is playing Sheffield Shield at the moment despite having an average of 34.4 in 42 ODIs and establishing himself as a good contributor in the middle order. Three failures in the home ODI series against South Africa ruled him out, despite his excellent form to finish off the mid-2018 series against England.
It is clear that Aaron Finch is in horrendous form and his spot in the team must be in jeopardy, despite being captain.
A time has come within Australian cricket where ruthless decisions need to be made to ensure a competitive future that doesn’t see Australia losing almost every game and having no chance away from home.
Look at the T20I series win against India. Capitalising on Glenn Maxwell’s form in T20 cricket and batting him up the order was enough to get Australia a win.
If dropping the captain – who is not playing at an international standard at the moment – for a more in-form player, then it should be done.
Marcus Stoinis batting at three was a major change for Australia, however there is little doubt this only came about due to Ashton Turner’s inclusion and the need to bat him down the order. Stoinis has been the talk of the town over the past couple of months and Shane Warne has been campaigning for his inclusion into the Test team for a long time.
(Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
In the first ODI against India, he batted at three and bowled 9.2 overs. Stoinis is an excellent domestic player in T20 cricket and reasonable in the other two formats, even though the statistics don’t always back him up. He is far from the star of the Australian cricket team, nor is he the man that should be so heavily relied upon in any game.
Australia’s tactical inflexibility stems from pre-arranged plans that don’t seem to change based on game situations. India’s six-wicket win on Saturday was predictable and Australia was never going to win with the bowling tactics employed.
India bowled 27 overs of spin compared to Australia’s 10. Glenn Maxwell is more than capable of bowling a full allotment of overs, and this would have been far more suitable given the conditions. If he bowled poorly, Ashton Turner could also bowl his spin.
Stoinis’ role should be to bat at five or six for Australia and bowl an unspecified amount of overs per game, that shouldn’t be 10 unless he is bowling extremely well. The way he was used in the first ODI screamed Melbourne Stars, and while it may have been effective in a domestic T20 competition against moderate opposition, it doesn’t hold up against arguably the best team in the world on their deck.
Of course, with Marsh, Smith and potentially Warner coming into the team, as well as the return of some key bowlers, we will be seeing drastic changes to the line-up and performances over the coming months.
What this series against India shows us, however, is how Australia will approach games and who the team is willing to trust in certain situations.
At the moment, it doesn’t seem as though Short, Lynn or Head will be trusted to play a role they could probably do better than those currently in the team, while Stoinis seems to be the key factor to Australia’s potential successes in the near future.
The rest of this ODI series will be fascinating to see which players stand up, who is backed in and what tactics are employed by the Australians. We cannot have a repeat of what has happened all summer, and how the team approached the first match against India.
If things don’t change, Australia heads into the World Cup toothless and without direction.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
As a fan of both my own team , South Africa and the Australian cricket team I have over decades made the comparisons between these 2 sides. Both and this is a sentiment often expressed by among others Shane Warne , play and approach the game similarly . Where they are streets apart is in the attitude of the public , especially main stream media towards their respective teams. Cricket in South Africa is a distant 3rd in popularity and passion . Not so in Australia . As a result the Aussie press can be ruthless in allowing little margin for error. This creates its own sets of pressures . The SA public and press are far more forgiving should coach Otis Gibson choose to play an experimental side or combination of players and fail with them than Justin Langer would be afforded. Just the whole approach of the Australian public to the ball tampering affair reflects this.There is no way on earth 3 SA players would have got those bans were the roles reversed. This brings me to the article and would imo add reason to the supposed inflexible attitude. Fear of failure can be a real burden.
dat
Roar Rookie
A slight correction there. Chahal who is ranked no:5 ,didn't play in the last match.Whenever india plays 3 spinners in odis,it's always kedar jadhav who is the 3rd spinner these days. In pure skill, kedar is probably even lower than maxwell's in capability.But his low arm action and lack of pace, makes it hard for batsmen to get under him.Also, while there are some dhoni fans who credit even sheer dumb luck as some great tactical nous on his end,there is no denying the role dhoni plays when kedar is bowling. Jadhav has been open in telling out loud, that dhoni essentially guides him, telling him where to pitch the ball every delivery,and sets the field accordingly to whatever ploy he has intended to carry out. All of which, so far allowed kedar to have a career avg of 31 at an economy of below 5,despite all his limitations.
Dilip Samuel
Guest
D'Arcy Short bowls well except that for right handers, he has to bowl round the wicket!
bowledover
Roar Rookie
There is a lot to like about this article. Why is Stoinis batting at 3Maybe...nmmaybe, he is at no.4, but likely he is at best a 5 or 6 or maybe even 7 (though think he starts too slowly for that). Why isnt there more power? agreed Short and Lynn needed to be given opportunities here. More exposure means they can be properly evaluated. Especially Short at the top of the order. And the big one...Finch is not playing well enough right now. Maybe move him down the order and see if that helps. But persisting with him at the top is like gifting a wicket .
