After a narrow victory against the West Indies and a disappointing loss to India, Australia have limited options to right the ship for the remainder of the tournament.
Following the selection of a group heavy on opening options, the selectors must find themselves longing for a middle-order accumulator to keep things ticking along when setting a target.
With four of the five specialist batsmen in the 15-man squad most comfortable opening, Australia is missing a Michael (Bevan or Hussey) to steady the middle order and anchor the innings in its awkward middle stages.
The non-selection of Peter Handscomb, who would fill this spot perfectly along providing a backup ‘keeping option, is more glaring with each game lost.
The curious disappearance of Travis Head from the ODI setup also appears nonsensical now, and will most likely only be short-lived coming into the 2019-20 summer of cricket.
With only Shaun Marsh on the sidelines, the best option available to Justin Langer and Aaron Finch is a reshuffle of the lineup in an attempt to salvage their campaign. The most logical choice here would be reverting to the previous successful opening partnership of Finch and Usman Khawaja.
Usman Khawaja (AAP Image/Paul Miller)
When a recent rain delay resulted in a 2007 World Cup replay being aired, I was reminded of how effective the brute force of Matthew Hayden was alongside the piercing power of Adam Gilchrist.
Khawaja’s ability to split the field complements Finch’s bludgeoning style, and their differing approaches arguably present a greater challenge to opening attacks than the dual fireworks of Finch and Warner, the latter of whom has been closer to a cheap sparkler of late.
Although moving Warner to the middle order would be a risk, it also gives him more time to gauge conditions and adapt his approach depending on how the innings is progressing.
With Marcus Stoinis underperforming with bat and ball so far, Langer should look to bring Shaun Marsh in and see what he can offer the middle order. His ability to work the ball around, combined with his array of straight bat shots at least vaguely resembles vintage Hussey, and are worth a look at this stage of the tournament.
Finally, what to do with our underperforming bowling attack?
I argued with a friend recently about the selectors leaving out Josh Hazlewood based on lack of match time recently, and I still think he was worth the risk.
While his batting has been a welcome bonus so far, Nathan Coulter-Nile has been mostly woeful with the ball of late. The aforementioned 2007 World Cup replay featured a stellar 3/16 performance from Glenn McGrath, and made me nostalgic for his metronomic brilliance.
Hazlewood is certainly the closest thing we have to this right now, and his control has been sorely missed in Australia’s first three games of the tournament.
Again, the selectors do not have a lot of options up their sleeve to address this challenge from within the squad. Jason Behrendorff is a great bowler on his day, but arguably too similar to Mitchell Starc, with equal potential to be belted.
Kane Richardson has been in strong T20 form the last 12 months, but was an odd choice for the World Cup. It is difficult to seriously consider him as a strong third seam option, but while the selectors persist with only one spinner, he may have to be given a run to see if he sinks or swims.
The spin situation also does not inspire great hope.
Adam Zampa was plundered by all comers against India, and appears to lack the containing capacity to be effective against the best players of spin. Nathan Lyon’s strong record in England should see him play at least the next game ahead of his moppy-haired compatriot, who always seems to respond strongly to being dropped.
Leaving him out for the next game or two may just light a fire to see him reach his peak in coming games.
Australia’s start to the tournament has been far from ideal, and without a lot of options in the squad, it may be difficult to turn around.
The selectors need to shake things up and see what happens.
This article originally stated Australia have lost two matches at the World Cup. That has been corrected.
Daniel Gray
Roar Guru
Agreed. It's a shame Ashton Turner didn't force the selectors hand when given an opportunity, as he'd be an ideal middle order bat, handy fielder and useful spin option.
Daniel Gray
Roar Guru
Thanks Paul, I appreciate your reply. Yes, we're definitely not at full strength without Hazlewood, J Richardson and in-form Faulkner. It'll be fascinating to see what squad for next WC will look like.
Paul
Roar Guru
I'm not sure where TJ was going with his comment Daniel, but I've watched lots of the Cup and judging by your piece, you have too. In an ideal world, the selectors would have had Hazlewood back and bowling in front of them in March. They would also have had a fit Jhye Richardson and an in-form James Faulkner to chose from as well. Sadly not to be, but what a squad we would have had in these guys were available and in form. The selectors obviously thought their replacements could step up for the occasion, but K Richardson, Behrendorff and Marsh (because he can't/doesn't score really quickly) are not up to the mark for this tournament. Lyon may be good enough but who knows till he gets a run?
Cadfael
Roar Guru
We went there with five specialist batsmen, a keeper, four quicks, two spinners and three bits and pieces players. There is the problem.
