With the ICC World Cup only two months away, selectors from all ten nations will be finalising their preliminary squads before trimming to 15 lucky men.
I’ll be looking at what I believe will be the best squads for each team, with the defending champions up first.
Batsmen: David Warner, Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Aaron Finch (captain)
All-rounders: Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis
Wicketkeepers: Alex Carey, Peter Handscomb
Quicks: Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Kane Richardson
Spinners: Adam Zampa, Fawad Ahmed
David Warner and Steve Smith are world-class players, but if there’s one part of the world where they haven’t excelled in one-day cricket, it’s England. Warner’s highest score in English conditions is 59 and he averages 31 in ten matches, while Smith averages just over 33 in 14 efforts.
I’ve only kept Finch in the squad because of his leadership skills. Bar the 93 in Ranchi, he hasn’t done much since his last ODI hundred, with his technique being exposed by swing bowlers. Should he not perform against Pakistan in the UAE, I’d rope in Shaun Marsh and give Glenn Maxwell the reins.
Leaving out Ashton Turner was harsh, but his shoulder problems make him risky to take as an all-rounder, and he’s just not good enough as a batsman.
Alex Carey just keeps his spot as he’s finally kept in one spot consistently to give him a fair go. Peter Handscomb is good enough with the gloves as back-up and in ODI cricket you don’t need a second specialist.
Had he not been rested or injured, Josh Hazlewood would be a shoe-in, but the performances of Jhye Richardson against India – both home and away – makes him too good to miss out.
In ODI cricket, wrist spinners are like gods, yet Australian selectors treat them like garbage. Adam Zampa once again proved his class against India, troubling the hosts’ top and middle order.
Fawad Ahmed is the second-choice, as his variation and accuracy makes him a deadly bowler – just ask the batsmen in the Pakistan Super League.
Even as a New South Welshman, I can’t see Nathan Lyon on the plane, as he’s way too defensive.
Neel
Roar Guru
You got 80% of your prediction right Arnab. Pretty good mate.
Tazewep
Roar Rookie
Assuming you are expecting 10 overs out of Maxwell/Stoinis then you need 4 bowlers, 6 batsmen (incl all rounders) and a wk for your XI. Your squad has 7 bowlers for 4 positions in the XI and only 6 batsmen/all-rounders for 6 positions in the XI. So immediately you have at least one bowler too many and a batsman short. I can't see K Richardson making the cut. Either Ashton Turner or S Marsh added, depending on who performs best in UAE. Remember if a squad member suffers an injury that rules them out for the tournament they usually allow a substitution. So if one of the quicks breaks down they will likely sub them out.
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
Like I've said before if Finch doesn't perform in the UAE then Marsh is a shoe in.
Josh H
Roar Rookie
I understand where you're coming from re: Marsh, but how much of the series win can actually be put down to Finch's leadership? It's not as if he made any real gutsy calls, he's a pretty conventional, predictable captain as far as captains go. The only thing I can think of is maybe bringing on Maxwell to bowl in the powerplay in a couple of games? Maybe I've missed something Well the best preparation for the Ashes for Hazlewood would be the World Cup. Simple as that. If he's fit, we play him. That's my view. My main issue with Ahmed is how much of a liability will he be in the field? You can only hide him at short third man for so long, and 50 overs is a lot longer than the 20 over format that he's put his case forward for. I'd pick Agar over him any day to be honest Which segways nicely to the point about Lyon. Ronan published an article a couple of days ago about the trend of defensive spinners like Ali and Jadeja being mostly bowling all-rounders, so you are right. But each bowl 10 overs basically every game, so they're still frontline bowlers for mine. It's important to have someone who can keep the runs down in your team so damage can be done from the other end, and that's what Agar brings. I'm not saying Turner should necessarily be a shoe-in for the first XI, but he needs to be in the squad. I'd be dropping a bowler like NCN because we have enough quality options with Starc, Cummins, Zampa, Hoff/Jhye bowling 10 overs each and sharing the last 10 with Stoinis and Maxwell.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
Not bad, surprised with Kane Richardson over Hazelwood. Not sure on Ahmed but on form how could you possibly pick Finch. I wouldn't have him near the team. Just because he is the captain is no reason to play him. Brearley was the last person who ws picked because of his captaincy skills and Finch isn't in that class.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Nice thinking josh h.