Ouch
Roar Rookie
Oz are playing 1980's style ODI at present. Trundling along a 4 rpo and then trying to up the rate. Not working. And why is Stoinis batting at 3?
El Loco
Roar Rookie
We'll never know.
Larry1950
Guest
How Finch holds on to a place in the one day side astounds me, he can't bat his way out of a disastrous slump, is an ordinary fielder & captain, getting on past any peak he had & drags the team down. I'm sure his teammates will tactfully come out with the usual'hitting them well in the nets' and 'only 1 innings away from a big score' statements but surely Ussie has his spot now after an assured 50. Ditch him now before it's too late to change for the World Cup.
Paul
Roar Guru
EL, did you notice the 3 spinners India used were rated 4, 5 & 33 in the world ODI rankings. Of course Kohli will give them their full 10 overs because they're up with the best at what they do. I recon Maxwell would have been hammered on that pitch against those batsmen
Paul
Roar Guru
"Needing to bat second....it’s openly admitting that when Australia bats first, they’ll lose." Dem, with our record in the past 25 ODIs versus what the big boys are doing when they win the toss (which is to bat second), it might be seen as a weak tactic, but this side needs to start somewhere and chasing, where we can pace an innings makes more sense than trying to set a target where we have no idea what a par score might be. Now if we had the 2015 side, we could use different tactics but as it stands, we need to mimimise concerns for our batsman and batting second does that.
Dem Panopoulos
Expert
Needing to bat second is hardly a strong tactic, as it’s openly admitting that when Australia bats first, they’ll lose. Your point in mentality though, that’s where all this is at. Australia is too rigid, and the messaging is clearly inflexible. Let players be themselves and play how they want. It would change the entire perception of the team immediately. As for the 5th bowler, sure Maxwell could get carted, but that’s where fluid captaincy is required. He bowls 3 overs and goes for 20, throw the ball to Stoinis. Stoinis goes for 20 off 3, throw the ball elsewhere. There are enough options to find 10 overs. Overall, rigidity is the killer of freedom and creativity. It’s why Maxwell’s success in the T20 was so appreciated, he wasn’t hindered by constraints usually placed around him.
JamesH
Roar Guru
Loco, from mid 2017 to mid 2018 (i.e. the 12 months prior to his slump) Finch's strike rate was over 95, which was better than Kohli's. His career strike rate was a tick over 90 before this slump. He's in a stinky form trough at the moment and may well have to be dropped but there was nothing wrong with the speed at which he scored before that.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
Fair point re mixing it up with the ball but main bowlers need to get into their stride. Your part timers can get on board later. Also, clearly the aussie bats should be challenging the fast men on line and length and attacking the spinners (both easier said than done) but this is only a trial for the WC. I think the Aussies are finding their way in both areas.
Paul
Roar Guru
Dem, your basic premise about Australian ODI cricket being too rigid is quite correct but your logic for suggesting that is a tad flawed. "Australia was never going to win with the bowling tactics employed. India bowled 27 overs of spin compared to Australia’s 10." The real point is, India has 4 bowlers rated 1, 4, 5 and 33 in the ICC world rankings, who bowled 40 of the 50 overs. It just so happens the last 3 are spinners, so Kohli was always going to get these guys to bowl their full allocation. You also suggest"Glenn Maxwell is more than capable of bowling a full allotment of overs". I'm sure he is but I'm equally sure he'd probably go for better than 7 an over as well. The real issue starts with our batting and the decision we make at the toss. We need to get off to a flyer to be any chance against the Indians and that simply isn't happening. Obviously Finch getting out so cheaply kills things but that where a Maxwell or Stoinis should be given instructions to come in and blast away with freedom. Instead we had 5 or 6 guys dawdling along at less than a run a ball. We also need to bat second when we win the toss. We're not good enough to be front runners, so we have to chase which allows us to pace an innings, change around the batting order if need be, bring hitters up the line, etc. Above all, we need guys who's mentality is way more focused on attack with the bat, than what we saw in Bangalore. If not, India will crush us.
El Loco
Roar Rookie
Why is it difficult to drop Finch? I've long believed his batting style to be rooted in the 80s, even when he had his purple patch of centuries a couple of seasons ago they were slow and steady. Reminiscent of David Boon, except when he was doing it 85 was an exceptional strike rate. Now we have confirmation that his captaincy is rooted in the 80s as well. Plodding to the end, each of the designated bowlers neatly heading towards their ten over allotment. Good grief, not a single ball from Maxwell in a game obviously dominated by spin. Or, whatever, anyone else - just try something to get that breakthrough. I think the bloke is really lost at the moment, and it's high time to let him go.