Ashton Agar has replaced Marcus Stoinis as Australia’s all-rounder for the one-day tour of India next month, while Marnus Labuschagne and Sean Abbott were surprise additions.
A whopping eight players from Australia’s 2019 World Cup squad were not included in this 14-man group for the three-match series, which starts on January 14.
For various reasons, Stoinis, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jason Behrendorff, Matthew Wade, Nathan Lyon and Nathan Coulter-Nile will not tour.
The squad suggests Australia are immediately planning for the next World Cup, which will be played in India in just over three years from now.
Here are four key talking points from this squad announcement.
Ashton Agar is being groomed as the all-rounder
Agar was the only all-rounder named in the squad, which means he will need to bat in the top seven.
Long-term all-rounders Stoinis and Maxwell were terribly disappointing in the global tournament. Maxwell’s form has been patchy for the past three years while Stoinis has been a passenger for the past 18 months.
Stoinis has been dumped, but it remains unclear whether Maxwell was dropped or was not picked due to his ongoing battle with mental health issues.
With Mitch Marsh still on the comeback trail from a wrist injury, that leaves Agar to take the spot.
Bowling is clearly Agar’s stronger skill, however coach Justin Langer has long had great faith in the 26-year-old’s batting ability, the former Western Australia mentor having positioned him in the top seven for the state in all three formats at various stages.
The selectors may also have been swayed by his suitability for the conditions. Agar plays spin well, and his presence in the top seven will allow Australia to play two frontline spinners, while also fielding three specialist quicks.
Ashton Agar (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Labuschagne, Handscomb and Turner picked for spin competency
Australia’s shock 3-2 ODI series win in India earlier this year was built on their canny handling of the home spinners.
In recent years, India’s elite slow bowlers have strangled opposition line-ups. They went at just 4.88 runs per over across their first five ODIs against Australia this year – three held in Australia and two in India – and duly won four of those matches.
Then Australia changed tack, became much more aggressive, and won three matches on the trot to register a stunning come-from-behind series win.
In those victories, Australia scored at more than seven runs an over against the spinners. Peter Handscomb and Ashton Turner were key to this turnaround and so have been selected for this upcoming tour.
If Australia are to win the next World Cup they will need a batting line-up that brims with batsmen who are assured against spin.
Labuschagne is one such player and that will have helped him earn selection, along with his extraordinary Test form and his domestic one-day record, scoring 955 runs at 45 for Queensland.
Marnus Labuschagne of Queensland (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Australia may finally be taking ODIs seriously again
After years of fielding second-rate squads in bilateral series, this squad is the strongest Australia have fielded outside of the World Cup or Champions Trophy in a long time.
They have not rested a single star. Their top order will feature guns David Warner, Steve Smith and Aaron Finch, while the ‘Big Three’ quicks of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will bowl together in an ODI for the first time in 14 months.
Given how often Australia experimented with their line-ups in between the last two World Cups, often fielding teams that were missing four or five key players, this star-studded squad could signal a shift in approach.
Under Langer, Australia may begin taking bilateral ODI series seriously.
ODI careers of Khawaja and Shaun Marsh could be over
In the absence of banned champions Warner and Smith, Usman Khawaja made 769 runs at 59 and Shaun Marsh 851 at 53.
They held together a line-up that was otherwise a mess for a large part of that time.
Yet Marsh will be nearly 40 by the time to next World Cup arrives, while Khawaja will be 36 – there was always a sense that one or both would be put out to pasture.
Younger batsmen need an opportunity, and while Finch and Warner are the same age as Khawaja, the former is the captain, while the latter is Australia’s best ODI batsman.
Although Marsh’s ODI career seems over, Khawaja could yet make a comeback, particularly if he runs amok in the high-profile BBL. He remains a quality white-ball batsman.