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
I would've had SOS. He's been brilliant in the last 12 months. But Finch's leadership skills just eke him ahead. I rate Maxwell more than Finch as a captain but winning an ODI series in India is no easy feat. I knew I was gonna get flak about Hazlewood and I guess rightfully so. But with the Ashes ahead it'd be better if he was preparing himself with the Dukes ball rather than the World Cup. Australia has the depth to replace Hazlewood in one day cricket but not tests. Fawad is the best white ball spinner after Zampa. Victoria may not have given him a contract but he played a key part in them winning the JLT One Day Cup. Jadeja and Moeen Ali are both batsmen who can bowl. They're not really frontline spinners in odi cricket. Therefore they can be defensive bowlers. Jadeja has only come in the Indian side recently because of Hardik Pandyas injuries. You look at Chahal and Kuldeep. Two wristspinners who in tandem have caused damage everywhere. Lyon as a frontline spinner isn't attacking enough and a Fawad-Zampa combo would be a deadly duo. Turner played a blinder of an innings but who do you drop him for. And if you see his innings the Indian spinners bowled to his strength which was hitting straight. And my main point about Turner is can he get us out of a collapse and rein himself in before an onslaught? Methinks not. I'm not saying he's an outright slogger but I can't see him in the final 15 but he could be a replacement player should there be an unfortunate injury.
Josh H
Roar Rookie
Not bad, but a couple of issues I have personally: Firstly, what's the rationale behind dropping Shaun Marsh, statistically our best ODI batsman over the past 12 months? Ahmed lost his state contract a number of years ago so I can't see CA having the guts to pick him for his country when he's not even good enough to play for his own state. I like Kane Richardson, but Hazlewood has a wealth of experience - and good experience - that you just can't ignore. He's our 2nd most senior fast bowler and barring injury he will be as much as an asset as Starc is, if not more. I don't agree with your logic behind dropping Lyon either. I personally wouldn't have him in my squad, but carting him because he's supposedly "too defensive", is ridiculous, seeing as defensive spinners like Jadeja and Moeen Ali have had plenty of ODI success and are as huge assets to their teams as their respective attacking spin counterparts Kuldeep and Rashid. And I'm sorry but it's a bit silly to call Turner "not a good enough batsman" when he's just blasted a matchwinning 84 with a 200 strike-rate against the world's best bowling attack in their own backyard
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
Yet that t20 form brought in Turner into the ODI squad. So wouldn't it be a bit ironic if selectors ignored him? Let's see how he goes in the UAE and then we can judge him
Paul
Roar Guru
I'm not a great fan of T20 form as a guide to how a guy bowls in ODIs, Nab. I agree Richardson, on his day, can produce some very good bowling but I suspect he'd struggle trying to consistently bowl 10 good overs and that's what we need in an 11 game competition.
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
Yeah I get what you mean bout Richo but check my reply to Brian. Forgot to mention how well he bowled in BBL 08 (leading wicket taker if memory serves me right). It was a shame he got injured in India otherwise he would've had a chance to show his worth after the poor series in England. As for Fawad, what was the point of rushing him for Australian citizenship if all he got was 3 odis and 2 t20s?
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
Which Marsh are you talking about because surely not Mitch? As for Ahmed, Lyon doesn't bat at 8 to say he's a bowling all rounder. Both of their primary skills are as bowlers and by that, Ahmed is far ahead in white ball cricket. The last time the Hoff played an ODI was in November and he didn't set the world alight. As for Richo, if he performs in the UAE he will go IMO. Another reason for not putting Hoff is because of the Ashes and he'll be bowling long spells
Paul
Roar Guru
hi Nab, what's the logic behind Kane Richardson ahead of Hazlewood? KR was tried in England and didn't exactly set the world on fire. Hazlewood is still a top 20 ranked bowler in ODI cricket, so I can't see how he'd be left out of the squad, unless he was either unfit. I really like your selection of Ahmed, though I can't see the selectors being brave enough to choose him. You're right about the attitude of selectors towards spinners in the short forms of the game, yet there are so many wrist spinners in the top dozen ODI bowlers.
Brian
Guest
Ahmed a pretty poor batsman and fielder, as discussed on a different forum Lyon has to go. Hazlewood is likely to be fit so ahead of Kane Richardson. Finally there's one more spot being NCN which could go to either Marsh or Turner depending on whether they want the extra batsman or bowler. I think they will pick the extra batsman otherwise with your squad if one batsman gets injured Carey automatically plays.