With Australia and India gearing up for six white ball matches in just 12 days, we address five key topics ahead of the international men’s summer.
1. Is this the ideal summer schedule?
It’s taken a global pandemic for Cricket Australia to nail their international men’s summer schedule, but the forced changes simply work.
In fact, the flow of the coming months against India should be replicated in years to come. That is, an entree serving of one-dayers and T20s, before the main course of a Test series that goes into mid/late January.
Traditionally, the showpiece tours (England and India) have launched straight into a Test series before slowing down into white ball series that inevitably attract less interest.
Under this model, momentum has slowed by the end of the summer. This year, however, the build-up progresses nicely towards what could be a tour-defining crescendo at the Gabba on January 15. Nice work, CA.
2. Does the Australian ODI XI pick itself?
Australian selectors opted for an identical side in all three one-dayers against England in September. That is, a top order of David Warner, Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis and Marnus Labuschagne, followed by a middle order featuring two all-rounders (Mitch Marsh and Glenn Maxwell) and a wicketkeeper in Alex Carey.
The bowling makeup was pace trio Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, plus the spin of Adam Zampa.
Steve Smith — who sat out that series with a concussion issue — is now ready to return, and it appears he’ll be a straight swap for the injured Mitch Marsh.
Should they opt for that XI, though, Finch will rely on more overs from Stoinis and Maxwell. Justin Langer said on Wednesday that, going forward, they wanted three all-rounders as in the UK.
David Warner and Steve Smith of Australia. (Photo by Harry Trump-IDI/IDI via Getty Images)
“We’ll probably lean that way (picking Smith for Marsh) but we did learn and we’ve talked about in our foundation for one-day cricket going forward, we really like that extra bowling option,” he said.
“In England we had Mitch Marsh, Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell able to get us at least 10 overs. So we like that combination, the extra allrounder.” Which leads neatly into the next query…
3. Could Cameron Green debut in the next week?
One man who could fill that ‘extra bowling’ void is the uncapped Cameron Green. Over the years we’ve seen Australian selectors blood Test-destined youngsters in the ODI team first. Could we see that happen again in the next six days with Green?
The 21-year-old has played just nine 50-over games for Western Australia, but debuting him in an ODI is a far less risky proposition than a Test match.
Plus, it might be the only chance selectors will get to put the exciting all-rounder into international colours this summer. Unless, of course, they either require an extra bowler on a flat Melbourne or Sydney wicket, or if one of Travis Head or Matthew Wade hits a particularly poor run of form.
Green is still developing in the T20 format and is unlikely to debut in that series. Should he be given the nod as a third all-rounder in the coming week, it could be at the expense of Labuschagne — a move that would be viewed as harsh.
4. What mark will Kohli leave in his short stay?
Even if Virat Kohli lights up the day-night Adelaide Test and leads India to victory, he can only — at best — impact one quarter of that series.
After that, he’s packing his bags to be with his wife for the birth of their first child. In the ODI and T20 series, however, Kohli will almost certainly play all six combined games, and as the best three-format player in the world, may be the difference between the two sides.
Australia and India are incredibly evenly matched when it comes to short-format cricket.
Since the Test series two summers ago, they’ve played 14 ODI/T20 matches, with seven wins apiece. Each has won an ODI series on opposition turf in that time.
Knowing it will be the only indelible mark he can leave on this summer, Kohli could well prove the difference.
5. What impact will a lacklustre IPL have on the Aussies?
Despite a huge contingent of Aussies at this season’s IPL (19, in fact), there were few that departed the UAE content with their output.
Of the players gearing up for the upcoming ODIs and T20s, some were rarely picked; Hazlewood, Zampa and Carey each played just three games. Others did not get the returns hoped for pre-tournament; Maxwell and Finch struggled to get going, while Smith and Cummins scraped through with a pass mark.
It was only Warner and Stoinis who stood out.
By contrast, India’s top short-format players were dominant, as the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammad Shami again lead the way.
What residual impact this has on confidence, and even conditioning, is to be seen.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Item 1: I disagree that this is good from CA. If you have only free to air the lead up 'entree' so to speak is severely lacking. By the time the test comes mid December my appetite is reduced. Forcing people into pay for view is poor form and invites disinterest. Like waiting for that roast dinner that comes t2o hours late, by the time you sit down to eat the anticipation and hunger has waned. CA need to ensure the lead up is on free to air and if Kayo and Fox want viewers they should deliver an enticing product. Poor form CA.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
So you think a handful of games of a 17yo with a crook back at the time is an indictation of a career trajectory? You must be the only person in the cricket world who has not watched his return to cricket. You either don't understand what cricket is about or you are just gainsaying for the sake of it. You can believe he can't play and has shown nothing but that is just a comprehensive illustration of how you (mis)inderstand the game.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Did you watch him bowl last night? Your avoidance of that for a second time indicates a pre-existing prejudice. You say one thing but what you write belies any open-mindedness.