Daniel Gray
Roar Guru
Hi Dave, I’m not against Finch dropping to middle order, but he seems pretty keen to remain in the opening spot. I think moving Warner down is more likely, but they’ll probably persevere with this combination until it’s too late.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Agree with much of the above, especially Hazlewood and Lyon, but not about Khawaja. Doesn’t matter whether you pierce or bludgeon, just how many and how quickly you score. Warner has been too slow lately, but his strike rate over the last 4 years is 101, which shows he can do it. Khawaja has only scored at 84/100 this year, unbelievably slow for someone averaging over 50. And that average was inflated by five games against Pakistan B - literally - not one of the Pakistan team that beat England last week played in the last three games of the series vs Australia in UAE and only one bowler played in the first two. But I wouldn’t mind having Khawaja open with Warner and put Finch down the order: he is good against spin and can accelerate when he has to.
Bunney
Roar Rookie
But Head had 3 years in the ODI squad and proved he didn't have gears. The only time his SR was consistently good was when he opened the batting. Coming in later he struggled to strike above 100, which is definitely reqd of a #6
Daniel Gray
Roar Guru
Hi TJ, Thanks for reading. Yes, I have been watching consistently. Daniel.
Daniel Gray
Roar Guru
Hi Paul, Thanks for your comment and thoughts. It's interesting that Hazlewood wasn't chosen due to lack of game time, but this hasn't stopped the selectors bringing Mitchell Marsh into the squad as injury cover for Stoinis. I would've gone for Travis Head at number six personally. He has a few different gears to his batting, is great in the field and provides another spin option while we are only playing one specialist spinner. I agree that we are unlikely to progress to the semis with this squad. Definitely a difficult position for the selectors with Smith and Warner returning from suspension and lots of injuries to juggle. A lot more balls in the air than normal encountered when selecting a squad.
Daniel Gray
Roar Guru
Cummins is certainly versatile. Will be interesting to see what changes are made to the side for tonight's game against Pakistan.
Daniel Gray
Roar Guru
Thanks for the comment, badmanners. These points have been amended.
TJ
Guest
Daniel, have you actually watched any games this world cup?
Paul
Roar Guru
"I would say open with starc & Dorff, bring in Cummins at 7th over when the ball is still new." Why would Finch break up the new ball combination most likely to get him a wicket, Kopa? If the balls still new after 7 overs, then give it to Behrendorff. He also needs to show he's not a one trick pony and bowl well at any point in the innings, not just front up and bowl when everything's in his favour.
Paul
Roar Guru
hi Daniel, your comments about Hazlewood were not quite on the mark. I gather he wasn't chosen because of a lack of game time, while coming back from a pretty serious injury. Remember the rules in this tournament about replacing injured players is simple; if they carry an injury into the WC and it worsens, they cannot be replaced, only if they develop a new problem. It's easy to judge the merits of a squad in hindsight but if you go back to March, selectors had serious delemmas trying to get the balance right in a squad containing only 15 players. A lot of guys were injured or coming back from suspension (Starc, Hazlewood, J Richardson, Smith & Warner), while guys like Marsh, Khawaja, Zampa and Finch were laying themselves into form. Our problem always was the number 6 slot and Stoinis wasn't it - but who could replace him? We also didn't have a recognized hitter with any experience to anchor the innings, like a Hussey, Bevan or Gilchrist. I think Australia will do remarkably well to make the semis, given the weaknesses we have in this squad. We can get 4 more wins for sure, but going all the way and winning against the quality teams in this tournament ...... it would be the best effort by any side in the history of the event.
Graham
Guest
The thing about Cummins is he is just as good with the old ball as the new. So that affords you to play a new ball specialist like Hazelwood/Berendorff and move Cummins to first change I agree with Warner down the order. He's been brilliant at t20 for 12 months and we lack lower order hitters. He's forgotten how to pace himself in odis it seems
VivGilchrist
Roar Rookie
Don’t let facts get in the way of propaganda.
badmanners
Roar Rookie
First paragraph, Australia has won 2 games out of 3. Fourteenth paragraph, Australia has not played England yet, not sure where the loss comes from!
Kopa Shamsu
Guest
Just got the news that Mitch Marsh is back in the team from dead. Apparently his lack of match practice (which was the case for Hazelwood) wasn't considered here. I don't necessarily agree that Mitch Starc & Jason Behrendorff is similar kind of bowler except they are both left armer. Starc, whenever doesn't find swing , bowls it too straight making him extremely predictable & easily negotiable. Dorff with his weird action bowls fuller outside off which is hard not to drive or back of a length, I am missing that from Starc. I didn't see much variation or back of a length bowling from Starc when the ball isn't swinging. It seems he gets impatient way too early. I would say open with starc & Dorff, bring in Cummins at 7th over when the ball is still new. I thought it would be better chance to bring 1 of Hazelwood or Handscomb in, wasnt the case. Mitch Marsh is back. Considering current squad my team for next match would be Finch Khawaja Smith Warner Maxwell Carey Cummins Starc Dorff Lyon Zampa