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Opinion
Australia should continue to play five bowlers as they build towards next year’s T20 World Cup.
Their decision to position bowling all-rounder Ashton Agar at seven against Sri Lanka prompted a lot of debate among cricketer followers.
Many fans argued that instead of playing a fifth bowler, Australia would be better off either with an extra batsman and getting four overs out of Glenn Maxwell, or picking a batting all-rounder like Mitch Marsh or Marcus Stoinis.
There is obvious merit in such an approach, and Australia may yet decide this is their best balance. For now, though, they are trialling a five-bowler strategy and I think it is wise.
It was clear Australia were set to implement this bowler-heavy tactic when they chose not to include either Stoinis or Marsh in their squad for the six T20Is against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
For a side with a top four as strong as Australia, they do not need their number seven to have batting as their primary skill. It makes more sense for them to be a bowler, first and foremost, like Agar or James Faulkner. Why?
Because the fifth bowler will often need to send down 24 deliveries in a match, which means they have as large a role to play as the star bowlers. Whereas, with the bat, Australia’s number seven is rarely required to take on much responsibility.
In the past two years, Australia’s number seven has not even been required to bat in ten out of their 23 matches. Over those games, only four times did Australia’s number seven face 20 or more balls.
Those stats underline just what a limited role Australia’s number seven is required to play with the bat. Not to mention that two thirds of those matches were played overseas. That is significant for two reasons.
Firstly, Australia are a stronger batting side on home pitches, and secondly next year’s T20 World Cup will be played down under.
If Australia’s number seven is rarely needed to play a significant role with the bat, even overseas, then why would the Aussies pick a number seven whose primary skill is batting? Surely it makes more sense to select a bowling all-rounder?
Australian coach Justin Langer may well agree. During his hugely successful reign in charge of the Perth Scorchers, they regularly played five bowlers, with Agar batting in the top seven. This bowling strength was their trademark, as the Scorchers routinely strangled opposition batting lineups.
(Photo by Mark Brake – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
Langer may be seeking to replicate this strategy with the Australian T20I team. Agar could be central to such a ploy. Australia’s batting lineup is strong enough, and Agar sufficiently talented with the blade, for him to be trialled at number seven.
What his presence in that position does is significantly bolster Australia’s T20I attack. It is a major advantage to have a fifth bowler as economical as Agar, who has conceded a miserly 6.64 runs per over across 14 matches since returning to the Aussie side last year. While he is not a big wicket-taker, he is difficult to get after and creates pressure his bowling colleagues can exploit.
During the recent ODI World Cup, Australia’s fifth-sixth bowler combination of Maxwell and Stoinis was a major weakness. Together they took just seven wickets at 77 and were regularly targeted by the opposition, creating headaches for skipper Aaron Finch.
In T20Is, Maxwell has long been used sparingly with the ball, having not sent down a single delivery in 16 of his past 25 matches. Stoinis, meanwhile, has been given a bigger workload in T20Is but has struggled, taking nine wickets at 35 while bleeding 8.32 runs per over. Combined with his regular failures with the bat (average of 15 and strike rate of 116 in T20Is) and his awful ODI form, Stoinis was correctly dumped from the Australian side.
Agar, by comparison to that pair, offers Australia a far more economical and reliable fifth bowling option. Rather than Finch wondering how and when he will sneak through the four overs required to be sent down by the likes of Stoinis and Maxwell, with Agar in that role he can be confident in each of his five bowlers.
That gives him greater flexibility. The fact Agar is a spinner also allows Australia to play to their strength.
They can pick three specialist quicks while still fielding two quality slow bowlers, ensuring they don’t overlook the key role played by spin in the shortest format. Playing five bowlers has many upsides for Australia.
It is a worthwhile strategy to test out a year ahead of the World Cup.