Tom
Sam Heazlett should be opening in the ODI side by then. Absolute joke that he hasn't had a chance the last few years while Warner was banned and people like Short, Lynn and Hilton friggin Cartwright got chances to open. How can they ignore a kid with a List A average of 55 at a strike rate of 105?!
Tom
His career so far? His List A strike rate of 79 or T20 strike rate of 108? Wow so explosive… He has shown pretty much nothing in white ball cricket so far. Fantastic red ball player yes, but way off the mark in limited overs cricket at this stage.
Tom
I do not wear any hats, I simply judge players by how they perform sans any state patriotic bias like you Don. Try it some time, feels good to not have to defend players based on who the play for.
Tom
Stop embarrassing yourself, its been said plenty and these people continue to be wrong. He's simply not international quality.
Sideline Commentator
Roar Guru
I know this has been said before, but when are we going to stop treating ODIs as a staging point for a test career. The more years that pass, the more it is becoming quite evident that the two games need quite different skill sets and tactics. There'll always be some crossover, but I can see a day quite soon when the test and limited-overs teams are entirely different. If Green is seen as a future test player, get him around the test team, not playing ODIs.
Naughty's Headband
Roar Rookie
They don't even advertise it on free to air now either because they don't show it, so no-one even knows it's on; there's no crowds (even last year pre-rona) and no-one watches it. You're right, the only short form cricket kids will know is the garbage that the BBL dishes up. Kids have no loyalty to a cynical cricket product that's advertised as a team, but they know who to barrack for when their country is playing. I think back to the excitement of one-day cricket when I was a kid in the 90's and getting out and playing with my brothers and mates trying to emulate my heroes and it breaks my heart to compare that to kids and cricket now.
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
But a very limited future. Swepson otoh...
Paul
Roar Guru
don't disagree Tom. Those were Ponting's words so I guess we'll have a few games over the next fortnight to see whether Ponting's got it right.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
You're right. It hasn't been said much at all which is why that's all you can afford.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
You really think your opinion is better than Ricky Ponting's? Ponting's not a WA boy. You need to get your anti-WA hat off. Those two comps are the premier white ball comps of this year.
Legal challenge
Guest
With Australia's matches not on free to air tv, I believe this is breaking the law. Anyone who wants to watch it for free can do so with a computer. There is a myriad of free streaming sites out there and you are not breaking any laws by watching it. Technically it is contravening a commercial law if you were to host a stream from your connection. But I reckon Foxtel would not want to go down the path of prosecution because they know they are breaking the law first and foremost and the judge hearing the case who tear into them. So, stream on. But you have to wonder how selfish CA is to do this to the people who really own the game, YOU! Just so a few top players can drive fancy Euro sports cars and own half a dozen homes. Turned out pretty pointless for Pup in the end as he had to give a lot away to his ex.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
I'd hate for him to be tossed into a match where his first bowling in more than a year is an ODI against India
Tom
kids won't know the BBL cash cow is absolutely awful if they can't compare it to quality international cricket. All parts of CA's plan, probably.
Tom
If I had a dollar for the amount of times I have heard people say that about Stoinis since his Eden Park innings I could probably get a pint and a nice steak from the local.
Tom
Lol. A couple glorified domestic T20 comps. Absolutely abysmal at international level. Get your WA hat off for 1 second, he’s one of the most overated cricketers I’ve ever seen.
The Recalcitrant
Guest
Why isn't this cricket on free to air tv. Channel Seven should be stripped of the coverage due to their pathetic disinterest in our national game. The first one dayer of the summer in the World Series Cup era was always massive and much watch tv. People used to skip school and work to watch it. I lay the blame at the feet of the greedy players and administrators for the game's demise. The sport was better when it was semi pro. The wheels for white ball cricket began to fall away when the West Indies became weaker in the 1990s and teams would field 'specialised' teams and roster players off. Everyone got too greedy and caused a glut of meaningless matches. The latest stunt by Cricket Australia was to get Foxtel to broadcast the matches without free to air. to keep their incomes up without have to grow the audience. They may as well not even play. The number of viewers will be miniscule. Maybe 50,000 across the nation compared to 5,000,000 in it's heyday. Summers are just not the same anymore.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
The fact you think it is Chris Green says all that needs to be said about that comment.