Australia ODI squad
Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (vc), Pat Cummins (vc), Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, David Warner and Adam Zampa
Australia’s best XI
1. Aaron Finch
2. David Warner
3. Steve Smith
4. Peter Handscomb
5. Ashton Turner
6. Alex Carey (wk)
7. Ashton Agar
8. Pat Cummins
9. Mitchell Starc
10. Adam Zampa
11. Josh Hazlewood
Fixtures
First ODI – January 14, Mumbai
Second ODI – January 17, Rajkot
Third ODI – January 19, Bengaluru
anon
Roar Pro
Just putting 2+2 together.
Marty
Roar Rookie
Have you ever considered a career as a novelist, conspiracy fiction perhaps? You certainly have the imagination for it.
anon
Roar Pro
That's disgraceful if we aren't doing our best to win a cricket series.
Rob
Guest
Khawaja was a key player and topped the averages in the last ODI series before the WC. A series which Australia beat India in India. Maxwell has averaged 32 with a SR 140 over his last 20 games. Maxwell’s career average is 32 at a SR 123. He preformed a key role in the series win in India. How has Maxwell form been any different? He wasn’t a force in this WC like he was in 2015 but neither were Smith, Cummins or Zampa.
Omnitrader
Roar Rookie
they paved paradise and put up a parking lot
VivGilchrist
Roar Rookie
Don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone
Graeme Smith
Roar Rookie
I don’t think there is any intention to win the series. We are sending a weak team. But a very young team. I think it is purely a strategic decision to see how our younger players can perform against the best (or second best) one day team in the world.
Graeme Smith
Roar Rookie
SoK has been our best spin bowler for the past 15 years. I think his non-selection is purely a personality difference and nothing to do with his form. He’s reaching the end of his career, but even this year I think he still has the best spin bowling stats.
Graeme Smith
Roar Rookie
I’d hardly call this the strongest squad Australia have played between world cups, pretty much the complete opposite. It’s fairly young, so obviously looking to build the next generation of players, but also probably one of the weakest squads we’ve sent overseas. Two spinners who are 20/20 specialists but not great in ODI at domestic level, plus Ashton Turner who is similar as a 20/20 batsman, and Handscomb and Carey, who are good future possibilities, but still young and developing. This is a young team, that hopefully will develop towards the next World Cup, but a long way from a good team.
Sgt Pepperoni
Roar Rookie
He's a potential match winner on his day. Didn't do much of that
Paul
Roar Rookie
I think it's important to remember that anything might develop out of this year's BBL. I thought Sam Harper had a cracker last year, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he produces this year. Given the time until the next WC there are a lot of variables.
Paul
Roar Rookie
BurgyGreen you raise an excellent point. Looking at that line up, Finch is a left arm orthodox, whose slow bowling helped choke the runchase out of the Stars in last year's BBL final. Then there's Steve Smith who we've all conveniently forgotten is a right arm wrist spinner. We should be requiring players like that to maintain a decent stock delivery with accuracy and a bit of variation even if it's an arm ball or a slower delivery. There's a minimum of at least 10 overs between them!
jameswm
Roar Guru
That’s his fault?
anon
Roar Pro
He won us the World Cup in 2015.
Sgt Pepperoni
Roar Rookie
A world cup
anon
Roar Pro
Langer has hung his assistant out to dry in India. He'd hate to see the side succeed without him.
Gurlivleen Grewal
Roar Pro
This is a strong squad with punts on Agar and Turner. Won't be surprised if they beat India. Kohli and Shastri are carrying on with their blunders in the middle order, back-up fast bowlers, treatment of their quality spinners and of course call on Dhoni. Apart from the top 3 and Bumrah, rest of the squad is always in the flux, players getting swapped around from one match to another without any roadmap.
Marty
Roar Rookie
So 5 WA players are dropped and 2 brought in and that’s evidence of Langer favouring WA players?
Marty
Roar Rookie
Yep, thought so. He’s not so much a cricket coach, more of a James Bond type super villain seeking to destroy Australian cricket from the inside.
anon
Roar Pro
His selections cost us the UAE Test series, cost us the Test series against India last summer, cost us winning the Ashes series. We've won in spite of his selections. Langer won't even be coaching in India. It's almost like he's set up his assistant to fail by picking 4 batsmen in the best 11.