Opinion
Billy Stanlake’s lack of changeups makes him vulnerable at the international level while Glenn Maxwell can potentially save his ODI career by shining in Australia’s six T20I matches, which start from today.
These are two of the key talking points ahead of Australia’s back-to-back three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, with the first match in Adelaide today against Sri Lanka.
T20I form can save Maxwell’s ODI career
After three years of up-and-down form and a disappointing effort at the World Cup where he averaged 22 with the bat, Glenn Maxwell’s ODI career hangs in the balance. If the selectors decide to refresh the ODI line-up as they build for the 2023 World Cup, the Victorian’s spot surely will be in jeopardy.
Maxwell has averaged 23 or less with the bat in eight of his last 13 ODI series. Granted, batting average is not an ideal measure by which to rate Maxwell, given his scorching strike rate is key to his value. But Australia accepted his inconsistent efforts over the past three years in the hope he could have a major impact on the 2019 World Cup, just as he had in 2015 when he made the team of the tournament.
Right now there are two factors in Maxwell’s favour in regards to ODI selection. Firstly, Australia’s next ODI series is in India, where Maxwell has enormous experience in white-ball cricket as well as a solid 50-over record.
Secondly, Australia has six T20Is before that three-match ODI series, affording Maxwell the chance to impress in what is his strongest format.
As his ODI form has waned in recent years, his T20I returns have exploded. In his past 30 innings for Australia in the shortest format, Maxwell has churned out 1,123 runs at 49, with a blazing scoring rate of 9.5 runs per over.
Coupled with his explosiveness has been a fine degree of consistency – Maxwell has reached 30 in half of his innings in that time. Over that period, which dates back more than three years, he has made himself one of the most valuable T20I cricketers in the world.
His rare ability to dismantle slow bowling will be pivotal for Australia over the next two weeks, during which they face the spin-heavy attacks of Sri Lanka and Pakistan. While Maxwell will be focused on winning T20Is for Australia and securing his place at next year’s T20 World Cup, these matches also offer him a chance to potentially save his ODI spot.
Can Stanlake’s dynamism overcome his lack of variation?
In T20Is, Billy Stanlake’s best ball often becomes his worst ball. In the opening overs of an innings, the towering quick’s ability to get a hard new Kookaburra to leap off a length is a fantastic wicket-taking option.
(AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)
The problem is that as he works into his spell, he often becomes too predictable in his pace and length. Batsmen are able to open up their front leg and swat those same quick, length deliveries.
Unlike the majority of T20 quicks, Stanlake sparingly uses slower balls, cutters or off-pace bouncers. He also doesn’t possess an elite yorker.
As a result, when he’s under pressure, he tends to revert to his stock delivery – 145kmh and back of a length. This makes him too easy to read at times. Tail-ender Adam Zampa underlined this on Wednesday as he helped South Australia steal a victory from Queensland in the Marsh Cup.
When Stanlake came on to bowl his final two overs, SA looked gone, needing 46 from 24 balls. Then Zampa cracked 18 off eight balls faced against Stanlake and QLD fell apart. The leg spinner, who is a very modest batsman, continually opened up his front leg in anticipation of Stanlake’s top pace, back of a length deliveries.
None of this is to suggest that Stanlake is a poor T20 bowler. His record for Australia in T20Is so far has been very good, with 25 wickets at 20. But as he becomes a better-known commodity at international level he will need to have more strings to his bow.
A good slower ball, for example, will not only make him less predictable but also increase the potency of his searing stock delivery.
It will be fascinating to see whether Stanlake can expand his repertoire over Australia’s six T20Is against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
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